Shadowglass Read Online Free PDF

skin, tattoos curving on his shoulders, a line of tarnished studs in one ear. Beautiful young face, soft plum lips, a hint of stubble.
    That one stinks the worst.
    The other is just a faintly foul underling, a black-maned waif in a short skirt and halter, smeared dark lipstick, brows ringed with piercings and a red-berry jewel flashing in her navel. High heels she can’t stand up in, straps too tight around tattooed ankles.
    Not blending in, not drinking or kissing or sniffing sparkle. Too fucking superior for that. Just standing there, waiting to get their own way as they always do. Both smiling stupidly. Both with unearthly angel-blue eyes. Both greasy with the stink of get-the-fuck-out-of-my-city.
    The pair stares, sapphire irises aglitter. Kane doesn’t pause. He stalks up, claws springing, and grabs the boy-thing’s throat. “Name yourself.”
    Around them, people blink and back away, or pretend not to see.
    The boy chokes, clutching at Kane’s gold-linked wrist. The girl-thing whirls, striking at Kane with inhuman strength.
    He glances at her, and blinks.
    A shimmering black wave of compulsion crashes, and she cries out and staggers, red-skinned, hair crinkling in fresh heat.
    Too easy.
    Kane crushes his thumb in harder, forcing the boy to his knees. Scarlet blood sizzles on his knuckles like acid. Pain stabs, but he doesn’t let go. He coats his voice with grasping duress, dragging invisible black hooks through the boy’s blood. “I said, name yourself, aberration.”
    The boy splutters, tears spilling on his cheeks, and Kane relaxes, just enough to let him talk. Spit dribbles onto Kane’s bloodstained hand as the boy forces the sounds out. “Akash. Indra. Curse your blood, demon.”
    Kane’s hair tumbles longer, a deep angry blue. He hisses charcoal smoke, and somewhere behind him, glass shatters. He yanks the boy’s greasy ponytail back and crunches razor teeth an inch from the boy’s ring-pierced nose. “This is my city, Akash. You won’t like it here. You’ll not steal back a single soul from me. Go back to where you came from, and tell Shadow I said fuck you. Got it?”
    He doesn’t wait for an answer, but rips his claws away and strides off, the air around him shimmering with hate.
    A kash spits warm sour liquid onto the metal floor, his new body flowering with sensation. Unpleasant. Fresh. Addictive. He wipes blood from the demon-poisoned wounds in his throat, and this time they don’t heal.
    Indra hugs her knees, still shivering on the floor. Pain clouds her pretty voice. “I do not like this, Akash. I want to go home.”
    Akash swallows, and warm pain spreads like sunshine. Dazzled, he wobbles to his feet, offering Indra his hand. “He is stronger than we.”
    She rises, clutching his hand in both of hers, and her gaze slips. “He cannot be. They told us he was weak.”
    Akash breathes once, again. Pressure in the lungs, bones moving, skin stretching. Delightful. Water stings his eyes, making it hard to see. He blinks, and it’s gone. Wonderful.
    Even the horrible electric din of the club pleases his ears, and the ache in his injured throat slides delicious fingers of pain down his chest. And the sounds that wrap around him in the dark, sighs and whimpers and muffled moans, they’re sounds of agony, yet they’re sultry and wet with deep pleasure. He slips a bloodstained finger into his mouth, and it stings. His tongue flares alive with heady sensation, disgusting yet beautiful.
    What a strange, bright, painful world.
    He gazes around with fresh, suspicious eyes. The sky never lies. There must be a reason for this discrepancy. “Things are not as they told us, Indra. This will not be easy after all. People are free. Kane is strong. Pain is . . . happy.”
    “No.” Indra clutches him closer, her new dark-painted mouth pursed. “The sky is never wrong. It is not true.”
    “It must be. Kane has corrupted this place. If we are to take the city back, we must watch him, and find his