Page 22 of To Crave Deeply
Her eyes narrowed and I knew I’d hit a nerve. Right now, I didn’t give a shit what she wanted. I wanted my body back.
Iveri lurched towards me, murder blazing in her eyes as I ducked under a punch. I couldn’t let her get her hands on me. I was not being her next fucking meal. I brought my elbow up and jabbed it hard into her ribs. She gave a low grunt as she fell forwards and I used her momentum to flip her on her back.
She wasn’t down for long. She swung her leg behind my knees, sweeping my feet from under me and I fell backwards with a thud. I quickly rolled over and hopped back up before she could continue her assault.
“Come on, Iveri,” I huffed, grinning like a cat. “Just give up already.”
“Never,” she spat before charging for me again.
Over and over again we battled, our hands flying through the air in quick succession as we tried to defend and attack. I ducked, rolled, dived and did everything I could to avoid letting her hands on me. I hopped into shadows to avoid her attacks, but then I made the wrong move.
I got sloppy and suddenly her hand was in my hair and pain was dancing across my scalp as she used it to yank my head backwards.
Her bright, fiery eyes filled my vision, and a malicious grimace curled her mouth.
“Playtime’s over, bitch,” she snarled before slamming her hand down onto my forehead.
Light exploded before me as Iveri connected her mind to mine. It felt like a thousand knives pounding in my skull as she unleashed her demon to feed. I could see every sin I’d committed laid bare before me, and I could hear my scream echoing around the cavernous space. She took everything without remorse. Every morsel of pain and suffering I’d ever experienced was ripped from me until I could feel my very soul exposed to her gluttonous demon.
“No…” I gasped. I clawed at her hands, kicked, and wriggled but nothing would dislodge the connection. I couldn’t give up… not now.
“That’s it, Lori. Give me everything.”
The soulmarks on my chest burned as flashes of Jasper and Lucifer flitted through my mind. A pang of sadness assaulted me as I realised: they’d never know I came back for them. I felt the tears falling down my cheeks. I hadn’t even realised I was crying. There was just so much pain.
“I’m sorry…” I called out, hoping against hope that they would hear, but fearing that I’d die alone, in the cavern of my mind, fighting the soul of a demon who was just trying to escape her father. This sucked ass.
“Lori…?”
A deep, smoky rumble filled my mind.
“Lucifer?”
“Where am I? Something’s wrong… I can’t…”He sounded dazed and confused and I hated that I couldn’t help him, that Iveri had me in a hold that was ripping my soul to shreds.
“I’m sorry, Lucifer. I’m so sorry I did this to you.”
A wave of fear wrapped around me, and I knew Jasper could feel the pull of what was going on here. His mind was seeking mine. He couldn’t speak to me like Lucifer could, but through the True Vampire Bond, he could sense what I was feeling, and he must have heard me call out.
Hopelessness swam through me. I couldn’t hold out much longer. I’d failed. Again. No wonder I couldn’t save Cassian; I couldn’t even save myself.
Iveri cackled in the background, her manic laugh just adding to the waves of guilt and sorrow flooding through me. With my soul gone, she’d be free to wonder the earth as me and do whatever the fuck she wanted.
What had I done? How could I have been so blinded by revenge? Maybe the prophecy was right? Was it through my failure that the world would become wrapped in sin?
A warmth wrapped around my heart like a soft embrace.
“Lucifer…”
“You can beat this. You’re stronger than you think you are.”
My heart soared at his words, but I couldn’t bring myself to believe them.
“I can’t…” I gasped as a new wave of pain washed over me. She was almost at the ribbon of my soul. I could feel her tugging at the very core of me as a coldness started to creep in.
“It is only from the shadows do we find the strength to forge forward into the light. You are born with the shadows, Lori. You are stronger in them. Use them! I know you can do this!”
Lucifer’s words echoed around my mind and a new determination sparked a flicker of hope within my chest. I drew every last atom of magic that I could feel running through my veins and channelled it into the connection with Iveri. Wisps of shadows surrounded us like smoke; they poured from my hands as I threw everything I had at her.
