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Stupid fucking mate bond. Just for that, I purposely take my time walking, stopping every now and again, giving myself time to get this reaction under control, but they all stiffen. Raiden’s hands fill with lightning, Torrin bares his teeth, and Bram clenches his fists. Kitt steps forward, his skin hardening into a dark grey.

“Get back in the van now.” Emrys’s voice is low and slow, and something about it makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck. “Now!” he roars, swinging another gun around and spinning in time to see shadows break free of the trees and barrel our way.

Backing towards them, I keep the van between me and the other side of the trees, but soon a dark, hissing sound fills the air. The cascade of noise grates on my ears so much, I wince, and it only grows in volume.

Spinning to keep them all in sight, I find hundreds of pure black shadows moving across the ground to get us.

The shapes don’t stop—they twist and turn, reflecting on the gravel below and separating us until we stand alone.

“Don’t let them touch you!” Kitt yells, and I leap up on top of the van to avoid them consuming me when they converge on my position.

“What happens if they touch me?” I ask, avoiding one of their hands.

Kitt looks at me and grins grimly. “You become one of them, lost forever.”

Brilliant.

How the fuck do you fight shadows?

CHAPTER

ELEVEN

Inever thought the collector would be insane enough to unleash the pet experiments, but clearly I was wrong. I haven’t stood against them before, but I have seen firsthand what they are capable of. I watched from my tube as a victim was thrown to them. They swirled and converged on him until nothing remained but shadows and the remnants of his screams. It’s how they feast, and now they are coming for us. The collector has to know we will find a way to stop them . . . right?

The only good thing about our time there was learning the weaknesses and strengths of other monsters. We remember when they were testing weapons against those shadows. They couldn’t be overpowered. Cold temperatures and conventional weapons had no effect—only fire.

“The only way to stop them is fire,” I roar out loud for her sake. If she dies here, then so do we. She needs to survive, which means, unfortunately, we need to work together—something I loathe. She’s unpredictable and untrustworthy, and unlike with our team, I cannot tell what she is thinking. She could get us all killed, but we have no choice.

Silently, I order Emrys to remain close to her, and he backs up to the car, leaping on the roof to shoot into the shadows, but they simply ignore the bullets that soar straight through them.

“Fire, huh?” she snaps, leaping to avoid more of them. “That, I can do.”

“Ferol,” Emrys warns, but she ignores him, jumping into the air once more. Only this time, she changes, becoming the giant, beautiful, if not terrifying phoenix.

Her flames light up the night as she flies above us, the wind from her wings nearly knocking me back into the shadows, which I think she did on purpose. Her beak opens in a squawk, and then she dives at the shadows. At the last moment, she pulls up, the edges of her wings sparking flames across the ground as she loops around the van and us, creating a giant circle of flames. She lands in front of me and the others, inside the flames as she faces down the shadows, taunting them.

Not one to waste an opportunity, I throw myself into the back of the car since it’s close, as the others scramble in after me, leaving only Ferol to fight the shadows.

She glances back at us, her bird eyes narrowing before she takes to the air again, and this time, she lands on human feet.

“Go!” I bark before I realise what I’ve done. Raiden is in the driver’s seat, nodding, ready to leave as the shadows increase, returning to the forest to come for us. Her fire will not hold them back forever. They cannot be killed, only slowed.

She dives into the van just as we peel away, knocking Torrin to her seat and claiming his. We speed off with smoke pouring behind us from how fast we move. Glancing behind us, I see the shadows held back by her flames, allowing us to put some distance between us in hopes that will stop them or get the collector to recall them. They cannot be sustained forever. The consumed energy drains with each second, and if it becomes too low, they will turn on the collector and feast there instead.

“What the fuck were they?” Ferol asks as she glances at the back mirror before looking at me.

“The consumed,” I answer. “An abomination created from ghosts and evil magic. Everything they touch becomes one of them. They will never stop once ordered to do something by those that created them.”

“And who is that exactly?” she presses, her eyes narrowing. “First, the beast on the mountain, and now this. Someone wants you dead.”

“Not dead,” Emrys replies as he glances back, debating his response. “Worried enough to return.”

Enough.

My command filters through their heads, and they fall silent. Emrys stares through the front window.

“Fine, keep your secrets,” she growls, “but if someone is gunning for you, then that means I’m now in their path. What else can I expect?”