Victorious.
I wasn’t proud of lying to Ava but I was proud of the time we’d spent together.
I rejoiced in having the courage to reveal the truth to her and set her free.
It could easily have been me standing on the other side of this room right now with Ava by my side.
But I would have felt like a failure.
She would have fostered some hope about what would happen next, as she would have been ignorant of the truth.
Many of the snatched fated mates were feeling the same way right now.
Poor fools.
They’d been caught up in an ancient game going back eons.
They were nothing but pawns in a game without end.
There could never be a positive outcome for them.
Except for the one I had fashioned for Ava.
Simply to tell her the truth.
None of these fated mates were so lucky.
A trumpet sounded, the noise bouncing off the hard walls.
The huge doors at the end of the hall opened, spilling light across the marble floor.
The twelve Elders entered and split in half.
One row headed left, the other right, forming a line.
No one, not even the successful Shadows could raise their eyes to look at them directly.
They kept their attention on the floor.
The fated mates, not knowing what to look at, also paid the Elders no mind.
The Grand Elder marched down the middle of the hall.
He wore a dark hood that concealed his face, except his long snout that protruded from the end.
Warts smothered the tip and the wet black nose on the end never stopped quivering.
“Welcome to the Citadel. We are the Elders.”
His feet were small, with black claws and long shins tucked beneath his robe.
“You are here to fulfill a holy and exalted purpose. You have the honor of breeding the next generation of Shadows, making the holy Shadow Empire ever stronger and more powerful.”
The fated mates glanced at their captors and caught each other’s eyes before returning to stare at the floor.
I could read their unasked question easily enough:
What the hell is a breeder?
“All your prior relationships no longer exist,” the Elder continued. “You have been given a great gift. You no longer have to toil in an office or work another day in your life. Your responsibility will be to breed.”
He came to a stop at the end of the line, his arms clasped behind his back.
“That is all.”
As we had failed in our mission, the Elders ignored us.
Our failure was an insult.
By ignoring us, they didn’t add to our disgrace.
Armed Shadows entered the room and took the fated mates from their captors.
The screams and wails began immediately.
“You said you would protect me!” a slimy green-skinned beauty said.
“I’m not going! I want to go home!” another with fiery red eyes declared.
“You can’t do this to me! Don’t you know who I am?” a creature with shimmering muscles said.
No, they don’t know who you are, I thought.
And they don’t care.
From now on, you will be known simply as “breeder.”
Despite their cries, they were dragged from the room.
The Shadow Warriors and the Elders waited patiently until they were removed.
The door slammed shut, cutting off their screams, and the Elders stepped aside and ushered us into the next atrium.
The room was small but well-designed.
The successful Shadows lined up along one wall that led to the steps that fed onto the stage while we failed Shadows took our seats in the audience.
The Shadows who succeeded would receive their titles and honors while the others watched what should have been ours.
They stepped up onto the stage one by one, smarmy grins angled in our direction.
I was quick to extinguish my smile.
It did no one good to know how I really felt inside.
The real failures were those who had betrayed their fated mates—those taking to the stage and receiving their accolades right now.
They would never know what they had given up.
They would never realize the depth and power of the love they could have shared with their fated mates.
Even if my own experience only lasted a couple of days, it made me a richer Shadow than all the awards these creatures received combined.
I reveled in those memories and let them play out as the losers received their rewards.
I was in the cave with my Ava, alone and hidden from the world.
The universe and the empire were as unaware of us as we were of them.
We gave in to each other, and together, we existed in the love we shared.
It was a love I would carry to my grave.
Let them keep their awards.
I already had mine.
Ava
The M’rora ship was similar but not identical to Kayal’s.
As we walked down the hallways, I kept glancing over at him.
He had the same golden irises, the same broad shoulders and muscular frame, the same narrow waist.
He wore the same blank cold expression on his face.
He even wore the same clothes.
But there was something different in his face, in his expressions.
There was something somehow “lighter” in the shadows of his face as if an artist had increased the saturation levels a little.
It was a subtle difference but there all the same.
“Where will you take me?” I said.
“To the Citadel on my homeworld.”
“To marry you?”
My voice came out with a small shiver embedded inside it.
“Yes. If you want me.”
He looked so much like him…
So much the same…
But was it right to think of him the same way?
Should the lies Kayal told me affect the way I approached this version of him?
No, not a version of him.
They were different people…
Weren’t they?
When I followed him on board, he was quick to take me to my quarters.
“If there’s anything you need, don’t hesitate to ask. Whatever is mine is yours.”
He’d picked out a room for me—which turned out to be exactly the same room Kayal had given me on his ship.
I wondered what was similar between the two of them and what difference—if any—existed.
“How similar are you to Kayal?” I blurted.
“Physically, we are identical. But we grew up very differently. The Shadow have a different way of thinking than us. We
