Page 224 of Shadowman

All I have are my thoughts, as loud as the thunder.

I think I might know that feeling…

“Is that why you killed Alice’s brother and that guy?” he asks me. Not like a doctor, but like apersonwho’s curious. Like my equal, both of us soaking wet and… considering it. Fuckinglove. “Because you felt that way for her?”

My mouth is hanging open. I should be able to say yes… But it’s not working.

This time, I’m not… thinking about Alice.

Another bolt of lightning strikes, accompanied by an even loudercrack!

Lemuel hip-checks me into the nearest tree, and like an instinct, I huddle up to it, praying we won’t be struck.

“What the fuck…” I hear him grunt, but his voice is being drowned out by another sound.

A slow crackling, rumbling and tumbling, and then…

Boom!The loudest, most roaring crash I’ve ever heard, a reverberation beneath our feet like an earthquake. It’s as if the lightning splintered the ground in two.

I’m afraid to reopen my eyes, and when I finally do, I feel like minutes have passed. Really, it’s no more than a few seconds.

Lemuel and I are hugging the tree for dear life.

“What the hell was that?!” I gasp and cough from the dust in the air. “Did something explode??”

I’ve never seen, nor could I have imagined seeing Lemuel this way. Honestly, he looks scared.

Inching between the trees, we look up and see it.Destruction.

A giant structure has broken in half… And smashed right into the side of the prison.

Bloody fucking hell, what the fuck…

“Holy shit…” Lemuel breathes.

Gaping at the ruins, my limbs shiver with fear and adrenaline. I’m blinking and blinking, willing it away. But it won’t go.

This isn’t a dream, or an illusion concocted by my twisted mind. This is real.

Alabaster Penitentiary has collapsed.

“Come on.” Grabbing Lemuel by the arm, I tug him closer to get a better look. But he’s pulling in the opposite direction.

“I have to get back to Felix.” He stands his ground.

“The mansion is fine. We’re going this way,” I growl.

“Not a fucking chance,” he snarls. “I’m going back to him and making sure he’s okay. If you think you’re stopping me, you’re not as smart as I thought you were.”

“Let’s get this show back on track, yea?”I see Leo up ahead, on his way toward the prison, cutting debris out of the way with his twin swords.

Lunging at Lemuel with the razor, I seethe, “I must’ve forgotten the part where I saidyouwere calling the shots.” He’s obviously irate, thinking up ways to overpower me despite the weapon. So I don’t give him the chance. I grab him harder, razor up to his throat. “I’m sure the mansion is a million times more structurally sound than the prison, since The Ivory lives there. It’ll be fine. Nowwalk, or I’ll cut your head off and give it to the love of your life as an engagement gift.”

“You better pray nothing happens to him…” he seethes, and I roll my eyes.

“Yea, yea. His life is in Byron’s hands now,” I sneer. “Let’s hope for your sake,mypartner in crime is less reckless than Bonnie Parker.”

Grinning, I haul a furious Dr. Love toward the prison.