Page 96 of Shadowface

He stares down at me, and I observe and study every movement, aware of his every action. He places his hands on my hips as he walks me backward toward the bed. With a reassuring squeeze, he gently pushes me onto the soft sheets.

“She adopted me,” he says. “She’s not my mother, and I suspect at the time, she wanted Mikael far away from Xander.”

Mikael. He’s talking about him as if he’s real, as if he’s someone else entirely. And he was here first…

I peer up at him, the gaze he’s giving me right now is predatory. “And what about you?” I ask. “Why are you still down here?” I lie back on the soft bedding, propping myself up with my elbows, opening my knees to him. He drops down in front of me.

It’s a test, a tease, and I hope he bites.

A candle on the desk behind him flickers. That small draft I keep noticing, leading me to suspect this basement has an exit and entry point somewhere.

“I prefer solitude,” he tells me without looking up, giving all the attention to my legs, which I slowly wrap around him.

“But you’re never really alone, are you?” I ask.

With a gentle pull, he removes my heels and places them nearby. His eyes meet mine as his hand travels up my calf. My reflection is visible in his glasses. The glint of my white hair stands out against the darkness of this room, this house, and the dark eyes observing me.

“Why does Xander hate me so much?” I ask, although…I’m thinking the reason is deeper than I ever could have imagined. His grandmother and my grandparents were in a picture together in this very house.

“You’re a threat to his leadership and inheritance,” he says, shifting his focus to my dress and gently nudging my knees open to access what’s inside. I lean back on my elbows, wincing as his fingers brush against the mark.

“And how exactly am I threatening his leadership?”

Finally, he raises his eyes to meet mine. His pale skin and dark hair are accentuated in the soft light, but I don’t recognize the person staring back at me.

“By simply existing, Summer. Technically, you are the one who is supposed to lead us—it’s your birthright.”

I wrap my ankles around his waist and tug him closer. “So it’s all true, then? You’re part of the Order of the Shadows…the secret society that kills people?”

He blinks and that flicker arises in his irises. “Yes. Although I’m just a part of it by technicality; I’m not part of the bloodline. They kept me alive since I’m such an anomaly, and generally, they are regular people who dislike the idea of hurting a child. That was never part of the Codex.”

The Codex…

My breath deepens, and he moves his hand up and down my thigh, as if inspecting me, and he slides my panties right off my legs.

“Xander’s in quite a predicament.”

I squirm when his fingers tickle my soft skin “What do you mean?”

His lips tickle my thigh as he presses a kiss between my legs, and I quiver. “If Mikael kills you, then that means Xander doesn’t have to worry about you. But if he kills you, then that also means Mikael will be let loose, and Xander will probably end up dead, too.”

I grip the sheets so hard my fingernails nearly break off. His tongue flicks my clit, and I nearly scream.

“Lincoln!” My hands grip the covers, but he ignores me. He only gives a serpentine smile as he teases me with his tongue and keeps his eyes down.

Something is different about him… Something’s changed. Someone else is present…I can feel him, sense him in my soul.

Lincoln raises his flickering eyes to mine as I squirm beneath him. “Do you want me to kill you, Summer?” he asks softly, the terrifying shimmering is almost blinding. “The honey pouring out of your pussy tastes like you want me to kill you.”

A darkness fills up inside me, like starlight hitting a void as I watch him morph in front of me. Those starlight eyes mesmerize me.

“I don’t want you to kill anyone else,” I whisper, grabbing onto his hair with dear life.

His body tightens. His eyes ripples like twilight, that otherworldly shift as he morphs into a stone-cold killer. At least I think he is a killer; this version of him confuses me.

Mikael is close…so close. Like he’s here watching, but not the one in control. And it doesn’t seem like Lincoln is in control, either.

Lincoln continues to work me with his tongue, bringing me close…close…close. I dig my nails into his scalp as my orgasm starts to build, and I forget about everything. I crest and I arch my back as I let out a moan, coming down from it.