check it. Those oddly cloaked Reapers need somewhere to meet. Maybe even somewhere to stay.”
“Not to mention power for the portal itself,” Trace chimed in.
Still watching Axton, I nodded. “And who would use their home unit? Nobody with smarts. Too big of a risk, and the portal plus the tech takes up way too much space to be hidden if someone drops in to visit. No, they wouldn’t keep it at home.”
Axton stared ahead, but I don’t believe he saw much. His glazed look signaled he was deep in thought. Finally, he said, “I think after we check on Kian, we should…”
I didn’t hear the rest because a freezing cold line blazed up my leg and arm before numbing my shoulder, rendering my arm useless. I didn’t care. That aura only meant one thing; Shadow was back.
Chapter Seventy
“Where have you been?” I bit out and halted.
Trace and Axton kept going but quickly noticed that I no longer floated between them. They spun, their eyes landing on me first before scanning the area for threats.
“Shadow’s back,” I said. “She’s killed my arm.”
I’d gotten used to keeping my Sight on most of the time while we were out. After the attack where they’d sent the large group of Reapers in their Grim forms, it had become a safety precaution. The wavy way the world looked still made me slightly nauseated, but I was almost wholly accustomed to it. When I looked at my shoulder and spotted the tiny green fluff monster, a wash of gratitude flowed through me. Shadow was definitely back, and I didn’t have to wait to confirm it.
She seemed… off, though. Usually, she climbed up, padded across my neck, and when she found the just-right spot, she would lie down, curling her tail around the front of my neck or letting it hang down my back. If not that, she would perch like my bones were limbs of a tree.
Now, however, she kept turning in a circle, her head swiveling back side to side as if she searched for danger. The cute little ears atop her head continued to move, listening for something. Her tail flicked in agitation, and she hadn’t toned down the intense cold her soul emitted. She’d learned to control that long ago.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” I asked, my voice breathy from both the concern and the fact that my right lung couldn’t seem to expand correctly anymore.
Her head whipped around, and her buggy eyes stared at me. Something inside of them ignited a bubbling, yawning pit in my gut. My monster growled and lifted its arm, ready to join with me. It knew that something terrible was coming.
Then, without warning, Shadow raised her hands and slapped them against both of my cheeks. I fell into her memories as they played out in front of me. Her emotions overwhelmed mine, and I became her.
She’d left me when Master Akai opened the door at the meeting with the King. Her intent was to take a quick peek around the hallway, then she would catch me as soon as I exited the King’s office. She found the meetings to be boring, so what could the harm be?
Then she spotted something odd. Master Akai looked angry. She’d learned through experience and my memories what to watch for with Master Akai, and she’d memorized them because they signified danger. She needed to look out for me, to protect me, and that meant learning all the signs of those that could hurt me.
So she ran down the hall and crept closer to the two Reapers. When she arrived, Master Akai had been saying, “I’ve told you already, Corlia. I’m not involved with that.”
“But she’s your daughter, Akai. Surely she asks for advice and speaks to you about things. She’s young, too young to run an Office if you ask me, and she doesn’t have the best record.” Assemblian Corlia was the second Reaper, and while he sounded friendly, Shadow caught an underlying vibration in his voice.
“If you want an update, speak with her,” Master Akai said as he turned away, already reaching into his pocket for his ferrule.
Corlia’s arm darted out, and his hand closed around Master Akai’s upper arm, halting his dismissal of the Assemblian. Master Akai looked down at the hand that held him, then up to the older Reaper.
Corlia released him immediately, and a sheepish grin twisted his lips. Shadow didn’t believe it. Apparently, she’d always found him off-putting, too much like the humans she remembered that