No one said anything more, just nodding their agreement with Shadow’s plan as we started to move again, making our way further into the grounds of the royal compound.

“She’s close,” Shadow murmured, warning us when we were closing in on the castle. “We should start forming the fortress now so that we can send it forth as soon as she comes into view. We’ll have mere seconds to take her by surprise, and in that time, she cannot break our formation.”

Everyone nodded, no one disagreeing that this attack had to be timed perfectly or she would destroy us before we even had a chance to use the fortress. And since we were her only “check,” as previously stated, it was imperative that we didn’t fall before giving it a real shot.

Another thrum of power hit me in the chest, trailing down my body. It was the strongest burst of Nexus energy I’d felt since stepping into the realm. My wolf started to whine in my chest, her unease over that power growing. From the first time we’d entered this world, my wolf had been stronger and more out of control, and now I was starting to recognize her anxiety for what it was: She was uncomfortable with the Nexus power. My shifter and Nexus sides had been forced together, and for my wolf, it was unnatural.

With this knowledge came a surge of guilt that my beautiful wolf soul was trapped inside a being who should never have been a shifter.

She whined again, and I sent comforting thoughts toward her. We didn’t really talk to each other like we had the first time we’d shifted—now it was more of an emotional exchange—but we were always connected on a deep level. I felt her. I loved her. Even as I knew that I should never have had her.

“Are your creatures okay?” Shadow asked, no doubt wondering what the current expression on my face was about.

“Don’t worry about me,” I said, waving him off. “Focus on the fortress you’re in the midst of building.” The fortress that was dangerous enough to destroy everyone.

Shadow shot me a familiar look. It was his you’re acting like an idiot expression. “Can you feel them?” he pressed.

I closed my eyes and dug deeper into the power surrounding us. “Possibly,” I finally said. “There’s a lot of energy here, and it feels like Nexus energy. So it could be Dannie or my creatures.” Or both. “Maybe she’s sacrificing them for the power too?”

“Dannie should know better,” Angel said, her voice a little ragged from trying to weave the fortress strands. “She’s the mother of creatures, and no true mother would sacrifice their children for power. Her soul is corrupted beyond repair.”

They were all preparing me, and how could I argue with the truth in front of me?