Shadow (The Boys of Chapel Crest, #5)

by K.G. Reuss

Seeing Sirena finally embrace her inner monster had been enlightening. It had turned me on in ways I never thought possible. She was already the center of my fucked-up universe, but seeing her covered in her enemy’s blood, the piece of shit who had hurt her, had her sitting at the top of everything in my life. But she wasn’t mine, and that really sucked. I kept replaying her kiss in my head. I’d slept that night without bothering to wash off the bloody handprint on my face she’d left behind. I’d have tattooed it onto my skin if I didn’t think I’d have a lot of explaining to do over it. Didn’t need my crazy shining through so much. My job was to watch. Observe. Report. Never to be myself.

Sirena. My sweet cupcake.

“Beautiful. Fucking perfect. My little monster.”

But all things regarding Sirena were worth it. I only hoped she’d be able to accept the monster I kept hidden. The watchers had nothing on me.

“I love you,” I said softly. “Sleep, brother. We’ll take over the world when you wake.”

“Do I have to hold your cock for you, too, or are you going to sit when you pee?” he asked, letting out a huff of laughter. “Might just piss my pants so you can change me, big daddy,”

“Fuck, Sin, she’d love you until the goddamn moon crumbled and the oceans dried up. You never have to worry about Sirena not loving you. We all see how fucking deep she’s fallen for you. Honestly, you’re tough competition. Out there with your love notes, sweet words, and big dick. All I have is my sexy brooding and fantastic hair. Knowing a second language helps.”

And I stayed right there on that floor, holding her through the bad dreams and wishing I could get inside her head and fight the monsters for her.

“Don’t dare tempt fate in the Shadow that you hate. He is more like you than he is like me. In the fists and blood, you’ll likely see. Not sweet like sugar, but violent like murder. A surprise, for sure.

“I thought Sin was your bestie.” “He is. He’s bestie one. You’re bestie two. I’ll get us matching t-shirts.”

“If anyone asks why you’re sleeping in my room, tell them I need help rubbing baby oil on my body so I can lie on the floor at night and pretend I’m a garden slug.”

DEAD

“A one-night mistake sealed in silence and shame. Now stuck in a bond with only one to blame. He rues every word, she curses the bed, where passion once flared, now bitterness spread. No kindness between them, just duty and pain, their sacrifice made, and now they’re insane. They can't stand the sight, yet live with the cost, two hearts grown colder for the one they lost.”

“Because this isn’t my story.” I shrugged. “I’m the next volume.” I gave him a big grin that made him snort. “You’re pretty when you smile.”

“I don’t make promises I can’t keep. My little firefly is in so deep. I cannot control her urges or her soft lips. But don’t worry, Dante Church, I can control the pace of her hips.”

“Tonight, you belong to me. The watchers fail to retrieve. Lie in this bed, with my arms around you tight, or is it another you wish to hold you tonight? Say a Shadow from a world beyond to hold you until the dawn?”

I’d been dragging her ass down the stairs every day, forcing her to be part of the fucking family. My broken family, and all because her stupid ass couldn’t tell a fuck boy no.

I low key hate her

“Someday, the world will tremble when they hear a Ghost. The men at the top will stand to lose the most. Their sons will love our daughters. Marked by Frost and by Flame. They’ll dance on the grave of empires and play a harder game. They’ll wear their secrets stitched into their skin. Whispering truths where the end must begin.”

“We bled in war with our pain deep. But some truths monsters safely keep. So hand in hand, we struck a deal. To wear their skin and learn to feel.”

“He traced her skin with sharpened grace. Each cut a vow time can’t erase. Their promises carved, not softly spoken. A love in blood that cannot be broken.”

“I need you to beg me, cupcake. Say please. Say you want me to ruin that perfect little pussy. Tell me you need me.”

Two weeks later, I still hadn’t heard back from my father. I knew better than to hope for good things because the man was like a disease that kept coming back. Like a nasty case of herpes.

Lmao

“Trust the fall. The fire refines. Truth will carve through tangled lies. The ones who must suffer will, in disguise.”

“Miss Lawrence.” She licked her cracked lips. “You’re talking.” “I’m punishing,” I whispered. “Answer my question.”

My watchers.

I’d spent so much of my life in the shadows that it felt good to finally be seen. It took me years to find people who understood me and to realize it wasn’t just a roof over your head that made a home. It wasn’t furniture or a bed. It wasn’t clothes and food. It was the people you loved and who loved you back. The ones who accepted you. The ones who would kill and bleed for you. The watchers and my cupcake…they were my home. And there was no place like home.

Redemption blooms where truth is sown. A quiet seed in hearts alone. Confess the dark, release the lie. And peace will rise where secrets die.”

I am he, he is me, and we are we. And we were ready to tear this fucking world apart.