Page 173 of Their Reckless Thief
Before Vincenzo could respond, The Shadow stood and flicked his hand. An invisible force pressed into our chests, slamming us against the bookshelves and the door.
The pain was overwhelming. I clawed the air, trying to make contact with the source, but there was nothing there. To my right, Luca let out a strangled yell as he summoned his shadows. He moved his hand slightly, directing them toward me, creating a shield. The pain the diminished, and I gulped in huge breaths.
Luca, on the other hand, grew extremely pale. His head nodded from one side to the next as the effort to protect me drained him completely.
“Stop! You’re going to kill him.”
The Shadow scoffed. “So be it.”
“No, please wait.” I stared directly into The Shadow’s dark eyes. “We’ve found a way to save the women in your territory.”
His power faltered. “How the fuck do you know about my women?”
“Let them go, and I’ll tell you everything.”
After a few seconds of consideration, The Shadow lowered his hands. Luca’s limp body slumped to the ground while Vincenzo, Dorian, and Vivian gasped for air.
Without a word, Dorian pulled the mirror out of his pocket realm. He held it in front of him, his gaze never leaving The Shadow’s face.
“I thought the Mirror of Truths might be enough to entice you,” Vincenzo said, his words almost a dare.
The Shadow’s casual demeanor vanished. His eyes narrowed, and a flicker of disbelief flashed in his gaze as he stared at the covered mirror. “No.” His voice was barely more than a whisper, the humor completely drained from his expression. “It can’t be. That’s… just a myth.”
Vincenzo’s lips twitched, his grip tightening on the mirror’s edges as he held it out slightly closer. “No myth,” he assured him, a cold edge in his voice. “I see all of your illusions for what they truly are.”
The Shadow’s gaze darted between the mirror and Vincenzo, his face an unreadable mask, save for the tight line of his jaw. It was the look of a man whose empire rested on illusion, now confronted with a tool that could undo every deception he’d woven.
“Luca filled us in on everything,” Vincenzo said, his voice dripping with satisfaction.
At this, The Shadow’s expression darkened, and his gaze cut to Luca, his eyes narrowing with an unspoken accusation. Luca,who now sat upright against the bookshelf, shrugged, his face neutral, but there was a flicker of defiance in his eyes.
“The mirror unbound me. I could finally tell the truth.”
Silence descended upon us, the air crackling as The Shadow regarded Luca. Every muscle in his face tightened. But before he could respond, Vincenzo stepped forward, his voice heavy with restrained fury.
“There’s one last piece I still don’t understand,” Vincenzo said. “Why have you been meddling with the Phantomine drug supply? I’ve lost several people to drug overdoses because of your fucking laced shit.”
The Shadow’s face twisted, his control slipping, revealing an intensity that felt disturbingly human. His voice came out low, grating, as if the truth itself tasted like bile on his tongue. “Experimentation. I tasked my scientists with finding a new formula for Phantomine, one that wouldn’t only offer temporary relief, but would cure the women in my territory. I don’t allow drugs in my territory. Yours was the closest with the highest concentration of Phantomine-addicted females. We infiltrated the supply, then tested the blood of your addicted women to see if it was more potent. I don’t want a temporary fix.” He paused, his gaze hard, fierce. “I want a fucking cure.”
There was no mocking amusement, no air of indifference. Only raw determination, a desperation that ran so deep it made me uneasy. This was a man whose territory’s survival depended on something beyond wealth or power—something far more precious and elusive. And I found myself empathizing with the man.
Standing in the presence of the man who’d haunted my visions and mind felt like standing in the grip of a storm. The room was thicker, darker, as if his very presence altered it. I swallowed down the fear, forcing myself to straighten my spine and lock my gaze on him. I would not show weakness here,not in front of the man who had torn into my psyche, who had loomed over me in my nightmares.
“The Mirror of Truths,” I said, my voice steadier than I expected, “might be the key to healing the sick women in your territory.”
The Shadow’s dark gaze fell on me. His eyes, a deep, bottomless blue, seemed to peel back every layer of my resolve. But instead of feeling intimidated, I held his gaze, determined not to let him see the fear in my bones.
There was a flash of something in his eyes—a consideration, a spark of calculation. Finally, he shifted his gaze back to Vincenzo, his face cool and unreadable.
“Very well,” he said, sitting back in his chair, though the tension never left his posture. “Lay out your terms, Vincenzo. Make them clear.”
Vincenzo’s expression was steel and fire as he took a single step forward, his voice low and unwavering. “You’ll stop flooding the drug supply with your knockoffs. You’ll hand over the women you took from my territory. Offer them freedom to choose their future. You’ll never use your illusions to push against me or attempt a takeover again. You’ll remove your mark from Celeste. And Luca will be free to serve whomever he chooses without being bound by your fucking illusions. In return, the Mirror of Truths will be yours. We’ll stand as equals and respect each other’s territories.”
The Shadow considered this, his calculating gaze flickering from Vincenzo to me and back again. His face was hard, yet I saw a cautious understanding take hold in his eyes. Slowly, he nodded, his face settling into a guarded acceptance. “I need to see if the so-called Mirror of Truths reveals anything useful.”
He extended his hand, his long fingers reaching out, hungry to claim the mirror, and I held my breath as Vincenzo passed it over. The Mirror of Truths, now in the hands of The Shadow,seemed to hum with a quiet, unearthly power, as if the truths it held were waiting to spill out.
As he looked into it, the world around us stilled. He remained motionless, absorbed in whatever revelations were unfolding before him. When his gaze shifted from the mirror and locked onto me, I saw recognition, or perhaps revelation. It was as if the mirror had shown him something vital, something I carried within myself.
