Satanic Shadows (The Broken Realms #1)

by Leigh Rivers

“You are repulsive, mortal. If I ever get out of here, you’ll be my first target.” The shadowy hands part my thighs slowly. “I’ll rip these legs off, and when you beg for mercy with tears in your eyes, I’ll snap each bone in your body, if only to hear the way you scream.” The image in my head has sweat building on the back of my neck. I can see him doing something like that. His eyes flash to a brighter silver. “I’ll make it slow of course. I want to feel how your body breaks. How your lungs burn when you’re desperate for oxygen. The last thing you see before I take your sight will be me. When you plead for me to end it all as you lose feeling in your entire body, I’ll heal you, only to start all over again. Do you know why?”

I can feel Dane’s eyes on me as I put my books into my leather satchel then fold my paperwork to add it to the bag. It’s weird that I can suddenly sense him everywhere. He could walk into the room, and with my back turned, I’d know he was there. It’s like the energy changes around me, but only I can feel it. When he left my room last night, the silhouettes in my walls wouldn’t stop dancing. The shadows shuddered across my floor, and my bed shook when I told them to get a grip.

“Don’t look at me like that, mortal. I’ve made my feelings towards you very clear. I want to watch you suffer, hear you beg, and feel you take your final breath with my hand around your throat. That is not a lie.” I do the only thing acceptable at my height—I knee him between the legs, satisfied when he drops down to my feet in agonizing pain. I should be scared, running, begging for my life, but I hum in contentment as I sit back down on my bed, reading the list once more as he tries not to burn down the castle with fury. “As soon as you stop crying, get the fuck out of my room.”