Light Shadows Read Online Free PDF Page B

go through that again. So please…please don’t force me to. Let me go to him alone.”
    “You know there’s no chance in hell that we’d let you do that,” Niko retorts, moving to my side. “Gabs, you’re stuck with us—all of us. Where you go, we go.”
    Dorian steps into view, capturing my attention and my gaze. He brushes my cheek with his hand, offering tranquility in his gentle touch. “We don’t love easily, Gabs. You of all people should know that. And when we find it—when the Divine bestows that precious gift upon us—we hold on to it.”
    Niko slides his palm against mine, intertwining our fingers, and his gift of peace washes over me instantly. “We fight for it.”
    Alexander takes my other hand, and we come full circle, sharing this unconventional bond of strength and serenity. He turns to me, nostalgia in those wide, blue depths. “We die for it.”
    As badly as I want to fight against them and disregard their wishes, I can’t. It’s more than just their soothing touch immobilizing my defiance—it’s their love. And that is stronger than any magic in this world and beyond.
    This was it; that was all I needed. The decision was made. I would do anything for the people I love. Even make a deal with the devil himself.

I FEEL HIM all over me.
    Sliding over the surface of my skin, tickling the nape of my neck. Grazing the shell of my ear with an unspoken whisper, his voice so clear that I swear he’s right beside me.
    Thanks for not saying anything, baby girl. I owe you one.
    I look across the room at Niko, his blue eyes delving into mine. He tips his head in my direction before crouching down to assess the still unconscious concierge he’d dragged in here. I look up to find Dorian staring at me, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. It’s enough to make me visibly shiver. Intense Dorian is hot as hell; pissed Dorian is just downright scary.
    “Got something against room service?” I ask Niko aloud, trying to divert Dorian’s attention. He purses his lips before releasing me from his cold stare. “He’s human; he’s perfectly harmless.”
    “Human? Yes. Perfectly harmless? The jury’s still out on that.” Niko rifles through the young man’s pockets, retrieving his wallet. “Dave Kramer, 19, 5-foot-9, black hair, brown eyes and he’s an organ donor. Good to know.”
    “He’s a child, Nikolai,” Dorian admonishes, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “There better be a good reason why you incapacitated him and risked exposing us all.”
    Niko deftly strips off the server’s blazer and yanks down the collar of his dingy shirt. “This good enough reason for you, brother?”
    Alexander, Dorian and I move in closer to peer at the black ink embedded in the man’s shoulder, stunning us all into silence.
    Thanatos
    “What the hell does that mean?” I ask, my voice barely a strained whisper. Part of me already knows the answer.
    “Death,” Dorian answers, his forehead furrowed in concentration. He kneels down to get a closer look, running his fingertips over the man’s clammy, yellowish skin. “One of the original eight families of the Dark. But obviously, he isn’t one of us.”
    “Human,” Alex spits out beside him. “How would he even know what that word means? Surely this is a coincidence.” He wrings his hands in front of his lap, and the act immediately draws my eye. I look down to find that I’m nervously doing the same.
    “No coincidence,” Dorian says, shaking his head. He plucks a strand of stringy brown hair from the man’s head and brings it to his nose. “Hmmm. And not entirely human.”
    Dorian passes the thin strand to Alexander who not only smells it, but tastes it. Blech.
    “It can’t be,” he mutters, his blue eyes sparking with ire.
    Dorian nods grimly. “But it is.”
    Alexander looks at his old friend, seeing the man he knew and fought with for nearly a century. The man he considered closer than a brother. “Do you think…?”
    “It’s