Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 65042 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65042 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
I nodded shakily and closed my eyes.
Shadow.
I thought of the first time he’d protected me—when I was a child and he growled at Duke and kept him from hitting me. I thought of the way he held me while I cried in the dark, how he stroked my hair with his clawed hand and told me everything would be all right.
I thought of how he looked at me, like I was the most precious thing in the world…I thought of his warmth, his strength, his deep, growling voice whispering that I was his… his little witch.
Tears welled in my eyes, but this time I let them fall. I pushed every drop of love and longing into my hand, down my arm, and into the knob.
A tingle sparked against my palm, like an electric current surging to life. I gasped—and twisted the knob once more.
This time, it turned with a satisfying click.
The door creaked open slowly and joy surged through me as I leaned forward, heart pounding…
Yes! I did it!
But the space beyond was empty.
Nothing but swirling gray mist and endless darkness.
“Shadow?” My voice echoed into the void like I was calling down a well. “Shadow, where are you? I need you!”
Please. Please come back to me.
And then… without knowing why or how… words rose to my lips like a song I was just now remembering:
“By shadow bound and heart’s command,
Return once more through veil and land.
Through love and loss, through night and flame,
Come back to me and speak my name!”
As the final words left my lips, a strange and powerful energy surged through me—warm and wild and unmistakably mine. Every inch of my skin tingled, and I felt like I might rise off the cobblestones if I didn’t ground myself.
And then… I felt it.
A presence—warm…familiar…male. Comforting and fierce. Protective and wild. It brushed against me like a breath of wind in a closed room and I smelled his scent—cinnamon and cedar and fur.
I looked around.
He’s here. He must be!
The swirling mist within the doorway pulsed—once, twice—and then parted like stage curtains.
Suddenly, he was there.
One moment the doorway was empty, and the next, it was filled with eight feet of blue fur, golden eyes, and spreading black horns.
“Shadow?” I whispered.
His head snapped toward me.
“Danni? My little witch?”
A sob broke from my chest. I threw myself forward and grabbed his arm, tugging him through the threshold and into the night. As soon as he crossed the boundary, I kicked the door shut behind him with a resounding thud. Goody Albright had warned me—Never leave a door to another realm open.
Then I turned and threw myself into his arms.
Or tried to.
My arms sank right through his chest.
I froze, shocked, and pulled back.
“No…” I whispered. “You’re not solid.”
He looked down at his hands, flexing his claws.
“Not fully,” he admitted, his voice tinged with sadness. “The doorway brought me back, but I’m not whole yet.”
“Because you haven’t made him solid yet,” Goody Albright said from behind us. “Quickly, Danni—take him home with you. You know what to do.”
I looked up at Shadow, my heart thudding.
I did know what to do.
“Come on,” I said, grabbing his massive, spectral hand. “Let’s get back to the cottage.”
I wasn’t sure how long I had or how much magic was left in the night. But I knew one thing for sure—
I was getting my monster under the bed back. And this time, I wasn’t letting him go.
41
DANNI
I barely got the door to the cottage closed behind us before I turned to him, my breath catching in my throat.
Shadow—he was here and alive. Well, almost.
He stood in the dim entryway, tall and massive with his inky blue fur still shimmering faintly with the last of the moonlight. But his outline wavered just a little, like heat rising off a summer road. And when I reached to touch him, my hand sank just slightly through his chest before meeting resistance.
“You’re still not solid,” I whispered, panic trying to rise again.
“I came when you called,” he murmured, his deep voice low and rough. “But I am not fully in your world yet. Not until you bind me to it… and to you.”
The air between us felt charged—alive—like lightning waiting to strike.
I stepped toward him.
“Then let’s do it. Right now. I’m not waiting another second.” I tugged at his fur. “Come down here and kiss me.”
He bent down and took my mouth with his. As our lips met, I felt him grow more solid. A surge of excitement raced through me. Yes—this was working—this was what we needed to do! Only more—much more.
When we broke the kiss, his glowing golden eyes searched mine, full of longing and hunger and something dangerously close to love.
“You’re sure?” he asked, his voice raw. “This bond cannot be undone, little witch. If you tie yourself to me—body and soul—it is forever.”