To Crave Darkly: Trials Of A Morta: Book One

by Bailey Grayson

  Jasper led me into the house and the gothic décor continued inside. There was wood panelling as far as the eye could see, a huge crystal chandelier, suits of armour and portraits of people that looked important and imposing.

  “This place is fucking awesome.”

  Jasper just sighed. It was one of his you’re-fucking-unbelievable sighs and it worried me that I was starting to tell the difference. Jasper didn’t need words to communicate his disbelief, discontent or displeasure. Nope. He had a plethora of sighs to do that for him.

  We rounded a corner and walked into the lounge. A large fire roared at the far end and a collection of people took up residence on the far side of the room. A girl and three guys. This must be the rest of Jasper’s team.

  The laughing camaraderie that I heard as I walked in fell to pin-drop silence as all eyes turned towards me.

  That was intimidating.

  “Lori, these are the rest of my team, and now, your new protectors.”

  “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” The scornful voice belonged to one of the most terrifying men I had ever seen. He was tall with white blonde hair that was short at the sides and long on top. He wore it swept back off his face and it accentuated his high brow and sharp features. With his athletic build and smouldering good looks, he looked like he’d just stepped off the film set of an epic Viking movie, but it was his eyes that had me wanting to run for the hills. There was no emotion in them. At all. They were completely dead.

  My heart gave a sudden lurch as he continued to fix that cold stare on me.

  “Stop scaring the poor girl, Cassian,” a black-haired Adonis to the left chided light-heartedly.

  Cassian strode over to Jasper and got right up in his face. He didn’t even flinch. I, on the other hand, was ready to pee my pants. This guy looked ready to rip my throat out and bathe in my blood.

  “You can’t expect me to degrade myself in such a manner.”

  Wow. Rude much?

  Jasper stood his ground. “Back the fuck down, Cassian. We have our orders to protect Miss Monroe and you will follow them.”

  Cassian flicked his gaze toward me and, instinctively, I took a step back. He scared the shit out of me.

  His lips curled maliciously. “This is bullshit.”

  He brushed past Jasper and out the room, slamming the door behind him.

  Jasper pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’ll go talk to him. The rest of you introduce yourselves and show her around.”

  The door slammed behind me again as Jasper left me.

  Alone.

  In a room full of highly trained assassins.

  I glanced over them again and decided they didn’t look so bad. The dark-haired guy who spoke earlier smiled and I relaxed slightly. He seemed friendlier than the Viking at least.

  “Guys, come on. Quit staring at her.” It was the girl who spoke first, breaking the awkward silence that accompanied our little stare-off. “Hey, honey. Come and sit down.”

  She indicated the spot on the sofa opposite her. But I still wasn’t inclined to sit quite so close to them. I didn’t know them, and I certainly didn’t trust them.

  “Don’t look so terrified. We aren’t going to hurt you. Besides, if either of these guys scare you, I’ll kick their asses.”

  The two men in question scoffed. I raised my eyebrows. She was a dainty little thing and the two men looked like monoliths by comparison. She had bright red hair that fell in soft waves around her face and her cornflower blue eyes sparkled as I finally approached the sofa and sat down.

  She placed her hand on her chest. “I’m Saskia. This pig next to me is Alec, and next to you is Fenris.”

  Alec turned out to be the guy with the grin and the black hair. Although now that I was a bit closer, I realised it wasn’t just black but had shimmers of deep blue in it like the wing of a raven. He stuck his hand out in greeting.

  “How do you do, Miss Monroe?” Alec’s grin widened. His voice was smooth and a flush crept up my neck as his eyes raked over me from head to toe. They were a fascinating shade of amber, like two pools of rich, dark honey. They held my gaze unwaveringly and I could tell he was trying to assert his dominance over me. He was attempting to make me cave under the sheer power that emanated from his beguiling eyes, but I wasn’t one to back down from a challenge.

  I stared straight back and shook his hand. “Please, call me Lori.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lori.” God, his voice was sinful. And those dimples that appeared when he smiled were fucking lethal. They transformed his face from attractive to downright glorious. It looked like I won this little stand-off but something about the mischievous glint in his eyes warned me that more trouble would be heading my way from this one.

  “Stop trying to get into her pants, Alec,” Fenris grunted, severing the tension tying Alec and I together. I turned to face him, and his chocolate brown eyes were warm and sincere. His brown hair fell to his shoulders in messy curls and a light stubble graced his jaw. He looked like the kind of guy that would be good to curl up and snuggle with. I bet it would be like being hugged by a bear. Not that I was going to get close enough to try. I was pretty sure he could kill me like a bear if I pissed him off.

  Saskia leaned forward and grabbed my hand. “Don’t worry about Cassian. He doesn’t do well with change and having someone around to protect around the clock is definitely different. Especially for him. He’ll warm up to you eventually.”

  Alec scoffed. “By warm up, do you mean from icy to frosty?”

  “Don’t give her false hope. You know he barely stomachs us, and he’s known us for years.” Fenris turned to me with sympathy in his eyes. “Sorry darling, I don’t think he’s ever going to like you.”

  The thought of a soulless killer hating me was not a comforting thought. “That’s ok. He doesn’t have to like me. He just has to keep me alive.”

  “Well, he is the best with hand to hand combat and his natural healing abilities do come in handy, so out of all of us, he probably will keep you alive the longest.” Fenris joked, but I could hear the sincerity in his words.

  One thing about what he said caught my attention though. “Natural healing abilities?”

  Saskia bounced in her seat. She was going to be one of those people I could only handle in small doses. Way too much energy exuded from her tiny frame. “Ooh, you have no idea what we are, do you?”

  I blanched. Did I really want to know? “Nope. No idea.”

  Saskia squealed in excitement. I could feel the guys rolling their eyes at her enthusiasm. I guess explaining what you were to a newbie was not a common occurrence.

  “Cassian is a dragon shifter. He’s great with weapons, hand to hand combat, healing and at being an arrogant asshat.”

  I looked at Saskia. “So, his behaviour earlier was completely normal?”

  Fenris gave a short laugh. “Unfortunately, yes. But don’t get hung up on it. He rarely joins us when we socialise. Mainly sticks to himself and lurks in the basement.”

  Okay. Note to self: avoid the basement. And anyone who lurked anywhere was probably best avoided at all costs.

  Saskia placed her hand on her chest. “I’m a fire sprite, so anything to do with fire is my jam.” Huh. That kind of made sense. She did seem like was going to explode all the time. “I also love cooking. I hope you like spicy food.”

  I did actually. I loved any food that packed a punch. “The hotter, the better.”

  She beamed at me. It was infectious and I found myself grinning back. Some of the tension I had felt upon entering the room was starting to dissipate. These guys seemed pretty normal. I relaxed a bit more into the sofa and turned to Alec.

  “What about you?” I asked.

  His luscious lips curled. He was one of those guys who knew he looked good. His clothes looked like they barely contained his muscular frame and his hair was dishevelled in an I-just-finished-fucking-and-rolled-out-of-bed way. I bet he was a god in the bedroom. He was made for sex. A
ll those hard lines made for tangling with my soft curves. His sinful mouth on my hot skin. Fuck. When had it got so hot in here?

  “What are you thinking about, Lori?” Alec purred.

  Huh, what?

  “Nothing,” I answered a fraction too quickly. “I wasn’t thinking about anything.”

  Alec licked his lips and I tracked the movement. Was everything he did sexual?

  A knowing smirk spread across his lips. I gulped. He knew exactly what I was thinking.

  Saskia slapped his arm. “Stop harassing the poor girl. She’s been through enough already.”

  Alec threw his hands up in mock surrender and I gave Saskia a thankful glance. I did not like how easily my brain had turned to mush around him.

  “I’m a Hell Hound, which makes me great at hunting targets and finding things that don’t want to be found.” He leaned back on the sofa and gave me an eyeful of his toned physique as his shirt rode up exposing his skin. He really was laying it on thick. “I’m also pretty good with my hands. I can make a woman -”

  A breeze flew past me with a whoosh and Alec suddenly doubled over grabbing his throat. Shit, he couldn’t breathe. I made to get out of my seat to help him but faltered at the sound of Saskia’s laughter.

  What the hell?

  I looked to Fenris and found him still sat casually on the sofa but with one hand reaching out towards Alec. A soft blue glow emanated from the tips of his fingers and I realised he was doing this to Alec.

  “I’m an elemental mage which means I can manipulate anything born from the four main elements. I can’t manufacture them, like Saskia with her fire, but I can steal them from anything around me. Like air from your lungs, for example.” Fenris grinned. Maybe I had been too premature in thinking these guys were normal. This was too much. It was fricking weird, and yet this seemed completely normal to them. What was this? Friendly torture?

  I pushed Fenris. “That’s enough.”

  Fenris turned to me. He seemed surprised that I had challenged him. His dark eyes looked conflicted, but I stood my ground and after a few long drawn out seconds, he released Alec from his hold.

  Alec heaved air back into his lungs. “You’re a wanker, Fenris.”

  “Not half as much as you,” Fenris chuckled unsteadily. His words were directed at Alec, but he didn’t take his eyes off me. It was almost as if he was unsure whether to be happy or pissed off that I had stood up to him. His face was contorted in a mixture of expressions and I couldn’t quite decide if I should run away or not.

  Saskia burst into the conversation again, saving me from making that decision. “So Lori, what about you? Have you got any mad skills?”

  “Well, I make a mean cocktail, or I can enter your mind and feed on your dark emotions until I consume your soul.”

  Three shocked faces stared back at me. Oops. Maybe I overshared.

  “So it’s true. You really are a Sin Reaper?” Alec asked, fascination glinting in his eyes.

  “Apparently so,” I responded warily. I didn’t want these three thinking I was a new toy to play with. “But I haven’t eaten a soul yet. I came close with Jasper, though.”

  Fenris laughed. “I’d have loved to have seen that. I bet it pissed him off.”

  Seriously. What was wrong with these people? It was like they found joy in others’ torment and that was not on my level of normal. But who was I to judge? I got off on pushing people’s buttons and pissing them off. Maybe that had something to do with the whole Sin Reaper thing. Anger and rage were dark emotions; maybe subconsciously I’d been pissing people off to feed the demon within me. I’d have to ask Levi about that. He was the one trying to figure me out after all.

  “Are you really a Morta?” Saskia whispered.

  I frowned. “A Morta? What’s that?”

  Nobody answered me. I looked at the three faces and each one stared back at me like they’d just spilled a secret they shouldn’t have.

  Alec sucked in a breath. “Think you’ve just dropped a ball there, Saskia.”

  “Fuck off,” she chided. “Urgh, she’s going to find out anyway. We might as well tell her.”

  Fenris rubbed his hand over his face and shrugged his shoulders, but he didn’t say anything. I guess that meant he didn’t care either way and Alec just grinned like he was enjoying watching me squirm.

  “I’ll tell her. Since you two are clearly too scared,” Saskia goaded. The other two just rolled their eyes. She perched forward on the edge of the seat and her face lit up with the delight of someone about to tell a child a ghost story around a campfire. I wanted to settle back into the sofa, but I was now so on edge that I couldn’t relax. Next to me, Fenris rearranged his long limbs and his thigh brushed mine. Heat seared my leg and I flinched. I glanced over at him, but he didn’t show any signs that he had felt anything. Maybe I imagined that, but I kind of hoped I hadn’t. I would hate to add hallucinations to my already long list of insanity symptoms.

  A friendly smile graced his lips and I found myself instantly relaxing. Something about him just seemed so open. He’d leaned further back into the opposite side of the sofa. He was giving me space and trying not to overcrowd me with his massive frame. That seemed… sweet. Were assassins meant to be sweet?

  “Well,” Saskia started, pulling me from my reverie, “in the early 16th century there was a Witch called Millicent Blackwood. It’s said that she displeased the Devil and he cursed her with Hellfire as punishment. What she did to piss him off no one really knows, but the Hellfire robbed her of her natural sight and gave her the power of foresight. She became a dark prophet.”

  “She could see the future?” I asked, curious about this Witch and where I fit into the tale.

  Alec nodded. “Yes, but it drove her quite mad.”

  “She started raving about a prophecy and how the Devil would claim the Earth with the help of a trio born from fire. It would have to be a really powerful demon to capture the Devil’s interest though...” Saskia’s voice trailed off as she got lost in her own thoughts.

  “I’m not a powerful Demon, though,” I whispered. This was all getting too much, I didn’t feel powerful and I certainly didn’t feel demonic even though, apparently, I was almost as powerful as Lucifer. This was starting to become one hell of a clusterfuck.

  “You have the eyes of one,” Fenris stated matter-of-factly.

  My anger rose to the surface again. “A high-class demon did this to me. I wasn’t born with these.”

  “Doesn’t mean you’re not a powerful demon in your own right though,” Fenris retorted.

  Alec let out a low whistle pulling me from the dark depths of Fenris’ eyes. “You’ve met one of Lucifer’s inner circle? Christ, I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy.”

  I got the impression Alec had met one too. Were Hell Hounds actually from Hell? I went to ask Alec the question but something in his eyes stopped me. Seemed like he had a story he didn’t want to share with the rest of the team. I could respect that, but I was curious. I narrowed my eyes at him. A silent warning that this conversation wasn’t over. I wanted to pick his brains about Lucifer and his personal demons to see if I could get any more information on them.

  “So, what exactly is a Morta?” I asked and Alec shot me a grateful look for changing the subject.

  Saskia’s voice dropped to a whisper. “They’re basically a harbinger of death, destruction and chaos.”

  I gulped. That didn’t sound pleasant at all.

  I looked at the three of them. “And you think this Morta is part of the trio in the prophecy?”

  “There are loads of theories but nothing concrete. I mean, a Morta is heralded as more like omen rather than a being or actual creature. It could be anything. And there hasn’t been a Sin Reaper topside for centuries,” Fenris uttered.

  “Topside?”

  Fenris smiled down at me. “Sorry, I forgot you’re new to this. I mean on the mortal plane. Sin Reapers usually reside in Hell and rarely venture in the land of the living. The
y have access to all the Sinners they could need down there so mingling with people who are actually alive seems unnecessary.”

  I fell back against this sofa with a thud. What the Hell was I? I had so many questions. The more information I got, the more questions I seemed to have. I had no idea what I was capable of and that was fucking scary.

  I needed a distraction. “How about a tour?”

  Saskia jumped up and clapped her hands. “I thought you’d never ask.”

  She grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet. How on earth had I ever thought this woman was dainty? She was a firecracker and larger than life. I looked down at the guys hoping that they would tag along as some sort of buffer, but I wasn’t going to be that lucky.

  Before I could even ask, Saskia swept me out of the room dragging me behind her. As the door closed behind me the sound of the guys laughing reached my ears. It was comforting to think there was at least some happiness in this place.

  Even if it was a little twisted.

  Chapter 18

  LORI

  The base was massive. It went on for miles. Saskia took me round the entire place including all the units outside. There was on-site housing for the other teams; only the Alpha team resided in the mansion. They also had their own training facilities including various obstacle courses, some of which looked like fun, a vehicle training course, and on the other side of the woods was a small airfield. My ears had pricked over the vehicle training course and I had asked Saskia about it. She said it was more like a glorified racetrack and that if I had a thing for cars, I should talk to Alec. She’d shown me the garage and all the field vehicles. They seemed pretty standard issue for a special tactic unit. Jeeps, motorbikes and machines built for speed and handling, but my curiosity had been piqued by the locked door in the garage. Saskia had said that area was off limits, like Cassian’s basement and Jasper’s tower, that was Alec’s space and I could only go in there with his invitation.

  Wow, these guys had some secrets. But I guess I could understand that. After all, it seemed I had my own to contend with. My problem was that I just didn’t know what they were.