Page 90 of Monsters of Desire and Nightmares of Passion

Ivy roars and sends a jolt of lightning toward the redhead, pulling her corpse off the ground and tearing her in half. “No one touches my man.”

Ivy runs toward me. The power still dances through her body, turning her into a dark, vengeful deity.

“Ivy.”

All I can think of is being with her. Her arms wrap around my neck and she kisses me, hard. Then she slides to the ground. Her eyes that look like two pennies cast a sparkling gaze toward me. I miss her baby blue eyes.

“I should be upset with you for what you did,” she says.

“I’ll spend the rest of my days on my knees between your legs in the hope you’ll forgive me, my love.” I whisper it into her ear as I kiss her neck.

Ivy bites my lip and jumps onto my back. “How about we join Khal and the lost Shadows and clean up here a little bit.”

“Sounds good.”

Feeling Ivy ride me makes my blood roar and my cock as hard as my stinger.

Khal releases Mrez and lead the cloud of lost Shadows back into battle. The area is already a scene of carnage, the cold ground covered with the mangled corpses of hundreds of humans possessed by the spirit of The Church of Light. What’s now is just mopping up.

I move toward the remaining cloaked figures, my claws and stinger rejoicing in the fact that I’ll be bringing death and destruction to the creatures who wanted to kill my mate. The wall of Shadows following Khal moves around the area, killing every surviving human and absorbing every soul as it left the body, feeding on them. One by one, the figures inside the cloud looked less tortured and grew calm, composed, and sane. As they changed, their ability to fight decreased. Soon, the lost Shadows no longer had the ability to fight. Ironically, there are no longer any humans left to kill. Everyone from The Church of Light is dead, their bodies covering the area in front of The Dark Church, their blood turning the ground crimson.

The first rays of light announce the coming of a new day. We step through the rift into The Valley, leaving the death and destruction behind us.

Ivy

Unknown powers fill me, turning me into a stronger version of myself. Even now, after our victory, I still can’t understand what happened to me during the fight. Where did I find the power to fight, to use a sword the way I did, and to electrocute those men who tried to hold me down? As I looked at my leg, the gunshot wound is gone, and my leg is fully healed.

The residual power from my experience still hums inside my veins like bees collecting sweetness from flowers. Velvet fought with us, at one point landing on my shoulder. She’s asleep now., How could she sleep amongst this chaos is a mystery to me.

I always said I would have done anything to save my mates, but never had I expected this. My vision is still filled with the images of blood and violence. It should not surprise me though. No price is too high to keep my boys safe.

The Valley no longer feels like an evil place. The jagged rocks are now covered with snow, and the sky is dark, and covered with stars and with a full moon shining just for us. My eyes slowly adjust to the dark. I’m able to see my surroundings as if it was daylight.

My poor heart is filled with joy because Khal is alive. He steps in front of me with the cloud of lost Shadows hovering behind him. “Ivy, I’m the mouthpiece of the lost Shadows. Remember when they scratched you? It was not with the intention to kill you. They marked you. Allow me to present you The Swarm.”

A deep hum fills The Valley.

Mrez steps closer to me and Draw tenses under me. Only Velvet kept sleeping.

“No need to worry, my brothers,” reassured Khal. “The Swarm picked Ivy as queen of the lost Shadows. They’re the ones who gave you the power to push away the High Priest and close the rift that The Church of Light opened. You were so alive and vibrant in my memories that the entire Swarm of Lost Shadows now share my feelings for you. We’re yours, Ivy.”

A deep and overwhelming feeling of love swells in my chest. The Swarm loves me. My guys love me.

Khal continues. “There’s nothing worse for a Shadow than to exist without a sense of purpose. That’s what happened to The Swarm. Now that you’re in their midst, they have a purpose.”

I’m confused. However, I feel small strings connecting me to the creatures inside the cloud. Each has a personality, a history, a darkness. And with each second I feel stronger. It’s a mutually agreeable exchange, because being connected to me makes them stronger, too, and brings them out from a faceless void into the warm glow of darkness.

“The Valley is yours, Queen Ivy.” A deep, rumbling voice borne from the connection of all the Shadows inside the cloud speaks to me.

“Hm, thank you, I guess?”

Draw places his warm palm on my shoulder. I turn to him, still unfamiliar with the strength drumming inside me. “Does this mean I can’t leave this place?”

“No, it means it belongs to you,” adds Khal. “You can come and go as you please. The Valley has many portals that offer access to most of the known dimensions. The possibilities are endless.”

“Will you stay here, with me?”

Both Draw and Mrez nod. Khal is already connected to the cloud. The Swarm. Whatever it’s called.

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