Shadowborn Read Online Free PDF Page A

surrounded me. Shadows crept around the ceiling above in silence.
    Have to get out!
    All sound stopped. Nothing moved, not even the current of air that had been filtering down from the vent in the ceiling. Even the dust particles froze in place.
    One of the creatures crouched on my left, another did the same on my right. They each took one of my hands from my ears. I closed my eyes, fear waiting like a rabid wolf about to consume my flesh with jagged teeth.
    Their touch surrounded me in calm, forcing my focus to resettle and return to normal. With my eyes open again, Gallagher and Andrew stood beside me. Through hyperventilated breaths, I managed to say, “What’s ha—happening to me?”
    “Take a moment.” Gallagher held my trembling fingers in his. “Andrew can pause time, so nobody is aware of us at this moment. Do you know why you’re so frightened?”
    I shook my head, realizing Andrew had provided the ‘necessary measure’ Gallagher had been evasive about. “The sounds … everyone was shouting. You all turned into …” What did they turn into? Every explanation I formed in my head sounded more ludicrous than the last.
    “What did we become?” Andrew asked.
    Demons? Creatures from the deep? Yeah, psycho! “Uh … something else.”
    “Search deeper, Lila.” Gallagher stroked his thumb over my knuckles the way he did during our meditation sessions. “Remember our training. You must be conscious of all thought now.”
    Prickles drew my gaze to a family of spiders wandering toward a pale-as-death hand.
    Cold. So cold here. Freezing. A spark of recognition slapped me in the face.
    I recognized that hand. My hand. No, his hand.
    The frantic voice wasn’t my own, but it had filled my thoughts, draping me in fear.
    A box. We were in a box.
    We are in a box. I am.
    The voice is. “Oh, Goddess!” A wheeze burst from my lips as I collapsed the rest of the way to the floor in a shaking fit. “It’s not my fear. It’s h-his.” My feet kicked out with the urge to run, but the two fae held me in place.
    “Parthalan has risen,” I choked out. “He’s Sluagh.”
    Andrew growled and slammed his palm against the floor. “So those undead fuckers did bury his body in the Cargun bone yard.”
    “He cannot reach you here, Lila,” Gallagher said. “Remember the Goddess granted you command of the feathered abominations.”
    Yes, I command them .
    Deep inhalations calmed me somewhat, but the underlying truth prickled my spine. “You don’t understand. I get the feeling he doesn’t remember anything, and he’s petrified and—and he’s still in the ground.” A frantic brush of my arms didn’t erase the sensation of spider legs on them. “I can feel everything he does.”
    Gallagher shared a wary glance with Andrew. “This does pose a bit of a quandary.”
    My mental whirlwind halted. Gritting my teeth, my eyes swept to lock onto my royal aide. “A quandary? A fucking quandary, Gallagher?” I jammed my fingers into my hair, fighting to think past the pounding of my heart. “Goddess, help me. The link is active again. If I couldn’t destroy it before, I won’t be able to now.” I knew I kept his power within me, but to be tethered to him again … it was intolerable. “What do I do now?”
    Gallagher placed his hand on my face, forcing me to look at him. “Concentrate with me now. You can shut him out. Once you’re back in your own head, we’ll finish this meeting and discuss our options.”
    I huffed in an effort not to hyperventilate. “I don’t want any of them to know about this yet.” Gripping his wrists in my fingers, I added, “Please.” I couldn’t take Liam looking at me with disdain, knowing just how damaged I’d become.
    Blind eyes bored into me. “Your thoughts dwell on your double standard, Lila, even if you do not realize it. You accuse Liam of lying to you, yet you keep something of grave importance from him. Please, reconsider.” Appearing quite satisfied with himself,