Page 29 of Corrupt Shadows
He rolls over in reply, as if to say his only plans are to sleep.
Rosa heads for the front door and I pause. “I’ll meet you outside. One second.” I hurry to the kitchen, then kneel and reach under the sink. There, I grab the handgun taped to the inside of the cupboard. It’s small, but it’ll take down a man.
I’m convinced Aiden is the one who broke in and left the mirror in my apartment, implying that the man in the mirror is aiding the Order. Aiden could have hurt Gomez while he was in here, and then he goes after my best friend under the ruse of liking her. Hell no. One mystery we can’t quite understand, no matter how much Rosa and I brainstorm, is why a demon is involving himself with witch business?
No matter what, I have to figure out what Aiden is up to. If he and the Order can track me here, I’ll have no choice but to run. I can’t take them down without unleashing my shadows. I wince, thinking about how many innocents will become collateral damage if that happens. It wouldn’t be the first time.
I check to make sure the gun is still loaded, then shove it in my purse next to my pepper spray. I can’t use my shadows, but I still want to teach Aiden a lesson for using my friend. My power dances under my skin. It wants me to kill again, but I know if I do, I’ll be feeding the death magic. I glance at the covered mirror in the hallway as I pass by, a smile playing on my lips. I can sense him behind the sheet, frustrated because he can’t see through.
He’s not the only player in his game.
FOURTEEN
Lorcan
My temples throb with pain, an oncoming headache inevitable. Aiden still hasn’t come, despite being summoned an hour ago.
I stare at the blanket covering my view into her room, then pound my fist against the frame.
She also tied that fucking necklace around her neck so I can’t hear her thoughts. Now I have no idea where she’s gone. She’s playing games, but she has no fucking idea how dangerous that is.
If Aiden survives tonight, I’ll have him break in again and uncover these fucking mirrors. I light a cigarette and sit on the sofa, one hand on my knee. I hunch forward, lowering my head when I hear a hiss slip under the door.
“You know not to come here,” I warn, sending the message to the demon outside, then drop my cigarette onto a trinket dish. I sense a demon. “Leave.”
Their attachment to me tugs a desire to open the door. Their loyalty is supposedly unyielding, at least for those here who followed me when I was banished from Hell.
The door creaks open, and the demon Eshabia stands in the doorway, his matte-black stare landing on me. He barely resembles his human form anymore, the skin on his face a chalky white, his thin lips devoid of color. “Master.”
Eshabia was once human, although it’s hard to tell now after centuries of moving through the ranks. I recall when he was nothing but a trapped soul in Hell. In the uman Realm, he was an infamous murderer, but in death, he was nothing—until his penchant for torture raised him through the ranks, moving from spirit to poltergeist, then finally to a demon. Eventually, he raised through the hierarchy, ruling beneath me over the other demons.
I raise to my feet, my muscles rippling as I clench my fists. “What the fuck do you want, Eshabia?”
He steps closer, and I growl. Eshabia hesitates on his next step, then stands still a couple of paces from the door. I should have expected this. I’ve been far too absent since focusing on my witch.
A sinister smile curls his lips. “One of us has possessed a human.”
“When?” I question. They know not to do anything without my permission. It’s difficult enough actually possessing one of them, and it only reminds me of how I am trapped in here while they can still move between here and the Human Realm through possession.
His ghostly white fingers intertwine as he takes in his surroundings. I distract him before he can take too much interest in Evie’s apartment.
I close the distance between us, my muscles tightening under my clothes when I reach him. Shadows snake around my arms and over my hands, joining my grip as I grab him by the throat.
“You might rule the others, but you answer to me.”
His lips twitch, and I sense his desire to fight back, but I slip my consciousness into his before he can get any ideas.
There’s little left in his mind to twist and break, but I sense his desire for power. My grip on his throat tightens as I intrude on every crevice in his mind, finding imprints of me there.
“We may not be in Hell anymore, but make no mistake,” I say, both tattooed hands squeezing into his windpipe. “I can still obliterate your soul.”
Fear threads through his stare. Not existing is the only thing a demon can fear; therefore, it is the only real threat that carries any weight.
“Do not make me ask again. Who possessed a human?” My question echoes in his head, the shadows around the room drawing closer as I release my hold on him and his mind.
“It’s Solomor.”
My nostrils flare, and my chest tightens. I flex my fingers, clenching my jaw as I focus on Eshabia. The desire to tear him apart overcomes all sensibility.