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There was a tingle on her upper arm. She watched the skin and tissue meld together. Was it another hallucination?
“Am I healing?”
“Yes. Your physical injuries will heal. For a little while, you will feel better. It will give us a chance to talk.”
The pain receded. Her body felt as if she had run a thousand miles. She lacked the energy to move, but her curiosity hadn’t diminished.
“What happened back there?”
Raine moved to the seat opposite the couch. “I’m a shadow shifter—a shadow warrior and a wolf. The thing that attacked you was a reaper. Shadows hunt and kill the reapers that prey on humans.”
She blinked several times. “I’m not hallucinating. This is real?”
Raine nodded. “Yes. The reaper bit you, injected you with reaper venom.”
“A reaper is like a vampire? Drinks blood and turns people into mindless creatures?”
“No, a reaper is not undead. They drink human blood and they kill. They aren’t required to inject their prey with reaper venom, but they enjoy their victims’ pain.”
Her spine arched as every muscle in her body contracted at once. Her mouth locked in a silent scream as her lungs struggled for breath. She put her hand to her face when her body relaxed.
She wiped a tear from her eye with the back of her hand. “What is happening to me?”
Raine slumped back in his chair. “Your body has entered the transition. Essentially, you are converting to a shadow warrior.”
The sadness in his voice made Dannika shiver.
“How do we stop it?”
“There is no way to reverse the transition. Once the venom hit your blood, it was over. I’m sorry.”
“I don’t want to be a shadow warrior. Please, let me go home.”
“I wish that I had something to offer you other than pain and death, but that is the reality of the shadow clans.”
Raine stood up quickly as another man, exited the tunnel and entered the room. “Maddock.”
Maddock looked down at Dannika in disgust. “Why did you bring her here? You should have killed her and left her for her family.”
Raine glanced at Dannika. “I couldn’t. She is from the shelter. I don’t think she has family, and I decided she deserved to know about us.”
Maddock shook his head. “You have always been too sensitive, Raine. You retain your affection for your human roots. It is a side effect that does not afflict the shadow born.”
Raine nodded. “Perhaps, but I took mercy on her, and will see it through.”
Maddock’s eyes flickered with golden fire. “Prolonging her pain is not a mercy, but you are right. You will see it through. I guarantee you will never opt to witness a female transition again.”
He stormed from the room.
Dannika’s body twitched as every limb worked against one another. “What is he talking about? He wanted you to murder me.”
Raine ran his hand through his dark hair. “It isn’t murder. He’s right. I should have spared you, but I was drawn to you and I didn’t even get your name.”
She stuttered through the tremors. “It’s Dannika. Dannika Ray. Spared me from what?”
He took the cloth from her forehead, closing it in his fist. “Dannika. It’s a beautiful name. I will remember it.”
“You talking as if I’m already dead.”
