Page 108 of Beauty's Monstrous Demons

I’m running on pure instinct, struggling to get through to Lorelei.

Waiting on the blanket, I call her name again.

“Lorelei, you’re late for our date,” I tell her.

Her body materializes in front of me, almost as if she’s a character in a black and white television show. At first she’s fuzzy and then slowly fills into color. We’re still in her mind, Ihave hope that we’ll be able to get her to wake up by reminding her of what she’s missing.

“A date,” she whispers, looking around her. “It’s not cold here.”

The darkness where she’s been trapped is apparently windy, because her hair is wilder than usual.

“Can you feel the warmth of the sun on your skin?” I ask, my voice deeper than usual because it’s full of emotion.

It’s taken a week to be able to make this happen. While the guys have been able to wake periodically from their deep sleep-like positions as they struggle to be able to get in touch with her, I haven’t.

I’ve continued to attempt to get in touch with her. I don’t have to do the normal things that creatures need to do. I don’t have to eat, sleep, or piss. My entire life revolves around Lorelei.

“Why can I feel that?” she asks curiously. “It’s been so long since I’ve felt any warmth.”

“You’re in charge of your environment,” I say, hoping it’s true. “If you want to be warm, you merely need to think of it.”

“That’s not true,” she sighs. “Everything will be dark when you leave. It’s cold there, and all I do is cry. I miss you. I’m so sorry it's ending like this.”

“Don’t be sorry,” I rasp, swallowing hard. Fuck, this is so hard. “It’s not our end, baby. I need you to fight.”

“I can’t,” she whispers. “Let me enjoy you while I can. At least my imagination is being kind for now.”

“What’s one thing that you want more than anything?” I ask her.

I don’t know why I ask that, I just need her to keep talking to me.

“One more minute with you all,” she says, dropping her head back to feel the sun. “It would be nice to have Alecto’s bite, maybe have a birthday cake for once.”

She doesn’t know that he gave it to her after she fell into her deep sleep. I believe it’s the only reason why I’m speaking to her now. It’s the tether we needed to keep her with us.

“I promise we’ll have that cake,” I say, hating every minute of this. Phenex made her one, and we planned to sing happy birthday to her once Alecto joined us.

So many stolen moments, I’m willing to sacrifice everything to steal them back.

“You don’t have to lie to me,” she says, smiling sadly. “I have to go…”

“Lorelei, don’t?—”

The space where she was sitting is now empty, and the darkness is slowly eating away the scene I created.

“I’ll keep trying,” I promise, forcing myself to wake up. It’s the only way I can communicate with the guys, and there’s much to discuss.

Sitting up in Lorelei’s nest, I rub my head. It’s throbbing, even though my energy stores are constantly refilling from her fear. She lays perfectly still, wearing new clothes and having been freshly bathed. The guys are taking care of her, I see.

Standing, I stumble out to the living room where Alecto is on the phone with someone. Phenex hands me a water bottle with a glare, and I drink despite not really needing it.

He wants to remind me of reality, while all I want is to live inside Lorelei’s mind. Bast rubs his face, which has a thick shadow of facial hair, and I sit on the ground to begin stretching.

If I’m going to be spending more time with Lorelei, I need to make sure my muscles don’t lock up.

“Thank you, Dr. Heidi,” Alecto says. “Yes, I appreciate that you understand this needs to be addressed with secrecy.”

As he hangs up, I raise my brow, wondering what I’ve missed.

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