SWNOVELS Shadow Kissed: Chapter 43
Savannah
The ether closed in like the ocean depths, icy and oppressive. Every inch of my body screamed. Unlike traveling to the Deadlands, coming back was like passing through molasses. The distant whispers of the dead followed us, and I swore I could feel their freezing grip trying to pull us back into the Deadlands. My pulse quickened as my panic rose, but then the weight and the pain and the exhaustion released.
I gasped and stumbled across the limestone floor of the mausoleum, and Jaxson’s arm swooped around my waist, steadying me.
“We made it.” My throat felt like sandpaper, but my strength was slowly returning. The familiar marble catacombs rose around us, lining the walls, and a candle flickered on a pedestal in the center of the room.
Jaxson cupped my cheek, his fingers lingering on my jaw. “You did it.”
His eyes flashed a honey gold, and my heart stuttered as a flurry of emotions flooded me. Overwhelming. All-consuming. I cared about him in ways I’d never experienced before, and it had nothing to do with the mate bond. This man was everything. I pressed my hand over his. “We did it.”
An explosion rang out nearby, and the mausoleum shook.
“What the fuck was that?” Jaxson released me and crossed to the metal doors. They creaked as he opened them, and his body immediately tensed. I stepped up beside him and froze. The magical barrier around the garden must have been breached.
Smoke rose in the distance above Dockside, and an orange glow lit the darkening sky. Ash and burned metal stung my nose, and the echo of screams carried on the breeze.
He’s here, Wolfie said.
No. We weren’t ready. It wasn’t time!
Jaxson already had his phone pressed to his ear. It rang once, and with my wolf senses back, I heard Sam’s voice. “Jax! You’re alive! Where are you?”
“The Garden of the Wolves. What’s happening?” he answered.
An explosion echoed through his phone, and Sam cursed. “The Dark God’s cracked open a rift in Dockside. Something’s happening to the wolves. You’ve got to get out of there.”
Terror iced my veins.
“Where are you?” Jaxson’s voice was calm, but every muscle in his body was taut.
“The Indies. On my way to Laurel’s—” Screams cut her off. “Fuck. All hell’s broken loose. The demons and the Order have erected magical barriers to the north and west. Laurel and the sorcerers are putting one up on the south. You better get here fast.”
Magical barriers? Would that be enough to contain the Dark God?
“Got it. But I thought we had more time,” said Jaxson.
A brief burst of incredulous laughter rang through the phone. “You’ve been gone for three days. Hell, I’d almost given you two up for dead. Glad to be mistaken, but your timing could be better.”
“Yeah, well, thanks for the welcome party,” he said dryly. “We’re on our way.”
“Be careful, Jax. Some of the wolves have gone AWOL. They’re attacking people—” she began, but the line disconnected.
“Fuck!” Jaxson pocketed his phone. “We’ll cut through the park, and when we hit the streets, we’ll make tracks. My truck is parked a few blocks from Eclipse.”
“Will we be able to get through the barriers?”
“I fucking hope so.”
We moved silently through the garden. My muscles felt like jelly, and my magic was still replenishing, but I felt whole again with Wolfie and the shard back.
It’s good to be back, Wolfie said. We’d better not die tonight.
We didn’t come this far to lose.
As we emerged from the woods around the mausoleum, I skidded to a stop and sucked in a breath. “Look at that…”
Jaxson followed my gaze up to the brilliant streaks of light that painted the sky. It was beautiful and eerie. Green and yellow lights flared to the north, while vivid reds flashed to the west like the northern lights on steroids.
“Those must be the magical barriers,” Jaxson said.
The sky to the south was still dark, suggesting the sorcerers hadn’t gotten theirs up yet. Were they waiting for us? I hoped that was the reason, and not that the barrier had already fallen.
We took off into the park, the familiar scents of oak and damp earth easing some of the fear that had taken root in my gut. What were we going to do?
Close the rift and lock the bastard away, Wolfie answered.
Easier said than done.
Tires screeched up ahead, followed by the crunching of metal. We stepped out of the wooded park onto 63rd into an entirely different world.
Chaos.
I’m gone for a few days, and all hell breaks loose, Wolfie remarked.
A man darted by, his shirt torn and a look of utter terror on his face. Acrid smoke burned my throat. A light post bowed over the street, its bulb flickering. The SUV that had struck it was half on the sidewalk, steam rising from its dented hood.
Shrieks pierced the air, and a faint, dark mist drifted down the street. Flickers of golden light flared inside it like a million twinkling stars in a midnight sky. That wasn’t natural.
Jaxson towed me across the road as I took in the madness. He’d said something, but I barely registered the words, too transfixed by the strange mist that moved like an ethereal creature.
On our left, a figure careened out of the mist. Hair sprouted from his arms and neck, and when he turned, his yellow eyes locked onto me. His face was that of a wolf.
Dread chilled my skin. Half wolf and half human, he was stuck in a shift.
“Jaxson, look,” I whispered.
As I did, the man’s body jerked, and a blood-curdling scream tore from his throat. Then he bolted toward us like a rabid animal.
Jaxson shoved me to the side as the man leapt at us. Searing pain shot through my upper arm as the man’s claws dragged through flesh. I staggered but regained my footing as Jaxson threw him into the side of a brick building. His body slumped to the sidewalk, unconscious.
Jax turned back to me, worry cutting his face as he glanced at the wound on my arm. Blood dripped down my fingers, and the thing burned, but I already felt my skin beginning to heal. “It’s fine. Just a scratch. Come on!”
I took off down the sidewalk, keeping an eye on the strange mist expanding around us. Jaxson’s truck was parked up ahead, shrouded by the sparkling haze.
Shit.
We stopped a few feet from the truck. The magic pulsing off the mist smelled of ash and flame, but it was so frigid that it raised goosebumps on my skin: the Dark God’s signature.
“I don’t think we should touch the mist,” I said.
“We don’t have a choice, darling,” Jaxson whispered, as if reticent to alert the weird fog to our presence.
He was right—we needed to get to the truck, and fast. The mist had crept in around us, blocking off all exits, almost as if it were pursuing us.
Hunting.
Jaxson palmed his keys and unlocked the truck. “Ready?”
What options did we have? Any way we moved, we’d have to face the haze. I nodded, and we darted toward the truck. Tingles cascaded over my skin the instant the mist enveloped me, but otherwise, I felt nothing. I reached for the passenger door, and—
Wolfie howled in my mind, and pain rocked my body. I doubled over, my claws slipping out as I felt a shift coming on, but it wasn’t me who was in control.
The Dark God’s presence infiltrated me like the floodwaters of a broken levy. I clutched my head and saw Jaxson across the hood, struggling. He was affected by it, too.
Stop fighting me, Savannah. The Dark God’s voice pierced my mind.
This douchebag clearly doesn’t know you at all, Wolfie growled.
I would have laughed, but the agony that tore through my body was too strong. Anger simmered under my skin, and I latched onto it as I drew my magic inward.
Get out!
I thought of Sam and what I’d done to her. Of my aunt and uncle and cousin, all depending on me. I didn’t survive this fucking long to give in to him.
With a burst of energy, I forced the bastard out. The aching pain ceased, and I had control over my body again.
Jaxson leaned against the hood of the truck, his head tilted down and the corded muscles in his forearms popping. He was fighting the Dark God’s magic, too.
Shadows poured out of my fingers, and with a flick of my wrists, they launched forward, driving the mist away from Jaxson. He growled and straightened, his gaze locking on me. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”
With a quick nod, I flung the door open and slid into the passenger seat. Jaxson was beside me in seconds, and the truck rumbled to life. He hit the gas, and we lurched forward. Jaxson swerved around another wrecked car in the street, and I looked out the side window, which peaked above the low-lying haze.
Things were fucked. The mist had completely enveloped Dockside, by the looks of it. It pressed in around the truck, the sparks within it flaring and flickering, as if it were alive and agitated.
I shivered and steeled my nerve.
This was going to be one hell of a fight.
We’ve been fighting our whole life, Wolfie said. Let’s finish this.