Page 92 of To Crave Truly

He glanced back at the machine, then up to the sky where the moon was completely red. “It’s almost time. Your death will be a glorious thing. It will wipe out Lucifer, destroying everything he’s built, and the throne will be mine for the taking.”

I needed to destroy the machine, but how? I had to stop this, but I couldn’t move. Tears of impotence burned at the edges of my eyes.

“You’ll never be king. Never be worthy of the throne.”

“Worthy?” he shouted. “You think Lucifer is fucking worthy?”

Mordecai’s eyes flashed before he wrapped his hand around the dagger and pulled it back out the tree and out of my body. I screamed at the white-hot pain and sank to my knees, unable to bear my own weight.

“It’s not about being worthy. Lori, have you not been listening? This is about winning.” Then he wrapped his hand in my hair and dragged me the short distance across to his machine. I tried to kick and break his hold, I really did try, but I couldn’t seem to get my limbs on board. He threw me into the middle of the circle, and I landed in a heap on my side. He stepped over to me and, using the toe of his boot, rolled me onto my back.

I tilted my head back and looked deep into his eyes. “Do you know what I think? I think you’re pathetic. Weak. You have all these mages doing your dirty work and for what? So you can keep your hands clean. You’re too much of a pussy to get them dirty.”

His eyes flashed a bright red and he twirled the dagger between his fingers, his intent clear. It was a beautiful dagger, all ruby gems, diamonds and sharp lines.

“Go on!” I screamed at him. “Do it!”

Mordecai raised the dagger, and I squeezed my eyes shut. No time to say goodbye. No time to worry about how much pain there’d be, I just thought about all those I’d be leaving behind.

But the pain never came.

There was a grunt from somewhere above me, followed by an unmistakable coppery smell.

My eyes flew open. “Fenris… no!”

Blood poured from his abdomen as Mordecai screamed in the background.

Mordecai lunged again, but Fenris didn’t move, blocking the attack on me with his body. The blade plunged into his back. There was blood everywhere. Pouring over my hands as I tried to stop Fenris bleeding to death above me. And my sobs were so loud. No, please no. Why wasn’t he moving?

Lightning sparked around us as Fenris tried to retaliate but he couldn’t keep Mordecai away. He was too determined, too angry, too focussed on his revenge to be stopped.

Another swing of the knife. Another stab wound in his back.

“Do something!” I screamed up at him.

“I am,” he replied softly, his brown eyes soft and full of love. “I’m saving you.”

I could feel his magic humming along my skin, building in the air around us. Panic rose in my chest. No. Not that. Anything but that. “What are you doing?”

“Hush. It’s okay,” he said softly.

“No, no, no.”

“Close your eyes.”

It took me a second to realise what was happening, but I squeezed them shut just before Fenris exploded into a massive ball of pure elemental energy.

A last defence.

A last resort.

I sensed the light dim and opened my eyes. Mordecai was nowhere to be seen, demons had been flung in different directions, and the lapis lunae sat in pieces on the floor next to me.

Fenris fell to the side, his chest heaving. Oh, God. There was so much blood. It was everywhere. His clothes were soaked in it. It pooled beneath him as he lay there, coughing up yet more blood. I scrambled to my knees, my limbs still refusing to cooperate, but I managed to pull his head into my lap and cradle his face in my hands.

“What did you do?” I asked on a sob.

His hand wrapped around my wrist. “What had to be done.”

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