As I had that thought, I managed to shoot up another few inches, nearly reaching my wolfie-phoenix height. The rest of me hadn’t changed, though, so that meant… “I can shift my height,” I choked out, blinking in stunned silence.

Shadow’s low laughter wrapped around me in the same warming comfort that Midnight gave me. “You can change into a phoenix wolf and used to shift into a literal wolf pup,” he said, pulling me closer. “This is the same concept.”

Yeah, I knew that in theory, but the height shift felt so much weirder.

“I think I prefer my regular height,” I decided, and as I had that thought, I returned to five-feet-eight.

“You’re perfect at any height,” he told me, “but in truth, I’d prefer to be the one who reaches the high shelves for you.”

Aw, fuck, that was almost romantic. Pushing myself up on my toes, I allowed him to drag me up so we could kiss. “You got it, babe,” I whispered.

“‘Babe’ is only just better than ‘dude,’” he grumbled before he took control of my mouth, and I forgot my own name until we pulled apart.

Then I remembered what he’d said. “You don’t love ‘babe?’ What about ‘snookums?’ ‘Honey bunch?’ ‘Sweetie pie?’ ‘Cutie face?’ ‘Buttercu—’”

“Sunshine,” he warned. “We might be true mates, but that doesn’t mean I won’t punish you.”

“Yes, please,” I said, nodding enthusiastically. “I’ll take two.”

A firm slap on my ass, and my body was covered in goosebumps as I involuntarily jerked against him, craving everything we didn’t have time for right now. “We better freaking survive.” I was the one grumbling now.

Shadow pressed his lips to my neck, breathing me in, and I had to close my eyes and take this one last moment with him. “Shadowshine,” I whispered. “I was always rooting for us to win.”

“And win we did, Sunshine,” he said, breath brushing over my skin.

Dammit, there he went again. Who would have guessed that my Shadow Beast was a secret romantic? Very, very deep down.

53

We were on a countdown clock, and since I wasn’t too keen on Dannie busting out of her prison before I found the creatures and could wrest control of them back to me, I moved forward with a laser focus.

Shadow, true to his word, remained as a giant ball of fun at my side, silent and deadly, his attention on what lay ahead as well. The fact that he would soon take part in destroying his mother was not an ideal situation, but he would not hesitate or shirk his duties. He never had.

“Can you feel them?” he asked as we got closer to the castle entrance.