Page 11 of Dark Bonds

“Two years,” I begin, not once looking up. “I’ve lived here for two years. I feel foolish, stupid, and like I’ve been the butt of everyone’s joke for so fucking long,” I scoff and grit my teeth, bitterness seeping into my voice.

I went from a badass sending abusers through shadows…

Oh hell. All I was doing was pushing them into the shadow realm. Is it too much to hope that the shadow beast ate them?

“Hey.” She walks around the island to sit beside me, her presence a small comfort. “You aren’t the butt of anyone’s joke.”

“Tell that to Chloe and Amanda.” I choke on my words, the names like poison on my tongue.

“Will you tell me what happened?” She turns my stool to face her, and I still can’t look her in the eyes. “Tonight, I mean. Just tonight.”

I nod. “Yeah, I can start there.” Even though I said her name, I’m not sure I can dig deeper and tell Tori what she did… what I did. “Matteo took me outside to breathe, and we were looking at the eclipse. He was telling me a story.” I drop my head, the memory raw and fresh. “He was trying to tell me.”

Tori smirks, a touch of amusement breaking through the tension. “I’m not surprised.”

I shake my head, frustration bubbling up. “That beast was back.” Now I know I never hallucinated it. “What the hell is a shadow beast?”

Tori’s smirk fades, replaced by a solemn expression. “The worst of who we are,” she says, setting her mug aside. “Shadow shifters aren’t angels, Frankie. We aren’t?—”

“Human?” I offer, my voice trembling with the weight of the truth.

“Far from human.” She laughs, a bitter edge to the sound. “Sometimes the darkness inside us takes over, and we become the monster we keep on a tight leash.”

“Can you shift into one of those things?” I ask, my curiosity battling with fear. “Or a dragon like Dorian?”

She shakes her head, her smile tinged with sadness. “No.” She sighs deeply. “Tell me what happened, and I’ll give you the CliffsNotes version of who we are.”

“Matteo sent me inside, but then you all started screaming.” I frown, confusion clouding my mind. “What happened?”

“That damn shadow beast crashed through the crowd.” Her cheeks flush with anger as she shakes her head, frustration seeping into her voice. “It tried to drag one of Leo’s friends away, which is weird, right?” She looks at me as if I’d know why, but I just shrug, lost in the complexity of it all. “We all ran inside screaming. Want to know the most fucked up part of it all?”

I just shake my head because again, I’m lost here.

“On the lunar eclipse, we can all shift. We could have just shifted and gone after it, but because we forgot, we didn’t, and we ran.”

The revelation hits me like a punch to the gut, and the absurdity of it all sinks in. The irony stings, but beneath it, a seed of understanding takes root. We are far from perfect, and the darkness we battle is as much of a part of us as the light we seek.

I hold up a hand. “Wait.” I set my hot chocolate aside and turn to face her. “How do you just forget you can shift?”

“We are getting off course.” She winks. “Finish sharing your evening, and I’ll tell you.”

Rolling my eyes at her antics, I give her the rundown. “It was Marcus from the women’s shelter. I always knew he had it out for me, but I just didn’t know he wanted me dead. Then Amanda and Chloe came out back, and the three of them chased me after clawing my chest. I ran into Dorian who told me to shift, but I didn’t know that was a thing, and he took me to my secret little cove and tossed me in the water to heal. I swear I always knew that water was healing. One minute it’s hot, and the next, it’s cold.”

“It is. It’ll switch from hot to cold depending on your ailments.” She sighs. “Are you okay?” She winces as she asks because obviously I’m not okay.

In fact, I’m far from it. My entire world was just turned upside down and shattered, and I don’t even know what to think or feel, so I say nothing because there isn’t anything I can say, at least not right now.

“Alright.” She exhales slowly. “I don’t even know where to begin because most of us learn this when we are babies.”

“Well, my parents left me in one of those baby bins, so try the beginning.” I can’t even hide the snark in my voice. Luckily, Tori doesn’t mind.

“Long ago, the world wasn’t what it is today. There were no boundaries between the realms, and beings of light and shadow moved freely.”

“Light?” I question, leaning forward, my curiosity piqued despite my exhaustion.

“Light beings, yes.” She winks before her face falls. “You won’t meet them. They’ve all disappeared now, gone from Earth and the shadow realm.”

“But what are the light and shadow realms?” I shake my head, the concept still feeling surreal. “I can’t believe I’m even asking that question.”

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