Page 43 of Shannon in Sombra

She points. “I think it came from there.”

“I’ll go with you,” offers Hope. “I know what it looks like.”

I join the two females. The others stay back at Lucian’s urging. He tells Shannon that the ashbalm flower is delicate, both before, during, and after it’s been picked from the ash. Hope confirms it, remembering how half of her flower fell apart in her hand.

Shannon is determined. I’m careful to watch the glowing white eyes of the prey and predatory beasts who watch us back, possibly wondering why our clan has split up. If anyone tries to attack my mate and Sammael’s, I will throw my body between them to allow them to get the ashbalm flower, then to get away.

Thankfully, that’s not necessary. Within minutes, Shannon announces that it’s definitely her favorite latte from The Beanery that she’s smelling. I don’t catch it myself, but it doesn’t matter. Her nose led us to it after all.

It’s Hope who sees the flower first, catching Shannon’s attention by snagging her arm and pointing down.

The ashbalm flower is about as long as my hand, from wrist to the tip of my claws. Composed of shadows and ash, the bloom is a dancing flame that dims as Shannon crouches down next to him.

“Careful,” Hope murmurs. “I plucked it too hard and lost the whole bottom part of the stem. Sure, I didn’t need it because I wasn’t giving up Sammael, either, but the duke didn’t tell me why I was going after it when he first sent me into the edge of the shadows.”

“Maybe you didn’t need it,” muses Shannon, eyeing the flower closely. “Maybe you just needed to know how to find it.”

Hope makes a thoughtful sound. “You mean, like, one day I’d have to tell you how to find it to save Sombra?”

“To save Alana.”

“Isn’t that the same thing?”

“No,” Shannon says firmly. There’s no explanation other than that, but there’s none needed. Duke Haures… the doppelseers… they want to defeat the prophecy. They want to see Sombra survive.

But my mate? She just wants our daughter back—and so do I.

Without another word, Shannon grips the stem by its base. She gasps as the flame goes out—even though Hope warned her that would happen—before letting out a sigh of relief when only a small part of the stem becomes ash on her fingertips.

Rising up, my mate searches the shadows for me. “Mal, baby. Come here.”

I’m there.

Shannon jerks her chin at me. “Hold out your hands.”

I do.

Cupping my hands together, creating a valley between them, I’m motionless as Shannon lays the ashbalm flower against my shadows.

“There. I don’t have time to coddle that thing. But Mal is made of shadows, too. We can get back to running if we have to and he’ll keep the flower in one piece to break whatever bond some dickhead kidnapper thinks he has with our girl.”

My clever, clever mate.

“You ready?” she asks me.

I will guard the ashbalm flower with everything I am. It’s only the second most precious one I’ve ever had the fortune to touch, but at the moment? Itiseverything. “Yes, my mate.”

“Good. Then let’s go.”

CHAPTER18

KING YELIOS

SHANNON

Iwish I could say it was as easy as darting around the slumbering—andmassive—huigitz, picking up the human ‘nappers more frantic bootprints, and because he was flagging after keeping ahead of us for so long, we found him.

That’s not what happens. Oh, I get around the huigitz with Mal, sending a silent thank you back to the other girls for using their song to put it to sleep because, yeah, that fucker washuge. Once Dagon catches up, he finds a bootprint, then points us in the right direction.

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