Page 25 of To Crave Deeply
I could feel Torsten tense at my side as I jibed at her, but I couldn’t give a fuck what she wanted. I just wanted to go home, and if she wasn’t going to make this deal with me for what I wanted then she could go fuck herself.
“I will make you suffer. I’m more powerful than you can possibly imagine and—”
“Oh sweetie,” I interrupted with a sweet smile. “You be careful because your ass is starting to look huge up there on your high horse.”
Her jaw dropped. “How dare you talk to me like that!”
“Why? Have I offended your delicate sensibilities? If you can’t give me what I want, then there is no point in me staying here any longer.”
The skin around her eyes darkened as she drew on her powers, no doubt a tactic that was supposed to intimidate me, but I was too worn out, too pissed, and way passed giving a fuck.
She paused, her mind clearly ticking over my proposal. I wasn’t entirely sure she was the witch responsible for stealing Alec’s heart. All I knew was that it was someone powerful and someone entirely too vain for their own good. She fit the bill and I took a stab in the dark. But judging by the way she was mulling it over, I’d say I hit the nail on the fucking head. Jackpot, motherfucker.
She stepped down from her lofty pedestal and swanned towards me. I could almost see the steam pouring from her ears, she was that pissed.
“Fine. I will put Alec’s heart back,” she spat, and I held back the urge to jump for joy. She lowered her voice to a menacing whisper. “But I want the original witch delivered alive.” Her hand clasped my wrist and I gasped at the sudden sting as her magic sliced my forearm. Her mouth twitched into a wicked curl as she pulled the sleeve of my jacket back to reveal the symbols she just carved into my skin.
“What have you done?”
“Blood magic. You are now bound to the deal permanently. If you do not deliver the witch by sundown, seven days from now, this spell will bind you to my services for eternity. I quite fancy the idea of having a demon and mage at my beck and call, and by extension, a Shadow Fiend.”
Her eyes raked over Torsten as she spoke, and disgust had my stomach churning. If I failed to bring her this witch, not only would I suffer for it; so would Torsten. I also had no idea what it would do to the bonds I had with Lucifer and Jasper, either.
‘Oh, shit’ didn’t even begin to cover how much trouble I’d just walked myself into.
“You’re free to go now. Have fun,” she said, far too merrily for my taste.
I looked at Torsten and blanched. Oh, boy. He was angry and he had good reason to be. Honestly, when would I learn to hold my fucking tongue?
Torsten pulled me into his arms and cloaked us in shadows before pulling us into their dark embrace. The world of the Witch Queen disappeared around us and I let myself relax into Torsten’s hold. It was like hugging a statue, but I was happy in the fact that I could hold him. I was alive and I’d made it back.
I just wasn’t sure I’d survive Jasper and the team when we got back.
Chapter 9
JASPER
My world was crumbling around me. Nothing made sense anymore. Nothing was worth doing anymore.
Not without her.
I still couldn’t bring myself to believe the fact she was truly gone. There was something holding me back from committing to that belief. She couldn’t be gone. Not when I could still feel her through the bond between us. It might be weaker, but it was still there, and I refused to give up.
It just became harder to fend off the doubts as days passed. Especially when I kept feeling glimpses of her, like I had this morning. Such a wave of fear and sorrow had called to me, and it felt so much like her that, when I lost the connection, it was like losing her all over again.
Letting Torsten take Iveri had been one of the hardest decisions I’d ever made. I’d wanted to lock her up somewhere, but I was no match for a fully-functioning Sin Reaper. Especially one newly awakened and determined to bring the fucking world its knees in retribution for past sins. At least Torsten had let me put a tracker in his pocket, so I knew exactly where they were, although why they needed to go to Strigavallis was beyond me. I had no idea what they wanted with the Witch Queen, especially since she was the one who gave up her witches in the first place.
I couldn’t believe it when Alec told me what she’d said to him at the Gathering. I still had nightmares about those events and the supernatural worlds were still in uproar. I’d had Octavius Crowe, Fenris’ father and the Arch Mage to the Arcane Forum, demanding answers every ten seconds; de Santis, the head of the vampires, was constantly on my case and my team had their heads buried in the fucking sand. The only person actually doing anything was Rae, Lori’s best friend.
She’d missed the Gathering because she’d been tracking down some leads on the missing witches and why mages were being taken, too. Now that we knew the angels were involved, we had more pieces to the puzzle. I just wasn’t sure how they all fit together yet. I’d also been petitioning the Upper Council for a meeting, but they were ignoring me. Unsurprising, considering their Protector of the Realm just attacked a Gathering in broad fucking daylight.
My team was a mess, just like I was. We’d never seen this much loss or been put under such pressure and scrutiny. We were being blamed for the mess at the Gathering. We’d brought the Sin Reaper to the party and the angels were there because of her. So, naturally, it was all our fault. Safe to say, de Santis was dealing with a political nightmare and the Triumvirate was hanging by a thread. The Conclave was sitting on a powder keg, and I was anxiously waiting for it to explode. It wasn’t a case of ‘if’ but ‘when,’ and I needed to know my team was ready for it. Easier said than done when all they wanted to do was mope about the place.
Fenris had completely closed in on himself, ignoring his fiancée, Elissa, and everyone around him. Alec was bringing women back to base every hour of the goddam day in the hopes of fucking his problems away, and Saskia, she just looked fucking miserable. I needed to find something to bring them together again, to get them fired up and working, but de Santis had determined we weren’t safe to operate so the second team was doing all the work. That didn’t help our situation, either.
We’d seen an increase in demonic attacks and not just in the Conclave. Something was happening and it was like darkness was leaching into our world through the cracks of Hell. Which was probably true since Lucifer was still in a supernatural coma which, according to Alec, meant the wards around Hell would be weakening. The second team was dealing with all this shit. It should be us dealing with this clusterfuck. Me and my team, but we were too much of a mess to even function normally.
And on top of that, I had to do something with Cassian. What a fool, thinking he could take on the angels himself. I knew he was just trying to protect Lori. I had a sneaking suspicion that she was his mate, and despite trying to push her away and reject her because of whatever happened in his past, he just couldn’t seem to stay away from her. I’d tried to do the same thing, so I couldn’t fault his reasoning. I’d only given into my mate bond when she’d cornered me and demanded some answers. My heart panged at the thought of her sassy mouth coercing me into telling her everything. Then she’d accepted me, warts and all.
