Page 31 of To Crave Madly
Jasper looked back to the doctor. “How do we do that?”
Levi looked uncomfortable and he was starting to frustrate me. I wish he’d just say what he fucking meant.
“Levi, I swear to all you hold dear, if you don’t tell me this instant what we need to do when we find her, I will gut you and serve your innards to my pet while you watch.”
He gulped and I narrowed my eyes at him maliciously.
“Well, um… I think the best way to get her to expel the energy is um… sexually.”
Jasper spluttered at Levi’s remark, but I found it rather amusing. “Sexually, huh? And how did you come to that interesting conclusion?”
Levi lost his nervousness as he delved into the realms of theory and explanations. “It might not be the only way, but I certainly think it might be the most effective. I noticed it after she had first explored the Sin Reaper powers and she fed off Jasper. And after that, she shared an intimate moment with him that—”
His words cut off abruptly and his eyes went wide as a flush crept up the side of his neck. I didn’t need to look at the vampire to see the scowl descending on his brow. I could feel the rage simmering under his skin all the way over here. His temper was almost as bad as mine.
My smile was a little bit devious as I spoke my next words. “I’m sure we will both manage just fine with that, Levi. Now then,” I turned to Jasper, “shall we get on with this?”
I chuckled at Jasper’s responding growl. “You need to relax. I will need to connect my mind to yours before we attempt to breach Lori’s.”
I arched my brow. “I am not one for relaxing. What will it feel like?” The better prepared I was for his mental invasion, the more likely I was to accept it.
“The best way to describe it is like a soft brush against your mind. Imagine a door in your mind; I will find it and knock as gently as I can.”
“Okay. Don’t go poking around in there, Jasper. There are things in there that even the strongest man wouldn’t stomach.” I’d done many devious things in my time and they were my burden to bear. There were also secrets that shouldn’t be revealed, and he needed to stay the fuck away from them.
“Anything you don’t want me to see, lock it in a box and I won’t go looking. Got it?”
“I’ve got it.”
“Right. Close your eyes and relax.”
I took one final look at Lori before closing my eyes and imagining a door. I could see it in the darkness of my mind. Crimson in colour, plain and unassuming in design.
Then I felt something right at the front of my mind, like a finger touching the centre of my forehead.
“Let me in,”the vampire whispered in my mind.“I can see the door. Little on the nose, isn’t it?”
I laughed softly but complied. I lowered my defences and felt Jasper reach out to me and pull me firmly into the darkness.
“Hang on, Lori. We’re coming.”I knew she probably wouldn’t hear me, but I had to try. We had to find her because I dreaded what would happen to me if this didn’t work. If I lost her, well, nothing would survive my wrath and the old witch Blackwood would have been right.
In my rage, I would burn the world until the Heavens cried.
Chapter 8
LORI
I found myself in a corridor. A bright white corridor with plain white doors all the way as far as I could see. There was no end. No beginning. Just a length of pure, brilliant white. I looked at the door in front of me. Would it open? Only one way to find out. I tentatively reached out and clasped my hand around the unassuming handle and turned.
Nothing happened. I tried another door, but it was just the same. What was the point of all these doors if none of them opened? God, this place was fucking creepy. Where was I? How did I get here?
I tried to think back to the time before the corridor but there was nothing. It was almost as if I didn’t exist outside this corridor. But that couldn’t be right. I strained my ears to pick up something,anything, but there was just silence.
“Hello?” I called out and waited for a response. “Is anyone there?” Nothing. I looked in both directions of the corridor and wondered which direction to go. Would it make a difference? I stepped to my right and something prickled the hairs on the back of my neck. Did that mean I should step to the left instead?
There was some instinct, some niggle in the back of my mind that was telling me to go left. Okay. Left it was. I set one foot in front of the other and trusted my gut. Hopefully, it would lead me the fuck out of here.
Hours seemed to drag by as I wandered the length of this corridor. Had it been hours? Or merely minutes? There was no way to tell. Did time even pass in this place? Maybe I had died, and this was the afterlife… No. That wasn’t right. Although I didn’t know why I knew that.
