Mortal Queen: Steamy Shifter Romance (Shadow Shifters Book 4) by Tia Didmon

Author:Tia Didmon [Didmon, Tia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bold Butterfly Publishing Ltd.
Published: 2022-05-13T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 17

The shadow pathway to the forge was slick and narrow. The trip always made Dannika’s stomach heave, and this time was no different. She grabbed on to Raine as they coalesced in the outer chamber.

The circular walls were as they always had been, but the warmth and safety that had surrounded the forge was absent, as was the familiar clang of a hammer on metal.

“Where’s Ezra?” she asked.

Raine took her hand and led her down the tunnel. The silence was eerie as they looked for the weapons master.

An array of archaic swords adorned the rock walls of the forge, but the fire in the pit had dimmed. Ezra sat on the chair, wiping blood from his arm.

Dannika rushed over to him. “Are you okay?”

Ezra smiled at her in a reassuring manner, but his eyes looked tired. The familiar brightness behind them paled as his body concentrated on mending his wounds. “I’ll be fine. We can’t figure out how they broke our wards. Fallon is inspecting every crevice within the caves.”

Raine put his hand on Ezra’s shoulder. “You sure you’re alright? We can’t afford to lose you.”

Ezra threw the cloth on the wooden table beside him. “I was badly outnumbered, but the reapers’ skills with their weapons was laughable. I only recognized one of them. Dayton was here in seconds with other lieutenants from the clan. They got nothing.”

Raine glanced around the forge. “You held off an entire reaper force until you received reinforcements?”

Ezra stood, rolling his thick shoulders. “You may be my leader and an alpha, but I was killing reapers a hundred years before you were in diapers.”

Dannika put her hand over her mouth. “Now I remember why I like you so much.”

Raine laughed. “It’s hard not to. As a fledgling, I would sneak down here for extra training. I wasn’t the only one who defied Maddock to spend time with Ezra.”

Dannika frowned. “Why wouldn’t Maddock want you to train with Ezra? I mean, back when he wasn’t insane and turning reaper.”

“Maddock was insecure. The entire clan respects Ezra. If he had an alpha, we would have followed him without question.”

Ezra held up a hand. “I was never meant to lead. My calling is here. Someday, when I find my apprentice, when he is trained to my satisfaction, I will fight the reapers once again.”

Raine arched an eyebrow. “Trained to your satisfaction? You will be a thousand years old before that happens.”

Ezra clapped Raine on the back, laughing hard. “Too true.”

“Do you know what they were after?” Raine asked.

Ezra held up the bloody blade in his hands. “This. My blade.”

The metal glinted in the ambient light.

Dannika frowned. “They infiltrated the caves for a reaper blade. They have plenty of weapons. I don’t understand.”

Raine pointed to Ezra’s blade. “His is special. It’s the first forger’s blade. It is passed to the resident weapons master.”

“What is so special about his blade?”

Raine ran a finger over the unique runes. “It has some additional qualities the reapers find appealing.”

Dannika inspected the blade, but it was similar to her own.

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