Page 117 of Stubborn as a Shadow

I dipped my head down and charged.

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UNEXPECTED BLOOD OFFERINGS

NELSON

The sound of hooves hitting the ground almost destroyed me.

“No!” I shouted as I spun around to see my worst nightmare unfolding before me.

Morgan was galloping straight at one of the armed hunters. My heart felt like it’d fallen out of my body and landed at my feet. Morgan was supposed to be running in the opposite direction. He was supposed to save himself so I could save Violet. He was supposed to fucking trust me to do this.

Horrified, I couldn’t look away. His gorgeous body sparkled under the wintery sun. His horn shone. His hooves glistened.

He was so fucking beautiful, and he was going to get himself killed.

“Morgan! Run!” I waved my arms, but he didn’t even glance at me.

Behind me, Violet was screaming, even though she was gagged, and I knew she wanted him to leave too. He ignored us both.

I needed to get to him. I needed to stop this. I reached for my shadow form, knowing I’d need it to reach him in time. But before my shift could flow over me, pain shot up my arm.

I looked down to see a tranq dart. My shift slipped away from me, leaving me trapped in my human form. So, I did the only thing I could. I ran. I ran toward Morgan. If I could get between him and those guns…

Morgan dipped his head, holding his horn like a bayonet, aiming for one man’s chest.

“Stop!” the man shouted. But Morgan didn’t listen to him any more than he had listened to Violet and me.

Shots rang out. One. Two. Three… Then more. Too many.

Each one blasted through the frozen winter morning. Violet screamed. I saw red. Red everywhere. Red soaking into Morgan’s beautiful white coat.

“No, please…” I begged the universe.

Morgan staggered. He stumbled. But he didn’t slow.

His horn collided with its target. With a flick of Morgan’s head, the man flew over him. Then my unicorn reared up, showing his bloodied torso for all the world to see. His hooves slammed into the next nearest hunter. The man collapsed.

“Stop!” the other hunters shouted.

“I told you I’d kill her…”

Shit. Violet. The gun.

If anything happened to Violet, Morgan would never forgive himself. Except how could I help her when Morgan was bleeding? I reached for my shadow again, and it responded. Slow. Sluggish. But it was there.

My body was burning through the magical tranq. I didn’t know how that was happening, but I welcomed it. Maybe it was a perk of being mated to the Eternal Magic’s offspring.

My shift crawled over me.

“The tranqs aren’t working!” someone shouted.

Then I was in my shadow. I didn’t have eyes in this form, but I could see. There was no front or back or side. But I was everywhere.

I targeted Tammy first. She had her back to the sun, so her front was in shadows. She had no idea how vulnerable that made her, but she was about to find out.

I wrapped my shadow over her face and let it flow into her ears, nose, and mouth. Then I expanded and solidified enough to stab through the soft vulnerable parts usually protected by her skull.