Penumbra (The Midnight Society #2) Read Online Free PDF

when it was all over he pushed me away again. It was the fuck-and-run trap that I fell right into.
    Wham, bam, sayonara ma’am.
    So where did that leave me now?
    Not in a good place, that’s where.
    Lincoln must have seen the look of self-loathing on my face. He walked over to me and rested a warm hand gently on my shoulder.
    “He still loves you.”
    For a moment, those words gave me a small flicker of hope, but it was quickly snuffed out by my own skepticism.
    “Do you treat the ones you love like shit?” I asked.
    Lincoln paused for a moment.
    “Well, as they say, we always end up hurting the ones we love…” his voice trailed off for a moment, “Or vice-versa.”
    He was thinking of Calisto. All this time, I was so focused on moping around in my own broken world that I didn’t take into consideration what Lincoln must have felt.
    He had blood on his hands and blades in his heart.
    But he seemed to take it well—better than I did.
    “You can talk to me about anything you want,” I said. “Despite me being an emotional wreck, I still have two ears that can listen.”
    Lincoln thought about it for a moment, and then shook his head. “Maybe another time.”
    “You’ve been so busy trying to console me, who’s going to console you?”
    “I didn’t think I needed consoling.” Though his mouth formed a smile as he spoke, his eyes told a different story. He was hurting, and badly.
    “Why are men always so complicated with their emotions?”
    Lincoln shrugged. “We are complex creatures in general. We tend to bottle everything up while women like expressing their emotions.”
    “Why keep it in?”
    “Sometimes, it’s easier not to say anything just to avoid further complications. And to be honest, we’re lazy too. We’d rather focus our time and energy on being productive instead of beating on old bones.”
    I nodded and took a deep breath. I wanted to hold it together, I really did, but every time I closed my eyes, all I could see was Justin burning, and Shadow turning away from me. My best friend was dead and my lover treated me as if I were dead too.
    My eyes began to fog up. It wasn’t long before tears formed watery lines down the side of my cheeks.
    Lincoln looked at me sympathetically and frowned.
    “He loves you. Trust me, he still does.”
    “How can you be so sure?” I asked.
    Lincoln took a seat next to me and brushed away a tear with his index finger. “Because I’ve seen this exact same thing happen before. You’re not the first person he’s loved.”
    “Tell me,” I said, more of a demand than a request. I was desperate for some answers, just so I could understand what was going through that man’s head.
    “It’s not really my place to say. It’s in the past, and why walk that road again when there’s a new one just over the horizon?”
    “Please Lincoln,” I practically begged. “Just give me something to help me dull this pain. Help me understand Shadow.”
    Lincoln thought about it for a moment, and then finally nodded.
    “I guess it’s no surprise, but Shadow doesn’t get over things easily,” Lincoln began. “From what people told me, he’s like his father—obsessive. When Shadow’s focused on something, everything and everyone around him becomes secondary.”
    “So Shadow’s obsessive nature gives him a free pass to act like a dick?” I asked.
    “He’s pushing you away to protect you,” Lincoln said. “He did it once before to another woman he loved when things were getting too dangerous.”
    “Did he bang her in the kitchen too, while trying to ‘protect’ her?” I asked.
    Lincoln rubbed the back of his neck and shot me an ‘I have no idea’ look. “I believe he was thinking with the wrong head?”
    Well I sure paid the price for Shadow’s alternative thinking . I felt stupid and cheap allowing Shadow in just like that. “So who was this girl, and why the need to protect her?” I asked, wanting to dig a little further.
    “ Being a part of