Read Counting Shadows (Duplicity) for Free Online

another story.” He grins a crooked smile, one lip lifted slightly higher than the other, like this is somehow funny. “And there are plenty of other types of demons with wings. If he was an Angel, he’d have looked just like me.”
    I bite my lip and look away. I want to glare at him, put him in his place, but I can’t let him see my tears. He’s destroying my perfect, familiar image of Ashe. Destroying part of me.
    Lor tilts his head to the other side. “So, are you going to get me out of this hell-hole? Or are you going to leave?”
    “I’ll leave when I want.”
    He scoffs. “Then I’ll assume you’re not here to rescue me.”
    I shake my head. “No.” Lor would be worthless to me; he’d just be a look-alike reminder of Ashe’s killer.
    And I already live with enough painful reminders.
    Neither of us say anything for a long moment, until I let out a sigh. “I’ll be leaving now.”
    Lor smirks, the expression dark and angry. “Good luck finding your one-in-a-million man.”
    “I’ll find him.” I don’t know why I’m telling Lor this—someone who’s worthless, someone who’s about to die—but it feels necessary. “I
will
. And soon.”
    Lor chuckles and shakes his head. In a low voice I can barely hear, he says, “Then I guess I won’t be the only one to die.”

Five
    I walk down the staircase to the second floor of the prison, trying not to bound down the steps three at a time. I need to escape this hell-hole. I need to get away from here, away from Lor.
    I absently register Hirard at my side. He asks what the other ten questions on the test are.
    I ignore him.
    All I can hear in my head is Lor’s words shattering my familiar picture of Ashe. He wasn’t my flawless Angel; he wasn’t an Angel at all. Just some type of demon.
    Did he have family out there somewhere? I’d always assumed that it would be impossible to find his family. They’d be on the far-away continent the Angels were banished to.
    But what if his family had been on this continent? What if I could have found them, and what if they could have saved Ashe?
    My stomach churns, and I walk faster.

Six
    Daylight comes with the most mundane sunrise in history. It doesn’t feel right. My understanding of Ashe has changed, but the world stays exactly the same.
    I watch the courtyard, sitting on the railing of the balcony connected to my chambers. Ashe always liked to people-watch up here, and said sunrise was the best time for it. According to him, it’s the time when people are the most tired and raw, and willing to show their true natures.
    I’m not sure if that’s true; hardly anyone here ever shows their real self. The courtyard below is off-limits to peasants, and is instead filled with royalty and egos and lies. But I still come out to this balcony every morning and look down, just like my Ashe used to.
    Soldiers patrol the cobbled grounds, messengers scurry about, and lesser royalty hold their heads way too high as they go about their business. But from up here, everything looks…
different
. Almost peaceful.
    Footsteps echo behind me.
One, two, three.
But I don’t turn. I received the message earlier: Farren is coming to visit me this morning. I don’t know why, but I do know that I’m not going to bother with a greeting. My head is still whirling from my visit with Lor, my stomach feels like it’s full of bubbling lead, and I’m
not
in the mood for visitors.
    “What the hell did I tell you about sitting up there? You’re a human, not a bloody Dragon. You won’t survive falling.”
    I yelp and grip the banister more tightly. The voice is harsh and rasping, toneless except for an edge of anger.
    As I regain my balance, I let out a long breath, unsure if its relieved or exasperated. “Jackal.” It’s impossible to mistake that voice. Jackal once had his throat slit by an assassin, and it ruined his vocal chords. Now his voice is high and gravelly, and it cuts through the morning air like a serrated