Page 27 of Broken Shadows

Anxiety threads her dark eyes. She’s scared, even if she won’t admit it. Out of the two of us, she was always good at keeping a cool head in crisis situations, partly because of her job, but seeing her on the edge of panic like this hardens something inside of me.

“Lorcan says…” Aiden begins to recite, but Rosa shushes him.

She returns her focus to me. “Do it for us.” She slips a finger to my hair, then strokes Gomez’s sleeping head. “I love you, Evie, but I don’t want to spend the rest of my life on the run from these monsters, and neither do you. We deserve peace.”

I run my fingers over my clavicle and sigh. “I’ll do it for you and Gomez.”

“For all of us. We’re a family.” She side-eyes Aiden. “For him too. He’s an innocent in all of this, trust me. We talked a lot through the wall when we were trapped there.”

A semblance of control seeps back into my mind. I can feel Lorcan’s eyes on me. He could have spoken at any point but instead chose to talk through Aiden. He must be anxious around me too. Good. “I suppose I can make it a condition he free Aiden.”

“Fuck, yes,” Aiden pleads from behind us. “Thanks, Evie!”

Rosa smiles softly. “Come on, let’s find you some clothes. There must be something you can wear somewhere in this massive manor.”

Aiden bites his lip. “There is. Lorcan made me bring a bunch of your clothes here when you were trapped in there with him, for when you got out.”

“Okay,” I say and stand, careful with my movements so not to wake my little bat. He’s exhausted and has been through so much. “I don’t need rest either, I can do this now.”

It’s the truth, even though I’m depleted. My fingers tremble, and I sigh. There is no chance I can sleep anytime soon. Especially as my brain spins jittery thoughts over itself and my powers, now finally under control, that beg to be used.

I pull Gomez from my shoulder. He reaches out in his sleep to feel me, and I press a reassuring hand against his furry back. “Take him to a bedroom,” I whisper. “I need to do something. I’ll be right up.”

She gathers him in her arms, swaddling him in her jacket like a baby. He remains asleep, calmed by her energy. Then again, Rosa has always been like a second mom to him.

Rosa glances behind me at the mirror. “Good luck. Remember, you always have me.”

I force a smile, even though my chest is aching. “I know.”

I hold my breath when I spin to face the mirror because I can feel him standing there, waiting to speak, wanting me to look at him. I don’t want to see him. His betrayal cuts so deeply that I can’t even begin to think about it without wanting to explode.

I hear his voice, but it’s so sad it can’t possibly belong to him. “Evie.”

My name. NotLittle WitchorKiller. Just Evie.

I lift my lashes and face him. Pastel green eyes pin me from behind his black mask and I’m frozen.

Rosa and Aiden’s footsteps fade as they leave the room, no doubt so I can be alone with Lorcan. I can’t see Ezra anywhere in the Shadow Realm version of the living room, so I assume Lorcan ordered him away too.

It’s just us, alone, with just a sheet of glass and an entire realm between us.

“Your eyes,” he says, voice breaking in parts. “You look—”

“Broken?”

He sighs. “Miserable.”

My chest tightens. “Iwastortured.”

His eyes close, appearing as if the thought actuallypainshim. The audacity. He’s trying to pull me back in with fake worry, so I help him defeat his brothers, but I won’t be manipulated.

“I’m sorry, Evie.”

“Stop calling me that.”

His pupils dilate. “Okay,Little Witch. Whatever you need.”

“Stop acting like you care!” I snap, my fingers flexing at my sides as I try to hold back all the venom dripping from my thoughts to my tongue. I don’t want to give him the satisfaction to know that the reason I’m sad has nothing to do with me being tortured. I’m angry over that, but Lorcan’s betrayal just fucking hurts.

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