Page 9 of Mortal Curse (Shadow Shifter)

Raine didn’t flinch under his leader’s scrutiny. “Yes. I asked her name out of respect. I assumed she would die and planned a marker for her grave.”

Maddock sneered. “You still have to perform the trial. Let’s see if you will need that gravestone.”

CHAPTER5

Dannika spit gravel from her mouth. The thick metal cuffs attached to chains halted her attempt to wipe the drool from her lips.

“She’s awake,” a man said from the front of the cell. “Get Raine.”

The cell was small and carved out of rock. Long metal bars had been drilled into the rock floor and ceiling. The door had a single latch and key lock. The handle was old, something from a medieval castle.

There were no amenities in the cell. She was alone and chained. Imagining her death had never included incarceration. Was she food for some deranged creature? At least, she thought the snarls had come from a creature. She remembered the growling and the pain, but her memory was hazy. Had she attacked someone?

Raine approached the cell with an engraved metal key. “I will free you from the chains. You are to be tested, to prove your transition was pure.”

Dannika spit a piece of gravel to the ground. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

He opened the cell. The metal grated against its hinges, groaning in protest. “It wasn’t a request. You either complete the trial or you die.”

Her heartbeat quickened. It should have been fear, but it wasn’t. She fought the rising excitement as the awareness inside her, judged Raine. His words should have deterred her, but a part of her wanted to fight, to prove she was strong. Worthy of combat.

“What kind of trial?”

Raine knelt in front of her, using the intricate key to unlock her chains. “You are the only woman to survive the transition. While you have a shadow, we do not consider your turn pure unless you also have an animal. Without your animal’s soul, you will turn reaper. You need both to be considered a true shadow warrior.”

She allowed him to pull her to her feet. The difference in her body was considerable. While she had laid on the floor in chains all night, there was no pain, no stiffness or discomfort. She could’ve slept in a five-star bed and not felt as revitalized as she did in that cell.

Her boost in vitality was less concerning than her reaction to Raine. He was her savior and her captor, yet neither of those titles stopped her eyes from trailing over his tantalizing body.

His tanned skin was perfection. The urge to run her hand along the thick bicep that stretched his black T-shirt was overwhelming. The stubble on his jaw was equally appealing, but his blue eyes were like iridescent pools. She could get lost in them for eternity, and she found herself backing away at the thought.

She was no schoolgirl with a first crush. The images in her head were raw, uncensored, and explicit. She wasn’t even sure if some of them were anatomically possible.

Raine led her out of the cell and into the hallway. Like his living room, the walls were stone, with tunnels that ran in multiple directions. She knew she would get lost in the underground maze without her guide.

“I’m not like that thing that attacked me. What do I need to do to prove it?”

Raine’s lip twitched. “Simply shift into your animal form.”

She frowned. “Is there like a magic word or something?”

“No. Your animal will only emerge the first time when you are under threat.”

“Why?”

“A shadow shifter is a combination of three species. A shadow warrior, a human, and a shifter. You were not born with your abilities, so your human brain is dominant. Your shadow emerged because of the transition, but your animal is recessive until it’s provoked,” Raine said.

She swallowed hard. “How do you make your animal emerge?”

Raine led her to the cave entrance. It opened to a field full of men engaged in mock combat. Many attacked one another with thick knives that had strange markings carved into the blades. They glinted in the sunlight as the men moved with blurring speed.

He pointed at the combatants. “You will fight until your animal emerges. If it doesn’t, you die.”

Her heartbeat was sluggish and her fingers cold as they approached the two men watching the others fight. They turned and though they were both attractive, with athletic bodies and dark hair, the taller one sent chills skating over her skin.

Raine touched the arm of the man who scared Dannika. “This is Maddock. He is the wolf clan leader.” He pointed to the other man. “This is Steele. He is the leader of the cougar clan.”

Dannika licked her dry lips. “Wolf shifter and cougar shifter, got it.”

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