Broken Read Online Free PDF

waiting.
    Waiting.
    Claudius was quaking, too, his mouth twisting, his head straining to the side, as if trying to break eye contact and unable to do it. A low moan whined from him, growing louder, louder, until it became a shriek.
    Costin’s spine arched as his blood brother’s cry burst apart, echoing in Dawn’s chest as if she’d made the sound herself.
    She pressed a hand to her heart because it felt like it’d been punctured. Then Costin backed away from Claudius, whose mouth stayed fixed in a silent cry.
    She went to Costin, catching him before he slumped to the ground. “Are you all right?”
    He couldn’t talk, only grapple for steady breaths. But she could also feel him resisting her embrace, so she let him go, stunned that he wanted to get away from her. Wounded at his reaction.
    He seemed to realize what he’d done, but she couldn’t be sure, because his hair was covering most of his topaz gaze. Meanwhile, more Friends had entered the lab, swishing by with their jasmine scent, relieving the other contingent and smoothly taking the spirits’ places to bind Claudius, who was still shivering on the floor.
    “What did you do?” Dawn asked. “How . . . ?”
    “He was primed to fail,” Costin said, his usually dark and heavy voice thin. “He has been whittled down, hour by hour. I made sure to lay the foundation before you even got in here this morning. Fear of you drained him further, and I used all of what I had in me to exploit that now.”
    “You knew I’d come in here after you went to rest.”
    “You are as predictable as the sunrise.” He sucked in a few breaths, then gritted his jaw, slowly rising to his feet.
    She wanted to chide him for not telling her what he’d had in mind, but that wouldn’t do any good. It wasn’t in Costin’s nature to share. He was secretive, even with her—the master he resented in his heart of hearts.
    She wondered how long she could take that. If there would ever be a time he would actually allow her in all the way . . . or a time she would do the same with him.
    While Costin pieced himself together, pushing back his hair into his preferred neater style, Dawn thought that, in spite of his trouble in entering Claudius’s mind, he might not have gotten much.
    Just as she was about to ask him, he turned away. Mortified, she finally took out her phone to check it, just to show herself that she did have things to do, people who wanted to talk to her.
    The old Friends, who were relieved of duty and would go to their painted portraits lining the hallways to take their rest, breezed out of the room while Dawn listened to a message from Kiko.
    “Dawn! We’re getting something here! Tell Costin that we’ll be back in headquarters by dusk so he doesn’t have to worry so much about our security.”
    They were getting something. Visions of Shadow Girl?
    Costin headed for the stairs, Dawn just behind him.
    “Kiko and Natalia are tuning in to some shadow-thing vibes over at Eva’s flat,” she said. “They might have some clues we could use to find out what those things are and how they fit into the Underground.”
    “Those two need to be inside headquarters as soon as possible. Please relay that information to them.”
    He sounded as if he’d witnessed something in Claudius’s mind—something to put him on alert.
    “Why so soon?” she asked. “Did you see any kind of planned attack from the vampires in Claudius’s head?”
    “No.”
    As they ascended the stairs, traveling under the steel plating that lined the way, she looked back to see Claudius still chair-bound on the floor, the Friends captivating him as he continued staring at the ceiling, back to the near-comatose state he’d been in after Dawn had gotten through with him last night.
    They reached the door, and Costin paused with his hand on the knob. “But I saw enough to warrant our own attack.”
    Before she could suck in a shocked breath, he opened the door, leaving Dawn standing there.
    Their own