Page 127 of Broken Shadows

The devil’s hard gaze softens, and a genuine smile curls his lips before he lobs the sheathed blade at me.

I snatch it out of the air and turn Evangeline upside down with my shadows, willing my magic to wrangle her limbs. Her arms straighten perpendicularly with the floor, then my shadows pin her legs together vertically.

My head shakes and I cackle. Evangeline exudes the dark energy a sacrifice draws from its victims—a rare true visage in blood, like a fucked up, gory crucifix.

“Shit, I was going to say burn in Hell, but you're already here.” I laugh and slash the demonic blade across her throat.

Evangeline’s blood sprays my chest in an arc of magnificent carnage. I close my eyes and absorb her last moments, my magic swirling back into me.

I open my eyes as an extended creak of metal hinges shatters the spell death has cast, holding us in its thrall. Lorcan stumbles through the open door of the cage and I hurry over to him, throwing his heavily tattooed arm over my shoulder. His weight nearly knocks me over as we move to the stone stairs, and I help him sit down.

I move to sit beside him, but Lorcan grabs my wrist and tugs me onto his lap instead. Our breaths mingling as reality settles around us. Stubble scrapes my palms as I cup his cheeks and kiss him gently, mindful of his dry, cracked lips.

Lorcan started healing the moment he stepped from the wards of his cage, but his magic was so depleted the process takes far longer than usual.

Evangeline is finally fucking dead. And I was the one to end her.

I look into his consuming eyes and hold his intense gaze. “She’s dead.”

A sexy, heart-stopping, boyish grin transforms Lorcan’s face, those damn dimples bracketing his smile. “Yes, she fucking is.” Adjusting me so my side rests against his chest and my legs drape over his thighs, he pulls me to him and buries his face in my hair, heedless of how filthy it is. “Thank you, Evie.”

Lucifer snaps and Samuel drops to the stone floor in a heap of limbs, then he literally grabs his son by the nape of his neck and tosses him into the cage. The door slams shut with a final, jarring clank, the bars glow and Lucifer hisses as he pours his magic into the wards and imprisons Samuel.

“Dad! Please, don’t leave me down here!”

Lucifer sighs, long and deep, through his nose. “Not only is everything you’ve done to Lorcan unforgivable, but you tried to tear apart our family. A crime like that cannot be forgiven.” He pauses, then eviscerates Samuel with a hard stare and a shake of his head. “I’m so disappointed in you, Samuel.”

Evie snorts down the bond.Fuck. When Satan says he’s disappointed in you… just… fuck.

“You can’t do this! I’m your son. Please…” Samuel trails off into hacking sobs.

“A few centuries of solitude is only the beginning of your punishment, My Boy.”

I look over my shoulder as we leave what’s left of Evangeline’s corpse. “Should we do anything with the body?”

Lucifer sighs, his shoulders falling. “No. The stench of her decomposition will only aid in my son’s punishment.” He glances over at my demon, lips twitching, and waves a hand at his eldest. Joggers manifest on the lower half of Lorcan’s body. “I can’t have my son walking around, his bits exposed.”

Lorcan and I trudge up the stairs until the damn cage is out of sight before his dad pulls him into a bear hug. “I am so sorry, My Lorcan.”

“I know, and it’s not your fault. I’m just fucking glad the bitch is dead,” Lorcan says hoarsely, words breaking in places.

Lucifer offers me a watery smile over my demon’s shoulder, then passes the torch to Lorcan and vanishes.

“Just a second, Little Witch,” Lorcan says with a smirk, then slowly walks down the stairs and stops before the cage and tucks his hands into his pockets.

I follow but remain a few stairs above him.

“What kind of big brother would I be if I forgot to say goodbye?” Samuel sniffs but doesn’t respond. “Do you hear that dripping sound, Envy?

Samuel spits on the ground, then snarls. “Fuck off.”

Lorcan chuckles and continues like his brother never spoke, but his deep voice frosts over. “Now that I’ve pointed it out, it’s the only fucking thing you’ll ever hear.” He pauses, expels a satisfied exhale, and leans closer to the bars. “Drip. Drip. Drip.—That’s the sound of your life rotting away.”

My demon turns back to me, then I ease us into the In-Between, deep, impenetrable darkness enveloping the cage.

EPILOGUE

Evie

---