Page 108 of The Shade of Things
I let her go.
Chest heaving, I faced my family. “Are you both okay?”
Eli, shell-shocked, didn’t answer, but Sadie bounded into my arms, hugging me.
A tremor ran through her body. “Mom? I don’t feel so good.” Her eyes rolled back into her head, and she fainted.
Eli, his face hard, marched over to me and, taking our daughter from my arms, walked away.
Poe cawed in satisfaction, and I rounded on them. In all the chaos, I’d forgotten about the birds.
“Was Sadie the new player? Answer me!” Delilah grabbed the shifter by the neck.
Poe’s rapid heartbeat pulsed through my connection with my shadow, and for one wild moment, I longed to snuff it out.
The raven cawed, more subdued, and nodded.
“Come near me or my family ever again and I’ll end you.”
Delilah released them.
Poe burst into flight, the other ravens following them into the sky like an inky feather dusted across the sunset, leaving me to wonder if I’d destroyed my child’s life.
