Mage of Shadows Read Online Free PDF

small hallway.
    Our apartment's living room was a bit larger than either bedroom and came with an attached kitchen near the front door. The 40-inch plasma that Raj had brought from home was turned on, the volume low. No electric lights were on, but the curtains here had been opened to allow morning to spill in and fill the room with the hazy glow that came as night was slowly vanquished.
    It was a little before eight, but David was awake and doing crunches in front of the TV.
    David Cao was nearly twenty and built like someone who knew what he was doing when he went to the gym. He wasn't quite ready to be posing for any catalogues as a model, but his physique left him pretty damn close. One thing was for sure, he was in much better shape than I was.
    Shirtless and with a fine sheen of sweat, I could tell he had been working out for at least twenty minutes, if not more. He finished his set of crunches and stood for a moment to nod politely to me.
    "Good morning." His voice was deep and cheerful, as always. David was someone who always had a smile on his face. He was the person who seemed to have everything in balance, whether it was school, the gym, or his love life. Despite being jealous of how he seemed to have it all together, I don't think I could have ever disliked him. I wondered if David ever really had an enemy.
    Before I had even replied, he had dropped back down and was completing a set of some kind of pushups that looked a lot harder than normal ones. I think he called them dive bombers or something, but I couldn't remember for certain.
    "The two men were left unconscious, severely wounded and one near dead…"
    I glanced at the television screen and stilled. David had the news on, the volume low but easily discernable in the quiet of the early day. My heartbeat became conspicuous against my chest as I heard the report from the news anchor; she appeared disturbed as she read from her teleprompter.
    "One man was found with third degree burns, and the other with unconscious due to blunt force trauma. It has been hypothesized that the man had been slammed into the alley wall several times. The identities of both men have not been released at this time, but they have been placed under police watch at an undisclosed hospital…"
    "Crazy, huh?" David grunted as he got up from his pushups. "Those gangers must really hate each other to go at it so hard."
    I nodded numbly, not trusting my voice.
    David hopped back to his feet, looking only slightly winded. He sent a look of genuine concern my way, "I heard you coughing, are you sick?"
    I mumbled something about feeling ill.
    My roommate didn't notice my troubled thoughts, so hopefully they didn't show up on my face. He grabbed his white shirt from the couch and went to the small kitchen, which was little more than an open countertop, fridge, microwave, and stove. He began to prepare a protein shake for himself while I shook my head clear and walked back towards the bathroom to brush my teeth and slap water on my face in an attempt to think clearer.
    When I came out, David was sitting on the couch drinking his shake and still watching the news.
    "…have released a description of a possible suspect. Caucasian, small build and average height, dressed in a black hoodie. If anyone has any information pertinent to the case they are urged to call the tip line at…"
    It was a small relief that they hadn't gotten a good description of me. I had gotten away with it, I was in the clear… but the reprieve I felt was still overshadowed by guilt. It was dwarfed by Two-Bit's screaming, his pain derived by my heavy handedness.
    "You okay?"
    David was staring at me, concerned.
    "Yeah… I'm fine." I assured him. My roommates probably already thought I was strange, I didn't want to give them any more reasons to suspect my weird habits like going out late alone with no explanation, or having virtually no friends had some deeper sinister meaning behind them.
    "Is it Bio?" Dave questioned