I know he’s right. Holding Cara, I caress each side of her face and say, “This is my father, Asmodeus, but he likes to go by Dez. He’s a good male and he’s going to take care of you until I can bring Lillie back to you.” She whines, low and soft, all the while making these unusual trilling sounds. Shaking her head as if saying no, but then she lays her head on my shoulder and nuzzles my neck before pulling away. Her signal that she’s okay with going with my father. Looking him in the eye, I say, “No harm comes to her. You protect her with your life. Got it? LJ will kill me if something were to harm a single hair on her fox.”
“She will be treated like a princess. Now go. Find her and bring her back to our House. Shadow-walking all the way to her and back to our place. You got it?”
Nodding, I watch him leave with Cara and turn to Poppy. She grins, “Well, you’re just full of surprises aren’t you, you shadow-walking stud muffin? What is this shadow-walking and why haven’t you mentioned it before.”
“Because I can only shadow-walk in demon form,” I growl. “Stand back while I shift, and be ready to go. My demon is chomping at the bit to be on his way. As soon as my shift is complete you will need to hold on tight because he is going to launch into the sky and ride every available shadow he can find. My vision should be clearer in a convoluted way. You will understand once I pull you into the darkness with me. Whatever you do, do not let go. You could be lost in the shadows. Once lost, you will begin to lose your sense of self. The shadows can be worse than even hell.”
“Well, that’s just peachy. Let’s do this, demon boy, but if you lose me in the shadows, Lillie will never forgive you. Do you hear that, demon? Do not lose me in the darkness! Now let’s do this.”
I can’t help the smirk that creeps up the corner of my mouth at her fierce determination and then I let my demon out. Our shift takes less than a few seconds and then my demon throws his head back and roars. The only restraint he shows is that he waits for Poppy to land on our shoulder and make her way under our right-wing. She latches on tight and we launch into the air on a powerful downward thrust of our wings, catching the shadow of Luc’s fortress as we lift quickly into the crimson sky. My demon roars again as we gain altitude and slip into the darkness. There are always shadows to be found in The Underworld. Stretching my wings in flight, we fly higher and higher, hidden from everyone.
“This is so weird. Please don’t lose me in here.” Poppy sounds a wee bit frightened as I continue to glide through the penumbra.
“Hold on tightly, little one,” my demon growls and we soar higher, hidden within the shadows of this world, all the while our eyes adjust to the unique vision that allows us to see not only the shadow world but The Underworld as well. As we crest The Great Divide, we speak to the now timid sprite, “The dead that find their way here to The Underworld will wander the Fields of Punishment, eventually making their way to the Land of the Restless Dead.” Our voice is rough and deep, all the while we scan the Fields of Punishment for my LJ. Our mate. We glide along the currents before stretching our wings once more to gain altitude, before continuing, “The restless dead at some point lose all sense of who they were before they died. They eventually become wraiths that become lost in the shadows and that is why you must not be lost to the shadows little one. They will seek you out and drain all knowledge of who you were before and then you will join them for all eternity.”
“Well, that’s just creeptastic. Seriously, dude, I really don’t need to hear anymore. I’m good. I’m good.” Poppy squeaks.
A deep chuckle rumbles through our chest, and I’m beginning to realize that my demon is not so bad. He has a sense of humor that I never knew. Internally, I relax and hand over the reins to my demon, which I’ve never done before. It’s then that I realize that he could have taken control of me at any time but he’s been waiting for this, for me to accept him. At that moment, we both home in on what I believe to be LJ but we are confused by her light. It’s tarnished and not as
