Page 18 of Shadows Ascend (Remnant Archives #2)

M y eyes shot open the moment I left Deirdre behind in the spirit realm. Blinking up at the twilight sky, I allowed the soothing moonlight to steady my pounding heart, unsure of what was worse. The nightmare memories of my soulmate’s screams or the decaying of my mother in an unmarked grave.

Next to me, my cub snored adoringly, her heartbeat soft and steady in her peaceful sleep.

There was no indication that she suffered the same dreadful sleep as I but there was for her mother…

who was absent from the bed, her own soft breaths no longer adding to the melodious sound that seemed to become my new heartbeat.

Immediately my gaze searched within the room, finding it empty as shadows crept across the wall.

Sniffing, I scented the air, knowing my soulmate was not far as her scent was still strong.

My eyes fell on the balcony that was across the room, semi transparent black glass blocking the tantalizing silhouette of my mate.

Easing myself carefully from Riella's side, I stiffened with gritted teeth when she stirred then rolled away from me, trailing all the covers with her.

Smiling softly, I was transfixed by her sweetness cocooned in soft bed sheets, her dark hair spilling across a bed made of clouds, her cherub face from which tiny snores escaped was what blessings were made of.

Gently, I pulled the bed sheet down under her chin to allow her to breathe easier and left her to her peaceful sleep.

Padding across the moonlit room, darkness danced with each prowling step I took before I stepped through the enchanted glass barrier out into the night.

A comet burned brightly overhead, highlighting the gorgeous figure of Remnant as if she was just beamed down from the skies for me to soak in her splendor.

She was in her element here—her long blue black hair flowing around her in silky straight strands, calling for me to run my hands through them just like I had at dinner while her exposed legs peeked out from the billowing night shirt she wore.

Everything about her standing here was a fucking tease, beckoning me to reach out and touch that soft moonlit skin.

I shivered with sudden passionate need that had nothing to do with the night breeze that was neither cold nor warm.

If it wasn't for the sinful desire that just the sight of my soulmate caused, I would have said that the temperature was peaceful…

relaxing even—the kind of lazy happiness that sated lovers could sit together in for hours never wanting anything more from its dark caress.

"I couldn't sleep," Remnant whispered, sensing my presence, her arms hugging her body, forcing the black silk shirt to ride higher up her legs, just before the delicious curves of her ass met her thighs.

I inhaled her lily scent deeply and burned it deep into my mind before I shoved my raging desire down and prowled, closing the space between us.

Circling my arms around her small frame, my body engulfed hers, and I relished in the way she submitted into me.

It was powerful and sweet at the same time, especially when a shaky sigh escaped her lips.

Dropping my mouth to her soft hair, I breathed against the strands. "Nightmares?"

Her fingertips traced along my forearm that rested over her chest, drawing swirls along my skin making me shiver.

"Not since we solidified our bond…I keep waiting for the panic to start anew bu t it has not. What plagues me is something entirely different.” Her confession ended in a soft whisper and I knew then this was difficult for her. To open up and speak about her fears.

I squeezed her tightly to me, trying to permeate my own strength into her. "This is likely the only sleep any of us will get for some time, little umbra. What remedy can I conjure so that you can be sleeping restfully in our bed?"

Her head fell back into my chest and a worried frown creased her forehead while we both stared out into the exposed cosmos.

"I could say the same to you, shifter. I know that your sleep just now was anything but restful.

I can feel your fear and unease in our bond too, Emon.

It's Deirdre, she has come to you in the spirit realm hasn’t she? "

I hummed, turning my nose into her hair and inhaling her scent to burn away the image of her dead body, her throat torn open by animalistic claws. "Yes," I breathed.

Her body tensed and I could feel the anger vibrating throughout.

Remnant Dark may be small but like our daughter, she was powerful and when it was unleashed…

goddess help us all. "She visited me as well, when we passed out from entering this realm.

What does she possibly think she can gain from this? "

"To create discourse, sow doubt, to weaken us. She fears us and what we are capable of together."

"Do you…do you need to talk about it?" she asked softly.

"I fear it will only upset you more," I kissed her hair and purred down at her when she started to protest, "why don't you tell me what is really keeping you up, since it is not your psychopath ex lover that haunts your thoughts. Thank fuck for that."

She snorted and her lips pursed in thought. Tactfully, I allowed the silence to grow, knowing it would eventually spill her secret musings only if I gave it the space to come forth.

My father would be fucking proud. I could almost feel his truthful gold eyes shining with it, watching us.

It didn't take long.

"I don't have full control of the shadows," she finally confessed, her voice so soft I barely heard it with my shifter ears as she reached out with her hand to the night. The moonlight cast hundreds of shadows on the glass tomb towers that made up the Sheol's city, Voltum.

A grouping of shadows jumped off the building, floating in the air towards us. I narrowed my eyes, watching the way they quivered, resisting the call of my soulmate before completely shooting back to the resting place.

"I have been trying for hours, I can't even pull the smallest shadow to me now."

I had known, of course but was waiting for her to discuss it when she was ready. "Has this ever happened before? Could it be tied to the lilin?" I questioned, tucking my chin on top of her head again.

Her head rocked back and forth, her hair catching on my beard.

"Never," she said vehemently, her teeth flashing in the night, her sudden violence stirring my blood and unleashing the desire I had pushed away just moments before.

"The Lilin were never shadows," she added, gritting her teeth, "losing them should not have affected who I am—who I should be.

" Turning in my arms, her hand rested on my chest, her eyes lost in thought, staring through me unseeing.

"My shadows are gone and I cannot even rely on my power to help us, shifter. "

I growled low, sensing more. "Say it."

Slowly, she dragged her eyes up to my own and the uncertainty within those emerald depths was like seeing the sun falling from the sky, dooming us all. "Emon…can you shift?"

Raising my hand up, I unsheathed my claws and trailed them dangerously over the soft pale skin of her face, over the vulnerable exposure of her throat, and then across the swell of her breasts that started to rise and fall with her quickened breath, her shirt unbuttoned tantalizingly low.

"I still have my claws." I smirked and allowed my fangs to descend over my lips, watching her eyes dilate as I slowly ran my tongue over one of them.

Bending, I grazed them over the pale column of her neck, her breath catching as I bit down, stopping just before I broke the skin and then stared possessively at the red markings.

"I still have my fangs," I breathed across her porcelain skin.

Shivering in my hold, she looked away, her voice quivering. "I can't lose either of you…"

Snarling, I straightened, gripping her chin and forcing her eyes to see my hardened resolve.

"I know those words, I know that tone. You're not fucking running again, Remnant Dark and you sure as goddess fuck are not doing this alone to spare us.

Our daughter is too much like the both of us to be left behind and you know I will hunt you down anyway.

How do you think that will end, hmm little umbra? "

She gave me a sad smile, "With you cheating of course."

I grinned, goddess what I wouldn’t give to run on the parapets of my city with her, that moment when I saw her come back to life burned so brightly in my memory that I almost was there again.

Her eyes searched my face and then fell on my nose. Reaching up, she traced its profile, smiling softly when I wrinkled it at her. "This really is from pinching pastries?"

I grinned, "I have a feeling our daughter will be much better at it than I ever was, inheriting her mothers stealth and strategy, she will bleed Drey's bakery dry."

My soulmate laughed, shaking her face from my hold, peering through the glass where our daughter lay sleeping safely.

"I still can't believe she is ours…I never aspired to be a mother.

It seemed foolish to even think about, but now that I am…

she is so magnificent, how can I ever be good enough for something so innocently sweet, Emon? "

Pulling her in closer to me, I brushed the tip of my claw against her plump lips wanting nothing more than to claim them. “You are good enough, my love, because you are just as magnificent. Do you want to know how I know that?” I purred, dropping my tone low.

Her breath quickened, "How?" The sexy gasp she released setting my body aflame.