Page 76 of To Crave Deeply
I took a step towards her. “You know nothing about me.”
She cackled and dropped her voice to a menacing whisper. “I know more than you think, little mage. Just because I was abandoned in the Pit doesn’t mean I lost touch with the outside world. I know all about the prophecy, and I’ve a feeling you might just be the most powerful creature the world has ever seen. Having you owe me a debt would be quite useful indeed.”
“Something for you to cash in at a later date?”
“Precisely,” she replied with a sinister smile. “I mean, who knows what you’ll be capable of in a few months?”
That was a terrifying thought. I wasn’t sure I wanted to be in debt to this witch, but I also knew she was probably the only one with the knowledge and power to save Lucifer. Why was nothing ever simple?
“Call me when you’ve got Lucifer on the mortal plane, and I’ll give you a reason to owe me a debt.” Selene chuckled before turning her back and walking away.
“Wait. How do I reach you?”
Selene looked over her shoulder at me and flicked her wrist. There was a burning sensation on the inside of my left wrist, and I hissed in a breath at the sudden sting. I looked down and saw a strange rune seared into my skin.
What was it with witches and marking skin?
“Just touch that symbol and sayvoco Selene. I will find you. Stay safe now, Lori.” And with a final grin and wink, she turned away and left me with Torsten.
“I don’t trust her,” my Shadow Fiend muttered with a dark look following her retreating form.
“Neither do I. But I don’t have a choice. Come on, let’s get out of here before something else disastrous falls into our laps.”
Torsten grunted and wrapped his arms around my waist. The familiar cool embrace of the shadows wrapped around us, and I clutched onto Torsten as I felt my body fade away into nothing but dust and mist.
I hated shadow jumping.
***
My body slammed back together, and my stomach fell through my feet. Why didn’t this get any easier?
I rested my head against Torsten’s chest while I waited for the nausea to settle.
“Lori, open your eyes.”
Torsten sounded worried, and when I did as he commanded, I could see why. We should be standing looking at the mansion of the base, but instead we were standing in a thick, swirling storm of black mist.
“What is this?” I asked as I gripped Torsten’s tunic tighter.
Forks of lightning flashed in the darkness, illuminating the dense swirls that moved around us.
“Shadows,” Torsten replied simply. “Come on. We need to move.”
He grabbed my hand and started pulling me behind him towards where the base should be, but it was like walking into a storm. The wind thrashed against us and beat us backwards even as we tried to push through. I thrust my hand in front of my face, but it didn’t help. The force of this wind was unnatural. It was like it was a supernatural force beating us backwards until, suddenly, a gust hit us square in the chest and threw us completely out of the mist.
Pain jarred up my spine as I landed ungracefully on my ass. As I got to my feet and dusted off the mud, I finally got a proper look at the monstrosity that surrounded the base. It was a giant wall of thick shadow that extended in front of the entire length of the base.
“What is this?”
“Magic,” Torsten replied gruffly.
“Wait, is this shadow magic?” It was incredible. Terrifying, but incredible. Was it a new defence mechanism to deal with the riots? I thought I knew about all of them, but this was new to me.
Hang on, if this was shadow magic, did that mean I could do something like this?
I stepped towards the barrier again and held my hand out. I felt my own shadow magic rise within me as it recognised the familiar feel of this barrier. Electricity traipsed along my veins and instinctively I pulled the shadow toward me. The mist wrapped around my wrist playfully, tickling my skin with its soft caress. A bubble of laughter escaped my throat as I used my own magic. It had been so long since I’d used it that it brought a feeling of elation to send my power out into the open.
“Lori, step back. You don’t know what--”
