Page 125 of Shadows Lost
I shook my head. “Jar says she will be both shifter and shadow fae. The first of her kind and infinitely more powerful.” I said proudly.
My fathers brows rose up into his hairline and his lips quirked. “The first shadow shifter?”
I chuckled. “Don’t tell Jar you came up with that name, he thinks himself clever and is claiming the ownership of naming a new species of fae.”
My father chuffed and then stared at me for a moment before leaning forward across the table to touch his forehead to mine. A traditional shifter greeting. “I have missed you, Daemon. You must know, I love you my cub. And I am so fucking proud of what you have become. You will be a wonderful father. Better than the best, I should know—I canseethe truth of it.”
I pressed back into him and breathed in his calming scent, our volatile bond finally calm. It was…peaceful? I had forgotten the feeling.
“I love you too, Father.”
He pulled away smiling. “Stay for dinner?”
I let out a strangled laugh. “Depends on what’s on the menu?” I winked.
He arched his brow. “I believe I still remember how to make your favorite dish.”
“Done!” I smacked my lips hungrily. “When do we eat?”
I grinned when his roaring laughter rattled the walls.
Chapter 62
Aftercleaningupfrommy training with Bane, I stumbled into an aroma filled kitchen with our friends finally back from scouting. They were sitting and chatting away at a large worn kitchen table while two shifter kings, wearing aprons, were cooking pasta…
Goddess damn pasta.
Su Filindeu to be exact.
A sophisticated dish with a light cream sauce that had me licking my fingers clean and setting fire ablaze in Emon’s eyes. Sitting there, I started to seriously doubt if Emon’s favorite food was even food at all. His eyes stared hungrily at my mouth with each delicate bite I made.
“What did she do next?” Penina said breathlessly.
I had been tuning out Xi’s wild tales about me at the dinner table, focusing on my food instead of her stories to save myselfthe embarrassment of my younger years. A time when I had a world to conquer, shit to prove, and a penchant for dangerous beasts.
I glanced at Emon. The latter I had yet to grow out of.
He had decidedly claimed the chair next to me, warning off any others while he draped his arm around me. He still wore an apron over his naked chest and I eyed it appreciatively. I wasn’t ever going to forget the way I had stumbled to a halt walking into the manor seeing his hair tousled over his brow while he bent over a large pot, stirring it in nothing but tight leather pants and that apron barely covering the rippling muscle of his chest.
All my anger and frustration at his secret keeping were quickly forgotten in that moment. If Asher hadn’t been there…
Emon caught my admiring look and grinned down at me.
Inhaling, I narrowed my eyes and quickly looked away. Heat spreading across my cheeks.
He chuckled darkly and shifted in his chair.
“General Dark decided that the best thing to do was to hitch a ride.” Xi’s uncovered eye rolled dramatically.
Tyr barked a laugh and he pinned me with a disbelieving stare across the table. “You rode a cù-sìth and didn’t die for it?”
I shrugged. “Obviously.”
Emon leaned in to whisper against the shell of my ear. “Im starting to realize most of your stories involve youriding beasts, little umbra.” I shuddered at the feel of his warm breath on my skin, and the deep timber of his purr.
Riley shook his head, green hair falling over hazel eyes glazed with memories. “There were fae that literally shit their pants when that beast strolled into our camp.”
Everyone laughed. Everyone except Bane, who sat in a shadowed corner sulking.
