Page 88 of To Crave Truly

Lucifer slowed his steps and threw an apologetic glance over his shoulder. “Sorry. I think we’re nearly there.”

“Does anyone else think this is too quiet?” Fenris asked.

“Yes,” I replied, a sinking feeling dropping in my stomach. I could see the others at various points in the cemetery, all of them with the same cautious concern etched in their faces.

“There it is,” Lucifer said softly, pointing to the lone weeping angel stood a little way in front of us. I was hit with a wave of sorrow, almost like it was me that had lost her. Perhaps that was something Mordecai transferred when he sired me, but that was something to think about later. Right now, we were lining up, ready to march towards the tomb as a unit. I went to take a step forward, but something made me stop.

“Lori…”

The breeze whispered my name but I knew who it was.

Mordecai.

Something tugged behind my solar plexus, making me look off to the right, towards the tree line. The rest of the group moved forwards without me, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the trees. Maybe there was nothing there, maybe it was just the trees, but my gut told me to go that way anyway.

Somebody called my name, but I didn’t listen. There was a buzzing in my ears, a hum vibrating through my skin, calling me towards the trees.

I took another step and the ground collapsed beneath me.

Mud and earth filled my lungs and pressed down on me as I fell through the ground.

Pain lanced through my side as I landed on the ground with a thud. Fuck, that hurt. I rolled over onto my back with a groan and found the moon staring back at me. I must have fallen at least twenty feet.

“Lori!” Jasper shouted, as his face appeared at the edge of the giant hole in the ground.

“I’m okay,” I replied, my voice a little shaky. My preternatural senses adjusted to the low light, my vampire side coming into full force in the dark. I rolled to my knees and pulled my self back to my feet. I appeared to be in some sort of underground chamber, and it smelt musty and old. Like no one had been down here in centuries.

Suddenly, the ground rumbled and I looked back up to the heavens. A myriad of colour filled the night sky. Globes of blue, purple, and white shot across the moon followed by a horrendous cacophony of screams.

“Jasper! What’s happening?”

“Stay there,” he shouted. “I’m coming down.”

“No. I can find a way out. Help them!” I called back to my stubborn vampire.

He growled in frustration. “Fine, but don’t do anything stupid.”

“When do I ever?”

He went to answer but there was another explosion. Debris rained down through the hole in the ground.

“Stay alive,” he said then vanished to help the others.

I wished I could promise that.

I took another look around the chamber, noticing more the longer I looked around the space. There was an audible snick in the darkness.

“Hello?”

A cool breeze teased the hairs on the back of my neck.

I was being watched.

“Are you going to stay in the shadows all night, Mordecai?” I goaded with a wide smile. “Haven’t you heard? The shadows are where I like to play.”

A dark rumble of a laugh caressed my ears. “Then let’s play a game.”

Another breeze brushed against my back, and I whipped around, expecting to see him, but there was nothing but darkness.

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