Page 48 of Shadowman

“You know what it means,”he says firmly.“Think, Trevel.”

My head goes back to swaying. Lips shivering, breaths labored. “I don’t… I don’t know what… h-happened.”

“Yes, you do,”he snaps.“Think.”

Pulling a long inhale, I attempt to steady my heart rate, glancing at Andres Alvarez, dead on the floor. There’s a pool of blood around his head.

“I killed him,” I whisper.

“Yea…And??”

My eyes move to the doorway to Alice’s bedroom. I whine an aggrieved sound. “She’s dead. MyAlice…” Tears slip from my eyes once more. “She was the love of my life… and now she’s just… gone.”

The feeling of Leo’s grip on my face loosens. His furry hands slip down onto my shoulders.“I am sorry, mate. She was a good girl.”

Flinging a glare in his direction, my eyes harden. “Why didn’t you stop me?! Youwantedme to kill her, didn’t you??”

His look of sympathy returns to one of frustration.“No. Wrong. You willnotblame this on me…”

I let out a breath and rub my eyes. “I miss her already…”

“Go…”His voice echoes, more of an internal command as I scramble to my feet and dart into Alice’s room.

I freeze when I see her still lying on her bed. And I want nothing more than to crumble to bits on the floor and die with her. But I force myself closer. At the edge of her bed, I look her over, attempting to find any sign of what might have happened.

There’s no blood. No strangulation marks around her throat…

How else would I have killed her? Maybe I… smothered her with a pillow?

My heart is cracked in half inside my chest, barely pumping enough evil black sludge to keep me alive.

I’m damaged, man. Broken. A complete and utter monster.

I was in the bed next to her… Panting like a whore for her asshole twin brother while she was lyingdeadright next to me?! What kind of person does that??

“An evil one,”Leo says from the doorway. I aim a tearful glower at him.“No, Trevel, you’re not a good person. But that doesn’t mean youkilledyour girlfriend. Now fuckingfocus.”

“Why can’t you just tell me what happened…?” I whine, exhausted and devastated, angry and scared. Guilty. And confused.

Very fucking confused.

“You know I can’t do that,”he hums, voice fading once more.

Shaking myself out of the grief and despair—as much as I can—I crawl tentatively onto the bed, taking a closer look. I touch her neck…

Aside from being cold, it feels normal. I check her pillows for makeup, and I check myself for scratches that could allude to a struggle. I see nothing.

Lifting Alice’s hand in mine, I brush my fingertips along her skin, still so supple, despite the early signs of rigger-mortis. I bite my lip. “Baby, I’m so sorry…” My fingers run up her arm, cherishing her one last time.

But then they stop… when I notice a small mark on her inner elbow. I recognize it immediately.

“A track mark…?” I whisper, puzzled, blinking for a solid thirty seconds before checking my own arm.

I have the same mark. It’s from Andres shooting me up earlier. Just a tiny, reddened bump. Nothing more than a swollen dot from where the needle injected the poison into my vein…

But why would Alice have one too?? She doesn’t do drugs like that…

“Remember, Trevel…”