Shadow laughed, his power wrapping around me as he drew us up and out of the water. “They know better than to try me,” he said with confidence. “Even if this world is following none of its regular rules, I am still the Supreme Bein—”

He was cut off by a snapping sound, and we both looked down to see the baby version of what had just attacked Angel hanging from his leg. The pause was near comical; the look on Shadow’s face one of pure astonishment.

I really shouldn’t have laughed, but a snorting chuckle escaped before I could stop it. Shadow glared at me, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t keep my amusement on the inside.

“Are you okay?” I choked out, trying to force my lips into a straight line as we both looked down again.

If Shadow hadn’t been Shadow, the creature would have bitten his leg clear off. As it was, when it started trying to gnaw on it like an old bone, more laughter escaped from my tightly pressed lips.

The beast shot me an annoyed stare, and I held both hands up, my lips now pressed so tightly that they were starting to go numb. “You do you, Supreme Being,” I managed to get out.

He shook his head like I was a supreme idiot, all the while attempting to shake off the baby croc-o-saur. In the midst of that drama, we were joined by his friends, each of them able to float above the mass of water, except for Alistair, who was helped out by Inky.

“Aw, look, Shadow got himself a friend,” Lucien said, smiling at the carnivorous creature straight out of Jurassic Park.

“We should keep him,” Reece drawled, his lips twitching. “He’s cute.”

“Let’s call him ‘Chomp,’” Lucien added.

“I vote for ‘Champ’ because look at him go,” Len added. “Little fighter never gives up.”

Shadow, who was apparently done with all of our bullshit today, gave up trying to “gently” remove the attachment. He burst into flames, which did exactly as he hoped. With a squeak, the creature of the deep released its hold, dropping back into the water, and as an added bonus, all of us were dried in a blast of fiery hot air.

The moment of amusement had been welcome, but there was no more time to avoid the reality of the fucked-up situation we were facing. “What did Dannie do?” I asked, searching the skyline but finding nothing but water.

“The Depths have risen,” Angel said shortly, the gold of her molded armor barely visible in the unnatural twilight of the sky above us. “She’s using the creatures of the deep to hide and protect the Nexus and its power.”

The reality of this slammed into me like a bullet. “Are all of my land shadow creatures gone?” I managed to ask through my burning throat, laughter now far from my mind.