Page 60 of To Crave Truly

The demon nodded. “I agree. Too quiet. Be on your guard.”

I didn’t need the reminder, I already was. Centuries of sneaking into places and assassinating people meant I was always on my guard.

We pushed through a set of double doors, and I halted. The temperature dropped instantly, and I heard the soft, slow thud of a heartbeat.

“We’re not alone,” I whispered.

She nodded in acknowledgment of my words and moved at a slower pace.

My eyes darted along the corridor, searching for the owner of the heartbeat. Wide windows were situated along both sides of the walls. Most were dark except for one.

“What is this place?” the demon asked.

“I don’t know,” I replied, stepping closer to the window where a low light filtered through. My stomach churned with thoughts of what I was going to see on the other side. Was Mordecai conducting some kind of experiments? Was I going to find a monster or twisted creature on the other side of the window?

I hesitantly peered through the window and let my eyes adjust to the light.

A large wooden chair was placed in the middle of the room surrounded by magic runes painted onto the floor. They glowed, bathing the room in a low white light, illuminating a prone figure sat in the chair. The owner of the soft heartbeat.

“The magic is powerful here,” Lori said, and I knew it was her. Her voice was softer, more musical. “I can hear it.”

“Hear it?”

“Yes,” she replied sadly, her eyes meeting mine. “It’s screaming.”

The woman in the chair gasped and lifted her head. Her skin glowed, as if the magic was pumping through her bloodstream.

“Holy fuck.” I took a step closer, recognising the woman’s face. I wondered what had happened to her. And now I fucking knew. “Selene.”

“So that’s how he’s doing it,” Lori spat, the words like venom.

“Doing what?”

“Storing the magic he’s syphoned from the witches. I thought he’d have stored it in some kind of artifact. I never thought he’d do this.”

“Help… me…” Selene said, her voice barely above a whisper. Her eyes begged and pleaded as I stared at her through the glass.

Lori took a step towards the door and then an animalistic roar echoed down the corridor.

“Mordecai,” I said as I turned to look the way we came. Whatever the Sin Reaper had done had worn off and he was pissed.

Lori placed her hand on the glass. “I’m sorry.” Her eyes shifted towards me and changed to the dark fiery orbs of the demon. “Let’s go.”

We ran down the corridor, the sound of feet thudding behind us.

“They’re close,” I said, searching for some kind of staircase, some kind of way out. We burst into another corridor and for the first time, I could feel an incline in the floor. We were finally getting higher.

We rounded a corner and walked straight into a small group of guards. Well, shit. I wasn’t in any kind of shape to fight this many people and I had no idea what Lori or the Sin Reaper might do.

“Fuck,” she hissed under her breath.

We all just stared at each other for a brief moment, the tension rising with each passing second.

One of the guards took a step forwards. “Grab them.”

Then all Hell broke loose.

They charged at us, and I managed to dodge the first one, but my movements were sluggish and slow. The Sin Reaper disappeared into the frenzy, her hands glowing as she brought the men to their knees. It was quite magnificent to watch really, to be able to cause such devastation with such grace.

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