Page 8 of Shadowed Spirits

Pounding footsteps announce the arrival of, presumably, the man who yelled at us to stop. My eyes widen when all nine feet of him come into view. He looks like a walking, talking tree. Instead of skin, the man is covered in brown bark with limbs that look like tree branches. His head has small twigs topped with leaves sticking out, kind of like hair.

“What is your business—” The tree dude stops mid-sentence when his gaze lands on Levi. His moss green eyes light up as he stomps toward him. “Leviathan! Good to see you! I didn’t know you were planning to return. I would have prepared a feast for you!”

Levi is short for Leviathan? Huh, the more you know, I guess. That’s a super cool name, though. I wouldn’t go by a nickname if I had that badass of a name.

“Terminus, it’s good to see you. This trip wasn’t planned. I have a… problem I need to sort out with my brother.”

“I hope it is nothing too serious.” When Levi shrugs his shoulders noncommittally, Terminus sweeps his assessing gaze across the rest of us. “And who have you brought with you?”

Levi looks at me with a small smile before turning back. “This is my mate, Isabel Gallagher, and her other four mates.”

Terminus’s eyes widen before he breaks out into a grin so wide, I’m worried it will crack the bark of his face. He pulls Levi into a bear hug that lifts Levi’s feet off the ground. A snort escapes me at the image of my tall, buff, super powerful mate being picked up and hugged by a tree.

Well, at least my life is interesting. Weird, violent, and stressful a lot of days, but interesting. It could definitely be worse.

Eventually, Terminus releases Levi and turns to me. I stiffen, expecting to get picked up by the tree, but he instead lowers himself to one massive knee and bows his head. “Isabel Gallagher, mate of Leviathan, I am at your service. Whatever you require, I will aid you in any way I can.”

I gape at the strange tree man, wondering what in Satan’s name is going on here. When he doesn’t move or get up, I realize I have to say something. “Um. Thank you?” My voice gets high pitched toward the end, making my statement come out more like a question.

I hear someone behind me snicker at my awkwardness, but I keep my eyes trained on Terminus. He looks up at me with a grin before lumbering to his feet and turning to Levi. “Do you require an escort through the city?”

Levi shakes his head. “No, we’ll be fine.”

“Once you speak with your brother about your problem, stop by the guardhouse to catch up. It has been too long.” Terminus claps Levi on the back and nods to me, the wolves, and Bishop before disappearing back into the red stone turret.

I want to ask Levi about how he’s such good friends with the gatekeeper of the capital of his plane, but I’m pretty sure that falls into the category of problems we don’t need to deal with now. I’ll wait until we’re somewhere calmer to ask.

The iron gate screeches as it slowly starts moving up. As the city behind it is revealed, I suck in a surprised breath. From the castle-like wall and Terminus’s antiquated garb, I expected Acheron to look like a typical medieval town. Instead, it looks like someone threw a modern city and a thousand-year-old town into a blender, pureed it on high, and dumped it out here. Skyscrapers are bordered by small stone buildings with thatched roofs, narrow cobblestone paths intersect massive, paved highways, and horse-drawn carriages trot alongside brand-new cars.

When I tear my gaze away from the structures of the town, I notice the inhabitants for the first time. My jaw drops as I take in the hodgepodge of different species. While there are quite a few people who look human, for the most part, there are a ton of creatures that look like nothing I’ve ever seen before.

A small blue man with three eyes, a long tail, and wings on his back waddles past us. He notices my staring and narrows his eyes at me. “What are you staring at, blondie?”

My eyes get even wider as I’m called out for gawking. Before I can formulate a response, Levi steps up next to me. “Be careful who you speak to like that,portentum.”

The tiny blue man opens his mouth to blast Levi before getting a good look at him. Once he does, his eyes widen, and he trips over himself to apologize. “I didn’t see you there, sir. I apologize. It won’t happen again.”

“See that it doesn’t.” Levi’s voice is as cold and harsh as I’ve ever heard it. Glancing over at him, I notice that his skull mask is flickering over his face as he stares down the strange man. When Levi doesn’t say anything further, the blue dude scurries off. Leviturns to me. “It is unwise to stare at creatures of this realm. Many perceive it as a grave insult.”

“Fucking noted, screech owl. I’ll keep my eyes to myself.” Unless I’m looking for a fight, of course. I’m at least sixty-six percent certain I could’ve taken the small blue guy in hand-to-hand combat.

I wonder why the winged man reacted so strongly when he saw Levi? The best I can guess is that his Grim Reaper party trick scared him off.

“What was that guy?” Archer asks.

“That, pup, was a demon.”

Archer’s mouth opens and closes a few times as he tries to figure out how to respond. “Holy shit. No kidding when you said you weren’t a demon. Are they all that small?”

“No. Now, let’s go. I don’t like you being out in the open any more than necessary, little raven.” Levi waits for a carriage to careen through the black cobblestone pathway in front of the gate before leading our group to a sidewalk next to a bustling, paved thoroughfare.

I try to keep my head down because every time I look up, everyone is staring at us. Surely, we don’t stand out that much. There are a ton of humanoid people interspersed with what look like demons, satyrs, nymphs, and other creatures of mythology. Most of the gazes are filled with curiosity, but some of them hold animosity.

With all the attention we’re getting, my mates organize themselves into a protective circle around me. Levi’s in front, Luca and Cain are to either side of me, and Bishop and Archer are behind me.

Their protectiveness is kind of sweet, but I’d much rather get myself hurt than let any of them get injured. I try to walk up beside Levi. I don’t get very far before I’m pulled back by mybackpack. I turn to glare at Luca, who smirks down at me. “Nice try, wildcat. Stay between us.”

I open my mouth to tell Luca exactly where he can shove his order, but Bishop sighs loudly behind me. I twist to look at him over my shoulder and am super impressed I don’t trip while doing it. “Now is not the time for a fight. Just let us protect you, Izzy. You promised to let us in. And stop provoking her, Luca.”

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