Rejected (Shadow Beast Shifters #1) - Jaymin Eve Page 0,81
all the visitors from other worlds from falling into chaos?”
Shadow nodded as Inky rose up to twist around him. “In a manner. I was there at the beginning of this library being formed, and from that, I’ve been the guardian of the vast array of knowledge it contains. I’ve done my best to ensure it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. My protection also extends to any who reside within these walls unless they break one of the rules. I’m called on to mediate more than I’d like, but I wouldn’t give up my power or control for anything.”
“And yet you’re willing to let Earth fall to the shadow creatures?”
He shrugged. “Earth is technically not part of the Solaris System. It’s only bonded because I decided to partake in some of the desert land’s finest beverages with Reece, and then when he challenged me to use my power to leave a lasting legacy… shifters were born.”
I snorted. “Were you in Brolder at the time?”
Shadow nodded, and it all made sense.
“We were the product of a drunken bet,” I said shaking my head. “Nice.”
Shadow dropped his still-full bottle to the table. The clunk distracted me and by the time I looked up, he’d already spun his chair toward me, reaching out to grab the arms of my chair and yank me around too. Now we were face to face, my legs trapped between his.
“What game are you playing, Sunny?”
I gasped. “No, you can’t call me that. ‘Sunshine’ is one thing, but ‘Sunny’…” I choked off, and as much as I refused to cry in front of him, hearing my father’s nickname from my captor hurt deep in my chest. Like a small cut, but each breath lengthened the wound, spilling more blood until I bled out.
“He still calls you that, you know?” he murmured, not moving away from me. If anything, he was dragging my chair closer with each word until I was practically in his lap.
“Wh-Who does?”
My father was dead, so whom was he referring to? Jaxson?
“Did I tell you what all the doors lead to along the hallway to Earth?” he asked, knowing full well he hadn’t.
“No.”
“Some are prisons, as you know,” he said slowly, drawing out this bullshit. “Others are storage facilities for magical objects that are too dangerous to be out in the wild.” Right, right. Get to the point, dude. “There are also some incredibly special doorways that lead to differing versions of an afterlife. I offer a choice to fallen shifters, depending on how I feel about their legacies on Earth.”
My heart skipped a beat, my eyes burning as tears rimmed them. Pride aside, I couldn’t stop myself from reacting to what he was saying. “You’ve seen my father?”
It was a whisper. A short, simple sentence that burned like it had been branded on my skin.
“I escorted him to his afterlife.”
My hands were moving, wrapping around his biceps as I held on to him with every ounce of my strength. “Can I see him? Please?”
The pain registered a second later—I’d been so caught up in the possibility of having another moment with my dad, I’d forgotten what happened when I initiated contact with Shadow.
“Argh, shit!” I screamed, wrenching my hands away and trying to breathe deeply enough to get through the pain.
Ouch, ouch, oucchhhh. Why did that hurt so badly?
And yet, somehow, it still hurt less than knowing my father was behind one of those doors, and Shadow was the one in control of whether or not I saw him.
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“You can’t see him.”
I knew the words were coming, I could see it on his face, but still… Was I bleeding to death right now? He’d dangled all the hopes in the world before me and then tore them away.
“Why? Please. Forget the bet. I will submit to you if you allow me to see my father.” I was begging, yep, and I had no fucking regrets about it.
Everything in my life changed when my dad chose to attack the alpha, and I needed to know why. I needed the closure. And I mainly needed to know if I could once again freely love the man who’d raised me but who’d also ruined my life.
I had so many needs. It was a fire fueling my every thought and action.
“Please, Shadow.”
For the briefest, minutest of seconds, it almost looked like he regretted his next words. “There’s no way for the living to converse with the dead. It doesn’t work like that.”