Page 28 of To Crave Darkly
“We don’t have time to waste. Just move, damn you.”
His tone was now all fire and rage, and I was on the verge of peeing my pants. He was downright scary this close but I was brought up to not back down and his easy way of ordering me around had my temper flaring and my control slipping.
I took a step toward him. “Stop yelling at me!”
He stepped back as if I’d hit him. I was aware of a growing audience around us. It seemed like I was giving the town’s inhabitants a good show today, I should probably charge them a fee.
I’d had enough of being pushed around, of being kept in the dark without any answers. I didn’t know why this mattered so fucking much but I’d be damned if I was going to let him push me around any more.
His eyes flickered between the bright blue and the bottomless black of the beast as he took a slow, deliberate step towards me. “Move. Your. Ass. Now.” The words were clipped with menace.
I grit my teeth and stared him down. “Enunciating. Your. Words. Won’t. Make. Me. Move.”
“What the fuck is going on?” A voice I didn’t recognise boomed around the square, commanding attention. “Farrow, you need to stop.”
Jasper’s face swam closer, his body forcing me to take a step backwards, but fuck if I was gonna let him intimidate me.
“That’s it, Lori. Show him what you’re made of. Do not back down.”
My pulse skipped. Orion was back again. I was going to have to figure out how to block him getting into my mind. It was really distracting, especially if he was going to keep popping in unannounced.
“Focus, woman.”
I locked gazes with Jasper. Pure unadulterated terror poured through my veins as I stood my ground. I knew he could probably kill me a thousand different ways right now, and boy did he look like he wanted to. His hand shot out and grabbed my throat.
“Dammit, Jasper. Let her go.” That commanding voice was like ice, but Jasper didn’t even flinch. In the back of my mind I felt a worry that something bigger was at play here than just me merely disobeying Jasper. Something was happening here that I didn’t understand.
“It’s you Lori. You inspire chaos. You drag the beasts out of their cage and set them free.”
If I wasn’t waiting for Jasper to squeeze the life out of me, I’d have rolled my eyes at that. Orion sounded ridiculous. How could I possibly inspire someone to go crazy?
Jasper’s calloused hand was rough against the delicate flesh of my throat. His feral face drifted closer and his eyes, now black and haunting, were savage as they studied me. His thick dark lashes cast shadows across his cheekbones and his breath rasped across my face.
“What are you?” he whispered coaxingly, that voice soft and smooth, threatening to pull secrets from the dark recesses of my soul. “There’s something about you…” His words trailed off and his eyes lost some of their threatening intensity. Orion’s words flashed through my mind. I was doing this to him. Whatever I was, whatever Orion saw in me, was somehow making Jasper lose control. Understanding blossomed in my mind with blinding clarity. But I was still pissed off and he still had me by the throat.
I took a few slow shallow breaths, wrapping my hands softly around Jasper’s wrist. “Jasper. Let me go.”
He looked up. Right into my eyes. “Or what?” He said it like I had, but with a snide curl to his lips. I could see his fangs and I knew how sharp they were. I did not want them ripping my throat out right now.
The alarmingly familiar feeling of power trickled along my arms. Like the static energy you feel in the air before a storm. A red haze clouded my vision and anger started to surge through me. I felt a moment’s hesitation and fear, but it was swallowed by this new hunger burning deep inside me. It wanted out. I could feel its need to be free.
“Let go, Lori.”
And I did.
Power exploded from my fingertips. It burst from me like the sea escaping a damn. I couldn’t hold it back even if I had wanted to. Bright light flowed from me and my mind sought Jasper’s. I had no idea what I was doing; I was acting on pure instinct but somehow I pushed the power into Jasper and forced his mind to connect with mine. I could taste his sudden fear. It was sweet and I gorged myself on it. I took my fill and then waded through his mind looking for other emotions. It was like walking along a spider’s web, memories and emotions intertwining in a beautiful intricate pattern. I followed one of the threads deeper into his mind.
Pain. There was so much pain. So much hurt and anger. It was a feast for whatever this power in me was doing. I was so hungry, and I consumed everything I could. Too much. This was all too much.
I was losing control. Panic flared in my chest. I stared at Jasper, the pain in his eyes brought me back to reality. I was hurting him. Oh, god. I was deliberately hurting someone.
“Jasper,” I cried, “help me.” I couldn’t stop. I was going to kill him.
“Close your eyes and breathe, Lori. Feel the power as part of you. Just walk your mind backwards.”
Orion’s voice echoed softly around the carnage in my mind. How could I trust him? This was his fault. I could feel the people around me closing in. I knew they were going to shoot me; I could hear their thoughts booming round my mind. Why was everything so loud?
“Focus, Lori.”
