Shadow Reign (Shadow Puppeteer Book 2) by Christina E. Rundle Page A

my stomach, my skin tingled. Even with my shields up, I felt the room’s vibration. I could practically taste every individual pulse. It beat within my chest, filling my every thought. I wanted to control them. I wanted to kill them.
    “Belen?” Rex’s voice pulled me from that dark place.
    I stared down at my hands gripping the floor for balance. There was no pain in me. I stood, opening and closing my left hand. My broken fingers were healed. My stomach where Utan cut me was also healed. I wasn’t so sure it was a good tradeoff. What was inside me was urging me into violence.
    Rex pressed against his captors, trying to get to me. When I glanced over at him, he stopped.
    I didn’t like the look he gave me, so I quickly turned away. “I’m okay.”
    “You are now blessed with the energy to cross over,” Kelaino said to me.
    The blood circle glowed with energy and purple fog whirled over the ceiling. This time, my skin didn’t crawl when the death door took root. The veiled woman spoke a language I couldn’t understand.
    Kelaino translated. “She wants to know what you see.”
    I wish people would stop asking me that.
    “I see our exit out of here,” I said.
    My attention flicked over to Rex. His eyes hardened.

ELEVEN
    T he room waited for me to move. Rose already stood in the middle of the circle and the thought of crossing Amber’s blood made me want to vomit. I didn’t like the fear that settled in my stomach. If I left, the next time I saw Rex could be when his spirit responded to my call.
    I met Kelaino’s glare. “I want reassurance that when I leave here, you won’t kill him.”
    She smiled. “You know how this game works. You’re not at all like your dad. He wasn’t as strategic as you.”
    My hands curled at the mention of my possible father. The scar over my chest itched at the very thought of him, but I wouldn’t let her drag me into her world. There was no reason to believe I was related to her. The only test I believed in was a DNA test.
    “Answer my question. Before I do anything for you, I want to know he’s safe,” I said.
    She started towards me and Utan raised a hand to stop her. She hissed and he quickly lowered his hand.
    “Give me your wrist,” she ordered.
    She wasn’t going to injure her star player, so I put my arm out. She slapped a heavy metal bracelet onto my wrist and it clicked into place. A line pulsed on the watch face. I saw the same machine in a hospital. It was Rex’s heartbeat and right now it was beating rather fast.
    “Now, we’re settled,” she said.
    Nothing about this made me confident. I glanced over at him, noticing the same contraption on his wrist. I prayed this was real. Kelaino didn’t have a reason to keep Rex alive once I was gone, unless she really thought I had the ability to wipe her out.
    I moved to the circle and on a whim, bent down to exam it. The blood belonged to Amber. If Zephyr was correct, I could open death doors anywhere. A death door was already swirling overhead, though it wasn’t open just yet. As disgusted as I was by this, I stuck my finger in the blood and drew a line over my cheeks like Kelaino did to Rose. The room gasped and I didn’t look over my shoulder to see how Rex responded. I could care little what anyone else thought.
    Now I was blessed to move over the circle and I was going to try and call for Amber. The inner circle was large and Rose kept her distance. I blew her a kiss and she growled. My inner calm surprised me. Utan wasn’t happy and Kelaino was unreadable.
    “Put the girls in and close the circle,” Kelaino ordered.
    The chain holders dragged the girls towards the circle, screaming and dragging their feet. Their fear was so thick, I was drowning in it.
    “Stop.”
    Everyone turned at my outburst. Good thing I was getting used to being the center of so much attention or I’d find this awkward.
    “You have something to say,” Kelaino said.
    “You have me, you don’t need these girls,” I