Page 36 of To Crave Darkly
“It would take more than that to offend me.”
I believed that. He probably had to put up with a lot surrounded by surly vampires like Jasper. My chest ached when I thought about Jasper. For some reason I needed him here. I sighed. Yet something else I didn’t understand.
My life used to be so organised. Granted, there wasn’t too much to it. It was the same routine pretty much day in day out, but it was my life and I had control over everything. Now, I was in borrowed clothes, surrounded by people I didn’t know. I had no idea when I last ate or where my next meal was coming from and I had no idea what the world wanted from me.
“Who is Orion?” Levi’s words dragged me from my thoughts.
“The demon who marked me. I don’t know his real name, but it annoyed me that he didn’t share it so I stupidly gave him one, and now it seems I am tied to him with this.” I pulled my shirt to the side to show him the mark. Levi leaned in closer to inspect the design.
“May I?” he asked, glancing up from my chest. I nodded, giving him my consent to do whatever he needed to do. His fingers were gentle as they brushed my shirt further aside and I stared up at the ceiling to give him better access. I listened to his little sighs of concentration and musing as he twisted his head this way and that trying to look at the mark from all angles. His fingers touched the mark and an uncomfortable sharp sting sliced through my chest. I hissed at the sudden flare of pain and Levi removed his fingers instantly.
“Sorry,” he mumbled. “Interesting.”
Was it? It didn’t feel interesting to me. It felt invasive. Orion, whoever he was, had gone and let me walk myself into this situation. I didn’t know anything about this world. He had used that to his advantage and now we were bonded. I didn’t know what that entailed exactly, but I did know it felt completely irrevocable. Orion was clearly smart. He hadn’t lied per se, but he had withheld certain things that would have avoided me making this bond and to me that was a bigger sin. It was devious and manipulative and I despised him for it. As the rage at his actions sank deeper into my mind a soft fluttering gently rippled across my skin. It was soothing and stopped my rage from growing into a full-blown temper.
“Very interesting.” I had almost forgotten Levi was there. I turned to look at him and found him studying me with keen interest. His eyes weren’t on my face though. They were focused on my breasts. I scowled and was about to make a snarky comment until I realised that I had subconsciously raised my hand to the mark and was at this very moment stroking my thumb across it.
Instantly I dropped my hand. Fucking demon. We were going to have some serious words next time we met. This was ridiculous. I needed to find a way to get rid of this mark, I didn’t want it and I certainly didn’t want a demon having such easy access to my mind and body. It was creepy as fuck. I ignored the little twinge in my chest at the thought. Clearly Orion could sense how I felt from wherever he was. Well, good. He should know how pissed off I was. I hope he was sat there stewing whilst he felt my anger. I needed to know more about who I was and Orion would just have to wait.
It was definitely time for some answers.
“Levi, what’s a Sin Reaper?”
His face fell at my question, the charming smile disappearing as fast as his brow descended. That wasn’t a good sign.
“Please, just tell me. I need to know.”
He took a deep breath. “There isn’t much on Sin Reapers. They exist very much as the Bogey Man of the supernatural world. All we really know is that they are very powerful, almost as powerful as the Devil himself. I was researching them when Jasper called me.”
“How did you know to look at those?”
A spark of excitement lit his green eyes behind his dark rimmed spectacles as he launched into his explanation. “Jasper said that when you attacked him you singled out all the dark emotions. That you targeted the memories in his mind that were full of rage, pain, and so on. Well, from what I can gather, a Sin Reaper essentially feeds on sins. They connect to their victim and drain their soul of all their sins and convert the sins they steal into pure dark energy.”
“Dark energy? What would my body do with that?”
“I suppose you would use it to bolster your powers.”
I snorted. “Powers? I don’t have any powers.”
“I beg to differ, Lori. What do you think you did to Jasper? You must know you’re not entirely human anymore. You’re at least a little bit supernatural, and most likely immortal.”
My jaw dropped. Oh god, I felt like I was going to throw up. This can’t be happening.
Levi looked at me curiously. “Tell me, how do you feel?”
A manic bubble of laughter gurgled up my throat. “Like I’m in some crazy dream and I am desperate to wake up.”
“Apart from that, do you feel more powerful?”
I frowned. I didn’t really want to examine how I felt but I sensed that Levi was only trying to help, so I turned my thoughts inwards and took stock of what my body was doing. I didn’t feel more powerful, but I did feel like there was something different. Like there was something sitting in my skin that wasn’t quite me.
“I’m not sure. I do feel like there is something there that wasn’t there before,” I mused.
Levi pursed his lips in thought. “Perhaps you expended some of it with Jasper…” He broke off and a blush crept up my neck. He meant when I decided to stick my tongue down Jasper’s throat.
He coughed nervously, clearly as embarrassed as I was. “Sorry, I’m not very good at keeping my thoughts to myself. I think better when I talk out loud.” He grinned sheepishly and I couldn’t help but chuckle. He was such a nerd.
“So, what happens to the victim?” I asked. I wanted to know what I had done to Jasper. It pained me that I had hurt him, more than I think it should have done.
