Page 31 of To Crave Truly

“I need to go.” He pushed himself to his feet, wincing and clutching his side.

“Fenris… wait.” I reached for him, but he pulled away.

“Just let me go, Lori.” He bit the words out over his shoulder and my heart clenched. I needed to let him go, and not just in this moment. The hold we had over each other needed to be released if we were ever going to move past whatever this darkness was that festered between us. It was eating us up inside and soon there would be nothing left of even the friendship that we began with. That was the last thing I wanted to happen. How could I not have seen that he’d changed? Had he kept it hidden from everyone?

Once he’d left, I turned to Alec. “Did you know?” He shook his head. At least I wasn’t the only one that Fenris was keeping secrets from. “We need to help him.”

“Agreed. But we have bigger problems,” Alec replied on a sigh.

“We do?”

“Yes. I’ve still got witches disappearing, a demon locked in the cages awaiting interrogation and you two.” For the first time, I noticed how tired Alec looked. There were dark rings under his eyes and his back was stiff and rigid. “Add in the whole scintillam vitae thing and that’s a whole other mess I don’t want to have to deal with, but, knowing you, will become the biggest pain in my arse. Please tell me Jasper came back with you.”

“No. Mordecai is keeping him as a means to ensure I comply,” I said, the words bitter on my tongue.

“Fuck.” Alec pinched the bridge of his nose. “And what about Iver? Can we trust him?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Who knows. But what choice do we have. He says he made a deal with Lucifer, and I believe he will hold up his end. If he doesn’t, we can just get rid of him.”

“I am literally stood right here, you know?” Iver snapped.

“Fine,” Alec sighed. “But he’s your responsibility. Keep him in your sights and don’t let him get into any trouble.”

“Can I leave the cell now?” I asked. I was sick of being kept in here like a prisoner. It made my skin crawl, and I hated that part of me thought I should really be staying in the glass box. At least if I was stuck in there, I wouldn’t be able to carry out Mordecai’s plan.

Alec walked over to the cabinet that was hung on the wall near the stairs and grabbed a couple of things from it. “Put these on and don’t take them off.” He eyeballed Iver intently. “I’ll know if you do.”

I looked at the comms watch he slapped in my hand. Oh, yay. Back on the GPS tracker. Lucky me.

“It’s just a precaution, but until we can figure what is going on here, I want to know where you both are.” Alec stepped closer and grabbed my wrist gently. “I also don’t want to lose you again.”

I swallowed, my mouth suddenly dry. His voice had dropped to a whisper and those honey-coloured eyes burned into mine with a fire that heated my cheeks. “Okay.”

“Good. Now, I need to go and check on a few things, and give de Santis an update on the situation. Cassian and Saskia are in the lounge if you want some company. Do you need me to ask de Santis to add you to the blood bank register?”

I went to answer and froze. How could I tell Alec I could only feed from Mordecai? Knowing my luck, that was probably tied up in Selene’s spell too.

“Yes, but she won’t be using it much,” Iver called out, saving me the trouble of having to come up with a lie myself. When Alec threw him a curious look, he carried on, “She was sired by the original vampire. You don’t need much blood when you’re made by someone that powerful.”

Alec nodded in agreement as if he understood all that. “Okay, I also think that while you are here, you should start working on your magic. The Shadow Mage is still here, and perhaps it would be worth learning a thing or two from your demon buddy over there.”

“We are not friends,” Iver said. “But I’ll help.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “You’re only saying that because you want to know more about my demon.”

“Yep,” he replied, popping the ‘p’. “I find you most intriguing and, from what I can remember, your Sin Reaper is a lot of fun.”

Mmm, yes. I remember the wild nights we used to—

“Whoah, honey, I do not need to know that.”

My demon chuckled. I was only going to talk about our hunting sessions.

“Course you were.” Ew. I did not need to know anything those demons got up to in their spare time. Although, I was curious about how my demon and Iver’s demon got along. “Can we trust him?”

Yes.

I was surprised at how easily she replied. I was expecting a little bit of doubt considering they hadn’t seen each other in centuries. But I’d give him the benefit of the doubt until he did something stupid or dangerous. I’d just have to see how long that would last.

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