Page 15 of Shannon in Sombra

I barely slept at all. Seeing that I was shaky as fuck, Mal gave up on going to see Apollyon last night once Alana settled down and the rain just… stopped. He looped his arm around me, turning solid so that he had a firm hand to guide me inside. I held tightly to Alana, refusing to even entertain putting her down again until Mal gently pointed out that she had fallen asleep.

My mate eased our baby out of my arms, laying her out in her crib. The two of us watched her sleep for a few seconds before I let him lead me to bed.

He curled his big body around me, absently stroking my sunflower tat on my upper arm while I confessed that I didn’t believe it could really happen. I had tricked myself into believing that the prophecy was nonsense. That, even if itwasreal—and I wasn’t just taking the doppelseers’ word for it—the prophecy could take centuries before it unfolded.

The Sombrans are immortal, right? Who said that this responsibility belonged to a four-month-old baby? Why couldn’t Alana be, like, six hundred before the rain came?

Malphas laid there with me, letting my insecurities and fears spill from me in a panicked rant. His touch never slowed, and I realize why when he reminds me that he was once the subject of a prophecy by another, less powerful clan seer. When he was much younger, he was told that he would find his one true mate in a female full of magic that blooms in the sun. He never knew what that meant—mainly because Sombra is a demon realm with two moons and no visible sun—but when he took my essence and got that download of English into his brain, he knew. From the moment I told him my ink was of a sunflower, heknewthat his prophecy had come true. Up until then, it didn’t even occur to him that he would be meant for a human woman since he interpreted ‘sun’ to mean the gold moon and the seer didn’t correct him, and I clung to the idea that Alana’s prophecy could be misunderstood, too.

Even if it isn’t, my point still stands. Mal was over athousandwhen he found me. We should have more time.

And maybe we do.

Just like I soothed Alana, my mate makes it his job to calm me down. He reminds me that rain isn’t impossible in Sombra, just not common, and while it usually evaporates before it hits the ash, it might all have been a fluke.

To be honest, it wasn’t the rain that had me so worked-up. It’s easy to latch onto it and blame the weather when watching my daughter cry real tears for the first time messed me up. Add that to learning that Malphas had kept Haures’s monthly visits to see Alana from me and I didn’t know what to think. I understand why he did it. In his sweet way, Mal is as protective of me and our baby as I am. From the duke’s experiences, Mal guessed that some of the villagers might side-eye Alana because of her lack of shadows.

I just… it might’ve been nice if he told me.

Now that Idoknow, that’s an easy problem to fix. You don’t like my baby? Fuck you. It’s as simple as that. There are plenty of villagers who dote on her and enjoy having humans to add a little spice and variety to Nuit. For those that don’t, they can stay away from the EL, me, and my family.

Because Shannon is in Sombra for good, and now that there’s no denying that the prophecy isn’t something to mess around with, I’m going to do anything I can to save this world. Not for them. Like I said, fuck ‘em. But Sombra is Mal’s home. Alana’s, too. We have forever to show the bigots the mistakes they made in doubtingmydaughter.

Hell, I’m a petty bitch. Nothing is better than showing the haters that I’m thriving and surviving.

So, forgiving Mal and telling him that we’re in this together, I finally managed to get a few hours down before Alana woke up, cooing and waiting for her morning feeding.

Mal got her for me, hovering as though concerned she would start crying again—and that the rain would start shortly after. Considering he confessed that he believed the two incidents were related last night, I’m a little worried myself, but Alana is in a fantastic mood.

And, honestly? It’s tough to hang on to my foul, anxious one when she’s around.

Malphas seems happier, too, for the first part of the day. Through breakfast and our morning family time, I could sense him getting withdrawn until he finally stood up from the table and told me it was time to go see Apollyon.

I almost insist on going with him. I wouldn’t mind talking to Lilith since I haven’t had a chance to bring up the whole ‘villagers being dicks to Alana’ thing that started this whole mess. However, if it turns out that Alana’s tearsarethe reason it rained, I feel a little better about keeping her at home in case Apollyon decides to narc on me and get in touch with Haures.

Then again, now that I know he’s been making these monthly visits, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s already preparing to stop by today...

Luckily for me, we might’ve dodged a bullet. Apollyon acknowledged that he knew about the storm, but since it was over almost as soon as it began—to the clan leader, maybe, since it seemed like an eternity to me while it was happening—he decided that it was just bad luck rather than the prophecy kicking into gear.

Did he report to the duke? Probably, but if they’re all acting like everything’s hunky-dory, I’ll go along with it, too…

“Oh,” Malphas says to me, drawing my attention back to him and out of my own head, “I almost forgot to mention it. On my way back from meeting with Apollyon, I saw Dagon.”

“Dagon?” I echo.

“And Sammael.”

Wait… “Sammael? Not Sierra?”

He understands my confusion immediately. “Ah. His mate. No, she’s here as well. She’s visiting with Azazel.” Then, anticipating my next question, he adds, “Hope has gone with her. Sammael assured me that he and his mate have not changed their mind about having spawn of their own, but Hope has come with Sierra for…” He pauses, wrinkling his forehead so that his ridges are more pronounced. “Mortal support.”

“Moral support,” I correct with a slight tease. “Smart, you know, bringing another chick in with her. It’s probably easier for the healer to check her v-jay out without her protective mate growling softly somewhere behind him.”

“I apologize, my mate. I didn’t like another male seeing your cunt.”

“Don’t be sorry. I like that side of you.” I raise my eyebrows. “Turns me on.”

Mal’s eyes flared like a yellow traffic light. “Where is Alana?” he rumbles.

---