Page 72 of Corrupt Shadows

“He’s here?” I ask, whipping my head around.

A second hiss sounds. This time, the sound ends with a rattle. I look down at Lorcan’s feet, and my heart palpitates. A long, winding black snake curls around one of his heavy boots, then a second, smaller snake with a coral pattern on its back slithers along the dark-stained, wood floor.

I’m assuming the whole “demons won’t come here” doesn’t apply to Lorcan’s brother, who by his account is an angel, although I saw through the facade. The fact that he said Lorcan is a fallen angel almost makes me laugh, if I weren’t so damned depressed. An image forms in my mind of Lorcan with long, feathery wings, and he scoffs.

“Don’t mistake me with angels,” he warns, then mutters something in Latin.

I attempt to block him from reading my thoughts. I need to find the materials to make another necklace, to keep him out of my head.

The snakes hiss, and I watch as smoke pillars from their now-sizzling scales, and the snakes crumple into embers and ash. Lorcan shakes the soot from his boot and mutters something unintelligible under his breath.

Slowly, he places me down, and I find my footing. “He sent snakes?” I ask, since he’s given me zero information on what happened.

“They’re from Hell,” he says casually, as if that isn’t insane. “If one bit you, you’d be dead.”

I press my lips together and nod slowly. Great. There’s just threats at all angles. “So, Ezra wants me dead.”

He flinches when I say his brother’s name, as if he hates the sound of it on my tongue, he but quickly composes himself. “Yes.”

“Why?”

“I’m done answering questions. All that matters now is that we are trapped here with him. I’m bound to this realm by blood, and you by your family’s heirloom mirror. Neither of us can leave.” He regains his composure, but I stare at the untamed power behind his eyes. He towers over me, and I cross my arms over my chest. I need a cigarette. I need something… Being trapped here without Gomez and being worried about Rosa is hell enough without him keeping me from my addiction. My magic has never felt more dangerous. It’s bursting at the seams, and I fear if I don’t have something to keep it trapped inside, then I’ll explode, just like my victims.

Without thinking too much into it, to keep him from my thoughts of what will happen next, I lean in. His lust is his only weakness, and I can’t help but place my hand against his rock-hard chest. His heartrate races under my touch, and for the first time since being here, I feel powerful.

Surprise glistens in his eyes, and my lips curve slightly at the corners. The blackness in his irises dissipates, and I lean closer, breathing in his evocative smoky scent, mixed with nutmeg and something citrusy. His muscles tense and I tiptoe up, then slide my fingers into his pocket. His lips part, and I’m closer to his mask, wanting desperately to know what he hides underneath.

Then I feel them, the tips of his cigarettes. I grab the packet, placing my other hand to the bulge in his pants at the same time. A low growl reverberates in his throat, his cock twitching under the caress of my fingers.

I quickly pull back, cigarettes and lighter in my hand, feeling victorious. When I look back at him, his stormy glare bores into mine, and my breath catches in my throat.

THIRTY

Evie

“Run.”

His warning surges adrenaline through my veins like liquid fire. I waste no time and turn on my heel. Excitement mixed with terror pushes me to run faster. I chase shadows from flickering candles on the walls, down the cold, empty corridors of the manor.

Painted eyes from portraits follow me as I turn a corner, almost catching my foot against a wooden bench decorated with velvet cushions. My breaths come out in short bursts as I grip the stone wall.

I tighten my grip on the cigarettes. His anger is palpable as echoes of his footsteps bounce off the walls. My heart pounds against my ribcage, and blood rushes to my ears.

Shit.

He can only be one corridor behind me. I shouldn’t have seduced him to get them, but I can’t let him keep winning.

Shadows ripple around me, and I take off again. My bare feet hit the ancient stone, and I fling open a door.

His voice slices into my mind, and my brain numbs. “When I find you, I’ll show you true pain.”

I pull my bottom lip between my teeth, biting down hard. “You have to catch me first.” What the fuck am I doing? I bite my lip, surprised at the wide grin curving my lips. My hair clings to my cheek as I whip my head around and spot his shadows creeping closer, like a dense fog threatening to consume me entirely.

Panic jolts me and I keep going, the high better than any drug. The hairs on the back of my neck stand erect as a whisper caresses the top of my ear. I stop running and look behind me. Fingers made of smoke and darkness materialize from the shadows and slide along the curve of my breast.

My stomach flips as I close my eyes to the touch of his shadows. My eyelids flutter open, and Lorcan appears at the end of the corridor, the sides of his unbuttoned shirt blowing outward from him when he walks. A playful, dangerous grin curls his lips. I can’t help but stare at the belt hanging at his side. His fist squeezes around the leather. His predatory eyes find mine, and low growl resonates as he marches the distance between us. My heart races, and I rush through a door.

His footsteps are closer. He’s running now.

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