Page 88 of Shadowman

His grip on my throat loosens. In the blink of an eye, his wrath has retreated.

He backs up, just an inch or so, but still. I’m no longer staring into the wide-open jaws of a Great White. Releasing a long exhale, his shoulders drop, and he closes his eyes, visible relief washing over him. And I’m simplygawking, even more confused than before.

What in the bloody fuck??

The Ivory’s lips curve into a small grin, and he shakes his head. His long fingers are sort of petting my throat, gently caressing me while he chuckles, “Oh, Trevel… Trevel Trevel Trevel…” He laughs a little more. “Do you have anyidea…?”

He’s just laughing to himself now, and I’m gaping in sheer perplexity,needingto understand what on earth is happening. “Any idea of… what?”

“No.No, of course you don’t. How could you?” He jumps up from his seat and begins pacing around me, raking fingersthrough the silky strands of his white hair. “The universe is…wow.I mean, just…” He pauses to make that mind-exploding motion with his hands. “Such a trip, man.”

“Um… not to step out of line or anything, sir, but am I supposed to understand a word of what you’re saying?” I ask, watching him carefully.

Plopping down on the seat once more, he places his hands on my thighs. “Trevel, I brought you here to kill you.” He says it so casually, it almost distracts from the threatening nature of that statement. Paired with howjubilanthe looks right now, it’s a complete one-eighty from how he was glaring at me only moments ago. “Well,eventually,you would’ve died. But believe me, the things I was planning to do to you… Death would’ve been a kindness!” He cackles, then sighs out his amusement, dipping his chin. “And you would’ve begged me for it, Trevel. A plea I would have gleefully disregarded for as long as it felt necessary to me.”

I swallow a lump in my throat. “So… you were planning to torture me?”

He nods.

“May I ask… why?”

He smiles, areal, bright smile of repose and delight. I don’t know him at all, but I can tell it’s not something he does often. It’s quite pretty… but also rather unnerving.

Giving me a quick once-over, he reaches into his pocket. I stiffen in fear, until he pulls out a set of keys, using them to unlock my cuffs. But rather than doing it behind my back, he wraps his arms around me. An oddly intimate way to remove cuffs. He also smells mouthwatering, and feeling his warm, taut frame surrounding me for even just a few seconds is… interesting.

Once the cuffs are off, I move my arms out of that uncomfortable position, the ease in my muscles allowing me torelax a bit. The Warden takes my wrists in his hands, rubbing them for me. Such a caring gesture…

I swear to God, it’s impossible to get a proper read on this bloke.

“I won’t bore you with the details.” He speaks calmly. “The history and complex, ardent backstory…”Bollocks. That’s what I wanted to hear!“But essentially, it boils down to vengeance.”

“Vengeance?” I repeat the word, and he nods.

“Si.” He shakes his head. “Sorry.Yes.” His dark eyes glide up to mine. “I heard about your most recent killings. Some misinformation was given to me, and in the heat of the moment…” His words fade and he looks away. “Long story short, it became clear we had the wrong person after you arrived, but I still had to ask you myself. Just to be one-hundred percent certain. And I takefullresponsibility for not properly investigating the situation before dragging you here.” Clasping my hands in between his, he locks his eyes onto mine, shimmering to convey full sincerity on this topic. “But you have to understand, I was out of mymindwith rage, Trevel. In fact, I knowyou, of all people, can empathize.”

“I can…?”

He nods. “Everyone thinks you killed your girlfriend. But you didn’t, did you?”

Furious despair instantly weaves through my extremities at mention of Alice… And what her despicable brother did to her.

“No,” I growl. “I didn’t.”

The Ivory’s eyes are alight with understanding. “You took the lives of the people whodid… Didn’t you?”

I nod, jaw clenching. “Simple death was too merciful for them… Especially that fuck Andres. I wish I could bring him back to life just to slaughter him again… over and over and fuckingover. For her.”

His lips twist into a knowing smirk. “You do understand.”

Breathing out steadily, I compose myself, focusing once more on the here and now.

So he’s saying he… wanted to kill me? To avenge the death of someone he’d thought I killed?

But who?

He sighs, releasing my hands. “So you see, Trevel, my dear boy… This was all just a big mix-up.” Grinning, he gives me a playful smack on the cheek before sitting back, crossing his ankle over his knee again. “And to think, we went through all that trouble to get you here…” He huffs and shakes his head some more. “The parties responsible for winding me up with inaccurate information have been dealt with, don’t worry about that. And trust me when I tell you, they’ll be fact-checking extra hard the next time they think they hear something about—”

“Wait, if you brought me here by mistake…” My eyes widen, sudden anticipation running through me. “Then I should be free to go!” I gape at him, hopeful and almost pleading with my eyes. He simply cocks his head. “Right…?”