Page 107 of Beauty's Monstrous Demons

“I don’t know what she could have been injected with, but this is going to throw Alecto because of how he lost his wife,” I explain. “We have to keep him focused, see if we can follow her wherever she is.”

“Can we do that?” Bast asks, forcing himself into a jog as I begin to run. It’s like the earth is shaking because of his hooves, but fuck it.

It’s not far, and if the world thinks an earthquake hit the university, then so be it. We’re in the middle of a crisis.

By the time I slam into my apartment, I can hear Alecto and Samael speaking in the bedroom. Closing and locking the front door behind Bast, I’m rushing across the living room to the bedroom.

“We’re too late,” Alecto mutters, gazing down at Lorelei. Her wrist is in his hands, his fangs extended, yet there’s no evidence that he’s bitten her.

“I’ll be the one to say when we’re too late,” I growl. “She’s in there, fucking screaming through our bonds. Lorelei is locked away in her mind, asleep, and terrified. Bite her, bond her, and help us find her so we can bring her back.”

“Madam Sera said Lorelei is the answer to bringing back omegas into existence because of her DNA,” Samael says. “Someone truly believes that she’s a threat.”

“Fuck,” Alecto says, leaning forward to brush aside one of Lorelei’s curls. She looks serene and calm on the bedsheets, completely relaxed. “You promise she’s really in there?”

“Yeah,” Bast rasps. “There’s hope, I fucking swear it. She can’t hear us, I’ve tried reaching her through the bond.”

“She just keeps screaming,” I add. “I think she needs us all.”

Nodding, Alecto kisses Lorelei’s inner arm, near her elbow.

“Come back to us, angel,” he murmurs, biting down enough to break the skin. It takes a moment before he lifts his head from her arm, swallowing hard. “I hear you, baby. Fuck it, we’ll come to you.”

Everything goes black at his words, and I feel as if I’m falling. Here we go.

CHAPTER 24

LORELEI

Everything around me is black. My ass hurts after I slammed into the ground, yet as I crawl forward, my hair whips around me, as if I’m in a cyclone.

“Please,” I whisper, wincing as the word is thrown back at me louder and louder until it’s a blaring scream.

The lack of light, too much sound, and disorientation surrounding me is overwhelming. Tears flow down my face as I sob, angry with myself. I wish I could have had more time, or been a step ahead of my future.

Except, that’s the awful part of life: you never know what’s coming for you until it’s too late.

My screams taunt me despite my efforts to keep my lips closed. The sound is still amplified around me until I collapse on the ground. Everything is so fucking cold, too. Where is summer?

Why isn’t it warm?

“Lorelei,” a voice crawls over my mind, making me shudder.

“Who is that?” I ask, flopping onto my back as I stifle the urge to ask more questions. The words just screamed back to me, no matter what.

The sensory deprivation is going to make me mad. I don’t know how much time has passed, just that I’m alone and I hate it. My mates have spoiled me in the time I’ve had them.

“Think about us,” the voice growls.

“Who are you!” I scream, feeling my sanity slipping away. I feel desolate and exhausted, the wind whipping around me hurting my skin.

“Your mates,” the voice says.

My mates are gone.

SAMAEL

Lorelei is too distraught to be able to bring up a happier memory, so I create one. The trees, the flowers, a beautiful water’s edge as we sit together on a sunny day on a pretty blanket. I pull all of these details together so her mind won’t reject it.

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