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My stomach sinks and a whimper falls from my lips. “Phantom.”
It’s nothing but a whisper, but he grins. It’s an evil grins that makes every hair on my body stand on end.
With one wave of his finger, trolls and rot monkeys pour from the Void. His voice, cold and cruel comes. "Find them! Kill them!"
Kill... us?
“Run!” Dusk commands beside me.
I know it’s the right thing to do, but I hesitate, my heart not being able to understand what my eyes have accepted. Dusk doesn't hesitate though; he pulls me beside him, half carrying me away. My men move as one around me, guiding me through the woods with their much larger bodies, trying to move faster than the creatures that hunt us.
If that’s even possible.
But my mind isn’t on the danger looming behind us. It’s on Phantom. On the look on his face. On the sound of his voice while he commanded his creatures to kill us.
Is there anything left of him?I feel tears tracking down my cheeks.
When a rot monkey wraps his fingers around my leg, Dusk lifts me like I weigh nothing at all, and then he zigs and zags through the forest. The trolls are no match for his speed, but the monkey are swinging from branch to branch overhead and for a minute I don't think we'll get away. But then we do.
The grave trolls roar in the distance. The monkeys shriek wildly in the trees far behind. But my men don't stop. Not until the forest quiets.
When we’re safe in one of our hideaway caves, they draw a boulder over the entrance and start a small fire. My gazes run over my men, and the tears keep flowing.
"Phantom," I manage.
"Is gone," Dusk says softly.
I look at Onyx, and he avoids my gaze.
Then I look at Rayne. The truth is in his eyes.
I wipe the tears angrily from my face. "Maybe he isn't himself right now, but if there's any chance to get him back, we have to try. No matter what it takes."
Rayne surprises me when he speaks. "Agreed." When the other two look at him, he shrugs. "I came back from the dead. If that's possible, saving him should be too."
"We just need a plan," I say.
"Alright?" Dusk says, and then everyone is looking at me.
We just need a plan...
SHIFTERS’ LOST QUEEN
STOLEN BY SHADOW BEASTS: BOOK THREE
ONE
Ann
The walk back to our cave is slower than I ever imagined possible, and with every step the bag tied around my waist containing the moon shards we’d collected feels heavier. Every one of us is limping, breathing far too loudly, and hurting. Although I’m two minutes from passing out, Onyx, Rayne, and Dusk look like they’re struggling just to keep standing.
I wish I could say it was just because of our latest battle, but it’s more than that we’re exhausted from another night of fighting rot monkeys and grave trolls; it’s that we’re emotionally spent. We’ve just lost too much.
Phantom.Tears sting my eyes, but I try to push the thought away.We haven’t lost him yet. Maybe it feels like it, but we’ll get him back from the Shadow King’s hold. No matter what we have to do.
Even though I thought by now we would have come up with a solution.
Onyx leads our group into a cave as the morning sunlight peeks through the trees. The filth of battle is thick in my clothes and hair, and I wish I could take a bath, but right now resting and eating are more important than that. With Phantom turned by the Shadow King into some kind of emotionless slave, we can’t stay here for long. Not more than a day.
