Page 17 of Broken Shadows (Corrupt Shadows Duet #2)

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Lorcan

My eyes light with pleasure that morning as Evie walks out from a shadow cast by a long bookcase to my left. I'm so godsdamn proud of her for learning to shadow walk on her own.

“Nice of you to join us,” I say, smoke curling around my masked face. I inhale another drag of my cigarette, leaning my back against the mahogany rolling ladder and keep my attention riveted to the arched ceiling. My eyes trace the painted black and purple swirls, enjoying the painted scenes of dark, depraved events in the Human Realm. Those were the best of times.

I turn to face her, holding out a cigarette in my palm like it’s a peace offering. Her lips twitch as if she struggles to hold back a smile while I think back to last night.

I muffle a groan as she wraps her lips around the filter and waits for me to light it. Her lips part slightly as I observe her closely. I don't miss the subtle shift of her legs, her black jean clad thighs rubbing together. I step into her space, slipping my fingers into my pocket to snag my lighter. With a stroke of my thumb, the gas within wooshes upward and ignites into an orange flame.

I hold it suspended in the air between us for a moment, enjoying the scent of her sweet arousal permeating the air as I exhale slowly through my nose, then ignite the end of her cigarette and kiss her temple. She inhales deeply, and I watch the flame catching, transforming into a tantalizing glowing ember.

I skim my hand across her lower back as I move past her into the stacks, then tuck my hands into my pockets and stroll toward the plush seating area.

“About time, Brother,” Ezra teases as he sits next to Gideon on the black leather couch he moved in here from the living room. I watch Ezra drool over Rosa as she walks to the fireplace and places her hand on her hip

Ezra grins, casually ignoring Gideon’s heavy silence on the other cushion, before flicking his gaze behind me.

I turn my attention to Gideon. “Now, what to do with you?”

Gideon’s serious expression sharpens as his gaze drifts from Aiden’s to mine at a glacial pace. While I’m curious to know what the fuck that’s about, I have no time to dissect it now.

“Obviously, we cannot leave you here,” I add when he doesn’t answer.

Ezra brings his index finger to his scrunched lips and taps them a few times. “I’d say we kill him, but I’m a selfish fuck and won’t risk something happening to me because of our twin bond.”

Gideon’s eyes track to Ezra, cold fury mounting in his pale green depths.

Ezra scooches farther away from Gideon dramatically. “Woah. Calm down, War. I was just dicking with you.”

Gideon returns his attention to Aiden and remains silent.

Evie points to Gideon’s bound wrists. “What if I bind myself to him? He wouldn’t be able to flee, and I can keep track of him at all times.”

I bite back a laugh as Gideon’s claws lengthen and cut into his hands as he clenches his fists, knuckles whitening. The fuzzy pink padding shifts and the cuffs dig into Gideon’s straining wrists.

“Absolutely not,” Rosa and I say together.

I arch a brow at Evie’s friend, and she mimics my movement.

Rosa hisses vehemently. “Evie, you cannot bind yourself to another demon!”

Evie’s lips curl around her cigarette, the corners tipping up, and my cock twitches. Damn. I miss those lips. They would look better wrapped around my cock instead. “I said bind, not bond,” Evie responds. “I’ll tether myself to the handcuffs, which Gideon is already bound to, not to the man himself.”

Gideon’s eyes widen the slightest bit, then he quickly masks his expression. That rare display of emotion tells me everything I need to know. My witch managed to surprise the King of War. I smirk and shake my head.

My clever girl, I say into her mind and her cheeks flush pink.

“Sounds perfect to me,” Ezra agrees, his words ending in a groan as he stretches his arms over his head.

“Agreed,” Rosa says croakily. I narrow my eyes on Rosa as she stares at the exposed skin where my brother’s t-shirt rides up, then licks her lips before quickly looking away.

“And how do you know a spell to accomplish that?” I snap, instantly regretting the bite to my words as the determined expression flees from her bright eyes.

My intentions tighten painfully.

I never intend to cut her like that, but the anger often controls my tongue.

“In your library,” she answers.

“I see,” I state flatly and fold my arms across my chest.

I look around and realize everyone in this room has their eyes on someone, whether it’s an intention to kill them or fuck them.

I soften my gaze and stroke her tattooed arm with a shadow, the dark smokey magic twisting into shapes to match her rose and skull tattoos.

She glances at me, then quickly walks away. Yep. My words, or tone, hurt her. She walks over to Rosa. Her best friend wraps an arm around her shoulders, then plucks the finished cigarette from Evie’s fingers and tosses it into the fireplace.

Evie continues, her eyes focused on me. “When I discovered the grimoires months ago, I noticed another dark book of magic, but I forgot about until now since I was so desperate to find the grimoires.”

“Show me, Little Witch.” I trail my gaze after Evie’s departing form. She quickly returns moments later with a plain leather-bound book, crisscross stitching binding the book and forming the spine.

Evie cracks open the book and places it on the coffee table, flicking through the pages quickly until she finds one marked with a scrap of paper. “Here.”

Rosa peers over her shoulder. “What can I do to help?”

“Not much, actually,” Evie replies. “I only need cinnamon, a dried basil leaf, and blood.”

“Okay, I’ll go see if I can find them in the kitchen.”

Evie glances at Rosa and a smile unfurls across her face. “Thank you,” she calls as Rosa leaves the room.

Every muscle in my body tenses as I linger on the last ingredient. “Whose blood?”

“Mine and Gideon’s,” Evie replies without looking at me.

Gideon’s nostrils flare when he finally speaks, hushing the room into silence. “So, my choices are imprisonment or allowing you to leash me further like your little pet demon?”

“Fuck me, he does speak,” I say. “But yes, those are your choices.”

Gideon’s face remains passive, but his eyes frost and I swear I catch a glimpse of chilly lilac flames rising in his irises. The middle finger on his right hand taps an even beat on his thigh.

I chuckle darkly, then nod curtly at his hand. “You must be really bothered by all of this. I see you’ve not learned to control that little tell yet. You’ve been struggling to master it since what, adolescence?”

Ezra nods. “At least that long. In fact,” Ezra says and glances at me, “I think it’s gotten worse.”

Gideon inhales and exhales at a pace that is far too measured to be natural, holding his silence.

“Well? What’ll it be, Gid?” I ask.

He stares at me stonily. “I decline your offer.”

“It wasn’t a request,” I spit. “Oh, how could I have forgotten. You do have another choice. Allow my witch to bind you, or we lock you in the Shadow Realm for eternity.”

The muscles in his jaw feathers. “You’d imprison me in the Shadow Realm after the hell you suffered there?”

“Absolutely.”

He growls. “Why?”

“Because I’ll do everything in my fucking power to keep Evie safe. If that requires me to banish my entire family to that damn realm, I’ll do so without a second thought,” I state. “Besides, why do you think I had Evangeline create the Shadow Realm?”

Gideon blinks and a curious expression flits across his face before I can analyze it. “I see.” He sits forward and rests his bound wrists on his thighs.

Ezra claps his hands together, turning the topic back on our preparations. “So, who is carrying the humans? It’s not like they can shadow walk on their own.”

“No shit, asshole.” I pause, then sigh. “Any suggestions? “

“I call dibs on Rosa,” Ezra quickly demands, dragging the attention back to him as usual.

“Why?” Evie asks before Rosa can come back and hear this. She’s probably wondering if her friend is in danger, which she likely is if Ezra desires her.

Ezra lifts his heavy shoulders in a shrug. “What? She smells nice.” He looks around the room, stopping briefly on all our unimpressed faces. “Annnyway, Gid can go by himself. You and Aiden should go together, and Evie can bring herself,” Ezra suggests.

“No.”

Ezra and I swing our faces to Gideon.

“No,” he repeats firmly, then stands. Ice glitters across his knuckles.

“Care to explain?” I ask, my patience wearing thin.

“I will only go on to two conditions,” Gideon expresses.

Ezra snorts. “Which are?”

“One, I take Aiden through the In-Between.”

Rejecting his request is too easy. “Shit, I completely forgot,” I drawl. “I don’t cater to the whims of my younger brothers.”

“Anymore,” Ezra scoffs.

An image of the cage slices across my mind’s eye and my throat constricts. I shake my head, scattering the thoughts and twist to the doorway as Rosa crosses the threshold into the library. “I got the cinnamon and basil,” Rosa announces. “I brought a bowl too.”

“Perfect.” Evie accepts the supplies and places them on the top of the bar beneath the concealed stereo system along with the spellbook. A beat of awkward silence reigns before I return my focus to Gideon with a raised brow.

“Two, you allow me to retrieve and carry my sword,” Gideon continues, dismissing Ezra and my opinions entirely.

Rosa snorts and rolls her eyes. “Yes, because that sounds like a great idea. Let's arm the enemy demon with a sword while we take him on a grand adventure.”

Ezra cloaks himself, reappearing behind Rosa, then whispers close to her ear., “Fuck. I wanna lick your mind, Sugar.”

Rosa shivers, gasps, and recoils. “What the hell does that even mean?”

“Wouldn't you like to find out,” Ezra teases then trips over his own feet as Gideon yanks him backward by his elbow.

“I may be your captive, Wrath, but I won't stand by and allow you to continually pester the woman. She obviously abhors your attentions.”

Ezra jerks his arm away from Gideon. “Fuck off. That’s none of your business.”

Rosa turns a brilliant smile on the twins. “Thank you, Gideon,” she says, her words sickly sweet.

I laugh. Ezra's upper lip pulls back from his teeth and his skin ripples like it's begging to shift into something horrific.

When Rosa turns, her attentions shifting onto Gomez, Ezra twists and whispers, “Watch it. Twin or not, I'll fucking gut you Gideon.”

Gideon snorts. “You could try.”

Ezra squares his chest. “I already beat you once, remember? Or did you forget as you bled out in the living room?”

Gideon’s stare hardens. “You won because I allowed you to win. How have you not put two and two together when I literally told the lot of you that I wanted you to catch me?”

Ezra crosses his arms over his chest and nods, then lowers his gaze to the ground. “Yeah, you know what? Excuse the shit out of me. You did mention that. But I don't recall you explaining the reason behind it.”

Gideon's lips twitch like he’s holding back a smug smile but says nothing. A growl emanates from Ezra and I sidestep closer to Evie. I cannot stand the two of them together.

“For fuck’s sake, enough,” I command, intoning every word with my growl. I walk forward and shove them both in their chests. “If you two cannot at least tolerate one another, stay away from each other. Have you learned nothing in the centuries you've been alive?”

Gideon swallows, then walks to the other side of the room, his middle finger tapping against the side of his leg. Gideon is a master at disguising his emotions behind a serious, yet bored and indifferent expression. He’s skilled, but I’m better. I spent countless hours analyzing my brothers’ faces, marking their ticks and micro expressions in my long-term memory. These small, seemingly innocuous habits betrayed them, informing me exactly when they intended to strike, or when I would have the opportunity to do the same to them. Gideon's gaze is cold and hard, but the barely visible narrowing at the inner corners or his eyes tells me Ezra's comment about killing him broke something deep within him. Ezra always said idiotic, sometimes cruel shit, but he’s never gone as far as this before.

Perhaps the looming threat of The Order and my brothers coil the tension within him to his breaking point, like a needle continuously pricking his awareness and fight or flight instincts. The same worries plague my thoughts as well, but I’ll never speak the words aloud. Unfortunately, something within me urges to soothe their tension and anxiety, as if an instinct as the eldest sibling grows like a weed. I fucking hate them all. I don’t need any of them. All I need is Evie. She’s my family now.

“Fine. If it means that damn much to you, you can shadow walk Aiden to Hellam and keep the sword on your person. But, if anything happens to him, or anyone else in this group, I hold you directly responsible,” I growl.

“You really do like me,” Aiden whispers towards me, the awe in his voice audible to the group.

I cringe but don’t acknowledge his comment. He’s right. The fucker has somehow grown on me like a godsdamn mouth sore. The skin so raw and inflamed that one cannot help but chew on the spot, spreading the infection.

“Noted,” Gideon acknowledges.

“Gideon, your wrists?” Evie asks and Gideon complies without complaint. Interesting. Evie accepts a tiny silver key from Rosa, then utilizes it to unlock and remove the fuzzy pink handcuffs. “Lorcan, break the chain off both cuffs.”

“Gladly,” I purr, then snap the thin link of chain where it’s connected at the two ends and bring my darkening gaze to meet Evie’s. She sinks her teeth into her lower lip, then shakes her head as if she wishes to clear it and faces the bar once more. Although the handcuffs broke easily between my hands, Gideon, despite his immeasurable power from his royal demon blood, could not remove them with the secure binding spell counteracting them.

“All of you back up. Give my witch room to work,” I order, pushing a wall of shadows against Ezra, Rosa, and Aiden’s shins, then nod at Evie. Her chest rises as she inhales deeply, her pulse fluttering rapidly at her neck and in my ears. My arm lifts toward Evie, the desire to curl around her back while she works chipping away at me. I snatch my hand back, clenching it into a fist.

“Shit, I forgot a knife,” Evie says and looks over at me.

“Not a problem, Baby Girl,” I purr, but it quickly transitions into a growl as Gideon’s claws lengthen as he holds his hand over the bowl.

“My claw will work just fine,” Gideon suggests, then slashes into his outstretched palm. Denim blue blood wells along the deep cut, gushing down his skin and into the bowl as Gideon offers Evie his bloodied claw. Fuck no.

A shadow snatches my brother’s proffered hand, twisting it sharply until a crack fills the silence. “No one makes my little witch bleed but me,” I growl darkly, the words almost obscured by my threatening rumble.

“Jesus fuck, Lor!” Ezra exclaims. “Ease up.”

I watch Gideon through narrow slits and bare my teeth as he hisses and clenches his teeth. “It’s okay, Ez,” Gideon reassures through gritted teeth, then smirks. Searing heat bites into my shadows, a muted lavender glow spreading beneath them.

“What the fuck,” I growl and recall my shadows as agony peaks where my shadows touch Gideon’s Hell fire.

“Keep your shadows to yourself,” Gideon growls, his expression quickly shifting into a feral visage.

“As long as you stay the fuck away from my witch.”

Gideon’s intense expression clears and his blank, serious one ripples into place like water smoothing over a river rock. “Are you two done?” Evie asks.

“Yes,” we both reply and a headache blossoms to life over my left eye. I step up to Evie’s back, then reach around her and gently take her hand in mine. I extend the claw on my other index finger.

“Is this okay?” The back of Evie’s head rubs against my pecs as she nods. My shoulders tense as I quickly and efficiently cut into her palm, just deep enough to extract the blood she needs for the spell. Retracting my claw, I slide my it up her torso, across the length of her sternum, and halt with my fingers around the column of her throat. Evie’s arousal sweetens the air as I use the hold on her neck to draw her back into an embrace, then whisper, “Good fucking girl.” A shudder works its way from her toes to the crown of her head as I draw my arms to my sides and back away.

Evie swallows thickly, then squeezes her bleeding hand over the bowl. I watch each drop intently as it drips in a thick stream to join Gideon’s. Her brows tip inward with concentration, then she glances at the page with the ritual instructions. My thumb tingles with the need to smooth out the little V forming between her brows. Damn, she’s cute. Gideon plucks the cuffs from the table, purple flames igniting the pink fuzz in a cloud of noxious smoke.

My shadows rise around my brother, poised to strike if he's so much as breathes negatively in my witch’s direction.

Gideon chuckles, rolling his shoulders back and focuses on the cuffs. Frost crawls along the metal of each, and for a moment nothing happens. Metal shrieks and grinds as each handcuff splits in half along the circumference. The severed metal bits thump to the table and a smile tips the corners of Gideon’s lips as he holds them out for Evie.

“Um. Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me. I simply wished to remove that hideous pink fuzz,” Gideon explains and gestures for Evie to continue.

Evie blinks rapidly a few times before narrowing her eyes on the blood. Her husky voice floats over my skin as she chants the words of the spell under her breath, shadows spilling from her chest. Taking the modified handcuff bands, she dips them into the bowl of thick dark purple blood. Evie continues to chant as she sprinkles the herb mixture onto the waiting bracelets that drip steadily over the bowl with her shadows. Thick white smoke rises from the surface of the bracelets and clouds around them. My witch’s shadows split, one carrying a metal band to Evie and the other to Gideon. He holds up his wrist without comment, letting her shadow glide the band over his tattooed, scarred hand and secure it to his wrist. The band shrinks, fitting to his wrist snuggly.

A thin shadow glides around the circumference of the metal, then rushes to Evie's, repeating the process. Evie lowers her wrist, rolls back her shoulders, and straightens her spine. “It's done,” she exhales.

“Thank fuck. That was intense,” Ezra says.

“I know, bro,” Aiden agrees, and walks over to Ezra, knocking his elbow into his. “Cool as Hell to watch, but I've never been into the spooky stuff.”

“Ironic, considering you sold your soul to a demon,” I interject.

“Don't worry, Aiden,” Ezra says, then flops his arm around his shoulder. “We're besties now, remember? I'll keep you safe.” An oomph rushes past Ezra’s lips as Gideon's palm connects with his sternum.

Ezra stumbles back a step, his arm falling from Aiden. “What the fuck was that for?” he growls.

“Don't. Touch. Him.” He enunciates each word crisply.

“Fuck off, Gid,” Ezra huffs, moves to crouch by Rosa. “Hop on.”

“Excuse me?” Rosa asks skeptically.

“Climb on my back, Sugar. I know you’re eager to explore the shadows with me,” Ezra says and bounces his eyebrows.

A sigh pushes past Rosa’s lips, then her arms and legs coil around my brother. “Let’s go.”

Ezra laughs as Rosa squeals and tunnels her fingers into his hair to keep her seat as Ezra bounds into the shadow juxtaposed to the fireplace.

“Rosa!” Evie calls.

“I’m not gonna drop her, Evie,” Ezra replies with laughter in his voice from the entrance of the In-Between.

I raise my brow, then clear my throat. “Evie and Fluffy Fucker are with me,” I remind Gideon. “Follow your bond with Ezra.”

Gideon ignores me and stalks into a shadow near the door without another word. I tilt my head to the side. Is he attempting to run? I ask Evie through our bond.

Her lips purse and her brown eyes glass over as if all her concentration has turned inward. No. He’s still somewhere on the property. Evie pauses, then tucks her hair behind her ear. Actually, he’ll come back through that same shadow in a couple seconds. Gideon returns precisely two seconds later, just as Evie predicted.

Impressive. At least we know the ritual worked.

I raise my brow, then clear my throat. “Evie and Fluffy Fucker are with me,” I remind Gideon. “Follow your bond with Ezra.”

Gideon settles his great sword’s sheath strap over his chest, strides purposely toward Aiden, and pulls the top half of his blue-black hair into twin war braids. My brow quirks as my brother plucks Aiden from the ground and secures him against his chest in a bridal carry. Aiden yelps and covers his mouth with a hand, a deep rosy flush creeping up his throat to his cheeks and ears. Gideon adjusts Aiden’s fucking hat, then disappears into the In-Between.