I proceeded up the steps and inside the Citadel, ensuring not to glance back at him over my shoulder.
I got the terrible feeling he noticed something odd about me.
Did he know I wasn’t a Shadow?
Had I failed in my performance?
Or was I only being unnecessarily cautious?
“Computer,” I whispered. “Enter a fake report into the ship’s log detailing how an aquisus bird—”
“Already far ahead of you, sir,” Computer said.
I couldn’t help but smile.
“What would I do without you?”
“Very little, I suspect.”
I had made it inside the Shadow Citadel but I wouldn’t breathe a sigh of relief yet.
Not until I had shaken the darkness of this place from my boots and got a thousand lightyears’ distance from it.
In the Citadel back home, the main ceremonial hall where the marriage ceremonies took place was located at the very heart of the entire building.
All those who successfully brought back their fated mates took part in the ceremony.
In the Shadow Realm, as with everything, they had their own unique little twist on things.
They did not believe in marriage or lifelong partners.
Their ceremonies consisted of orgies and the celebration of planting so much seed in a fated mate that she couldn’t fail but become impregnated.
It made me shudder.
I followed the main flow of traffic to the main ceremonial hall.
I could hear the roars of excitement before I was even halfway there.
The walls, ceiling, and floor were bare, which made for fantastic acoustics.
But it was only fantastic when it was beautiful ceremonial music like back home.
Not here.
The roars and gales of laughter from onlookers were punctuated by screams and hard slapping noises that painted a very vivid picture.
A picture, I feared, that would be all too accurate.
The blood drained from my face and my mouth turned dry and I sped up, building into a fast jog.
Please tell me she isn’t there.
Please tell me I’m not already late.
Please tell me she isn’t the one responsible for all that screaming.
The throng of Shadows became thicker and I had to shove those in front aside so I could get a better view.
I received irritated glances and violent shoves back.
“Find your own spot!” a particularly large Shadow with curled tusks said.
Everyone was far more interested in what was happening in the arena to care much about a fight taking place behind them.
I weaved through the crowd and went up on tip-toe to peer over their heads.
I made out bare flesh and writhing figures through the mass of onlookers but no identifying marks.
I searched for a gap in the crowd.
There wasn’t one.
But there was a load-bearing column with a clearing behind it.
I ran and hopped onto it, grasping it with my arms splayed out to either side and my feet turned outward so they balanced on the thin ridge that ran about the column’s base.
I peered over the side at the show taking place in the arena below.
And I saw the “performers.”
I froze, my eyes boggling so wide they could have popped out of their sockets.
Down in the arena, I witnessed a Shadow vigorously claiming his mate.
He was bent over her, hammering her from behind, his hands wrapped around her throat and yanking her back.
He held her face toward him so she could watch what he was doing to her.
The Shadow ground deep inside her, their bodies slapping as he took out his frustrations on her, desperate to be the first to claim her and plant his seed inside her.
And still, I hadn’t seen the doomed mate’s face.
I made out a smooth cheek, a pointed chin, and blonde hair that flowed down her over her shoulders…
Down to her waist.
Long hair.
She had long hair, not shoulder-length like Emma.
I breathed an immense sigh of relief, before feeling sorry for the poor creature in the arena.
Her fated mate had failed her.
I swore to myself I would not do the same.
I edged back around the column and hopped down.
I could feel Emma now and the faint glimmer of the bond linking our hearts, beating as one.
She was growing stronger, more awake and aware.
She was somewhere beneath my feet on one of the lower levels.
They were holding her somewhere.
I ran down the steps, none of the Citadel workers taking much notice of me.
Most were hurrying to see the show taking place.
A show that Emma would be a part of if I didn’t find her first.
I wound down the stairs, pausing at each floor I came to.
I peered around each corner, searching for that faint glimmer of fuzzy and indistinct light.
The deeper I went, the harder it became to identify which level she was on.
Was she on this floor?
Or the next one?
Or had I already overshot and she was on a floor above?
I took two hallways before skidding to a halt halfway down it.
Wrong floor.
I cycled back and continued down more floors.
“The Shadow engineers are accessing the data files now,” Computer said.
“Did you create the required documents?”
“Yes, but it won’t fool them for long. But they’re not all on the main bridge. One is sneaking around the weapons bay. He hasn’t noticed anything suspicious yet but it’s only a matter of time before he discovers the truth.”
“Try to distract them as best you can. With any luck, we’ll be out of here before they notice anything is up.”
“May I suggest you find Emma quickly?”
What great advice, I was going to snap back at him.
But he’d proven himself a truly valuable ally and I wouldn’t risk upsetting him when so much was on the line.
Finally, I came to what I thought had to be the right floor.
The large door hung ajar and I could hear clapping from beyond it.
I hurried to the door and peered around it.
I spied a body lying on the floor before an open cell.
My heart was in my throat as I jogged toward it.
One guard lay prostrate on the ground, his face beaten in with his own mace.
Inside the cell, I was shocked to find another two Shadows lying still and potentially lifeless on the floor.
Somehow, I knew
