Page 4 of To Crave Truly

A wave of nausea washed over me. I was feeling better. Oh, God. I’d just fed from the bastard. But that wasn’t the worst thing. No, the worst thing was that I’d enjoyed it. I was a monster.

I swiped my hand across my mouth, trying to get rid of the evidence of what I’d just done.

Mordecai laughed darkly. “You need to come to terms with what you are, Lori. Otherwise, you’ll never survive.”

“Why did you do this to me?”

“Because it was prophesied. This was inevitable.”

That goddamn witch had a lot to answer for. If Millicent Blackwood was still alive, I’d hunt her down and kill her myself. Her little book of revelations was becoming the bane of my existence. She’d written that I was somehow part of a plan to destroy the world with Lucifer which had me being chased by warrior angels and now, according to the asshat in front of me, required me to be a vampire. I must have missed reading that one.

Mordecai folded his long limbs into an armchair by the fire. “Do you know what a Triune is?”

“Nope.”

“It’s a combination of three things in one being. There has only ever been one Triune.” His eyes fixed me with a gleeful stare.

Fuck. Don’t say it. Please don’t say it.

“Until you.”

Crap. Could my life get any more complicated?

“You are special, Lori. A demon, mage and now vampire. All combined in one body.” His voice dropped to a lethal growl. “You are the ultimate weapon, and I will use you to get what I want. What I’m owed.”

Anger flared and drowned out the panic. “And what’s that?”

He smiled thinly. “Not for you to know.”

“Fuck you, Mordecai. I’m not going to do what you want. You’ll have to kill me.”

He shot out of his chair and in the blink of an eye, he was stood directly in front of me. His face cold and expressionless. This was the monster beneath the man.

“No, little one. I’m not going to kill you. But if you don’t do what I ask, there will be consequences. I will quite easily make your loved ones suffer and force you to watch.” His hand caressed my cheek, but I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of pulling away. “I’ll imprint the command in your mind, so you won’t be able to take your eyes of them as I slowly drain the life force from them. You’ll watch the light drain from their eyes, their bodies turn to nothing more than dust, and you won’t even be able to look away.”

“You’re a monster.”

His smile was manic. “I know. Now get dressed. We have work to do.”

Then he left me, and I’d never felt so alone. Panic gripped me. I sent a distress signal along my soulbond connection to Lucifer and felt nothing. Memories flooded my mind. Selene fixed the bond, but it had sent him to death’s door. She’d had to fool the bond into thinking he’d died in order to strengthen the tie between us. And then all Hell had broken loose when Jasper came and then there was blood. So much blood.

My stomach rolled thinking about it. I’d done that. I’d called Mordecai and let him take me. And now I couldn’t reach Lucifer. I didn’t know where Jasper was, and had I let my team die?

This was all my fault. And I didn’t know what to do.

Chapter Two

Lucifer

Iawoke with a roar of uncontrollable rage. She was gone. Taken from me by my own creation and I hadn’t been able to stop it. Selene had made sure of that.

“Lori!” I screamed. The rage was agonising. It rushed through my veins, burning me from the inside out until all I could feel was the agony of losing her. How could I have been so foolish to let Selene try and help us? I knew she was going to do something, but Lori had persuaded me to give her the benefit of the doubt. And I had, for her. Because she’d asked me too and I couldn’t deny her. Now look where that had gotten me.

Well, no more. I was going to tear down anyone who stood in my way this time.

“You need to calm down.”

I turned to the idiot who dared to speak to me right now. Torsten visibly flinched as my gaze landed on his. His mismatched eyes instantly found the floor.

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