20. Chapter Twenty

Ihadn’t been in the mountain since I’d first arrived at the Conclave with Jasper. They had some extra holding cells in here and I’d found myself waking up in one after I’d invaded Jasper’s mind and almost killed him.

My heart sunk as I thought about him. I hoped he was okay and not doing anything that would piss Mordecai off. I needed him to live. I don’t think I could bare it if—

Nope. I wasn’t going there. I was focussing on the task at hand. Stealing the lapis lunae and betraying all my friends.

Stop feeling sorry for yourself. It’s depressing. There was a definite undercurrent of snark in my demon’s tone.

“Well, forgive me if I’m not happy about this whole situation. I don’t feel like bouncing around and being all fucking sunshine and rainbows.”

Pity.

I tsked at her and Lucifer gave me a sideways glance.

“What?”

“Nothing,” I mumbled, “just my demon giving me sass.”

“Have you come across this before?” Iver asked Lucifer, his gaze still weirdly obsessive as he watched me.

“No,” Lucifer replied. “But Lori is unique.”

“She’s also your life spark,” Iver said before marching deeper into the darkness. “Looks like you won’t need to hold up your end of the deal. I’ve done it for you.”

“Iver! That’s not fucking helpful.” But he just laughed and gave me his back whilst the shadows swallowed him whole.

“Is that true?” Lucifer asked, his eyes wide and jaw slack. He grabbed my arm, pulling me to a stop.

“Apparently. When Iver and I arrived at the Conclave we were put in some holding cells and Fenris came down, looking like shit. But that’s not the point. Iver thinks that because I brought Fenris back from the dead I have the scintillam vitae.”

“Huh,” Lucifer mused. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

“But what’s worse, is that Fenris isn’t acting like himself. I think… I think bringing him back did something to him. is that possible?”

Lucifer looked at me with concern brimming in his fiery eyes. “Maybe, but without spending some time with him, I won’t be able to sense the damage done to his soul.”

“Would you do that for me? Would you make sure he’s okay?” I clutched his arm, hoping that Lucifer could give me a little glimmer of hope that we could save Fenris.

He wrapped his hands around my face and pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Of course, little dove. Anything for you.”

You guys are so sweet I might actually be sick. My demon fake retched in the back of my mind, and I huffed a laugh at her.

“Do you guys need a minute, or are you still fucking?” Iver shouted.

I groaned. “Why did you create this guy? He’s unbearable.”

Lucifer smiled down at me and my heart skipped a beat. “He’s not that bad.”

I gave him a flat look.

“Okay, so yes, he’s a little insufferable but hopefully allowing him to socialise will improve him.”

“You know I can hear you,” Iver called. “Can we get this over with? I don’t want to be here anymore than you do.”

“Urgh, I am really starting to hate this guy.”

“Don’t lie to me, Lori,” Lucifer whispered by the shell of my ear. “You know what it does to me.”

I shivered and leant into his touch. Lucifer had the knack for detecting lies, but if I lied to him, it turned him on something fierce.

I pressed a quick, hard kiss against his lips. “Later. We will revisit this later.”

“You’re damn right we will.”

“Do you think it’s much further?” Iver asked, his tone bored. Jeez, it was like taking a toddler with us.

Lucifer growled beside me, and I started to wonder whether Iver was going to make it to the vault alive.

“What was that you said about socialising him…?” I asked with a chuckle.

“Perhaps I spoke too soon.”

“Again, I am literally standing right here. You know, a lesser demon might develop a complex,” Iver said as he fell into step next to me.

“A lesser demon would know his place,” Lucifer replied with gritted teeth.

I grabbed his hand and intertwined our fingers, hoping that my touch would cool his violent thoughts. “It is getting darker. Perhaps that means we’re nearly there.”

The tunnels were getting narrower, and I was having to rely on my vamp vision to see in front of me. Which still felt weird to think. How long was it going to take me to get used to thinking like a vampire? I was a little disconcerted that there was a niggle of hunger starting to churn in my stomach, but I had no way of measuring how long I had until that hunger became unbearable. Was it days? Hours? I didn’t exactly have a point of reference to work with. I’d barely been a vampire for a few days and Mordecai had flung me out into the world and left me to it. Did he even care if I died? Or was he just hoping I got him what he wanted quickly. I had to admit, there was a small part of me that wanted to fail, just to see what he’d do. Would he come and get me? Or would he just kill everyone and then make me watch like he said? God, I really hated that guy.

Except for that moment when he kissed you, my demon added unhelpfully.

“Hush, you.”

I was there, remember?

“Nope. I don’t remember that.”

You don’t remember the way you absolutely attacked that man’s mouth? Or the way it was like absolute fucking fire in your bloodstream?

“I think I preferred it when you didn’t like speaking.”

That was before you turned out to be so much fun.

“I hate you.”

My demon chuckled and snorted. No, you don’t. You hate that I’m right.

I did. And she was right. There were glimpses of Mordecai that had me questioning if he really was bad.

You gonna tell Lucifer and the others you kissed him?

“I should… it feels like I’m lying by not telling them.”

But not right now because the biggest door appeared in front of us. I mean the thing was huge. Surround by an ethereal pale blue light, it stretched upwards at least fifty feet, probably more, and there were gorgeous carvings across the surface. My guess, a warning to stay away entering on pain of death. There was also something I couldn’t quite put my finger on. A sense of unease or discomfort that creeped along me skin.

“Can you guys feel that?” I asked.

“Yes,” Lucifer replied. “Like it feels wrong to be here.”

“Oh, well. Best get over it and figure out how to get in the vault.” Iver fixed his black eyes towards me. “By my calculations, we don’t have much time.”

Shit. “How do you know that?”

Iver took a step towards me, his jaw set in a grimace. “Your demon feels a bit further away which means your vampire nature is coming to the surface. New vampires should feed every day and for you it’s already been a couple where you haven’t fed. Soon, you’ll be starving.”

“Then let’s get this over with,” Lucifer said. “Then we can figure out what we’re going to do next.”

I nodded and turned to the door, but my heart was starting to feel a little heavier.