Page 11

CHAPTER 11

SO IT BEGINS

SHANNON

S omething’s wrong.

You’d think that after the banging of a lifetime that Malphas gave me, I’d be boneless and relaxed. Barring that, I’d be over=sensitized and tender. I think he ended up making me come no less than ten times, and I’m pretty sure I finally fell asleep with his dick in my mouth like a pacifier.

Physically, I feel fine. Better than fine. Malphas told me that the red moon is a rare event where the mated couples in Sombra can’t resist the urge to mate and re-finalize their bond. I don’t know what it was like for the un mated demons last night, but for their sakes—because I know how loud I can get—I hope they went to bed and put their pillows over their heads. If the consuming lust hit them, too, and they had to masturbate alone all night… yeah. That would’ve sucked.

I like to think that wasn’t the case. I mean, Alana slept through it just fine.

Right?

I… I don’t know. My girl always sleeps peacefully through the night, but with the red moon doing a number on us, she might’ve decided she needed a midnight snack and, downstairs on the couch, I might not have heard her.

I have no idea what time it is. In a shadow realm, it’s hard to guess, so I kinda just go with the rhythm of my body’s clock. It’s telling me that I slept in later than I usually do. My breasts feel heavy, both from the way Mal fondled them last night and because it might be past time for Alana’s breakfast.

We’re still in the living room where we fell asleep. It’s so rare that I’m up and he isn’t that, for a few contented seconds, I just watch his chest rise and fall. He’s solid, taking up most of the couch. I did wake up with my head in his lap, my feet tucked under his cheek, but even as he sprawled out on his back, he was careful to keep me as comfortable as possible.

I grin and, padding softly in bare feet, I move toward the window.

It has to be morning. Between how long the red moon had us mating, then how deeply I fell asleep when we were done, it’s been hours. Just to make sure, though, I want to peek outside and check that the red moon has set.

I look—and my heart nearly fucking stops.

The red moon is gone. Good. Great. There’s no way I’d miss the blood-red orb hanging high in the sky.

Just like I don’t miss the steady rain falling over Sombra.

Rain.

It’s raining.

Again.

Alana …

The last time it rained, my baby was crying. It stopped as soon as she did, and as I run toward the stairs, my heart thumping as wildly as it hopes, I tell myself there’s nothing wrong. I’m just being paranoid. Maybe she’s upset because her parents slept downstairs. Maybe she’s hungry.

Or maybe she’s gone.

Because Alana… she’s gone. Her window is closed. The crib is empty. All that’s left is her rumpled bedding.

My baby is missing .

When I finally realize what exactly that means, I scream so loudly, there’s a good chance I don’t just wake up my mate.

I think I wake up the entire village .

* * *

There is no one in this world or any other that could’ve brought me back from the brink of collapse except for Malphas.

My mate came flying into the room almost as soon as I started to scream. He took one look at the empty crib while I sobbed and gasped and babbled Alana’s name, then quickly started conjuring his shadows. Bottom coverings for him, something that hit me from chest to ass, he must’ve known that, as soon as I got the despair out of my system, it would immediately turn to rage.

He’s right. As though my consciousness was just waiting for me not to be naked and vulnerable, once we’re covered, I was on the move. Though Alana is advanced, she’s not so advanced that she can leave her crib and crawl around the two levels of our home. Still, I checked every room in case. Mal was right there as I did, double-checking the nooks and crannies.

We both know that—for the moment—Alana doesn’t have any shadows. She can’t turn to mist or go black and transparent, but Malphas searched as though she’s a full demon child just in case.

But he doesn’t find her. Neither do I.

As soon as we considered the house clear, I ran out into the rain. It’s warm, but I can deal, even though most of the villagers linger on their porch versus coming down to be nosy where I can see them.

I was right. My scream woke up everyone , though maybe the rain has something to do with that. Screw a five-minute storm. This is the real thing, and if I’ve already thought that Alana’s disappearance might have something to do with the prophecy, I push that thought out of my head.

Fuck the prophecy. I just want my baby back home where she belongs.

Apollyon is one of the other Sombra demons willing to brave the rain and my pain. Normally, I’d be grateful that Lilith is right by his side, murmuring soft reassurances, but I don’t want to hear them right now. Telling me that everything will be fine, that we’ll find Alana, and the rain will stop… it’s so hard when the rage buckles under the weight of panic.

I cling to Malphas. He runs his fingers through my damp hair, and if the rain stings like it did two nights ago, he doesn’t react like the droplets do. Instead, all I can sense is his helplessness creeping down our bond; it echoes mine.

Still, when he murmurs, “We will find her, my Shannon,” I hear the promise. I hear the vow.

I want to believe him .

It’s Malphas. My true love. The father of my missing child. The talented artist who designed Alana’s painted nursery…

She’ll return to it. I’ll do everything I can to make sure of it.

This is my fault. I’m her mother. I don’t care how much the call of the red moon pulled me toward Malphas, that’s no excuse. Somehow… somehow my daughter went missing , and I can’t explain it.

That makes it so, so much worse.

Luckily, Apollyon is thinking rationally. While he and Lilith try their best as leaders of Nuit to keep Mal and me calm, he also engaged help from some of the other villagers—and the visitors who ended up staying overnight due to the red moon.

Thank fucking god. Dagon and Sierra are still here, and of all the hunters in Nuit, Dagon is supposed to be one of the best in all of Sombra at tracking.

On Apollyon’s orders, he looking for some sign that Alana left the house. Either because he can scent her or… or if someone took her?—

Who would’ve taken my baby?

Damn it!

“It’s all because of the red moon!” I burst out, shoving away from my mate.

I would never blame Mal, not when all of that blame belongs to me, but I need to do something. Since I can’t just run off into the night when I don’t even know for sure that Alana is out here somewhere, I’m sticking close to the house in case I hear her coo. Considering I can’t hear shit over the thud of my heart, I doubt I will, and that just makes me angrier.

The golden-eyed clan leader nods slowly. “Perhaps. The red moon definitely… affected most of Nuit last night. Probably all of Sombra.”

Perhaps.

Probably .

I’m angry. I’m ashamed. I’m scared.

But, deep down, I’m also Shannon Crewes. So instead of listening to Apollyon’s wishy-washy response, I turn to look at his mate. “You get shadow dicked down, Lilith? Was it so irresistible you’d somehow lose your own child? Or am I just a shitty mom?”

Apollyon’s mouth falls open, visibly scandalized. Mal moves forward tentatively, his solid hand brushing against mine, letting me know he’s right there for me when I need him.

Lilith, though, just keeps a small, reassuring smile on her pretty face. “I’ve experienced countless gold moons since I came to live with Apollyon as his mate. The red moon was something else entirely.”

I should’ve expected an answer like that. Unless some of the other villagers, the clan mother has always been fond of me. Since starting the EL, we’ve become close. Normally, I wouldn’t mouth off to Mal’s clan leader in case he booted us out of Nuit, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

In between fighting the urge to hide my head under a blanket so I can pretend this isn’t a living nightmare and taking off to feel like I’m doing anything to search for Alana, I give Apollyon a ‘so there’ look.

The red moon… I try to remember what Malphas told me about it. Granted, I was so damn horny, I was barely paying attention as I began to strip off my clothes and get my mouth on Mal’s dick, but there’s something…

My back goes ramrod straight. “Did Haures do this?” I ask. My voice is soft, almost as though I know I shouldn’t voice my suspicions, but I can’t help it. “He’s been super weird about Alana since she was born. If it’s a ruler thing, and he’s also a bondmaster… did he…”

Did he find a way to summon the red moon to use as a distraction to take our baby?

Because of the damn prophecy?

I don’t finish asking my question. Not out loud, at least. I don’t have to.

“You cannot blame his Grace?—”

“No,” I cut in. “You’re right. It’s my fault.”

“Shannon—”

I shake my head. “I shouldn’t have let it happen, Mal.”

“What?” he asks, and his voice is barely drowned out by the steady fall of rain. “What did you do wrong, my mate? What could you have done differently? You insisted we check on her first. That we mated on the first floor so we didn’t disturb her. You did everything right… but if you think you are to blame, so am I.”

Blame Mal? I… I can’t do that.

Which means I go right back to my top suspect.

“It had to have been the duke,” I spit out, knowing that just saying that could earn me a stint in his dungeons while wearing enchanted chains. I don’t care. Deep down, I can’t shake the sensation that Haures has something to do with Alana’s inexplicable disappearance.

“It wasn’t.”

At the certainty in the male’s voice coming from behind me, I whirl around.

It’s Dagon, and his expression tells me two things: that he isn’t just standing up for the demon duke out of some innate sense of loyalty, and that he found something that backs up his certainty.

“How do you know?”

“Because I found prints,” is his answer. “Bootprints. Human bootprints.” He pauses, then drops the bomb on me:

“Human male bootprints.”