Page 106 of Broken Shadows

I jolt as a hand lands on my shoulder, the strong hold spinning me on the spot. Samuel’s flat-gray psychopath eyes come to life when they bore into mine. “I’ve been wondering when I would get you to myself, Witch. Can I have this dance?”

His palm is in mine before I can tell him to go fuck himself, and he’s dragging me into the center of the room. The last place I want to be is in Samuel’s arms, but if it means I can be closer to Lorcan and my aunt and find out what in the unholy Hell is happening, then so be it.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Evie

Something isn’t right.

My instincts scream at me to run as the song begins in a single, eerie note. Lorcan’s wide eyes meet mine for a moment before the dance floor is draped with shadows, obscuring my view of him and Evangeline.

His voice grounds me as he breaks his rule for a second time and Lorcan’s words echo into my mind.Get out of here. Now.

Samuel’s hold on me tightens as the music begins like a wisp of an echo, resonating through the cavernous room. My thoughts direct me from the floor, but I am a puppet to the music, remaining glued to Samuel, trapped in this deadly waltz.

My magic sizzles in my fingertips but is quickly quelled as the music picks up.

“This dance is called the Garaud,” Samuel explains in an eerie whisper, the shadows shrouding the sea of spirits and demons around us. “It’s also known as the dance of death.” He glides my leg back with his knee, whispering, “The music is an earworm to the living. Once you start, you can’t leave.” His long fingers snake lower down my spine, sending a shiver skittling through my bones. “The Garaud once swept through entire towns, and the people in them danced until they died.”

I crane my neck, searching for a glimpse of Lorcan amongst the dark fog, but can’t see anything beyond the wall of mist. “Well,” I say, turning my focus to Samuel, “at least I might die soon and be relieved of the presence of your company.”

“You have such a wicked mouth,” he intones with a wolfish grin. “It’s no wonder my brother is so taken with you.”

“So, is this your revenge?” I ask, my body spinning to the music without any instruction from my brain, as if the moves are imprinted in my soul. “To dance me to death?”

Crystals hang from the bone chandelier above, their light refracted into shards, illuminating the reddish hue woven into Samuel’s brown hair. “Oh no. Your demise will be far more satisfying, but watching you squirm like this… is…” His eyes close for a second, a satisfied smile curling his thin lips, as if he’s tasting my sorrow and it’s the most delicious thing ever.

Dark, somber notes resonate from the piano as another song begins, uplifted by the quick sweeps of bows across violins, the melody building into a steady crescendo.

His dead eyes latch onto mine as he moves in inhuman angles, all slow turns, then quick jolts. Quick jabs and off-tones screech together, the deadly rhythm seeping into my ears, ensnaring my senses, and for a moment the world blurs. He spins me once, twice, and I cannot speak no matter how many times I open my mouth in protest.

I want to stop.

My heart rate flutters into uneven beats, rising and falling with the frantic strikes of the instruments.

Masked demons blur in and out of the shadows as my back rises and falls against Samuel’s palm, their too-wide grins haunting my swaying twirls. Dizziness encompasses my mind, numbing my inhibitions until all I can feel is the music, my feet aching with the flurried movements as the song descends into a frantic delirium, each chord wildly chasing the next.

I bite my lip, closing my eyes to the spinning world, until I can taste a tang of blood. Entrenched with the music is Samuel’s giddy laughter echoing around my ears until tears are spilling from my ducts.

Samuel rotates me outward, but this time lets go as the song ends in a final, heart-jolting chord, followed by a thick, heavy silence.

I collapse onto the floor, my fingers grasping the stone for some sense of stability as the shadows disappear. I blink once, then twice as my vision clears and I see Lorcan standing in front of Samuel. At first, I don’t know what I’m looking at until I notice the throbbing, black heart in dripping blood through Lorcan’s fingers.

My gaze tracks the rest of the crowd to the musicians, and I gasp.

All eyes are on the bloody, flesh-coated spine hanging over a music stand, and the corpse of a demon crumpled at the bottom.

No wonder the music ended so abruptly.

Lucifer speaks first, his voice deeper than earlier, the command in his tone silencing the room. “Calm down, son.”

“There are humans here,” Lorcan shouts, and tosses the heart on the ground. “The fucking Garaud, really?”

Lucifer nods slowly and approaches Lorcan on the small stone platform where the other musicians' backs are pressed firmly against the wall. “It was my mistake. It won’t happen again.”

“It was Samuel’s,” he spits, pointing at his brother, who watches with a devilish smile, his hand on his hip.

“Come now,” Lucifer says, guiding Lorcan from the platform. “Let’s continue. It isn’t a party without a little murder,” he jokes, his voice filled with a mirth that is contradiction with the rest of the room.

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