Page 39 of Stolen By Shadow Beasts

“Progress,” Onyx signs to us.

Yeah, it really is. “That would be wonderful.”

Phantom refills all our bowls of soup, and I go with Onyx to watch over him while he bathes, bathing myself at the same time. Then, we swap with Phantom and Ann, giving them a chance to bathe in the river, although neither Onyx nor I can help looking after them in longing.

When we’re all done and the camp is clean and ready for the next night, we fall asleep. Ann, surprisingly, lays by me, but she doesn’t touch me. She just gives a little moan, turns her back on me, and is asleep within minutes.

Good. We’ll let her sleep now, because in a few hours, there will be work to do. Namely, work to see if all the shards will react to Ann the way the other ones had. And then, to see how many of them we can collect before the night falls. And we have to be ready for an all-out war.

With enough shards collected, hopefully the king will be weakened enough that things won’t get too bad.

Hours later, I blink awake as Phantom shakes me. “It’s time.”

He shakes Ann too, although far gentler, and she mutters, “Wake me up, and I’ll put a fork in your eye.”

We both laugh, and Phantom goes to wake Onyx. Hopefully, he’s feeling a little better. Because as much as we’d love for him to spend the rest of the day resting, we just ticked off the Shadow King.

And thatalwayshas consequences. Consequences I remember far too well.

Onyx signs to us, “What do you think about the Shadow King wanting Ann as his bride?”

Phantom and I both stiffen.

Ann says, “I need you guys to teach me more signs and start telling me what he’s saying. I feel left out.”

Oh, right. We’re so used to working like this I think we all kind of forgot. “He asked our thoughts about the king wanting you as his bride.” Then, I start signing back while saying the words aloud, knowing this is one of the best ways for her to learn. “That means it’s even more important to form our mate bond so he can’t make her his bride without killing all of us.”

Ann tenses. “I don’t want him to try to kill all of us.”

I sign as I talk. “He’s already trying to kill all of us. The only difference is that right now, if he gets to you, things will get a lot more dangerous for you…for us…and for this world.”

The elder had explained things to us very clearly. The shadows said whoever should marry the light fae will win this war. We asked if that could mean the Shadow King himself, and the elder winced and said it could. He made it very clear to us that although he would never ask us to force Ann to do anything, if the king got her, we’d all be in trouble.

Onyx signs, “The woman needs to accept the mate bond. This is stupid and dangerous,” and I translate for him.

Ann’s mouth pulls into a tense line. “I’m not willing to discuss that right now.”

All three of us nod, but the frustration in the room is palpable. Who would have thought when we finally found our mate, she’d reject us? Even when faced with a very dangerous possibility, like the king taking her for her own.

Which leads me down a dark path. Why does he want her in the first place? It would be enough for him to know it would destroy us to lose our mate, but I’m sure it’s more than that. Does he know what the shadows are whispering? Does he know if our mate bond is solidified that we can win this war?

I hope not.

We ready ourselves, then step outside. As we knew it would happen, two warriors have come from the larger cave. Having a light fae in our circle is not only a novelty, but as it turns out, a necessity if we’re to put an end to the chaos. And that starts by collecting the moonstone shards, as these warriors seem to have realized.

Our elder would have told them. Unfortunately.

“Hello,” Slade calls. The big warrior has reddish brown hair, a large smile, and more scars than most of us. Whenever there was fighting afoot, Slade was always sure to be in the middle of it.

“Hello,” Phantom greets, in a voice that is barely welcoming.

Flame looks at Ann. “We are Slade and Flame, shadow beasts and warriors, and we have come to help you in any way we can.” Flame is almost the same height as Ann, but he has braids weaved throughout his hair, and there’s no one better with a staff.

Both men stare at Ann as if she’s a miracle. And I don’t like it one bit. My only solace is the fact that Ann is regarding them like two very annoying children that she doesn’t want to deal with.

When everyone continues staring at her, she does this weird, awkward thing with her mouth and then says, “Uh, okay.”

Both Flame and Slade seem a bit defeated. No doubt they hoped that, after only seeing one female for so long, Ann would be a bit more welcoming to two good-looking men.Sorry, assholes, if Phantom and Onyx don’t do it for her, you sure as hell won’t.

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