Page 43 of Broken Shadows

An unexpected bolt of lust heats my skin.

I force any arousal producing thoughts away and glare at my witch. “I’m so fucking furious with you,” I rumble, then shackle her wrist with my thumb and forefinger, intent on dragging her from the room. My breathing halts as something twinges the demonic senses in the back of my mind like an early alarm system. Out of the corner of my eye, through the wisps of my witch’s hair, I glimpse a pair of pastel green eyes frames by black lashes peeking through the window.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Lorcan

Ezra and I whip our heads to the right and lurch toward the window on the back wall. Two tandem shadows give chase, but mine is faster.

Glass splinters, a web of fine cracks spreading from the point of impact, as I spear a shadow through the window and around Gideon's wrist. Ezra’s shadow joins mine and secures both his wrists at Gideons lower back. A crack sounds under my heal as my boot connects with his ribs, then wrap another shadow around his throat. Gideon’s shadows lash out but it’s too late. He grunts and curses as Ezra and I drag him through the jagged maw of glass between lines of tracery. Blue demon blood splatters the dark velvet drapes.

“Hey Lor, want to redecorate?”

“Not. Fucking. Following.” I pant as Gideon wrestles with our shadows.

Ezra nods to the drapes. “New pattern, I call it Blood Motif at Sunset.” He grins and his pale green eyes twinkle, the madness behind them trickling through, then sighs. “So pretty.”

The air punches from my lungs as I barely miss grabbing Gideon and his booted foot lands against my stomach. I watch temporarily stunned as my brother, the King of War, spins from my path mid-air, then connects his fist with Ezra's face in three quick jabs. Unfortunately for Gideon, Ezra has his unhinged side in his favor. He leans into the blows, allowing his face to become the canvas of a grotesque abstract painting. Ezra laughs like a maniac. I gasp in a breath, before jumping on top of Ezra and Gideon. At this point, I don't give a fuck which one my elbow comes in contact with. They're both assholes.

Shadows cloud around us thickly. Although I can no longer see which body is Gideon’s, I tear into flesh with my serrated teeth while stabbing my claws into anything but myself. I will more shadows to join the fight as someone yanks on my hair. Pain radiates from my jaw to my temple as something cracks the bone.

I lash out blindly, no longer able to discern whose shadows belong to whom. Gideon is a fierce fighter, no doubt a result of endless battles in Hell honing his skills, but I’m sure he never anticipated Ezra and I capable of working as a team.

I tense as agony radiates from multiple wounds, every inch of my skin absorbing inhuman blows from every angle. Shit. My eyes close as I block everything out and search my mind for my brotherly bond with Ezra. I find it, then rocket down its length and spear into his mind. As I roar, someone's body jerks in the fucked up doggy pile.

This fight will continue unless we do something about it.

And how do you think we should do that?Ezra replies.

Ez, fucking focus. Shake off the blood lust and tell me when I find you.I search through the tangle of limbs and other body parts until my fingers find a face in the impenetrable darkness within the shadows, then hammer my fist into the nose.

Jesus fuck,Ezra grows into my mind.Yep, you found me. Great job.

My laughter swells into his mind.Now that’s established, use your shadows to bind his legs together and I'll use mine to capture his arms and torso. We keep piling on layers of shadow ropes until he can't move.

Agreed,he growls.

My claws sink into Ezra’s face, and he hisses.What? It would be a shame to lose you in the melee.With my free hand, my shadows and I work together to locate Gideon. A tendril of shadow finds Gideon’s neck and squeezes until pleasing rasping breaths issue close by. Some of the other’s shadows clear and I catch a glimpse of Ezra curling into himself as Gideon knees him in the balls, heedless of his twin choking him. Ezra laughs, then jabs his thumbs into Gideon’s eye sockets while his and my shadows dip and weave around our errant brother. A grunt rushes out of me as Gideon writhes, testing the strength of my onyx ropes, then stills abruptly. The remaining shadows dissipate, and I aim a glare at Gideon.

Ezra pants, then shakes out his arms and bounces on the balls of his feet. “That was over too soon. Wanna go again?” he asks me, the five perfect lacerations on his face from my claws quickly healing as he speaks.

I shake my head, then stand.

“Look at us, working together and shit.” Ezra’s arms raise, then spread. “Celebratory hug?”

My palm skims the back of his head with a crack.

“That was uncalled for,” Ezra says with mock outrage, rubbing his skull. “Asshole.”

I clap him on the shoulder, then immediately go to my witch. Evie smirks as I cup her cheek with a bloody hand. “Now, where were we?”

Evie laughs, a brilliant smile blooming brightly across her face andfinallymeeting her eyes. There’s my girl. “That was actually entertaining,” Evie says. My heart gallops as a rare, true grin spreads across my face, mirroring her own. If pummeling my brothers makes her this happy, I’ll gladly do it as often as she pleases.

“Damn, Gid. You’ve got yourself into quite the fuckity-fuck of a situation,” Ezra says to his twin.

My hand slowly lifts from Evie’s face, blood smearing down her cheek, then intertwines with one of her hands, my thumb stroking the lush purple rose magically tattooed on the back of it. I angle myself toward Ezra, my brows tilting down. “But more than that,” I pause, raise our clasped hands and kiss the back of hers, then unravel our fingers, “it was suspiciously sloppy.” My boots thump against the floor as I stalk back to Gideon with a measured gate. “How does the King of War get caught?”

Gideon’s face remains impassive. “Maybe that was my intention,” he conveys flatly, like he murdered the emotion in his words before they could form. Damn, I forgot how ragged Gideon’s voice is, shouting orders to his troops daily for centuries rendering his vocal cords permanently damaged.

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