Page 6 of Shadow

I chuckled at that. “I’ll bite. Tell me what makes you so useful,Shadow.”

He glanced at Sirena, his hands shaking.

“What’s wrong?” I pressed. “I’m sure your story is fascinatingly dull. You’re a turncoat who worked for my father. What else?”

“I watch,” he finally said, dragging his focus from Sirena to me. “Always. And I never forget.”

“Wow. I’m impressed.” I placed Adam’s preserved heart on the table next to my chair.

“I also know things.”

“Color me intrigued.” I rolled my eyes at him.

“Adam Larson was your fucking brother, Dante,” he snarled at me. “Flesh and blood brother. And now his heart is going on your mantle. I knew who he was.”

I froze at his words.

“What?”

He inhaled deeply, his hazel eyes locked on me.

“I never forget anything. Ever. I heard your father speaking one night while I was stuck in the underground with him. He was speaking to Adam. Telling him he loved him, but he would never be in command. That he wasn’t his legitimate heir, like you are. Conceived outside of marriage after he already had you. They didn’t know I was listening. No one ever knows when I’m listening, but trust me, I’m always there.” He stared me down, no sign of fear on his face that I was used to seeing. “I dug into it further. Your father had a woman he fucked. He had a full-on relationship with her. Carys Larson. When he found out she was seeing someone besides him, he killed her. You know what happened next. He took his favorite pieces and had a feast. He had Adam sent to Chapel Crest after learning how unhinged he was with his multiple personalities. The brutal one always won out, and so Everett latched onto that madness and just made him screwed up in his head more than he already was. Adam already had a desire to harm others. He was a lot like you. Killing the small animals before moving on to bigger things.”

I said nothing, his words making me sick. I couldn’t fucking think. A raging fire of fury was slowly building within me. Glancing over to Adam’s heart, I breathed out, my hands trembling.

“He was training him to mess with you. To test you. You always pass the tests,” Bryce finished in a low voice.

“How long did you know of this?” I finally demanded, my voice hoarse.

“I knew he was your brother since I got here four years ago.”

I stood abruptly, nearly knocking Sirena over, and paced the room, trying to get my head together.

“And why did you never fucking tell me?” I roared after a moment. I stormed over to Bryce, dragged him out of his seat, and shook him violently.

“Because why the hell would I?” he snapped back before shoving me off. “There are things I know that would make your head spin.”

“Then fucking rock me,” I shouted. “I want to know everything.”

Bryce had the balls to laugh softly at me.

“It would seem we both want something, huh?”

I glared at him for a moment before I looked to Sirena, who glanced nervously between us.

“Never,” I snarled. “You willneverhave her.”

“Then you will never know what I know,” he said softly.

I breathed in and out, desperate to just beat the ever-loving shit out of him and force his secrets to the surface. I needed to know what he knew. If he knew half the shit he was claiming, he was an asset to taking down my father.

“Are you still working with my father?” I asked, trying to steady myself.

“Yes.”

I looked to Mirage. “Like you?”

“It’s not really like me,” Mirage said. “We’re…different. Me and Asylum.”

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