22. Vai

Icrossed into the Shadow Realm.

The place no M'rora ever entered willingly.

The shell of my ship had already morphed into the appearance of a member of the Shadow fleet.

The last thing I wanted was for the Shadow to discover me before I got a chance to get inside the infamous Shadow Citadel.

Without adequate cloaking technology, I had no chance of getting within a thousand leagues of the place.

All M'rora knew where the Citadel was located—the same location on our homeworld, M'yaw.

Still, no one was stupid enough to head there alone.

It was for that reason I thought I might have a chance of slipping through their defenses.

They wouldn't expect it.

When we arrived, Computer would bring us in shaking, with obvious damage to the outer hull.

The engineers would be forced to fix it.

It was the only way I could have the ship available for the hasty escape I would make with Emma.

At least, that was the idea.

I placed a hand to my chest and felt the pulse of her life force.

She was down there inside the Citadel.

I could feel her.

The signal had been so weak I lost hope a dozen times before we arrived at the Shadow homeworld, W'aym.

It grew stronger the closer we got.

No one deserved to be trapped and held against their will and forced to breed over and over again.

Dark anger rose in me like a wave, threatening to blot out any sense or reason.

I harnessed it, forcing myself to use it as a weapon for fear it might use me.

I was faced with multiple ticking clocks.

First, the mating ceremony.

I had only a rough idea of when Emma's would be.

There was a twenty-four-hour window after the fake Severing took place before the mating ceremony could happen.

At least, that was what the Surgeon had told me.

Please tell me he wasn't lying about that too.

And second, there was very real danger in letting the Shadow engineers on board was it was only a matter of time before they discovered my ship was not one of their own.

The morphing technology was good but not perfect.

It could not confuse them forever.

I only hoped it was long enough for me to bring Emma out.

"Set us down over there," I said, pointing to the nearest Citadel landing pad.

It was a mirror opposite of the Citadel in our capital city.

Where ours was the center of all religion and spirituality, here in the Shadow Realm, it morphed into absolute and total hatred and domination over all other living things.

Their Elders spurred people on to locate their fated mates and bring them back to be nothing more than breeders.

They desired only to kill, maim, and steal.

I needed to bear that in mind when I entered the Citadel.

There was no telling what I might need to do to spring Emma free.

A light flashed on the captain's console and a plume of smoke erupted from the ship's rear.

She shuddered and screamed, making a loud wrenching noise.

These were Computer's forced malfunctions but they still put me on edge.

"Take it easy," I said. "We don't want to overplay our hand."

"Order confirmed," Computer said.

The shuddering lessened to a faint shiver and the plume of smoke thinned to a mist.

The Shadow engineers on the ground watched us approach as we descended and the ship sat down.

The landing struts hissed, easing into a twisted landing position.

The ramp lowered and I descended down it.

A trio of Shadow engineers approached.

The first raised one ear of his muffs and yelled at me over the screaming ships taking off and setting down on either side of us.

"You came in a little unsteady," he bellowed. "What's wrong with her?"

It made my skin crawl to be this close to so many Shadows.

Think of Emma,I told myself. Just think of Emma.

"I had a run-in with an aquisus warship," I said. "My bird had no chance against that."

"You failed to capture your fated mate?" the engineer said, unable to restrain his disgust.

"She slipped through my fingers. She was right there and I lost her."

The engineer spat.

His thick spittle landed just an inch shy of my boot.

"Failures don't land here," he said. "You're going to have to shift it."

He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder to the next launching pad on the other side of the Citadel.

I wasn't about to do that.

It would waste too much time that I could have used to find Emma.

"I can't reach it," I said. "I'm lucky I landed on this pad."

The engineer shrugged his shoulders.

"It's not my problem. Shift it."

He dropped his earmuff back on his head and turned to leave.

The Shadow were mirthless creatures who took offense at the drop of a hat.

If I was going to fool them, I was going to have to play by their rules.

I shoved the engineer from behind.

He lost his balance and stumbled forward, his face grazing the landing pad floor.

He was up on his feet in an instant, blood dripping down his chin.

His buddies helped him to his feet.

He shoved them aside and smirked as he reached into the shadows.

His hand emerged with a dark dirk.

He swung his arm around.

Shadows were powerful creatures and this engineer was no different.

But their aggression was also their weakness.

I let him swipe at me and stepped to one side.

I caught his foot and his imbalance knocked him over.

He fell and dropped his blade.

It turned to dust the moment it struck the ground.

Unable to win in a fair fight, his buddies were at the rescue.

One gave me a bear hug from behind and pinned my arms to my sides.

A third engineer pulled his fist back and planted it under my ribs.

The blow knocked the wind from my lungs.

He pulled his large fist back to plant another one on me when the first engineer shoved him aside.

"Quit hogging him!" he snapped. "He's mine!"

I threw a leg out and caught the engineer on the shin.

He howled and backed away.

"You little—" he said as he swung forward with his wild winding blow.

I thrust forward and spat him in the face.

I threw my head back and connected with the bear hugger's face.

He released me and stumbled back.

"He broke my damn nose!" he screamed.

The first engineer wiped my spittle from his face and stepped down, letting his buddies surround me on three sides.

I couldn't hope to defend against them all and prepared to get pummeled.

"What's going on here?"

A tall figure strode over wearing a black sash and a black expression.

His chin ended in a sharp point and he had strange sprigs of hair that protruded from his head like the foliage of an unkempt wild plant.

The engineers relaxed but did not take their eyes from me.

"A troublemaker, Captain," the lead engineer said.

"Looks like he got the better of all of you," the Captain said.

He ignored the scowls and turned to me.

He looked me over and made me feel nervous about what he might see.

"You went on the Hunt?" he said.

Hunting was the term they used for when they struck out to find their fated mates.

I nodded.

"Is she on board?"

"No."

I massaged my ribs that would feel sore come morning.

"That's what I was… discussing with your men here. I was attacked by an aquisus warbird. My damn weapons locked up and wouldn't fire. I might have stood my ground if these jokers hadn't messed up the targeting system."

"That bird had nothing wrong with her when you took her," the lead engineer said. "Whatever problems she's got, it's due to your error."

The Captain raised his hand for his man to be quiet.

His dark eyes were focused on me, searching for any sign what I said was false.

"I suppose your log reports will detail what happened," he said, his eyes drilling into mine.

"They will," I said with a curt nod.

The Captain pursed his lips and stepped down.

"Then we apologize for the malfunction. My men will look your ship over and fix you up in no time. In the meantime…"

He took me by the arm and led me across the launch pad and toward the Shadow Citadel.

"Naturally, you will file your incident report. I only hope my intercession will be fully accounted for?"

He didn't want to get blamed for any mistakes his men might have made.

It was likely it was a serious offense to accidentally impede a Shadow from finding his fated mate.

Just as it was back on my homeworld.

I nodded but said nothing.

He escorted me to the front steps that led to the main entrance.

He straightened up my jacket, dusted off my shirt, and slapped me on the back.

"I wish you all the best with getting your fated mate."

I proceeded up the steps and inside the Citadel, ensuring not to glance back at him over my shoulder.

I got the terrible feeling he noticed something odd about me.

Did he know I wasn't a Shadow?

Had I failed in my performance?

Or was I only being unnecessarily cautious?

"Computer," I whispered. "Enter a fake report into the ship's log detailing how an aquisus bird—"

"Already far ahead of you, sir," Computer said.

I couldn't help but smile.

"What would I do without you?"

"Very little, I suspect."

I had made it inside the Shadow Citadel but I wouldn't breathe a sigh of relief yet.

Not until I had shaken the darkness of this place from my boots and got a thousand lightyears' distance from it.

In the Citadel back home,the main ceremonial hall where the marriage ceremonies took place was located at the very heart of the entire building.

All those who successfully brought back their fated mates took part in the ceremony.

In the Shadow Realm, as with everything, they had their own unique little twist on things.

They did not believe in marriage or lifelong partners.

Their ceremonies consisted of orgies and the celebration of planting so much seed in a fated mate that she couldn't fail but become impregnated.

It made me shudder.

I followed the main flow of traffic to the main ceremonial hall.

I could hear the roars of excitement before I was even halfway there.

The walls, ceiling, and floor were bare, which made for fantastic acoustics.

But it was only fantastic when it was beautiful ceremonial music like back home.

Not here.

The roars and gales of laughter from onlookers were punctuated by screams and hard slapping noises that painted a very vivid picture.

A picture, I feared, that would be all too accurate.

The blood drained from my face and my mouth turned dry and I sped up, building into a fast jog.

Please tell me she isn't there.

Please tell me I'm not already late.

Please tell me she isn't the one responsible for all that screaming.

The throng of Shadows became thicker and I had to shove those in front aside so I could get a better view.

I received irritated glances and violent shoves back.

"Find your own spot!" a particularly large Shadow with curled tusks said.

Everyone was far more interested in what was happening in the arena to care much about a fight taking place behind them.

I weaved through the crowd and went up on tip-toe to peer over their heads.

I made out bare flesh and writhing figures through the mass of onlookers but no identifying marks.

I searched for a gap in the crowd.

There wasn't one.

But there was a load-bearing column with a clearing behind it.

I ran and hopped onto it, grasping it with my arms splayed out to either side and my feet turned outward so they balanced on the thin ridge that ran about the column's base.

I peered over the side at the show taking place in the arena below.

And I saw the "performers."

I froze, my eyes boggling so wide they could have popped out of their sockets.

Down in the arena, I witnessed a Shadow vigorously claiming his mate.

He was bent over her, hammering her from behind, his hands wrapped around her throat and yanking her back.

He held her face toward him so she could watch what he was doing to her.

The Shadow ground deep inside her, their bodies slapping as he took out his frustrations on her, desperate to be the first to claim her and plant his seed inside her.

And still, I hadn't seen the doomed mate's face.

I made out a smooth cheek, a pointed chin, and blonde hair that flowed down her over her shoulders…

Down to her waist.

Long hair.

She had long hair, not shoulder-length like Emma.

I breathed an immense sigh of relief, before feeling sorry for the poor creature in the arena.

Her fated mate had failed her.

I swore to myself I would not do the same.

I edged back around the column and hopped down.

I could feel Emma now and the faint glimmer of the bond linking our hearts, beating as one.

She was growing stronger, more awake and aware.

She was somewhere beneath my feet on one of the lower levels.

They were holding her somewhere.

I ran down the steps, none of the Citadel workers taking much notice of me.

Most were hurrying to see the show taking place.

A show that Emma would be a part of if I didn't find her first.

I wound down the stairs,pausing at each floor I came to.

I peered around each corner, searching for that faint glimmer of fuzzy and indistinct light.

The deeper I went, the harder it became to identify which level she was on.

Was she on this floor?

Or the next one?

Or had I already overshot and she was on a floor above?

I took two hallways before skidding to a halt halfway down it.

Wrong floor.

I cycled back and continued down more floors.

"The Shadow engineers are accessing the data files now," Computer said.

"Did you create the required documents?"

"Yes, but it won't fool them for long. But they're not all on the main bridge. One is sneaking around the weapons bay. He hasn't noticed anything suspicious yet but it's only a matter of time before he discovers the truth."

"Try to distract them as best you can. With any luck, we'll be out of here before they notice anything is up."

"May I suggest you find Emma quickly?"

What great advice,I was going to snap back at him.

But he'd proven himself a truly valuable ally and I wouldn't risk upsetting him when so much was on the line.

Finally, I came to what I thought had to be the right floor.

The large door hung ajar and I could hear clapping from beyond it.

I hurried to the door and peered around it.

I spied a body lying on the floor before an open cell.

My heart was in my throat as I jogged toward it.

One guard lay prostrate on the ground, his face beaten in with his own mace.

Inside the cell, I was shocked to find another two Shadows lying still and potentially lifeless on the floor.

Somehow, I knew it was Emma who had done this.

Somehow, my spunky fated mate had taught these thugs a lesson they wouldn't soon forget.

Or maybe they would forget it instantly if they were already dead…

I felt at that throbbing light in the center of my chest once more and sensed Emma was no longer on this floor.

She had escaped to another.

But where the hell had she gone?