Page 67 of Broken Shadows

I veer sharply to the left, Gomez keeping pace at my side. “Can you show me the way out?”

He chirps, then takes off, his wings slicing through the thinning fog.

My feet pound against the ground as I pick up speed and follow Gomey’s encouraging cries, dashing down stone paths and dodging more stone hands. The oppressing fog clears just as my face connects with something solid and warm.

“Evie! You fucking did it.” Lorcan’s nutmeg and ash scent rushes into my nose, where it’s pressed against his chest.

All the tension in my body melts away. “Oh, thank gods.” I peel open my eyes as a hand rubs my back, then smile at my best friend.

“You’re okay,” Rosa whispers, tears welling along her lashes.

Ezra clears his throat. “I vote we get the fuck out of here before those statues change their minds about leaving us alone.”

Lorcan’s chest rumbles against my ear. “Absofuckinglutely.” Rosa’s hand falls away, then Lorcan’s warm knuckle nudges under my chin.

I blink and the last of my tears drip down my cheeks as I take in his soft expression. “That was…”

“I know,” he reassures me, then feathers a kiss across my lips and smiles against them. “I need to speak to my brothers for a minute, but I’ll be right back.”

I watch him go, each step of his determined stride taking him farther away from me. My attention swings to Aiden as he meanders over to me.

“Is it just me, Bromina, or was that harder on us than them?” Aiden asks me as he curls his thumbs around his belt loops and strolls beside me.

I offer Aiden a slight smile as he blows out a breath, his cheeks puffing with air. “Bromina?” I ask him and hope he hears the sincere sympathy in my voice.

“Oh, you know like bro but for a chick. It’s your nickname,” he laughs but it decidedly lacks mirth. “I’m not very creative.”

I’ve been called worse things.I shrug. “I like it.”

Silence descends as I monitor the backs of Lorcan, Rosa, Ezra, and Gideon as they walk far enough ahead of us for the illusion of privacy. “Do you want to talk about,” I jut my chin over my shoulder toward Magnolia Medows, “all of that?”

Aiden hesitates, then his shoulders lift and fall heavily. “Do you think it would help?”

My lips purse as I think. Could it really cause any more harm? “Yes. No. Maybe?”

He laughs, and this time a smile accompanies the action. “Maybe it would help, but can you go first?”

“Um, I guess.” My mind spins incoherently, like the aftereffects of a spinning ride at an amusement park. Where to even start? “I’ve been on my own for over a decade, ever since I ran from my past.” I paused, hesitation curdling my will to divulge, but I pushed past it.

“Right. The Order and that dick Edward,” Aiden clarifies.

I nodded. “Yes. They’ve been hunting me since I was a teen and ran out on Edward.” My lips pursed and Aiden shivered. “Long story short, that trial… I honestly thought I’d never make it out. It would have been so easy to give in to the misery as those statues loomed over me, to let loneliness envelop me like a cold, bitter embrace.” I cleared my throat. “Um, what was it like for you?”

“It was like I was reliving the worst years of my life.”

“Even worse than bargaining your soul to a demon?” I ask with forced levity.

Aiden fiddles with the brim of his peach ballcap, repositing it as if it’s a nervous tick. “Unfortunately. From Kindergarten through high school, I had no friends, and I meannone.” He scratches the side of his neck, then lowers his voice to a hair above a whisper. “It’s not something I’ve really said aloud, but I like men.”

I nod and offer an assuring smile. He continues.

“I knew I was gay for as long as I can remember. It wasn’t ever a question, just a vital part of me. You know? But the town where I grew up was, uhh… Well, they didn’t believe it was possible for anyone to be born queer.” He sighs and his gaze drops to his sneakers, his voice quiets as he continues to speak. “My parents were freaking amazing, still are to be honest, but their love couldn’t make all the other bullshit disappear. Although, I really wish it could’ve. Anyway, I was so fucking lonely it hurt. It sucked, dude. That’s why I stopped telling people I’m gay. I can’t deal with that shit anymore.

“I’m sorry people can be so fucking narrow minded,” I say, “but you’re safe with us. It’s no ones godsdamned business who someone is attracted to. It’s ridiculous people even try to manage other’s feelings on that. Since when did we decide that being straight was the norm anyway?”

His dimples deepen when he smiles and my stomach sinks. Fuck, I hate that anyone made him feel that way.

“Yeah, anyway, whatever the fuck that cemetery on steroids was, it drug all that loneliness to the surface and amplified it. Those zombie statues reminded me of all the shitty times I spent alone. Like that I ate lunch in the corner of the dark music room so no one would harass me or how I had no one to play with a recess…” Aiden trailed off.

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