Deserted (Shadow Beast Shifters Book 4)

By the time my head stopped spinning and the last tremors left my body, Reece had moved us back into the hot spring. As I relaxed into the swirling depths, I sighed at how good the water felt against my sensitive skin.

Reece remained silent at my side, and I could swear he was already distancing himself. ‘Why haven’t you asked me about my sexual partners overs the years?’ he asked out of nowhere, when we’d sat in silence for too long. ‘I asked about yours because I was tempted to murder any who’d touched you, as irrational as that is… But you never asked about me. Do you not care?’

My chest ached with dueling emotions. ‘We only have a few more days in the deserts. Is there really enough time to discuss the many females you’ve been with?’

Reece was silent, and it was clear my attempt at humor had fallen flat. Time to try the truth. “I really don’t want to know,” I admitted.

This got his full attention. ‘You’re jealous?” he asked, gaze stripping me to my core. “Melalekin, who’s had males from all the worlds chasing her from the moment she could wield a sword, is jealous of attention I’ve had?’

‘I’m not jealous, you arrogant asshole’ I shot back, lying to save face. ‘It’s just not worth discussing.’

Reece let out a cynical laugh. ‘I want you to be jealous, Lale.”

I blinked at him, unsure what he was saying. “Clarify, please.”

“Jealousy means you care,” he said softly, wrapping his arm around me and bringing back a touch of the closeness we’d had during sex.

With a long breath, I pushed my pride aside and said, “Even as a robot it was torture thinking of you with other females. I’m not sure I could have seen that and not killed you both.”

Reece didn’t show an ounce of concern over my threat to murder him. “There have been no others, Lale,” he finally said. “I was angry for many years, but when it came to females, none compared to you. No matter how much I tried to destroy our bond, it never happened.’

I’d been shocked by much that had happened between us in the Desert Lands, but this was the moment my heart finally seized in my chest. ‘You—You—What?” I cough. “You haven’t had sex in centuries?’

Reece shook his head. ‘No one could satisfy me, so I didn’t bother. My hand was better company.’

Still gasping like a fish out of water, I managed a sob. ‘You’re not like that with me. You clearly love sex and foreplay…” I groaned. “The foreplay is… damn.’

His laugh was strangled. ‘That’s with you, Lale. It’s always been like that with you. I was a fool to ever think I could hate you out of my life.’

I had to press a hand to my chest to keep myself together. ‘You gave it a solid shot,’ I finally said, and needing relief from this conversation, I stood. “We should go.’

Reece didn’t argue, rising with me. We were quiet as we strolled onto the sand, my body and hair dry before we got out of the springs. Nothing from this grotto would leave with us, not even a bead of moisture—a prediction proven as we stepped out of the silver sands and back onto the red of Rohami and I looked down my naked body to find not a speck of silver remained, even on my feet. He was also right about the loss of energy hitting me like a ton of bricks.

“Fuck,” I groaned, half leaning over with my hands on my knees.

‘It’ll take a few minutes,’ Reece said from nearby as I closed my eyes in an attempt to keep it together.

For many long seconds I felt powerless, but then the natural ebb and flow of my energy base returned, and I was once again able to breathe deeply and focus.

‘Wow, that was intense,” I said when I could speak. “You were right not to bring others here. One could easily lose themselves to that feeling of invincibility.’

It had only been when I’d stepped outside that I’d truly felt the loss of power, followed by a need to return to the grotto.

‘You handled it exactly as I’d expected,’ Reece said. ‘Strongly and resiliently.”

For a beat, a sense of comfort settled between us, and I hoped that this time, it would last longer. In truth, a huge part of me was still completely stunned by his confession in the grotto, and for once, reading between the lines took me to a place that I wasn’t ready to go yet. A place with too much hope. “Let’s head back to our friends,” I finally said. “With any luck they haven’t floated off course.”

His smile was warm, and I pushed into him, feeling the sands of time slip away from us. We were already so much closer to the Delfora, and with that, the uncertainty of our future felt stronger than ever.

“The Odessa is on course,” he said, “heading for the Guardians.” As he tipped his head back, his strong jawline was the only part of him visible from this angle. “I feel the call of the sacred lands.” His murmur was filled with power. “It’s louder than ever. It won’t be long before the calm rivers grow wild again and we’re fighting for our lives.’

Pushing my body as high as I could without unfurling my wings, I sent energy into the world until I too sensed the tugging tendril of darkness deep in the north. ‘I feel it,” I told him, “the rising tide of power and anger of the lands.’

There was no reason for me to have any connection to the Delfora or the Desert Lands in general—I was not born of this world like Reece. But there was no denying that I could feel the call too.

Neither of us questioned it. The reason would show itself when the time was right. Whether it was the bond we’d created in our youth or something more sinister, I would face it the same way I had vowed to face everything since the time of my weakness here: head on.

With nothing more to be learned in Rohami, Reece pulled me against his chest, and as his sands surrounded us, I marveled at how much control he had over the dominating power of this world. All the sands except that of the grotto.

Made me wonder what a being who could control the silver sands might be able to do. What power could they manipulate for their own means? ‘Do you think the ancient gods, or maybe even Death itself, were the ones who created the grottos?’ I asked as he lifted us into the air. ‘Can they control the silver sands?’

If the jolt in his energy was any indication, that question did not sit well with him. ‘We’d best hope not,’ he bit out. ‘If we fail in our mission to stop them from rising and they can use the silver sands, we’re all doomed. I have nothing that can stand against that strength. None of us do.’

Reece used a tone that I’d rarely heard from him. A tone that said he was unsure about the future… unsure we had enough power to win this mission.

For a brief moment, I sensed that we were thinking the same thing: Was this the battle we’d join our brethren in the sands? Our bones added to the valley of the dead, never to walk the worlds again.