Page 7 of Cursed Shadows (Shadow Guardians #2)

DRAGAN

Grimreap

Shadow Realm

While such an intrusion would typically provoke my anger, my fury is quelled by the extraordinary sight of Eilish’s wings. They extend past the posters of the bed on one side and on the other, nearly reach to the fire at the far end of the room.

“It’s true,” I breathe. Just then, Baron strides into the room but stops as soon as he sees her. Shock takes up residence in his eyes, the same shock that characterizes Cambion. Thoradin appears in the hallway a few seconds later.

I pull away from Eilish, stunned. She realizes what’s happening and flushes self-consciously, clutching her cloak which has fallen into the valley between her wings. As she does, her wings retract into the smooth markings on her back.

“Unbelievable,” murmurs Cambion. “The sprite was right.”

“Great that no one fuckin’ believed me!” Flumph exclaims, outraged. “I been tellin’ ya all along!”

“What does this mean?” asks Cambion, his voice still hushed in awe. I watch as his eyes travel from Eilish’s face and down the line of her neck before resting at the hollow between her breasts. Even with the cloak pulled together, her cleavage is prominent. Fire burns in me and a feeling of possessive anger begins to brew in my stomach. I don’t want Cambion looking at her like that, like he wants her. Like he would take her now, if we weren’t in the room.

She’s mine.

I force the feelings down. Then, I look at Eilish, and I regard her with new significance. My gaze not leaving hers, I respond to Cambion’s question. “It means we have to do everything in our power to protect her.” I think back to the vision of a furious and violent Variant. Fear strikes me once more—not for myself, but for the stunning creature next to me.

Cambion nods somberly.

Eilish speaks then, her voice fuller. She rotates to face our intruders in the doorway. “Cambion,” she says, her voice weighted, “we need to tell you what we saw.”

***

FLUMPH

When you call someone a liar an’ then you find out that person ain’t no liar, YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO SAY SORRY.

But not these dickheads.

Fuckin’ typical.

Shadow Butt can open his mouth wide enough to stick his tongue down Pretty’s throat, but he can’t use it to give me no apology?

I’m ‘bout to say as much when angel-face declare she got some news an’, apparently, they’re all ready to move on. I start to call thems on they’s shit, but, ‘fore I can start layin’ into ‘em, I hear the one name that make me wanna hide in the angel’s robe again.

Anona.

“How do you know this?” ask the elf king when Eilish is done tellin’ him what she saw in her dream. The elf look pissed, probly ‘cause he weren’t the first to get it in.

“Eilish had a vision,” Dragan say.

“Eilish had a vision,” Cambion repeat back. He sound like he mockin’ the big, bad gargoyle. “How do we know it wasn’t just an inconsequential dream?”

“Because I saw it, too,” say the gargoyle.

“And I saw myself buried deep inside her, but last I checked, that hasn’t happened,” Cambion spit back, real pissed-off-like. The way he say it, an’ the way he lookin’ at the angel, make it seem like he don’t believe the vision he saw was real. Like he think it was somethin’ she planted in his head.

“Regardless what you saw,” the demon prince start off, his voice real low an’ tight. “The vision Eilish and I saw was real.” Dragan clamps down his teeth an’ I’m wonderin’ if he gonna launch at Cambion. These two gotta real nasty relationship ‘tween ‘em, an’ they’s always at each other’s throats.

“It could be a dream and you happened to channel it when you touched her,” Cambion suggests.

Dragan shake his head, real annoyed-like. “She couldn’t have dreamed it; she doesn’t know what the inside of Variant’s throne room looks like.”

“We don’t know what she knows,” the elf king say. His eyes narrow.

“We should trust her and the vision,” Baron or Revenant or Ball-Sucker or Taint-Fingerer or whatever the hells we’re s’posed ta be callin’ him say. “The vision she saw of me was real and true.”

The angel look at him an’ nods, like she real pleased he standin’ up for her. He don’t look back at her, though.

I don’t care if Pretty Boy is mad; all I care ‘bout is findin’ out where Anona is an’ makin’ sure I’m somewheres far away from wherever the fuck that place is.

“So, Variant an’ Anona ain’t got no clue wheres we are?” I ask. Facin’ Anona again ain’t somethin’ I’m lookin’ forward to. Fact is, I could live the rest o’ my days very happy never seein’ that foul bitch agin.

“I don’t know,” Dragan starts. “The scene Eilish and I saw could have taken place days ago, for all we know.”

“It was light,” Eilish say to Dragan as she tap his hand. He glance down at her fingers an’ then at her face, an’ it’s like his whole expression change. It’s like he ain’t mad no mores. I’m really hopin’ this angel be on our side ‘cause if she a bad angel, she got Dragan playin’ right into her little plan, pretty as she please.

Dragan nod an’ face everyone in the room. “That’s right. It was daytime in the throne room, so the vision couldn’t have taken place in real time.” That’s ‘cause outside, it be darker than a night hag’s tit. An’ it ain’t jist ‘cause we in the Shadow Realm. Night is still the darkest time, whether you be in Shadow, Fae or the Mortal Realms.

“But whether it’s a vision of the future or the past, we don’t know,” add the angel.

I gulp, ‘cause I scared. Last time I got on Anona’s bad side, she was two seconds away from rippin’ my wings clean off. My right one’s still torn from where that son-of-a-bitch Dravon pulled it.

Anona’s an ugly bitch, but she a smart bitch. An’ usually when she want somethin’, she get it.

Everyone gits real quiet-like.

“Shouldn’t we stay here, then?” I ask King Shadow Butt ‘cause he the biggest one outta all of ‘em. “I mean, they ain’t found us yet, right? That gotta mean somethin’?”

The vampire answer. He spook me, ‘cause he move real fast an’ he got this darkness ‘bout him that don’t seem right. Like the shadows surroundin’ him are part o’ him. Like they be one an’ the same. Yeah, Dragan’s got shadows, too, but his are different somehow. They ain’t quite so dark. An’ Dragan don’t go ‘round drinkin’ people’s blood… well, that I know of, anyways.

“You can’t stay here,” the vampire say like he’s king o’ the fuckin’ universe.

The dumbass elf nods like the vampire just said somethin’ way wise. He musta said whatever the wise part was real quiet-like, ‘cause all I heard was him suggestin’ we leave the one place where Anona ain’t been to find us.

“We need to get you out of shadow, anyway,” Dragan says as he look down at Li’l Miss Muffet. “You can’t stay here much longer. The darkness is eating at you, little by little.”

“Any o’ youze know what a tuffet is?” I ask but no one even look at me.

Dicks.

“I’m thinkin’ it be some kinda dessert,” I answers myself. “Like one o’ them custard-filled things.”

“He’s right,” Baron say.

“I am?” I ask, but that vamp just give me a real annoyed look. Well, fuck you, too, cum-muncher!

“All of you need to leave this realm,” the vamp finishes.

“Aren’t you coming with us?” the angel ask him.

“We need your help,” the elf king start, but the vamp interrupt him.

“I’m not the man you once knew,” he say. “I’m no king. I have no stake in your battle.”

“Ya know, I gotta say, I agrees with him,” I tell them, ‘cause I wanna lose this bloodsucker, like, yesterday. “He ain’t the man y’all once knew an’ he ain’t no king, an’ you all are kings, know what I’m sayin’? We should probly find someone else fer our battle.”

The vamp frown but he don’t have no response to that. It’s probly ‘cause I made a good point. ‘Bout time someone started makin’ some sense ‘round here.

“You’re after the same thing we are,” the elf king say. “Defeating Variant.”

The vamp nod. “But not for the same reasons. I don’t care about balance. All I care about is revenge. And I will get my revenge, with or without you.”

“We would be stronger with you,” the elf king goes on. “ You would be stronger with us.”

“I work alone.”

“No,” the angel say. Her voice sound stronger now. An’ her face look better. Not that it looked bad before or nothin’, but she looked real tired-like. Now she look like she got more life in ‘er. An’ judgin’ by the way Dragan be lookin’ at her, he thinkin’ ‘bout puttin’ somethin’ else in ‘er, too.

“We need to stay together,” she say. “All of us… together.”

“And if you say no, they’ll knock you out and take you anyway,” the elf king grumble, like he rememberin’ the time Dragan did ‘xactly the same to him. I laugh, but I don’t think no one hear me. Or maybe they just don’t give no shits.

Dicks.

Dragan speak up now. “They’re right. It’ll take all of us to bring down Variant.”

“I work alone,” Vamp Bat repeat.

“Not for the immediate future,” Dragan say. “We have to make up for the past, Baron. We have to restore the balance that existed before, and we can’t do it without you.”

“My name isn’t Baron,” Baron argue.

I make a joke ‘bout it but no one even looks at me. But I’m used to that. When you be small, everyone discount you an’ yer opinions. Anyways, they’re all too busy starin’ at each other. I’ve never been one for long, dramatic pauses so’s I speak up. “Well, where we goin’, then?” I ask the elf an’ the gargoyle. Fuck the vamp an’ his bloodsuckin’ ways.

“Our first priority,” declares the elf, “is restoring Eilish and Baron’s memories. I can create a Transmutation Stone to try to accomplish that, but I need tools.”

“What kind of tools?” ask Dragan

“Minerals, supplies, things I can only get in the Fae Realm.”

“You wanna go back to the Fae Realm?” I holler at him. “That’s the first place Anona gonna look for us! Goin’ back there be the dumbest shit you said all night!”

Oh, these asses.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I agree with the sprite,” say the gargoyle. “Returning to the Fae Realm now is a suicide mission. You know Variant’s men are waiting for us.”

The angel’s eyes are wide, an’ she turn to the elf king. “You know of something that can restore my memories?”

“Are you even listenin’, doll face? We ain’t goin’ back there, so don’t go gettin’ yer hopes up,” I say, ‘cause I don’t want her sidin’ with no prissy-ass elves.

“Would someone please shut him the fuck up?” asks the elf, an’ I decide right here an’ now that I ain’t likin’ him one bit. Nope, not even a speck. Then, he talk to the angel. “I can’t be sure it will work. We still don’t know what’s blocking your memories. But I can try.” Finally, he turn to Dragan. “Nowhere is safe. Variant will be searching all three realms for us. We have to keep moving.”

“Eilish isn’t strong enough yet,” say Dragan. “She needs rest.”

“What she needs is to know who she is and why she’s here. We all do. There’s no choice now, Dragan, we have to go,” elf boy argues.

“You’re forgetting one very important detail,” say Dragan an’ he eye the elf real narrow-like. “If we leave the Shadow Realm, Thoradin and I will turn to stone.”

“No, you won’t,” Eilish say. “Not if you’re with me.” Then she look confused an’ it’s almost like someone else was talkin’ an’ just borrowin’ her mouth.

“What do you mean?” ask Dragan as he turn to look at her, real confused-like.

“I… I don’t know why or how I know that,” she say, an’ her eyes go real wide again. She look like she hopin’ Dragan just gonna believe her, ‘cause she ain’t got much o’ a good reason why he should. “I… I just have this feeling that if you’re with me, you’re safe.”

These be big words comin’ from a chick who’s spent most o’ her time passed the fuck out. I’m pretty good at tellin’ when I’m ‘bout to get slapped, though, so’s I stay quiet this time.

Dragan’s eyebrows push together. “When we left Cambion’s in Geldingstock, I began to turn…”

“Because I was unconscious,” she answer. “But I’m awake now. And Cambion is right. We have to return to the Fae Realm. The sooner I have my memories back, the sooner I can answer all your questions and some of my own. Right now, I don’t even know what I know or why I know it. Maybe my memories hold the key to defeating Variant, once and for all. ”

Dragan nod like he agree, an’ in that moment, I hate all of ‘em equal. “Last time I checked, in order to get to the Fae Realm, we gotta first cross through the mortal world,” I say an’ they all look at me like what be my point. “Um, the mortal world’s Anona’s playground!”

“So?” the elf king ask.

I glares at him. “Are none o’ you dimwits aware that we can’t do shit if we’re captured or dead?” There be a few alternatives before bein’ captured an’ dead that I ain’t exactly thrilled ‘bout, neither. Disemboweled, imprisoned, put in a stew… I ain’t one to doubt Anona’s creativity.

But, as always, no one care ‘bout the opinion o’ a sprite. Funny, considerin’ I’m the only one here who know the woman lookin’ for us. Maybe one o’ these pea brains’ll realize I might have some valuable information on the subject? No such luck, everyone start movin’ closer to the door an’ I’m left shakin’ in my boots an’ feelin’ all kindsa sorry fer myself.

Dragan help Eilish fix her cloak. How’s it that the girl is always buck-ass-nekked? I been nekked ‘xactly zero times since we started this mess an’ it ain’t been that difficult.

We leave the nice, warm room an’ make our way out to the front room again. Both the bald man an’ the guy from the cot are gone. Everythin’ is real quiet-like, all’s you can hear is the fire still roarin’ an’ cracklin’. Shadow Bat open the door an’ we file out; no one says a word. Not even me, which is difficult, ‘cause I got lotsa words to describe how I feel ‘bout this whole mess.

Outside, it be so dark, it hard to make out anythin’. I can barely even see my own hand in front my face.

“Dragan, I can’t see,” say Eilish an’ I hear the sound o’ him pickin’ her up. How romantic. Makes me wanna barf. The rest o’ us are left to fend for our own selves. I fly into the stone wall more than once but no one gives no shits.

Dicks.

Then, I gives up flyin’ on my own, an’ I float over to Eilish an’ take me a nice seat on her lap. Dragan glare at me but I just shrug. Ain’t my fault he can’t fit.

“This way,” say the vamp. I can’t tell which way we’re goin’, but the air feels all cold an’ stale-like. Wet, too. I don’t think we’re goin’ out the way we came in, ‘cause there’s no stairs, but I can’t see a thing so I dunno where the hells we are. My mind starts to wander an’ I start seein’ things in the dark shadows. A hand reachin’ out to grab me, a figure that look like Dravon standin’ in the corner, somethin’ crawlin’ on me. But when we walk by, there ain’t nothin’ there. Still, I’m sweatin’ like a pig in July just imaginin’ all that scary stuff everywheres. It don’t matter that I’m travelin’ with the four buffest guys in the three realms, I’m shakin’ I’m so scared.

“Keep your eyes on the ground,” the vamp say. “If you see anything… misty, don’t look it in the face.”

“Why?” I ask.

“I imagine you’d like to stay alive?” he respond, all sarcastic-like.

I jist gulp.

They walk for, like, ten minutes ‘fore we see a fire torch lightin’ our way. The more I look at it, the more I realize it be a street lamp, but lit by a flame, not by electricity like you’d see in the Mortal Realm. I fuckin’ hate this place. Monsters an’ life-suckin’ ghosts aside, I’m missin’ me a TV an’ a phone real bad.

We keep walkin’ along an’ still, no one’s talkin’. We ain’t seen anyone but we can hear all sorts o’ sounds. Some faraway screams, sometimes we hear one from real close, like jist on the other side o’ the darkness someone’s soul is gettin’ sucked up Satan’s straw. Sometimes, there’s scratchin’ noises, too. An iron bar bein’ dragged across the stone alleys. My heart’s beatin’ so fast, I wonder if it just gonna up an’ stop.

I think it’s weird that durin’ the day, this place is busy as a whore on ‘er back, but now there ain’t no one out at all. I decide ta get off the angel’s lap to inquire. I fly right up to the Vamp Bat King’s ear an’ talk real quiet-like, ‘cause I’m afraid o’ what’s out there.

“Where’d everybody go?” I ask him.

“Hiding.”

“Why?”

“Because they’re scared,” he answer in a whisper. He motion for everyone to come up to where he be standin’, an’ then he point to the right. Then, he start walkin’ agin.

“Scared o’ what?” I ask but he ain’t really payin’ attention to me. He wave his hand lazily over his shoulder an’ nearly knock me over.

“Ghosts,” he say, still walkin’.

Then, as if on cue, we hear a scream right in front o’ us. It’s comin’ from beyond the street lamp an’ I can’t see nothin’, but I know someone is gettin’ their ass handed to ‘em. Then, the scream stops an’ we hear somethin’ movin’ ‘round—somethin’ big.

It growls.