Page 10 of Shadows Ascend (Remnant Archives #2)

M y brother surprised me, stepping quickly between my little family and our parents, cloaking us in his protective shadows.

The death god arched a dark brow. "A bit dramatic, don't you think my son."

Kade barked out a laugh. "Must be a family trait then…don't you recognize it, father ?" he said scornfully.

Our mother sighed, releasing Shea and stepping towards us, touching the shadows that separated us. "Must you do this every day Kade?"

With a simple flourish of her hand, the shadows shattered into hundreds of black blossoms and with another wave, she directed the delicate blooms to each one of the glass tombs to lay peacefully on top of them. Sadness crossed her features as she watched her beautiful control of power displayed.

Turning back to Kade, she folded her hands in front of her, "Just because our people sleep, does not mean you must deny yourself a full happy life. Your scorn and guilt is eating you from the inside out, my little shadow."

Kade's expression softened slightly. "You may have found happiness here in Sheol when the curse broke and your love was returned to you—you deserve it after so many years of suffering and never knowing, but just because you love him, only the goddess knows why,” he added sending Shea a glare, “does not mean I have to. What I do love is my court and my sister, and he knew…he knew what would happen to them when they came here and he does not care . He would do anything to fulfill his selfish desire for you.”

Sadness descended upon all of us as his last words echoed in the hallowed tower and I reactively moved to comfort my brother, at last understanding his anger and the darkness that plagued him.

He blamed himself, just as I did.

Emon’s strong hand held me back, the weakness that was there moments ago gone in his grip, but I could still feel the slight frailty in his power.

Emon’s attack had only lasted for a few minutes but it was enough for my heart to die a thousand deaths.

The complete helplessness I felt was more than I could bear.

“ This isn’t something you can fix, Remnant. Trust me, I would know.”

I frowned at him before my eyes fell on Riella, and then back on him.

His look imploring me to stay. My hands fisted at my sides, he was right, I could not fix this but I could find a way to protect him and Riella, and the only way to do that was for my family to get over themselves and give us the answers we desperately needed.

The three of us looked back when the booming voice of the death god rang in our ears.

" Selfish ," Shea spat, his face reflecting the dangerous god he truly was beneath, anger pouring off of him in waves of darkness, the room temperature plummeting to a biting cold, and the glass coffins frosting over beneath their shadow blooms. "And what do you call these tantrums?

The pain you inflict upon your own mother with your anger and misunderstandings! "

Kade snarled back, watching the darkness lower down upon him. "Do your worst, perhaps then our mother will finally see the nature of who you truly are. "

“Enough!” I stood with anger. This fucking shit was going to stop now.

“I do not care for whatever this family drama is. What I care about is what is happening to my soulmate and how the fuck I stop it!” I turned with a snarl towards the death god, my teeth bared.

“Stop this cold or I will make you. My daughter is freezing.”

"I quite agree with our daughter, Shea,” my mother said, placing her hand on his arm, looking up at him with a stern expression. “Comport yourself. You are a god among us mere fae."

Multi-faceted jeweled eyes studied my mother’s granite expression, his nostrils flaring down at her before he growled and waved his hand, rings flashing in the multitude of orb light. Instantly, the cold air dissipated and warmth flooded through the tower once more.

My brows raised. He seemed to loathe being commanded but when it came from my mothers lips, he respected her enough to listen, although liking it was a whole other story.

Emon snickered. “Not so god-like when Eve has him in her clutches is he? She makes him mortal, Remnant, and that’s the angle we play.”

My nod was subtle. I agreed, especially since I had nothing else at my disposal to fight with. I had always been cunning and Emon was my match, although I never cared for his live bait tactics. “If you two are now finally fin—”

I choked on my words when my mother jumped the shadows, appearing before me with open tears in her eyes, her hair flowing with the lingering power she had used. I held my breath when her hand reached up to my face.

"My little chickadee," she whispered, her soft voice cracking—my mother never cracked. “You have suffered so much, I wish I could take this all from you.”

I swallowed hard, fighting the sudden tears that mirrored hers. "I am okay, mother."

Her eyes seemed to bore into me, reading secrets that only Emon kept now.

Knowingly, her penetrating gaze shifted over to my soulmate with a soft smile.

"Yes I can see that well enough." Reaching upward with her other hand, she tilted my head down to plant a soft kiss on my forehead.

"Know that I have missed you more than you'll ever know and I shall never forgive myself for not protecting you better. "

Reaching up, I pulled her hands gently away, squeezing them reassuringly.

"Someday, we will speak more and you will learn that you gave me everything I needed to protect myself and more.

And when I fell, alone, I got back up, mother, just like you told me to.

But right now, now is your chance to help me.

How do I stop the sleep from taking Emon? "

A tear slid down her pale skin, staining her beauty in sorrow despite the gentle smile she gave me. "You will not like the answers I have to give. Let us leave this place, I have prepared dinner and I will tell you what I can."

Releasing my hands, she shifted back into the shadows at the death god’s side, and I gritted my teeth. “Why not tell me now?”

Shea pulled my mother closer into him and I narrowed my eyes. He knew what we did, that my mother was the access we needed to all our answers and he would guard her until he was ready to share them.

“Because even the dead have ears, daughter. It isn’t just them listening in.”

Emon rose from the floor with Riella wrapped in his arms, his golden glow returned as he prowled to my side.

Normally I would stand in awe of his presence but now all I could see was his death—where the light died inside him.

It was only seconds before he came back to me but it felt like hours of agony, a slow torture without any end.

Bending down, he kissed my lips softly. “I feel fine, my love. Slow your racing heart and ease your worry. I am still here with you as I always will be. Together, remember?”

I shook my head softly, biting my lip, my words inside his head were like a vow. "Where you go, then I go too, Emon. I am not me without you, do not ask me to be. It was you who said that I needed to live—and that cannot happen without you."

His rough finger rose and released my lip from my biting teeth, soothing the swelling with his fiery touch. "This world needs you in it, Remnant, Riella needs you too," he said softly back, dropping his hand.

"But, I. Need. You.”

His golden eyes widened slightly with surprise, as if he hadn't realized that I could love him just as fierce and just as deep. "And you have me, my love. There is no world, realm, or universe where you would not."

"I must say, I am enjoying this immensely," Kade interrupted us.

Emon and I looked up at our family who watched with varying expressions. My mother was smiling softly, the death god was scowling, Kade was grinning, and Riella giggled in Emon’s arms.

Kade chuckled darkly. "Do you know how many days I have had to sit awkwardly while they did their little mind speech shit? It's fun to see them get a dose of their own medicine."

Glancing at our parents and then back at him, I said dryly, “I think your boredom has led you to some dangerous pastimes, brother."

He grinned at me. "Oh you have no idea, stay awhile and you find out just how well I occupy my boredom, the havoc we wrought upon the City of Light has nothing to do with what I have brought to Sheol.”

Our mother scoffed, her beautiful face wrinkled with mocking distaste but her eyes glittered at her son. "Here I used to worry that our daughter was always the bad influence on him, but now I do wonder...."

Our supposed father didn't look so easily amused. "Indeed. However, I expect you both to behave as you should, being the children of a respectable and powerful god." His eyes flashed a bright green in warning at us both.

I ground my teeth but it was Emon who stepped forward between us protectively, meeting the death god’s warning stare with a lethal one of his own. “Try telling my soulmate how she should be one more time, death god. I fucking dare you.”

Shea’s lip curled, his teeth flashing brightly in the hovering lights. With a flick of his hand, my shifter soulmate was suddenly covered in a soft long sleeved shirt with dancing rainbow unicorns stitched gaudily upon the fabric. “It seems you need to learn your place as well, shifter king.”

I snorted at the way Emon's thick muscle practically burst from the seams of the fabric, and how his snarling breath made the unicorns appear to be moving across his body.

Riella gasped, her hands tracing the dancing horned beasts on his pink shirt. "Look father, unicorns! I haven't seen one in real life before. Only the shadows showed me! Aren't they pretty? Is this their normal color?"