Page 22 of Broken Shadows

Despite wanting nothing more than to tear apart Edward’s corpse and scream until my voice runs dry, Samuel—the twisted fuck—demands my attention.

“You’re more powerful than I knew.”

I turn to face him. Samuel’s pupils dilate, lips trembling and glistening with splatters of dark blood. He wipes his lips on the sleeve of his maroon button-up shirt and smirks. Glancing at the door, he laughs.

I hadn’t noticed them until then, standing in the doorway.

“Evie…” Rosa’s voice penetrates the silence.

Gods no. She can’t be here. Not now.

I stare at Rosa and Aiden, with a scalpel in one hand and Edward’s severed dick in the other.

How long have they been there? How much did they see?

Rosa’s eyes widen as she scans the blood-drenched scene. “Evie. Is that his…?”

I drop the flaccid organ into the pool of blood at my feet. There is so much blood, running like rivers of crimson through the cracks in the stone ground. It’s too bad he bled out so quickly.

Seeing Rosa makes this ten times worse. Not because of what I did, but because of how I did it… and how much I enjoyed it. Now she sees what Lorcan saw in me from the moment he laid eyes on me—a killer.

Having my darkness reflected in the horrified expression of my closest friend makes me wince.

Gomez flaps his wings behind them, landing on Rosa’s shoulder. His beady eyes scan the room and I command him not to come any further through our bond.

Seeing him breaks my heart, but I can’t afford to show vulnerability now. Not with a sadistic monster watching me.

Speaking of…

Samuel’s psychotic laughter echoes through the room. The fucker really has come alive in all this murder.

“Leave,” I splutter to Rosa, knowing Samuel will only use her to get to me. “Now!”

Samuel tilts his head toward Aiden and Rosa and my entire body tenses. He laughs maniacally, then spits blood on the ground. “Don’t run, or I’ll direct my brothers to murder you all,” Samuel orders, glaring at Rosa, then adds, pointing at me, “And I’ll kill your favorite psychopath.”

My gaze drifts to Rosa, Aiden, and Gomez before landing on the compact mirror Aiden is directing toward me. A pair of pastel-green eyes, half a straight nose and those thick lips come into view.

My heart stutters.

“Evie.” Lorcan’s voice comes out desperate and tortured, and I almost feel bad. Then I remember he tricked me. Used me. It was the worst of all the things he had done. I relished the stalking and chasing. But not telling me he was in love with one of my ancestors, and planning to trap me in the Shadow Realm so I could take his place, was the worst sting of it all. He pretended to have feelings for me, and I feel so fucking duped.

I blink, my lashes briefly clinging to the blood smeared under my eye, and shake my head, scattering those thoughts. Now is not the time to let emotions get the better of me.

“What an interesting turn of events,” Samuel says with a hunger in his eyes that turns my stomach. “Why don’t you bring that mirror here. Yes, you, with the dumbass look on your face.”

“Aiden!” I yell and he flinches. “Smash the mirror. Now!” I wasn’t sure if I needed Lorcan gone so Samuel couldn’t reach him, or because I wasn’t ready to face him. Either way, he needed to be gone.

“Oh, uh,” Aiden says, stumbling, then whispers to the mirror, “Sorry bro.”

Lorcan’s voice come’s through the mirror, as clear as if he was standing with us. “Don’t you fucking da—”

Aiden drops the mirror on the ground, purple and green plastic exploding outward as the casing cracks, then smashes his heel into the glass. I hear it shatter, but Samuel doesn’t make a move to stop him.

“No matter,” Samuel says silkily, pacing around me in a circle, his hands behind his back. “There are plenty of mirrors in the world. What I need is for you to unlock the portal.”

I shake my head. “It’s destroyed.”

He brings his face too close to mine, teeth bared. “Then make a new one. You have the power to do it. Or I’ll kill your friends in front of you.” He glances at the doorway, shadows snaking from him like serpents, and before I can blink, they’ve reached Rosa and Aiden, slipping into their orifices.

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