Page 57 of Broken Shadows

He grimaces. “No, I don’t.” Reaching up, he drags his thumb over my bottom lip. “Don’t do that.”

“What?”

“Expecting me to be human just because I happen to care about you. I don’t give a damn who dies, as long as it’s not you.”

“That’s…”

What is it? Disappointing?Romantic?

My heart balloons when I look at my demon. At least he isn’t pretending to be anything other than what he is.

Gomez wings flap unexpectedly, sending a whoosh of air into my ear and Lorcan laughs.

“Calm down, Fluffy Fucker,” Lorcan states and Gomez hisses in response. “You’re a part of my witch.”

I pat Gomez on the back. “That’s about as close as he’ll come to admitting he cares about you too.”

Lorcan tsks under his breath. “Don’t think I didn’t notice you shift the conversation away from the torture. What is really bothering you and don’t pretend it’s about your old fuckboy.” Our bond ripples as his intrusive gaze bores into mine, plunging into the depths of my dark soul.

We continue to amble at a snail’s pace, shifting from one shadow to another, moving through a monochrome kaleidoscope. “Edward, my father, he, well, I can’t remember everything but when I came around, his… cock was on my stomach. It’s not the first time it happened.” The rest of my words evade me as a rage simmers through me, piping hot and ready to explode. My father might be dead, but I want nothing more than to kill him all over again. “Do you think he’s in Hell?”

His fingers ball into fists. “I fucking hope so!”

“It’s not just him either,” I choke out. “Samuel showed me who I really am. I killed people because I wanted to. I used to think I was born evil, but he made me remember things in my childhood that I’d forgotten.”

“Evie.” He grabs my shoulders, feet planted apart, grounding me. “I’mevil. You arenotclose to that. Look… ” He huffs and glances up with a growl. “God gives humans all these insane fucking emotions then expects you all to do no bad with them. Give me a fucking break. It’s why he cast my father out. Lucifer questioned shit and you can’t do that there.” His pupils swallow his irises, his nostrils flaring as he stares at me. “My brothers are complete dicks, but my uncles are worse.”

Uncles?

At times I forget how biblical all of this is. Lorcan is the son of Lucifer, a literal fallen angel and his uncles are freaking angels in what, Heaven?

Wait, so then his grandfather is God?

I press my fingers into my temples and puff out a breath as my lens widens and the bigger picture sinks in. I can’t wait to discuss this with Rosa because it’d sound insane to anyone else who isn’t in this situation with us.

“Are you okay, Little Witch?” Lorcan asks and I nod slowly.

“Yeah, it’s all just really sinking in. So,” I add as curiosity takes over the pain in my chest, “who is your mother? In the abstract I guess I know you have one, but it’s sounds so strange to say”

He chuckles. “Her name was Lilith.”

“As in Lilith from the bible?”

Of course it is. Who else could it be.

“Mmhmm,” he says and whistles a breath as if all of this isn’t mind-blowing. Which, to him it isn’t, I suppose. “I didn’t know her well. My father destroyed her eons ago when she tried eating us.”

My jaw slacks. “She tried to what?”

“Eat us,” he says with a shrug. “I guess she wasn’t particularly maternal.”

I suppress a laugh, but he sends a comforting tug down our bond, telling me it really doesn’t bother him.

A tree passes through our next step into a shadow. Pain radiates in my forehead as Gomez pulls on my hair, clinging to me for dear life. I pat him on the side. “Your father has really had bad luck with women.”

Lorcan stops, pauses, brows furrowed, then laughs that boyish laugh I rarely get to see. “Yeah, he hasn’t. It’s why it’ll be hard to convince him about Evangeline’s motives. I’ll need to find a way to show him.”

“I hadn’t thought about that.”

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