Page 39 of To Crave Truly

I was. I actually was. Tears pooled in my eyes and my face went hot. I brushed the stupid tears away but they just kept coming. Fuck, this was going to be some ugly crying and fucking Iver was here to witness it.

“Lori. Why is your face leaking?” He knelt down in front of me, a mixture of curiosity and panic on his face which actually made him look kind of constipated.

“Go away,” I said as I buried my face in my hands.

“Are you crying? Wait,” he gasped. “Is this self-pity?”

I kicked him in the shin which just made him laugh. Asshole.

Cool hands wrapped around my wrists. “Lori, our fates are not written in stone. What the witch said may come true, but it may not. Only you can write your own future.”

I peeked through my fingers and found him looking at me with a calm gaze, tinged with concern. Being this close, I could see faint lines around his eyes, the ones you get from smiling. He’d been happy once.

A long time ago, my demon said softly.

Urgh. Now I just wanted to help the guy. I turned my eyes skyward. What was it about a tortured soul that made you want to help them so bad?

“Come on,” I said with resignation. “Let’s take advantage of the witch being asleep and everyone else being occupied. Let’s go find this thing for Mordecai.”

Iver’s expression soured. “You raise a good point.”

Yes, and I was about to betray all my friends and those I loved in order to save them.

Chapter Seventeen

Alec

Brackley Hollow was a quaint little place in the middle of nowhere. A picturesque village that you’d find on a postcard or jigsaw puzzle. The houses were all built in a bright red brick and the doors were all jolly shades. A longing unfurled in my chest as I stared at the picturesque street of homes. Would I ever live in a place like this? Would I ever have this kind of life? One where I could walk to the park with my kids, watch them play as I sat with the love of my life. A vision of a little girl with long chestnut curls and eyes the colour of honey giggling as she runs past me flew before my eyes and I suddenly couldn’t breathe.

My heart lurched with a want so strong it nearly knocked me off my feet. I’d never been one to imagine a life with someone else, let alone children but there I was, almost struck down with the image of it.

“Alec, you okay over there?” Rae shouted from further down the street.

I rubbed the spot over my heart, almost like there was a phantom pain there. “Yeah. I’m coming. What’ve we got?”

“It’s been cleaned up,” she said as I jogged up to meet her.

That was odd. “By whom?”

“Don’t know,” she replied with a shrug. “I used a spell to portal as close to the Coven as I could. When I left it was a mess. There were holes in the walls, the door was off its hinges. It looked like there had been an explosion.”

“Someone’s covering their tracks,” Cassian added while looking up at the quaint little house.

“No, it’s more than that,” Fenris mused, moving closer, his hand waving through the air looking for something. “There’s something here.”

Wind swirled around me as Fenris drew his magic to him. “What do you see?”

“Someone wants us to see something that isn’t really there.”

“Why?” Cassian asked.

“Whoever it is, they’re an advanced elemental mage,” Fenris said, his fingers dancing through the air as light bent around his figure.

I stepped closer, trying to see what Fenris could see, but it was no use. All I could see was the mirage. “As good as you?”

He laughed, a sound I hadn’t heard in a long time. “No one is as good as me.” He threw his hands in the air and lightning cracked around us. I’d seen Fenris’ magic a number of times, but this was something else. I could feel it vibrating to my very core, a hum that was a powerful as the world I stood upon.

“Holy shit, Fenris,” Rae said, as she stumbled a step back when his power increased. “Where’ve you been hiding all that?”

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