Page 59 of Eternal Sacrifice
“I said he could have a room in the palace if he helped me win,” Jasper said with a grin as the dragon narrowed its gaze on me.
I turned to shadow, narrowly avoiding the first puff of fire shot from the dragon. Cole stayed hot on my heels, moving faster than demons. Faster than I could with my vampire abilities.
Cole leaped ahead of me, blocking the hallway with his size.
A hallway from Hell appeared, and I turned to shadow to make the turn. My shoes hit the floor once more, and I looked up to see the ornate handle of our new bedroom. I reached out, turned the handle, and victoriously burst inside.
The bed was empty and made, but I heard muttering, chanting voices coming from the war room.
“Patterns. Patterns,” Mor mumbled under her breath, flipping through the pages of the spell book. The workings of a spell were smoldering on Lucifer’s desk. Her bit and bleeding nails pointed at passages before flipping to another.
“Hey, Love. What are you doing?” I spoke cautiously, but terror was building inside me like I was perpetually falling and waiting for the impact. A sickening feeling built inside me, like hooks grabbing at my soul.
Her head whipped up, her eyes entirely black as she seemed to search for me.
“Get—” I pushed the book across the table. “—away from that.” I sunk to my knees in front of her. My palms cupped her cheeks as I stared into her sightless black eyes. I tilted my forehead against hers, surrounding myself with her essence. “Come back to us, Love.”
Her head jerked, and I released her, only to grab her shoulders as her body pitched.
“Fuck. Jax. Justice. Jasper. ANYBODY!” I yelled over my shoulder.
The pain in my soul continued to build, becoming a physical ache that made my hand press against my heart while I held Mor to me. Her white blonde hair shook from side to side, and I pinned her back to keep her from falling over. The golden mark Lucifer left shined brightly against Mor’s chest, as if it was powering up.
“FUCKING HURRY,” I screamed through the pain.
The glow stopped, and Mor’s body went still in my hold. Her head slumped forward, and Justice slid into the doorframe.
The pain in my chest snapped free like a band stretched to its limit, and I was left cold and hollow.
“Shit.” Justice hurried to correct himself, making it into the war room with Jasper on his heels.
“What happened?” Jasper rushed forward to wrap his arm behind her back, tilting her head up.
“It was that damn book.” My movements felt robotic as I pointed to where it sat on the floor. Its pages were open as if it wanted to watch.
“I told her to stay away from it,” Jasper grumbled, but his face was full of fear.
“Where’s Jax?” Justice said, looking back to the bedroom that still sat empty.
“She’s waking up,” Jasper said.
“JAX!” she cried, her eyes springing open.
She erupted into shadow, breaking free from Jasper’s hold. I raced after her, through the bedroom and out the doorway. My heart beat steadily in my chest, but it felt like it had been torn in two.
Mor collapsed into her body, crumpling to the floor in the hallway. My pace slowed, each step echoing in my chest like dread, and I saw she wasn’t alone on the floor.
“NO!” Mor’s heart-breaking scream went through the bonds between us as well as through the air.
I stopped walking entirely.
Jasper and Justice shoved past me.
Mor started grabbing at the air as if trying to catch pixies.
Cole appeared, racing toward Mor, the size of a dog. He stopped before her, sitting on his hind legs while she reached forward and touched his head. Jasper arrived at her side, stopping as if he had turned to stone. Justice crumpled to the floor, unconscious, but I could hear his heart still beating.
The problem was only five hearts pounded in this hall.
