Page 28 of To Crave Truly

“Hi, Baker. It’s been a while.”

I’d been thrown into one of the holding cells in the basement. I had immediately looked for Cassian. This was his domain, but he was nowhere to be seen. Iver was across the way and he looked pretty pissed. The troops had been a bit unkind to him, pushing and prodding him until he was safely captured in the reinforced glass box. They were special holding cells that were designed to hold magical beings. I could feel it suppressing my demon and my powers. They were there but they were muted.

“I don’t like this,” Iver growled from across the room.

I couldn’t imagine he did. Going from one prison cell into another probably made him feel like shit.

“We won’t be here long. They’ll ask us some questions and then they’ll let us free.”

Iver stopped his pacing and hit me with a flat look. “You really believe that?”

The demon has a point.

“Shush you. You’ll only be unhelpful, and I’ll end up doing something stupid.”

My demon pouted. Spoil sport.

“You just like chaos and getting us into trouble.”

She shrugged. Makes life fun.

“Are you talking to your demon?” Iver asked, his head cocked to one side.

“Maybe.”

“Fascinating.”

I stepped closer to him and rested my hands on the glass. “Is it?”

“Yes. Your demon should be a part of you. I’ve never seen anything like it. Can you access the Sin Reaper’s powers?”

“Normally, yes, but in here it feels like she’s in a cage.”

“Hmm, I can’t even feel mine. You must be powerful,” he said, more to himself than to me.

I was about to ask what he meant but there was a cacophony of sound thundering down the stairs.

“Lori!”

“Fenris?!”

“Lori! Godammit Alec, I don’t need help!”

He sounded exasperated and when he came into view, I understood why Alec would be trying to help. His face was covered in a sheen of sweat, his brown curls stuck to his forehead and his arm clutched about his waist where a thick bandage was wrapped around him.

“What the Hell happened to you?” I asked as he practically face planted the glass.

“It’s just a scratch. Don’t worry about it,” he replied breathlessly.

Alec appeared behind him with a chair in his hand. “Sit down before you fall down, you idiot. You’ll rip out your stitches and Levi will be pissed.”

“Alec?”

Bright eyes the colour of honey met mine and I gasped. They were warm and inviting. So different from the last time I’d seen him.

“Hey cupcake.”

Iver snorted. “How many men?”

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