Inky, the only one permitted to enter with me, stayed right behind me as I reached out a hand. The moment my fingers touched the barrier, a zap knocked me back a few steps.

What in the hell?

Peering closer, I finally noticed that the portal was laced through with tiny specks of fire; Shadow had upped his barriers. Thankfully, my own powers were free now, and I knew exactly how to access my fire.

Without any effort, I drew the flames protectively around my skin, hearing a low gasp from behind me. Sam would no doubt have some questions for me when I returned. If I returned.

This time when I placed my hand into the barrier, the zap of electricity raced across my skin like an old friend. I had missed that zap so badly, relishing in the feel of it tingling over my skin and sliding through my body to settle between my legs, hot and heavy and aching.

Shadow.

With the whisper of his name in my head, I pushed harder against the portal’s security, until the resistance faded, and I was finally able to step through. Inky remained with me, and it was comforting to have my buddy there.

Especially when the lair came into view.

I’d been expecting the worst after seeing the Library of Knowledge, preparing myself for more destruction, but… that wasn’t the case in the lair. Taking a step into the darkness, my wolf rose up to help me see, and it still took me a moment to figure out what he’d done.

The lack of light in here was a combination of shadows and mists, layered over every surface by the Shadow Beast himself. He’d created a web of darkness, designed to trap and destroy any who entered its midst.

My fire, which had died down across my skin, flared again, giving me the ability to both see and cut through the web of shadows. The room was icy cold as I moved deeper into it, and I had the sense that if I were any normal human or shifter, the cold would have killed me.

Even as it was, with literal fire burning around me, my breath still puffed out in a visible cloud before me. Inky pressed closer as we both felt the beating heart of another deep in this cave of death.

Gaster hadn’t been wrong about Shadow.

He was no longer my beast. He was the true beast of shifter nightmares. The creature who stalked us in the night and destroyed any who crossed his path. And maybe a year ago that truth would have had me turning tail and running like a scared bitch, but after all I’d been through with Shadow, I’d never give up on him now.

I needed him.

Fuck, the worlds needed him.