Page 45 of To Crave Deeply
I got to my feet, thankful that my body wasn’t choosing this moment to give up on me. “No. Not really. I want to know what you’re planning. What do you want with Selene?”
She waved her finger at me and released a sarcastic tut. “Ah-ah. That’s for me to know, not you. Tell me where she is, and I’ll be on my way.”
I smiled menacingly at her and stepped closer. I didn’t miss the fact that she took a step back.
“That’s not how this works, Iveri. Now tell me what I want to know, or things might get a little unpleasant.”
She laughed again, but it lacked the confidence of her earlier cackle.
“You wouldn’t do anything to harm Lori. I can feel the bond between you. I can feel her now, the fear and panic in the back of my mind over you.”
It was my turn to let out a tut. “It’s not a fear that you’ll do me harm. I’m the Devil. I’m King of the Underworld and you will kneel before me.”
Iveri backed away from me, her head shaking from side to side. “No, I won’t. I will never kneel for you.”
I brought my hand up in front of me and clenched it into a fist. Fire erupted along my flesh as my anger finally got the better of me. It curled around my hands and I instantly felt a rush of power course through me. Hellfire destroyed everything it touched. No one was safe from it. It didn’t discriminate. It didn’t pick or choose what it consumed. One touch of the flame and you were incinerated merely because I wished it so.
I wasn’t going to touch Iveri; she knew that I couldn’t risk Lori, but it made accessing my powers so much easier.
I pointed at her and wrapped my power around her. “Kneel.”
My voice boomed around the room, deeper now that my true self was revealed. Iveri didn’t stand a chance. Her knees crumpled beneath her, and her body fell to the ground.
I stalked closer, loving the feel of my power running through me unrestrained. It was such a rush of adrenaline, such a heady feeling that I was suddenly overcome with the hedonistic pleasure of it all. I moaned as I rolled my shoulders, feeling freer than I had in a long time.
Iveri lifted her hand to block the heat from my flames as I drew nearer.
“Stop,” she whimpered, and I laughed. I loved it when they begged.
“Tell me what I want to know,” I demanded loudly, but she said nothing. “Tell me!”
I wrapped my power around her again, forcing her back to arch as I compelled her to look at me. Still, she resisted. There wasn’t much more I could do without really harming Lori. I couldn’t risk it.
“I will never tell you.Never.”
In my rage, I squeezed her back unintentionally and she screamed. Shit. This was getting out of hand.
“Lucifer… stop…”
That voice instantly quelled my fury and I let her go. I doused the flames and stepped closer still, trying to look into her eyes. I had to be sure it was her and not Iveri playing tricks on me. But I couldn’t see them; her head had rolled forward when I released her from my phantom grip and all I could see was the mass of brown curls that I loved to trail my fingers through.
“Lori…?”
I took a deep breath and parted the curtain of her hair, hoping beyond hope that I’d find Lori back in residence and not Iveri. She was so still, her breathing so soft, that it was like kneeling before a statue.
Suddenly, her head launched forward and the bones in my nose shattered.
Fuck!
“Torsten!” She screamed as I healed my nose, but I wasn’t fast enough to stop her from reaching the Shadow Fiend. And it was that moment, as Iveri stepped into his embrace, that pain speared my chest and brought me to my knees. It felt like someone had carved into my chest and was trying to remove my heart. Blackness danced in my vision and, as I silently pleaded for Torsten to help me, I saw Iveri smirk in sadistic satisfaction as she forced the Fiend to take her into the world of shadows.
Then she was gone, and I fell to the floor with a thud. I never thought I’d ever be this close to death. Never thought I’d be so close to tasting my last breath and I never thought I’d be so lonely.
As unconsciousness finally started to stake its claim, I was aware of bright green eyes hovering above me.
“Michael?”
“I’m here, brother. I’m here.”
