Page 53 of His Rejected Mate

She snapped her fingers. Every shadow within the volcano sprang up like some strange, black, living liquid, and they rushed deep into the lab. Another slithering snake of darkness swept back across all of Simon’s forces, crushing, breaking, and eviscerating them where they stood. From within the lab, explosions, crashing sounds, and the distinct melody of shattering metal echoed out toward us.

Simon flinched as Lucina destroyed everything he’d worked so hard for. Even his experiments on the choppers screamed and howled as her shadows swarmed over them, destroying them as though they were nothing.

Lucina moved her shadows like a conductor commanding an orchestra, her long, delicate fingers dancing through the air, sending shadow snakes to decapitate vampires and booming shadow waves to crush one of the two remaining helicopters. Then, she turned her eyes on Simon.

He must have realized he’d overstepped and was in trouble, because he cast a spell on himself a moment before Lucina’s shadows caught him. The few vampires and ferals that remained alive toppled over as though every ounce of life had been sucked out of them. A faint, shimmery light flashed from their bodies back to Simon as they fell. A moment later, the fucker vanished, escaping death by less than a second.

Around us, his forces lay dead at our feet. Glancing back, I saw Crew, obviously exhausted by the fight, being helped to his feet by Chelsey and Eli.

Lucina pulled her shadows back to shroud her in darkness once again, then stepped forward, staring down at the spot where Simon had been a moment before.

“Pity. I was looking forward to taking that one. Stronger magic than I thought.” She looked up as though scenting the air. “Unfortunate.”

Chapter 13

Kira

I didn’t have a chance to be awed by what Lucina had accomplished with a snap of her fingers. Not when white-hot rage coursed through me. Simon had gotten away. All around us, his minions writhed or lay dead. Even through the thick walls of the volcano, the destruction in the lab had the familiar ring of a distant thunderstorm. Everything he’d been working on was gone, thoroughly ripped apart and destroyed by the Shadowkeeper’s inky black tendrils.

“What was on the chopper that got away?” Crew asked. He was still leaning on Chelsey, even though his wounds were nearly healed.

“Nothing,” Wyatt said. “It wasn’t loaded yet. I think they were packing them in order. The guy piloting it bolted as soon as he could. We may have gotten lucky there.”

Some of the tension in Crew’s face eased. The knowledge gave me some relief as well. I didn’t want any of Simon’s monstrosities to wreak havoc on our friends and families.

Eli and a few Haveners moved to the remaining helicopter and unloaded the cases and cages. Lucina’s shadows had destroyed everything inside them. Thankfully, the aircraft itself was undamaged.

Lucina approached me and Wyatt. She carried herself as though she hadn’t just killed dozens of beings and wrecked millions of dollars of equipment.

“He’s teleported himself somewhere else on the island, hasn’t he?” I asked. “There can’t be many places he could go. The mansion, maybe?”

Lucina sneered as she shook her head and gestured to the drained and desiccated corpses around us. “That last spell was interesting. He sucked the very life force from these poor things.” She leveled her gaze at us. “It increased the power of his magic tenfold. He is no longer on Bloodstone Island. He is on the mainland.”

“How is that possible?” Wyatt said. “I thought your boundary was impenetrable.”

Lucina shrugged. “When the mansion fell and the fae and wiccan employees began to teleport back to the mainland in panic, I threw up a stronger wall of magic. I didn’t want anything else to escape. I never expected a common fae to be able or willing to do something like this.” She cast another look of disgust at the corpses. “Had I thought it possible, I would have increased the ward exponentially. I underestimated the hybrid again. I will not do so a third time.”

Her shadows seemed to darken at her tone.

“That rat bastard,” Wyatt hissed through gritted teeth. “What about the helicopters? How did they get through your wards? Did he cast a spell on them to allow that, too?” He waved a hand at the chopper Eli and her team were unloading. “How the fuck did the one that got away make it out?”

Lucina sniffed. “The spells encasing these vehicles are not Simon’s doing. I know the scent of this magic. It appears my sister is even more involved than I was willing to admit.”

Wyatt spat on the ground. “We need to go after him. Hunt his ass down like the dog he is. As soon as we’re back home, we find him and kill that fucker.”

The Shadowkeeper flicked her hand, and a shadow pressed against Wyatt’s mouth. “This man has led a tortured existence. I could sense it in the few moments I was near him. He is driven by darkness, and his magic is powerful. He will make a good shadow. I would like to turn him into one of my children. A shade of the night, something wholly under my control.” She smiled. “I ask that you find this Simon Shingleman and send him back to me. In return, I promise he will be at peace in the darkness and will never be seen or bothered by the living again. It will be a punishment both more merciful and more complete than mere death.”

“How can you guarantee that?” I asked. “For all we know, when all this is over,The Reject Projectwill resume. They’ll be back here doing the same shit as before.”

A half-smile flashed across Lucina’s lips so quick, I was sure I’d imagined it. “Afterthisis all over, I plan to return Bloodstone Island to its former isolation. I see now I made a grave mistake in allowing that spectacle to film here. I will block this place off to the show, to my sister, and anyone else. As I said, Simon will never trouble the world again should you send him back to me.”

Wyatt grunted, the muscles in his jaw ticking. He clearly didn’t like the idea. I pictured myself choking the life out of Simon, my hands tightening around his throat. It was a pleasant fantasy. But if Lucina was telling the truth, it sounded like his imprisonment in her shadow prison would last longer than anything we could possibly do to him.

“Fine,” Wyatt finally said. “If Kira agrees, then…ugh, fuck, I guess we’llsparehim.”

I nodded. It was for the best. “We will. Unless he gives us no other choice.”

Lucina bowed her head. “Understood. I will not ask you to sacrifice your lives to bring him to me.” A wall of flame sprang out of a doorway to our right, and everyone but Lucina flinched. “This place is not as safe as it once was. You’ll be fine here for a while, but I suggest departing as soon as you are able.”

---