Page 1 of Broken Shadows (Corrupt Shadows Duet #2)

CHAPTER ONE

Lorcan

“I’ll tear you into fucking scraps for this. Then, I’ll feed you to my demons,” I hiss as I prowl toward Ezra, glittering shards of glass crunching under my boots.

“I’d love to see you try,” Ezra challenges. “Besides, all I did was tell her the truth.”

My fingers dig into my kneecaps as I pant through the onslaught of torturous reflection ricocheting inside my mind. I yearn for my Evie with every godsdamn breath. The ache to have her safely back in my arms suffocates the oxygen in my blood as effectively as a pillow pressed tightly against an enemy’s face.

“You wanted her to leave me.”

“Of course,” Ezra says with a shrug, “but it’s not like I could’ve guessed she would pull a magic mirror out of her ass. Not to mention, you clearly have feelings for the witch and no relationship should start on a bed of lies.”

“I despise you.”

Ezra grins. “Like wise.”

I think back to when my hatred for Evie morphed into something else. The moment I placed one foot in the Human Realm, I was done for. Naturally, I didn’t realize my feelings until it was too late, and Evie left me. It was my fault. I should have known she’d find out the truth in that grimoire, not that it was the whole truth.

Trust for Evie’s great aunt Evangeline to warp the truth, even in the pages of her own journals.

I grab the sides of my head. I would claw the flesh from my skull if it would stop the vile thoughts of worry spreading like the plague in my mind.

Where has Edward, and therefore The Order, taken her? What are they doing to her?

I stand in front of the shattered portal mirror. It’s been days and I still haven’t been able to track her. The memory of Evie’s blood soaking into the carpet burns across my vision, and I stumble back a step.

My shadows coil in my chest, then explode from every pore. “Fuck!”

A warm emotion tightens around my loathing like a thick, gray storm cloud picking away at my hatred and need for revenge like a corrosive. The full strength of her aura rocked the foundation of my sanity, and some part of me knew I couldn’t ever let her go. I should have told her when my feelings changed, when I knew I couldn’t keep to my original plan to have her take my place here. Maybe then she wouldn’t have left.

Ezra clears his throat, dragging me from the what ifs plaguing my mind. “All hostility aside, telling her the truth was the only sure way I had to drive you two apart.”

“The truth? You mean half-truths and barely veiled manipulations. Whatever you want to call our relationship, it’s a moot point.” Mental claws shred through my psyche, the scant amount of sanity left dangles by a thin thread. My organs catch fire, then turn to ash as my rage boils me alive from the inside out. “She left me.”

Ezra snorts. “I’d be happy about that, if it wasn’t for the fact that she trapped me in here too. At least I’m in great company.”

I throw my hands up. “What’s another few centuries of solitude? Except I’m trapped with my egomaniac of a brother who plotted against me and trapped me in a cage for decades.”

“Or maybe you never left the cage and this ,” Ezra proclaims, with laughter in his voice. “Is all a grand, twisted illusion.” He throws his arms out to his sides and spins slowly.

“I won’t let you fuck with my head again. Not that it matters. I feel nothing without my little witch.”

“Pathetic,” my brother declares, shaking his head.

“What the fuck did you just say?”

I said you’re fucking pathetic . Ezra’s voice sounds in my mind as he pushes the thought through my mental shields.

“Get out of my head!” A shiver races up my spine, dragging memories of the cage and every barbed mental taunt from Ezra and Lazarus. The carpet shreds and the pine baseboards crack underneath our feet as my shadows swirl into a cyclone and into the ground, thrashing and demolishing everything in my path as I sprint from the servant’s quarters, powdery snow clouding the yard.

A shadow connects with the doors of the manor’s grand entrance, slamming them open. My footsteps echo off the marble flooring as I pace between the two staircases. Ezra’s arms fold over his chest, snow flurries drifting around him. I rub the nape of my neck and glare at him.

“Are you done?” he asks and steps forward, his shadows closing the doors behind him.

I squeeze my eyes shut and breathe through my clenched teeth. “No.”

I reach for his throat, but his fist smashes into my face, sending streaks of agony through my cheekbone. My eyes blink several times, then warm, heavy hands land on my shoulders as my vision finally clears.

I lift my fingers to my lips. Crimson stains my skin when I make contact, and I laugh maniacally. “I’m going to kill you,” I growl, each word I utter drips with the promise of violence as they rush off my tongue.

I launch myself at him, claws first, the muscles in his neck tensing as my nails penetrate the flesh of his chest. Demon blood, in a shade of blue so deep that it appears nearly black, blossoms across his shirt. The jagged slashes of fabric now resembling the innards of a Hell beast.

Fury blinds me as my shadows lash across his face, leaving paper cut like wounds in their wake. His eyes burn into mine, black fire rising in their depths. Good. Let the wrath rise, then I can dispose of him and retrieve my witch. I grin and curl two fingers toward me, but Ezra moves faster than I expect as my madness distorts reality.

My breathing hitches, then cuts off entirely as Ezra cinches my windpipe with a shadow. He moves me a safe distance away from him and coils another length of shadow around my torso and calves, pinning my arms to my sides. My boots scrape across the marble floor as his shadows drag me through the foyer to the dining room, depositing me into a velvet upholstered chair, his shadows continuing to render me immobile.

“You motherfucker,” I mouth, but no sound escapes to form the words.

Ezra smirks, obsidian flames dancing in his irises. “Now, you can fucking listen for once.” He grunts as he runs his fingers through his hair and encounters the tangled knot of his bun. A purple hair tie snaps against his wrist, then he continues unknotting his dark hair with his tattooed fingers. “You always were so intense when you were upset.”

The words flow off his tongue so flippantly, as if losing the one thing in my life that I give a shit about means absolutely nothing. Besides, he’s one to talk. He’s fucking Wrath, the embodiment of anger. I’ve never come close to the fits he throws.

I press my arms and legs into his shadows while shifting my torso as much as possible. My muscles bulge and strain against their binds, but Ezra only tightens his shadow ropes. Blackness seeps into the edges of my vision as my lungs starve for oxygen.

“This is pitiful, Brother.” Ezra sighs as his demonic body slowly fades into his human-like one. “If you don’t get a handle on your madness, or whatever it is you call this,” Ezra states, motioning up and down with a hand, “you’ll be no use to me.”

I freeze, ice quenching the fire in my blood so thoroughly I swear it hisses.

My brother’s gaze flicks back and forth over my face. He nods slowly as he acknowledges the weariness settling over my features. With one fluid movement, his shadows dissipate. I pant and grip my knees for support as my trachea and lungs burn, their membranes flooding with precious air.

Ezra plucks at his ruined clothes, the gore drenched, slashed fabric clinging to his skin, then plants his ass on the mahogany table. “We have bigger things to worry about, like getting the fuck out of here,” he states, his upper lip curling, “but you still owe me a new shirt, dick.”

“I agree and plan to find a way out by myself .”

Ezra scoffs. “You need my help. As much as it pains me to admit, we need to work together on this one.” He shakes his head and blows out a tense breath. “If your witch hadn’t smashed the damn mirror—”

“It’s your own fault. You followed us into the Shadow Realm of your own free will.”

He rolls his eyes. “Yes, but she wouldn’t have been in the Shadow Realm to begin with if you didn’t stalk her through mirrors for months and make it easy for us to find her.”

My eyelid twitches as I struggle to keep my composure intact. “Why were you looking for her, anyway? We both know The Order means nothing to you.”

“It doesn’t, but we needed the extra hands.”

“What is it you want with Evie?” I ask again, knowing I won’t ask a third damned time.

“To unleash her magic,” he admits, and fury laces my veins as my fingers flex with the urge to destroy him. “I knew you’d try to use her so you could leave the Shadow Realm. I didn’t want you out. In fact, I wanted you dead. But things changed recently.”

Of course, the fucker wanted me gone. “What things?”

He doesn’t answer as he paces around the room. The usual snark in his tone returns when he opens his mouth. “Do you know what the advantage of skulking around in the shadows is?” He pauses, rubbing his jaw thoughtfully. “I witnessed so much more between the two of you than you realize. It was both intriguing and disgusting watching you pant at the witch’s heels like a well-trained dog.”

“Fucking lech.”

Ezra continues as if I haven’t spoken. “I don’t even want to get into the psychological fuckity-fuck that was. How do you think she found her aunt’s grimoire and knew what was under your mask?”

A growl rumbles in my chest, but Ezra continues to speak over it.

“Look, if I hadn’t interfered, I would have been stuck here for the rest of my damn days with only the sound of you two fucking all over the manor for company.”

“Again, you’re a godsdamn pervert.”

“Have I ever denied it? Although, I’ll admit it was fucking hilarious seeing that cute little bat piss you off so thoroughly. I think you’re officially bronamies. What was it you called him?” He taps a finger against his chin, then chuckles. “Oh right, Fluffy Fucker. Classic Lorcan, an emotional wreck.”

I march up to him, snarling in his face. “The only thing your interference accomplished was scaring her into destroying the portal, the very one you needed to leave here too.” I draw away, my claw not so accidentally cutting the hair tie from his wrist, then blow out a slow, wistful breath. “Maybe if you behaved, your plan would have succeeded, and she would have left me and wouldn’t have been terrified enough to ruin your only way out of here.”

Ezra snorts and shoves his hair out of his face. “Perhaps you’re right.”

“I usually am.” I rub my temples. “Let’s be done with this conversation. I’m tired of looking at your godsdamn face.”

Ezra meanders to the windows, then pushes aside the purple, black, and gray layered drapes. He sighs and leans his ass on the sill. “I, too, am sick of looking at your face.” He smirks. “So, in the spirit of that goal, perhaps we should form a truce.”

The dining room chair creaks as I drop my weight onto its velvet cushion, my anger retreating into a slow burn in my gut. I rub my temples and contemplate his suggestion. “You have been keeping secrets from me for hundreds of years. In order to have a truce, there must be some level of trust between us. How in the fuck can I trust you?”

Ezra grins, then shrugs. “Maybe you can’t, but you’ll have to take the risk if you want to save your witch’s skin.”

“Tell me why your motives changed,” I demand, reflecting on our earlier conversation. “Your goal was to keep me trapped in here and get Evie out so you could unleash her magic to what? Kill me?”

He smirks. “Isn’t someone clever?”

I roll my eyes. “So, what could have possibly happened that made you change your mind about destroying me? It must have been something big.”

Miraculous silence descends as Ezra taps his lips with a tattooed index finger before taking the seat next to me, the legs of his chair scraping along the stone floor.

“There is a lot you don’t know, but I’ll start with the most fuckity-fucked one.”

I dip my chin in acknowledgement as I wait for Ezra to reveal why he’s really here and possibly drop any hints to what Evie might be subjected to by The Order.

Ezra leans forward and bites his lip. “I think that Evangeline, you know the other Fallenmore witch, is in Hell doing her damned best to manipulate our father,” he confesses and my jaw drops. “She’s the reason all our brothers, including myself, allied against you initially. Well, Samuel told us you were after Dad’s throne. However, after spending time in the oh so lovely Shadow Realm—”

“And stalking me.”

“Yep, that too. I find it hard to believe that you give a shit about ruling Hell. You have zero ambition to return there.”

I shout, “Samuel is a fucking liar. I’ve never desired to rule Hell. How could you believe anything that cunt said?”

My brother’s hands clench into fists as they rest on the table. “Well, I deduced when you didn’t seem to know anything about the throne, that Samuel lied. I never actually verified anything our brother said with Lucifer. None of us, except for Eva and Samuel, are allowed to see Dad. But I’m observant, more than our other brothers, who still believe his bullshit. Samuel is obviously in love with Evangeline, even though she’s supposed to be with Lucifer. You know what she’s like, and I bet she’s manipulating them both.”

My eyes roll so far into my skull I swear I see brain matter. “Of course, she is. So, I guess now we’re both fucked.”

Ezra clears his throat. “ Some more than others. But the fact remains that all the shit our family continues to put up with from that bitch Evangeline is because of your actions,” he proclaims, accusation heavy in his voice. “Come now, Brother, I remember the way she clung to you, even if Samuel and the others pretend that didn’t happen. She was always my love this, my love that.”

I drum my fingers on my jean clad thigh, then freeze. Something about those specific words seems familiar. A locked box buried deep in my subconscious creaks open, oppressed memories flying out like a swarm of locusts. Shit. I grab the sides of my head as the information overloads my mind.

“Lor?” Ezra calls, but it’s as if I’m miles under the ocean’s waves. My thoughts come to a trickle, then cease all together as the pressure inside my skull threatens to crack it open like an egg.

I gasp as memory after memory detonates across my mind’s eye. Fuck, I’ve forgotten so much. Too much.

The memory unfolds, her voice echoing into my mind from decades before.

“Love.” Evangeline cackles as she sashays across an unfamiliar room, her jade robe swishing around her bare legs. Her image blurs as the next memory threatens to take its place. I dig mental claws into the scene playing out, enraged fury lashing through my bloodstream.

“I love you, Lorcan . No one will ever take you away from me. I’ll make sure of it,” Evangeline says, hovering over me.

Frost coats my ribs. My eyes burn like they’ve been scrubbed with sand. Fuck. I can’t close my eyes. What the Hell has this bitch done to me? I try to shove her away, but something is cutting off the circulation in my wrists and binding me to the bed. Metal clinks, and I whip my head to the side.

“Get the fuck away from me, Eva. Did you not hear a word I said last night? I want nothing to do with you,” I growl, my eyes landing on the glowing chains attached to my wrist. “Fuck!” I roar, flinching as agony screams into my bones.

“That’s not very nice, Love,” she pouts. Pulses of liquid agony throb throughout my wrist as the witch twists a metal eyehook deeper into the bone. “Let’s just tighten these chains a little, shall we? I certainly can’t have you escaping me again.”

My vision swims as the memory dissolves. Ezra’s crouched form comes into focus. “That was creepy as shit, Brother.”

“What?” I mumble, the coherent thought still struggling to resurface.

“Your eyes rolled back in your head, the whites showing and everything. Your shadows made this swirling cocoon around you a second later,” Ezra explains, patting my knee.

Two words burn into my brain matter. Unrequited love.

Godsfuckingdammit. I stare at my brother. “Evangeline must be doing all of this for revenge. She could never accept that I didn’t love her,” I growl, my claws sinking into my knees. “But that still doesn’t explain everything. Why didn’t you verify with our father that it was all his orders?”

“Samuel was very convincing,” Ezra expounds, then shrugs. “I thought you were a threat to our dad and I just… I didn’t think.”

The breath whooshes past my lips as I huff, stabbing a hand through my hair. “You’ve always been a fucking daddy’s boy.”

“And damn proud of it.” Ezra grins so widely the chandelier above glints off his teeth. “Now, tell me more about this unlocked memory.”

I sigh. Damn him to Hell’s torture fields. “I never had a relationship with Evangeline. She forced me into one through magic. I befriended her. That was it.” The memories rush back one by one, and I grip the sides of my head until they subside. “I manipulated her,” I admit. “Through friendship. She was an outcast, and I made her feel seen. She was so powerful, Brother, and I wanted to ensure you and Lazarus and Samuel wouldn’t hurt me again. I never thought she’d go all crazy on my ass and trap me in the Shadow Realm.”

Ezra’s face flows through a series of emotions; it would be comical if I wasn’t ripping my fucking heart open and bearing its bleeding core.

“I just find it unbelievable that she somehow controlled you. You’re, well, you. King of Demons, Lucifer’s eldest son and all that shit. A witch cannot fuck the memories of royal demons, no matter how powerful.”

I rub my temples. “Oh, but she can. We both know she was the most powerful witch in existence. She always had her nose in a spell book and dedicated her life to her craft, more so than the rest of her family. Eva was practicing the most complex rituals since she was a kid. That entire family was powerful on their own, but practiced? That’s why I knew Evie could get me out. With her family dead, she holds the power of her entire coven. She’s stronger than even Evangeline. If she ever embraces her magic, that is.”

Shadows wrap around my legs and spread across the floor like obsidian fog. Ezra’s shadows join mine, swirling together in a chaotic dance as he penetrates my mind for the truth.

“Fuck. You really are telling the truth,” Ezra affirms, his jaw falling open.

“Yes, imbecile. Close your fucking mouth or I’ll shove my boot down your throat.”

Ezra laughs. “Just like the good old days, eh?” His feet clomp against the floor as he stands and bounces on the balls of his feet.

My back cracks as I lean against the carved back of the chair. “So, are we going to work together to get out of here and stop the bitch? Or would you like to continue to taunt me instead?”

Ezra nods, a smile spreading across his face, then thrusts his hand toward me. “Both.”

“Evie is off limits.”

Finally, he smiles. “After what you just told me, I doubt I’d survive her, anyway. So, truce?”

Everything within me recoils, reluctant to trust anyone but myself and my little witch, even if she’s the weapon my brothers and The Order plan to use against me.

“Fuck.” I grasp his tattooed hand with mine and squeeze his knuckles harder than necessary. “Truce.”