Light Shadows Read Online Free PDF

stone. The younger man shrugs with nonchalance and strolls to what’s left of the bar.
    “You have thirty seconds, brother, or I won’t be as amenable,” Dorian warns, returning to stand beside me. He pulls my body into his side protectively as if Niko’s next words could ignite further conflict.
    “Fine,” Niko sighs, before knocking back a swallow of scotch from what must be the only remaining glass. “If you must know, I couldn’t tell you, dear brother . I couldn’t trust you. Your thoughts are not safe, and if I had any hopes of recovering Alexander, I couldn’t tell you my plans.”
    I feel Dorian flinch beside me and I look up in time to see him nod solemnly. Niko’s words, as true as they may be, have stung.
    “So you knew? All this time, you knew my father was alive?” I press with an air of skepticism. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but hell, that’s a pretty monumental secret to keep from someone you supposedly care for. It’s just like the Skotos men to withhold imperative information. They proclaim to love and protect me, yet they covet me with lies and deceit.
    “No, Gabriella,” Alexander answers, taking a step toward me. “He didn’t know anything. No one did.”
    “No one but Cyrus,” Niko interjects. “He saved your father 21 years ago and hid him until he knew it’d be safe enough for you both.” His gaze rests on both me and Dorian, searching for understanding. “My plan was to use the grand royal wedding as a diversion and move him then. When that didn’t happen, I had to resort to plan B. Judging by the mess, I can see the reunion was an eventful one, yes?”
    Dorian leaves my side, stalking—almost ghosting—to where his younger sibling pours another drink. “You knew what would happen,” he seethes between tightly clenched teeth. “You knew there would be bloodshed, and because of your carelessness, it was Gabriella’s blood that was shed.”
    Niko frowns and puts down the crystal glass just before it touches his full bottom lip. He doesn’t ask Dorian to elaborate; he doesn’t have to. He can hear it in his thoughts—the reason why my shirt is stained with my own blood. I can feel the turmoil rising in both their guts as Dorian explains the shift in the link. What was supposed to connect us may very well be the thing that destroys us.
    “No,” he barely whispers, eyes wide with terror.
    “Yes,” Dorian nods, sounding defeated. “We have to do what we can to reverse it. And there’s only one person I know who can handle that kind of spell…”
    Three sets of ocean blue eyes fall on me simultaneously, each filled with varying degrees of regret and apprehension. And fear. Fear for what they know they must do.
    “I know what you’re thinking. Don’t look at me like that,” I say admonishingly. I pull the tattered shirt around me tighter, suddenly feeling exposed.
    “Gabriella…” Dorian takes a cautious step in my direction.
    I shake my head furiously. “No. That’s insane. I won’t let you do it.”
    Niko pipes up, his voice level, yet his mind and heart troubled. “If we have any chance at finding a way to break the link, we’ll need—”
    “I said, no!”
    “My child,” Alexander says gently. He comes to stand in front of me, his pale blue eyes softer than I’ve seen them since he arrived. “There are things that we can’t provide you, no matter how badly we wish we could. Even with our abilities combined, we do not possess that brand of power. Only one has the capacity to evoke that type of magic. As much as it pains me to say it—as much as I’d rather die than submit to that sadistic tyrant—we need Stavros.”
    “Fine. Then I’ll go alone. You know what he’ll do if he sees you’ve deceived him. And I won’t sentence you—any of you—to death.” I look at the three beautiful men before me, all willing to place their lives at Stavros’s feet to protect me. It’s my turn to protect them. “I lost you all once. I can’t