Page 29 of To Crave Madly
“Lori, what’s wrong?”His deep smoky voice filled my mind and relief coursed through me.
“I took too much… too much.” Fuck, why was it so hard to think? I felt the ground beneath my knees. Was this it? Was I finally dying? At least it wasn’t by donut.
“I’m coming. Just hang on, Lori. I’ll be right—”
I didn’t hear the end of his words. I didn’t even feel the ground as my body crumpled like a stone.
Chapter 7
LUCIFER
I materialised on the mortal plane just in time to catch Lori before she fell to the ground. The moment she reached out to me, I knew something was wrong. Fear gripped me as I felt the unstable energy surge ferociously through our bond. There was so much power coursing through her that it was easy for me to access the energy. I managed to appear on the mortal plane with such little effort that it was mightily disconcerting. This was bad. She’d clearly taken too much and didn’t know how to dispel it. Foolish girl. Curiosity really was going to be the death of us.
I heard a commotion break out behind me as I lifted Lori up into my arms and rage ran riotously through my core. These people were supposed to help her, train her so that she wouldn’t fall into scrapes like this. The fire of my rage made my blood burn in my veins, and my lips curled into a snarl as I faced the worthless excuse for a team of assassins. Silence descended as their eyes took in my barely constrained temper. I knew it would only take one wrong look, one misplaced word, and I would snap. My wrath would be bountiful, and I would bestow it on them more than willingly. I scanned the now silent faces looking for my Shadow Fiend but found him missing.
“Where is Torsten?” I demanded. I had sent him to this miserable plane to protect Lori and he was nowhere to be fucking seen.
“Where he belongs.” My eyes narrowed on the dragon who was eyeballing me with murderous intent.
“And where would that be?”
He growled at me in response and I was overcome with the sudden need to peel his flesh from his bones. Who did he think he was talking to? If I wasn’t holding Lori in my arms, I’d rip him a fucking new one and richly enjoy doing so.
“If you do not tell me this instant what you have done with Torsten, I will make you relive that nightmare you find yourself in every minute of every day. It will feel so real that you won’t be able to stop the suffering you so richly deserve from tearing your sanity from your mind.” I knew he was a tortured soul. I could see it in the emotionless mask he hid behind. There was something there I could exploit and manipulate to my heart’s fucking content. His resolve flickered in those cold blue eyes, and I knew he understood my threat. Good. Because I was a man of my word, and torture was my bitch. I fucking invented it.
“Look, we don’t have time for this.” The vampire commanded over the fray we found ourselves in. “Cassian, go and get Torsten from wherever you’ve placed him. Lucifer, come with me.”
I glowered at the vampire and the way he used my name freely, but I suppose now wasn’t the best time to split hairs over my title. I could behave like a King, even if they didn’t call me Majesty.
“Lead the way, vampire.” My wings snapped open behind me and the wind ruffled through my black feathers as I waited for the vampire to finish instructing his mediocre team. They split off in various directions to carry out whatever task their leader had set them. I didn’t miss the intense way the redhead stared at me. I was almost impressed by the way she maintained eye contact. Most people would see a reflection of their own mistakes, fears or pain but not her. She looked me dead in the eye and held my gaze. I chuckled. That witch had balls. I’d have to keep an eye on that one.
The vampire returned to stand beside me. “Think you can keep up with me?”
I laughed. The gall of him. I was almost tempted to like this vampire. If only his team wasn’t so fucking incompetent. I held back the growl that threatened to break past my lips and launched myself into the air with my precious cargo.
I followed the vampire as he sped through the streets, leading me to who knows where. I just wanted Lori back. It unsettled me that I couldn’t feel her mind through the bond. Usually I could feel what she was feeling; even when she was asleep there was still a sense of her to be felt through the mark that connected us but now… all I felt was nothing.
It scared me. I’d never been so dependent on anyone before, but my life was literally in her hands just as much as hers was in mine. She literally meant everything to me. There would be no me without her.
But it wasn’t just for my own preservation that I wanted her to be okay. The woman I cradled in my arms had quickly become my obsession. I needed her like I needed air to breathe. I found myself continuously stretching out towards her through our bond just to check she was doing alright. I wanted to comfort her when she was sad, soothe her when she was angry and reassure her when she doubted herself. I had never wanted to care for anyone like I did Lori, but I would give her the world if she only asked.
The vampire came to a stop outside a severe-looking building and I dropped out of the sky to land softly beside him. I tucked my wings away, hiding them from sight. They were never really gone, only cloaked until I needed them. It would be really inconvenient to have to walk sideways through every door.
“Come on, this way,” he said, holding the door open for me to pass through with Lori. I let him take the lead down the corridor even though my natural instinct was to lead; my mind was too preoccupied with the need to protect Lori. I followed the vampire down a brightly lit corridor and into a room at the end. We crashed through the double doors, startling the only occupant of the room. A man in a lab coat with wild red hair jumped from his chair and headed towards us, clearly an expert in jumping into action at the most unexpected moment. His gaze dropped to the bundle in my arms and a worried frown crinkled above those bright eyes of his. My, my… Lori certainly had her fair share of people to worry over her. Should I be jealous? I didn’t feel jealous. As long as I was her focus when she was with me then I didn’t mind who she spent time with if it made her happy. I wasn’t always going to be able to materialise topside and I didn’t want to force her to live in the Under Realm. How odd… I was usually such a possessive creature, but it seemed I cared more about her happiness than my own. How utterly refreshing.
“What happened?” the man in the lab coat asked.
“I’m not entirely sure, but judging by the amount of energy that I can feel running through our bond, I’d say she either consumed too much energy or something she shouldn’t have done,” I replied as I laid her on the bed. She looked so pale that my hand trembled as I brushed a lock of hair from her face.
“But that means… you’re…”
I turned to face the doctor and I rejoiced in the fear I found blaring in his green eyes. My natural instinct was to nurture fear when I saw it, flaming the fire of it until it consumed the soul in front of me. I wanted this doctor to cower in front of me, to bow down and fear me. I rose to my full height, looming over the pathetic creature until he shrank back from me. “Yes, I am Lucifer. King of the Under Realm, Lord of Hell and –”
“I hate to cut your majestic title short, but we have more important things to discuss.”
The vampire’s words were clipped with annoyance and when I turned to look at him a beastly growl reverberated in my chest. What Lori saw in this vampire I didn’t know, but I knew he was important to her. I had sensed her conflict over him in the moments I had reached out to her through the bond. “Watch yourself, vampire. If Lori didn’t think so highly of you, I would have no qualms about destroying you where you stand.”
His expression stuttered at my words. Interesting… did he not know the depth of her feelings for him? But now wasn’t the time to explore his self-worth. We needed to unite over saving Lori because I knew I couldn’t do this on my own. I knew that if I could get into her mind I’d be able to find her and bring her back. I just couldn’t seem to break through whatever power was keeping me from entering her mind. But how to get in there…?
