Page 102 of To Crave Madly
So the beautiful golden haired angel was here for me. Fan-fucking-tastic. Why am I not surprised?
Silence descended on the room. Everyone was frozen in fear until, one by one, all sets of eyes turned in my direction.
Well, shit. There goes my chance to stay anonymous.
I gave a little wave and smiled with more bravado than I actually felt. “Did someone say Sin Reaper? Because that would be me.”
I felt the team gather round me, even Elissa stood with us. She didn’t have to, she wasn’t officially part of the team, but I was so grateful she did. I had a feeling that shit was going to go down and we were going to need all the help we could get. Jasper stood to my right, Torsten to my left. The rest of the team stood behind us, ready and poised for battle.
A sudden thought washed over me.
I could end this.
There didn’t have to be any bloodshed. I could just walk over there and hand myself over, they’d leave, and everyone would be safe. They were angels; they were surely creatures of their word.
Seemed like the best resolution to me. Not sure the team would agree though.
“What is the meaning of this?” Octavius shouting. “How dare you enter my home and—”
“Silence,” Camael roared. “We are here to save the world from a stain upon its beautiful soul. The Sin Reaper must be destroyed, or she will rise with Lucifer to burn the world.”
“Hang on a minute. That is not part of my plan and never will be. How are you so sure that I’ll destroy the world?” I asked.
Camael sneered at me. “You are bonded to Lucifer, are you not? You are the one from the prophecy and you must be destroyed.”
“The prophecy is bullshit. Lucifer doesn’t want to destroy the world and neither do I, so why don’t you just turn around and leave?”
The warrior looked around the room at the faces watching the drama unfold. I was surprised there were still so many people still here. In their shoes, I’d have probably made a quick exit.
Camael pointed his sword at me. It was an epic looking creation, covered in gold and pearls and it looked wickedly sharp. “This creature is not worthy of an existence. Whether the prophecy is true or not, are you going to take the chance? Are you going to let her live even though she has the power to not only spark life, but end it with a mere thought?”
Murmurs flittered around the room like hummingbirds. This guy was really painting me in a bad light. And what did he mean about the spark of life? Never come across that one in my bag of tricks.
I needed to get these mages and witches on side. I needed them to believe I meant no harm, to them or the world.
I stepped into the empty centre of the ballroom and looked at all the scared faces around me. “I know you don’t know me. Today is the first time you have even seen my face, but I know you have all heard of me. Some of you may believe in what this angel is saying. That I am only here to destroy the world, but that’s not true. I grew up in this world as a human. I lived and experienced this world as a human and I didn’t learn of the existence of magic, or vampires, witches or demons until very recently and, man, let me tell you, that was one Hell of a day.” There were a couple of snickers. Good, I had their attention. “I have only grown to love this world more because of the new people in my life. Because of people likeyou. I may be a Sin Reaper, and I may be bonded to the Devil but I wouldn’t change that for the world. If you knew Lucifer like me, you’d see a man brought low by the mistakes of his past. A man hellbent on trying to be a better person because of those mistakes. Yes, he has a temper and yes, he can be an arrogant ass, but he doesn’t want to destroy the world. He loves this place like I do, so please, believe me when I say that I mean you no harm.”
“A pretty speech, but your breath is wasted,” Camael declared. “You must come with us. A fate worse than death awaits you and your comrades if you refuse.” Wow. Camael liked the sound of his own voice. And hyperbole. Way too much hyperbole.
“Come now, Sin Reaper!” he yelled again.
“Hold on to your panties. I’m thinking,” I called across the room to him. His golden brows descended on his beautiful face. He clearly didn’t like being disrespected. I clearly hadn’t managed to persuade anyone to join my side, but at least they weren’t clambering to hand me over to the angels like a mob.
“What are you doing, Lori?” Jasper hissed in my ear.
I turned to face him, and my heart clenched. I licked my lips, my mouth suddenly dry. “What if… What if I surrender?”
“What?! No. Absolutely not. We will not let them take you. I would rather die than let that happen.”
I cupped his jaw. “I know. And that’s why I love you.”
Surprise flared in his eyes at my revelation, but it turned into a rich warm glow that had my heart fluttering in my chest.
“I love you, too. God knows you’re frustrating as Hell but I wouldn’t have you any other way.”
Jasper kissed me hard on the mouth as a thousand emotions flared in his eyes. “I fucking love you, Lori. I am not letting you hand yourself over to these angels. You’re mine. And you’re staying that way.”
My heart swelled with love at his words and I knew he wouldn’t let me go without a fight. “Looks like we’re doing this the hard way then. Can I have my scythe?”
