Page 11 of To Crave Darkly
I closed my eyes and focused on Lori. I listened to her breathe and reached out to her. She pulled me into her thoughts without much effort at all. I caught flashes of her journey here, the fear she felt and the uncertainty over what would happen to her. Then an image of my lips against hers flashed in her mind so unexpectedly and with such vividness and clarity that it disorientated me. Her arousal was so intense it forced me out of the connection to her mind.
I stumbled backwards, breathing heavily and trying to understand what I’d just seen. I’d never had such a strong connection to anyone before, never been able to see images with such definition or accompanied by such strong emotions. Was it because she was not entirely human that everything about her was so intense? Or was it just her reaction to me? I couldn't figure it out, couldn't make sense of any of it, I didn't even really know what ‘it’ was.
Fuck. This was starting to spiral out of control.
I just needed to keep a distance, keep everything professional and avoid touching her at all costs. Yes, that was what I needed to do, just steer clear of all forms of interaction and I'm sure we'd both survive. I needed to get her back to the Conclave in one piece and we would arrive tomorrow by sundown. The Conclave was a safe haven for vampires and other creatures but it wasn’t easy to get to unless you knew where it was. It was called a conclave, but it was really set out like a small village. There were numerous buildings there, including Blackstone Castle where the Circle lived and the base that the Elite operated out of. It was a self-sufficient world hidden from prying eyes by dark magic and, for better or worse, it was my home. It was also the only place that Lori would be safe. My orders were to get her back to the Conclave alive and hand her over to the Circle. Before I started the mission, it seemed easy enough, but Lori seemed to have an uncanny way of complicating things drastically.
What was she? I hadn’t been told much about her other than the fact that she was supposedly part of the trio from the prophecy and that she wasn’t entirely human. Judging by her constant questioning, she had no idea who she really was or the destiny that had been forged for her.It wasn’t my place to tell her; I was going to leave that up to De Santis. I had a sneaking suspicion that there was more to his involvement in this than met the eye. I wondered if he was her father. It was rare for vampires to sire children with other species but it wasn’t unheard of.
I snarled at the thought. De Santis was the least fatherly person I knew. He was cold, reserved and ruthless; great qualities for a vampire, not so much for a parent.
I looked at the closed door in front of me again and suddenly felt sorry for the girl. She had been thrust into a world she had no understanding of, and I knew that it was only going to get worse for her.
I needed to get away from her. I was starting to care, and it wasn’t my place to care.
With one last look at the door, I returned downstairs and threw myself headlong into ensuring the next stage of the journey would go as planned. I pulled out the map and memorized various routes to the Conclave. I wanted to be prepared in case we had to avoid something or someone. Whilst there wasn’t much ground left to cover, I did worry that we were going to meet with trouble on the way. She had already been attacked once and I had every suspicion that much worse would be coming our way.
I picked up my phone and decided to check in with my team. I wanted to see if they had any intelligence on the groups trying to get Lori. Any new information might push me to a particular route, and I needed an update on which safe houses were stocked in case I needed to stop and feed. I had never before lost my grip on my hunger like I had with Lori in the bathroom earlier. It concerned me that something about her reduced me to my basic primal functions. Even thinking about her now sent bloodlust firing through my system and the beast in me growled with desire as I thought about the delicious scent of her blood I smelt earlier.
She’s just upstairs. You could just go and feed from her.
Without even thinking about it, my hearing zoned in on her heartbeat. The dull thud called to me. I listened to the melody of her heart, slow and soft beats pumping all that blood around her body. How I longed to taste her, to feel her writhing beneath me as I sank my fangs into the soft flesh of her neck, to hear her moans as she…
“Jasper, everything ok?” Alec’s voice coming through the phone snapped me out of my trance, and I stared at the door to Lori’s room. I had walked to the top of the stairs and not even noticed I’d moved. This was bad.
Really fucking bad.
“Not like you to ring in when you're on a job.” Alec sounded concerned. I never usually made contact with the team unless something disastrous occurred. I quickly made my way back downstairs and tried to remember why I had called in the first place.
“Normally I wouldn't ring in, but I wanted to see if there was any further intelligence on the people trying to capture Miss Monroe. Have you heard anything?” I asked whilst firmly shutting the door behind me and barricading myself in the room. I wasn’t about to lose myself to bloodlust again.
“No, nothing new to pass on, I’m afraid. Cassian is still trying to get information out of the Circle’s staff, but we haven’t uncovered anything yet. We’ve been tracking the financials of the three thugs who attacked Miss Monroe but not been able to find the source of the money yet. Whoever this guy is, he’s good.”
Cassian was the best at getting information out of anyone. It made my stomach churn at some of the methods he used, but if he was failing to find anything out, whoever wanted Lori was hiding really fucking well.
“Dammit,” I snapped.
“Are you sure you’re alright?” Alec asked. “You sound a bit grumpy there, Farrow.”
“I’m fine,” I ground out, “but I think I might have to make an unscheduled stop.”
“Why? What's happened?” he asked, clearly anxious. I paused, not quite sure how to tell him what was going on with me without sounding like a complete idiot.
“Jasper,” Alec prompted. I rubbed my hand over my face. I had best get it over with.
“I might need to stop and feed,” I felt embarrassed. I never usually had to stop, and Alec knew this. He would know instantly that something was wrong.
“What do you mean? Are you injured?”
“No, nothing like that. It's Lori, I mean, Miss Monroe. There's something about her that is making things...” I faltered, trying to think of the right way to say how much trouble I was in, “difficult for me.”
Alec chuckled on the other end of the line which made me scowl.
“It's no laughing matter, Alec.”
“I don't mean to laugh, but I don't think I have ever heard of you actually liking someone. Hell, I don't think you even really like me.” I could hear the mirth laced through Alec's voice. I don't know how he found all this amusing. I certainly didn't.
I snarled at him down the phone. “I don't like her; she is annoying and stubborn and wants to run away all the time.”
