Read Online Counting Shadows (Duplicity) by Olivia Rivers - Free Book Online

He yells when his hand doesn’t find the weapon, and slams his fist into Chagra’s leg. Panic overtakes his expression, and I turn away. I don’t want to see him like this.
    In the few minutes I spent with him, Lor never showed fear. He was proud. He shouldn’t have to die like this, with hundreds of people watching his terror.
    Lor grabs a heavy stone from the ground beside him, and takes a moment to aim. Just as Chagra tries to swat the rock out of his hand, Lor hurls it at its face. Chagra yelps as the stone strikes it, bludgeoning its eye. Blood streams down the beast’s face, blinding it for a moment and forcing it to stumble back a single step.
    It’s all Lor needs. He rolls to the side, away from Chagra, barely missing the beast’s claws as they swipe toward him again. Chagra manages to catch Lor’s shirt with his claw, and tears it from his chest.
    Lor yells, and I look away. But not quickly enough to miss the blood seeping from Lor’s side. I shudder, knowing Chagra caught more than just Lor’s shirt.
    “You’re upset,” Father states blandly.
    Glancing over to him, I find a small smile on his lips. I wonder if Father even sees the blood.
    Tearing my gaze from him, I look back at the amphitheater floor. Maybe when the Match is over, I’ll slap that smile from Father’s face. But now all I can do is stare down at the arena.
    Lor runs to the sword, but isn’t quick enough. Chagra is on him in an instant, batting him to the side with its paw. Lor slams to the ground and rolls a few feet.
    Chagra’s lips raise into a tortured grin, and it bats at Lor again, sending him flying into the arena wall. Lor collapses, his face pressed into the dirt.
    This time he doesn’t stir.
    A few members of the crowd break into slow applause, thinking the Match is over. Chagra has won, as always.
    I feel sick.
    Chagra slowly approaches Lor’s body, its hackles lying back down. I swear the beast looks smug. But it’s cautious as it pads toward the body, taking one deliberate step after another.
    I wait for Chagra to rip into Lor’s body, but it doesn’t. It’s waiting for something.
    Lor stirs and blinks, and then tries to push up from the ground. Chagra lets out another howl, and I’m sure my ears are going to start bleeding. So this was what Chagra was waiting for; it wants Lor to be conscious when it makes the final blow.
    Chagra crouches, preparing to leap at Lor’s prone body. Lor manages to roll over and look at the beast. His fear is gone, and in its place is fury.
    That’s when I notice it. The tattoo. I remember seeing a glimpse of it in the prison, the very edge of the ink poking out from Lor’s shirt. Now, with his shirt gone, I can see it all.
    It starts at his mid-back, swirling around his spine before the black ink snakes over his right shoulder. The tattoo is of flames, and it looks so real, I wonder how Lor isn’t burned.
    My eyes follow the ink-work, trailing along the familiar lines of the tattoo. I look for something different about it, but it’s just the same as I remember it.
    Maybe all Angels have this tattoo. Maybe that’s why Lor also has it.
    Then I remember Ashe’s killer. He didn’t have a tattoo, and neither does Jackal, or any of the other non-humans I’ve seen.
    But Ashe did. And he didn’t just have
a
tattoo. He had
this
one.
    “He lied,” I whisper. It can’t be coincidence that both Ashe and Lor have the same tattoo. What are the chances that Lor shares the mark with a random demon? No, that’s not possible. Lor lied; Ashe wasn’t just a demon. He was an Angel, just like I always believed.
    An Angel somehow connected to Lor.
    I have one moment of sheer excitement. Did Lor personally know Ashe? Can he lead me to Ashe’s killer?
    But none of that matters if Lor dies.
    “Stop the Match,” I say.
    Father doesn’t hear me, so I raise my voice. “Stop the Match!”
    Father waves his hand at me, like he’s trying to flick away a bug. He gazes intently down at the arena,