Page 19 of Shannon in Sombra
I said my hellos to Sammael, Dagon, Lucian, and Damien earlier. I waited to see if the doppelseers would mention the fleeting rainfall from last night, or even tell us if there had been a change to the prophecy involving Alana, but instead, the other males all act as though there’s nothing to fret about even though they acknowledge that it did happen—and it’s part of the reason they’ve stopped into to visit Nuit.
The other? A riddle from Damien that this is where their mate is meant to be. Since she easily joined in on the ‘girl talk’—while notably avoiding Dagon’s fair-haired mate—the doppelseer must be right, though I can’t stop remembering the sting of the raindrops falling against my skin.
I am the only one. It seems as though everyone I spoke to seemed to be in a fine, worry-free mood. In fact, Apollyon welcomed the doppelseers’ sudden visit by deciding a village feast was in order. With Loki and Kennedy’s spawn almost here, and Azazel confirming that Dagon and Sierra’s spawn is doing well, the clan leader and clanmother had the feast planned and hosted for dinner tonight to celebrate our growing clan, plus our honor in hosting the doppelseers and their mate.
And if the sense of camaraderie has anything to do with my mentioning to Apollyon earlier this morning that I can no longer stand to see some of my fellow demons treating Shannon and Alana with anything less than a friendly graciousness otherwise we might have to relocate to a village thatwill, I’m sure that’s all just a coincidence…
Lilith is fond of my family. Apollyon listens to Lilith, and if Duke Haures learned that any of his subjects were wary of my daughter because she was born like him… born without shadows and with pale, colorless skin… then I’m sure he might find it in him to visit Nuit again.
And I doubt anyone wantsthat.
After the feast, the females decided to return to their earlier conversation. Loki went off to talk with Apollyon and Sammael; the two mages said they weren’t concerned with the report of rain that I gave to Apollyon earlier this morning, but between them and the clan leader, they wanted to discuss what it might’ve meant—and how to stop it from happening inside of Nuit again.
Lucian and Damien disappeared, too. Since they left Tandy behind in the care of Sierra and Billie, I know they haven’t used their enchanted house to relocate to another part of Sombra. Instead, the doppelsseers are probably doing things that only another clan seer might understand. And since Caldor, our last seer—and the one who told me I’d find my forever with a mate that blooms in a sun that never shines in Sombra, something I never understood until my Shannon summoned me to her—had moved to Soleil to stay with the one true mate he finally divined for himself, we don’t have one.
Sometimes, I wish I could see. That, instead of using giz and paint to draw the images in my mind’s eye, I saw something that would help keep my family safe.
It’s not to be. Instead, I worry about a future I can not fight, though if the gods are merciful, maybe I can change it…
The rain has changed everything; that, plus how I upset my mate. I tried to protect her, to shield her, the way a gentle Sombra demon could, but I was wrong. I messed up. I should’ve known better, and my shame is hard to hide as I stand with Dagon and Glaine, the other two banished from our mates’ ‘girl talk’ session.
The duke’s head guard splits his time between Mavro where he still serves Duke Haures, and Nuit, where he helps Apollyon keep Nuit safe. With Billie’s kin come to visit with her, Glaine has also extended his stay in town. That doesn’t mean he hasn’t sent his own message to Duke Haures about the inexplicable, sudden rain. He told me earlier that he had; so did Apollyon, with Loki’s help. But since the duke has stayed in the capital with his mate, Glaine and Dagon both agree that he doesn’t think that the prophecy is unfolding just yet.
He’s not concerned. I try not to be. And maybe if I wasn’t worrying so much, I would’ve noticed much sooner that something… something was wrong.
At first, I think it’s just me. I went more than a thousand years without mating. The most I did was rub my cock to the promise of the female meant for me, but even that lost any enjoyment over the centuries. Tasting Shannon’s cunt… feeling the way she wraps around my length tightly whenever she invites me into her body… the first time we mated, I knew that that was what I had spent the last millennium waiting for. Her affection, her love, her trust as I penetrated her, and the pleasure that consumed me when I found my one true mate.
I will never tire of pleasuring my female. Even now, my mouth waters to lap at her cunt. My cock is so hard, I add another layer of shadows to my coverings to hide how desperate I am for her all of a sudden. Usually I can control myself much better than this. I will always want my Shannon, but I’ve never felt as though I’d claw through my own skin to get inside of hers.
I grit my teeth. Folding my fingers, I jab my claws into the flesh of my solid palm. A trickle of blood stains my skin from where I accidentally nick it. Transforming my hands to shadow and back, my hands a hazy black to their usual red, I heal the injury.
Neither Dagon nor Glaine notice.
Odd.
CHAPTER9
NEED
MALPHAS
It hits me that both demons are quiet. So am I. Sweat slicks my brow. Sombra is a fiery world, of ash and shadows. Our coolest days are ones that Shannon would never leave the apartment, preferring to park herself in front of the cold air vent—the AC—in our human home. It took her a while to get used to the dry yet oppressive heat in Sombra, but, to me, it’smyhome. It doesn’t bother me.
So why am I feeling feverish?
And that’s not all. My cock aches. My sac is tight. I am in my demon form, but my skin almost itches. It’s sensitive without my shadows being out, and even my horns beg to be stroked. I lock my knees to keep them from going even weaker.
My tongue darts out, dabbing the corner of my suddenly dry mouth. I swipe my brow with the back of my hand.
Still, Glaine and Dagon are too distracted to sense my discomfort.
The soldier has shifted his body. Instead of facing Dagon and me, he’s moved so that he can watch the females, his green eyes drawn unblinkingly to the one with wild, gold-colored curls. Billie. She’s laughing as she pokes the braided female next to her. Sierra, Dagon’s mate
Like all Sombra demons, Dagon is possessive of his mate. Since he and Sierra created their own spawn during a recent gold moon, the hunter is even more so. And yet… Dagon isn’t watching his mate as closely as Glaine is.
Instead, he’s watching thesky.
I follow his stare and that’s when I notice what he’s staring at.
