3. Chapter Three

The sound of cheers and howls echoed all around. A sea of demons, vampires and all sorts of other creatures stood before me in a crowd screaming for their leader. Their King. Fucking Mordecai. After pulling myself together when Mordecai left, I did as I was told. I got dressed and then found myself escorted to this ginormous cavern. I was stood to the right of Mordecai and Selene was on his left. I got the impression we were deep in the bowels of some mountain. It was damp, which meant there was water nearby, and I could feel a soft breeze which stopped the air from being cloying. That meant we weren’t too far underground if I could feel fresh air. The cavern was huge though. The roof of it was so high above me I could barely see it in the shadows. Soft orbs of white light glittered above us, floating magically. It almost looked pretty. Except they were in the lair of a crazed vampire with an ego far too big too even fit in this giant space.

I tried to reach out to my magic again but there was nothing. It was like I knew it should be there but my mind couldn’t quite grasp it. Like how I imagine a phantom limb would feel. There but not. And my demon, not that I was still used to her being my demon, felt like she was in a coma. When Selene had ripped Iveri from me, the Sin Reaper was left behind because she needed something living to stay connected to. Iveri was dead, technically, so the Sin Reaper stayed with me and Iveri became the equivalent of a solid ghost. I hadn’t seen sight of her yet. Perhaps that meant she had stayed in Strigavallis with the Witch Queen instead. Hell had broken loose after Selene had fixed the soulbond. Jasper had interrupted and force fed me some blood which had brought on a manic change in me. I lost my mind. I’m still not certain exactly what happened, only that I called Mordecai to me, even after swearing I wouldn’t – further proof I was clearly crazy – and then Torsten had snapped my neck. Which wasn’t his fault. He was a Shadow Fiend and bound to servitude to a master for eternity. I’d ordered him to kill me to stop Mordecai from taking me. It was only after I’d issued the command that I’d learnt that would trigger my change into being a vampire. Fucking ironic. But once a command is issued to a Shadow Fiend it was unbreakable. Which was stupid, if you asked me.

“Friends, welcome.”

Mordecai’s voice boomed around the large space, distracting me from my inner pity party.

I turned to look at the guy and huffed. How could someone so attractive be such a dick. His good looks were really wasted on him.

A hush descended on the crowd as Mordecai looked out at them. “We are at the point of no return. Now is the time to commit. To push forward with our plans and take what we are owed.”

The crowd roared an almighty cheer. Were we at a pep rally?

“Too long we have been cast out and punished. Too long we have been kept hidden down here, serving time for sins we didn’t commit. Now, we have the ultimate weapon.”

A hush fell at Mordecai’s words before murmurs started spreading. All eyes suddenly snapped towards me.

The fuck?

I turned towards Mordecai only to find he’d disappeared. There was a gust of wind behind me before his claws wrapped around my throat. Stupid fucking vampire speed. I tried to buck out of his hold but that only made the crowd cheer louder.

“Get off me,” I hissed, but he wasn’t listening. His attention was firmly on the hungry, thriving crowd in front of us, his ruby eyes gleaming manically.

“I give you the Devil’s Triune.” His free hand grabbed the collar of my shirt and bared the mark that showed my bond to Lucifer. The crowd roared again.

“Now is our time. The time of monsters.” His voice lowered by my ear. “I’ve got a surprise for you, little one.”

He pointed off to the side of the dais and my heart plummeted.

“Jasper!”

My vampire mate was being led onto the raised platform by a beast of a demon. The demon must have been seven feet tall with blue skin and horns that curved above his head. He was a monster and he dragged Jasper behind him like a dog. A chain was wrapped around his neck and his features were covered in grime like he’d been shoved in a dirty hole for days. But that wasn’t what scared me the most, it was his eyes. Normally, they were a bright blue that shone with an electric glow, but at the moment the were a bright red and completely vacant. He was being controlled by Mordecai and I hated it.

I bucked in Mordecai’s hold, but his grip was unrelenting. There was a sharp sting as his claws scraped against the skin of my neck, but it was nothing compared to the pain that was splitting my heart open.

“Hush, little one,” Mordecai whispered placatingly. “I will make this quick and painless for you.”

“No. Let him go, please. I’ll do anything. Please don’t hurt him.”

The demon holding Jasper kicked the back of his legs and his knees slammed into the floor. Panic spiralled in my stomach as Mordecai walked me closer to Jasper. God, I couldn’t breathe.

“I’d say it’s nothing personal, but I’d be lying.” Mordecai brushed my hair behind my ear. It was supposed to be soothing, but all it made me want to do was cut his fucking fingers off.

“Fuck you.”

His tongue ran up the side of my neck and I shivered in disgust. “Soon, little one. Soon. But first I need to remove your True Vampire Bond and, for that, Jasper needs to die.”

“No.” I renewed my attempts to break free of Mordecai’s hold, but his fingers merely tightened around my neck. Tears of impotence flooded my eyes. How could I be this useless? I looked at Jasper and he didn’t even recognise me. He just stared straight ahead, not even realising what was about to happen.

“Executioner, make him ready.”

The hordes roared at Mordecai’s statement, their thirst for blood echoing around the cavern and drowning my screams. The horned demon yanked on the chain around Jasper’s neck and pulled him to the centre of the dais. Two chains appeared on the floor and the executioner locked Jasper’s wrists into them, stretching his arms wide as he knelt on the floor. He didn’t even fight.

I could see Selene laughing across the dais, her blue eyes glinting with manic joy. I was going to be sick. Why, of all moments, was now the time I couldn’t access my magic or my demon?

No. I couldn’t give up. I suddenly went limp in Mordecai’s arms, and it forced his hands to loosen his grip slightly. It wasn’t much, but it gave me an opening to throw my head backwards. I heard a satisfying crunch, and I jabbed my elbow backwards into his ribs. A string of curse words left his mouth and I took the opportunity to break his grip. I darted forward and launched myself towards Jasper.

I fell to my knees in front of him, grabbing his face in my hands and imploring him to look at me. His eyes met mine but there was nothing. Not even a spark of recognition. My heart stuttered.

“Jasper, please,” I begged. “Come back to me.”

Still nothing. I pressed my lips firmly against his, but it was like kissing a statue. Cold and unyielding. I couldn’t give up. I needed to do something, but I was running out of time.

Something flickered behind my solar plexus. It was achingly familiar but somehow different. Warmth spread through my gut as the Sin Reaper unfurled, flickering to life for the first time since I awoke as a vampire. The power still felt muted, but I heard one word ring through my mind with blinding clarity.

Blood.

Of course. Without thinking I elongated my canines – which was still weird to feel – and sank them into my lower lip. Blood immediately coated my mouth, and I pulled Jasper towards me for another kiss, praying that this would work. It had to. I couldn’t even imagine my life without him in it.

An eternity seemed to pass, but just before I was about to pull away, Jasper’s lips softened beneath my own. His tongue traced the seam of my lips and I willingly let him enter. He devoured my mouth, licking all the traces of my blood from it and moaning deeply.

Suddenly, pain exploded across my scalp as something fisted in my hair and yanked me away from Jasper.

“Bad girl.” Mordecai sounded pissed. I looked up and saw dried blood beneath his nose. It had already healed, but a sliver of joy ran through at the thought that I’d managed to inflict some pain on him, even if it had only been fleeting.

Jasper’s roar was a feral thing as his mind broke free of Mordecai. It was full of anger, a cry of a thunderous rage directed at the man who had made him a puppet. He pulled at the chains, screaming with fury as they held him pinned to the ground.

“Release her, or so help me god, I will tear your flesh from your bones.”

“Oh, Jasper, don’t tease me,” Mordecai replied with a dark smile. “Unfortunately, I need you to die and I was going to take your head whilst you were under the compulsion to make it easier for you, but now I guess you’ll see it coming.”

A scream tore itself from my throat as Mordecai pulled me to my feet by my hair. “I will gut you for this.”

“I look forward to that, little one.” He turned me towards the crowd. “Now smile for your audience. We seem to be giving them quite a show.”

They cheered in response, eager to see more blood spilt. If it was a show they wanted, a show I’d give them.

I turned my thoughts inwards and tugged at the warmth of my demon. The more I pulled, the more I could feel her awakening from her deep sleep. She was lethargic but she was definitely there.

Come on, I called inwardly. Let’s have some fun.

That seemed to rouse her. Power surged through my limbs and flooded my core. Talons, thick and black, emerged from my fingertips and I clawed at the arm that held my hair. He let me go with a pained yelp and I flew to Jasper. Hands reached out from the demons around us but I had one goal, to free Jasper and nothing would get in my way.

I swiped my hands through the chains holding him down like they were made of butter. The demon executioner launched himself at me, but Jasper stood and blocked his path with a right hook to his jaw. I was just about to head for Selene when my entire body came to a sudden halt. My eyes locked with Mordecai over the chaos and my stomach dropped. He was my sire, he had full control of me.

“I wanted to make this easy for you, Lori,” Mordecai growled menacingly. “But you just had to make things difficult. Now I’m going to make you kill him.”

“No! You can’t do that!”

“Oh, but I can. I told you not to defy me, I warned you there would be consequences, but still you thought you could do what you wanted. I hope this will help you remember your fucking place!” Mordecai spat his words at me like venom. He was beyond pissed now. I could see his calm control fracturing and it terrified me.

“Master, please.”

He barked out a laugh. “It’s too late for niceties. Now kill him. I command it.”

His words slithered over my skin, and I felt the command bury itself into my core like a living, breathing thing.

I turned to look back at Jasper and I could sense his fear through our bond. But it wasn’t for him, it was for me.

“Run, Jasper. Please.” I knew I couldn’t fight this hold that Mordecai had over me, already I could feel agony beginning to spread as I fought the need to move towards him. My body vibrated with the effort it took to fight the urge to attack Jasper but the fool just stood his ground and stared at me.

The Sin Reaper thrashed inside me, trapped in a cage of Mordecai’s making. She wouldn’t be of any help right now and my shadow magic was still buried. I was all on my own. Pathetic and weak.

Jasper looked around him, he knew he wasn’t getting out of this without a fight. But I didn’t want him to fight. I wanted him to run.

“Go, Jasper. Now!”

His bright blue eyes flashed before they bled into the black of his inner beast. “No. I am not leaving you.”

Stupid man. Couldn’t he see I was trying to save him?

My feet moved forward, and panic bloomed in my chest. Jasper attacked the blue demon who was trying to pin him down. Even without weapons, Jasper was formidable, his movements fast and precise. A lethal assassin.

Kill him.

Mordecai’s voice slithered through my mind, the words forcing me to move closer to Jasper. My limbs throbbed and tingled as I fought the compulsion, the pain of fighting against it clawing deep into my chest.

KILL HIM!

I screamed in agony, the command an inferno that sliced into every muscle to move my body towards Jasper. So close. I was so close to him.

“Jasper! Run.”

He spun around, but it was too late.

My hand punched into his chest and my fingers gripped his beating heart. His eyes blew wide in shock, the black fading back into the blue that was impossibly bright. His knees crumpled and I fell to the floor with him, my hand caged in his chest.

“No. No, no no,” I cried as blood pooled around my hand. “Why didn’t you run?”

“Because I love you, Lori. I’d never… leave you.” His words were a guttural whisper as blood poured form his mouth.

I had to fight this. I had to save him.

Sweat peppered my brow as I tried to unfurl my fingers. I could do this. I could beat Mordecai. I could—

Pain sliced through my mind as he put more force behind his command. My demon screamed in agony, unable to escape. The sting of a thousand knives wracked my body, but I refused to pull my hand from Jasper’s chest.

“I love you too.” I just had to hope that my love for him was stronger than Mordecai’s power over me.

Jasper wrapped his hand firmly around my wrist. “You can beat… him, Lori. You can…”

His eyes started to glaze over, and his breathing became nothing more than shallow puffs of air. I was losing him.

No. This wasn’t going to happen. I was stronger than this. I could save him.

I reached out to the command I could feel deep in my core, and I focused all my anger, all my pain and rage on that swirling sensation. A low, menacing growl rumbled in my chest as the Sin Reaper clawed against her cage, fighting her way to freedom. I could hear Mordecai screaming in the background, but I didn’t care. I could feel her straining to be in control and I submitted to her, because right now, I needed to be more than just me.

It was like the breaking of a dam. Power surged through me, not just the power of my demon but also the power of my magic. Finally, it had been released from whatever box it had been locked away in. I don’t know how, but I didn’t have time to analyse it.

Give me control, the Sin Reaper demanded.

And I did. And it was glorious. I surrendered to the demon, to the bloodlust and I took a back seat to watch the world turn into a beautiful shade of red.