Seduced by Power by Alex Lux Page A

pulled out, being severed from my form. "No! Put me back. I need my body."
    Like losing a limb. No, not like that. That's a tangible pain. This was like dying without losing consciousness. Like being cut in half and living through the pain. Never dying, but always dying.
    Death without release, only more pain.
    My body faded away as the dark mist carried me, my essence, my soul, into another world—a world that didn't know about light or love or hope.
    A world that fed on darkness and pain.
    A world, Blake warned me, I'd never survive.

E LEVEN
     
Darkness Tell Us Truths
     
R OSE
     

     
     
    And oftentimes, to win us to our harm,
    The instruments of darkness tell us truths,
    Win us with honest trifles, to betray's
    In deepest consequence.
    — William Shakespeare, Macbeth
     
     
    Dear Diary,
     
    Who are we, really? Are we the product of our genetics? A blank slate that our environment fills up with ideas? Can we ever change?
     
    I'm hoping we can. I have to believe that the blood pumping through my veins doesn't define me. If it does, we're all in trouble.

    I STILL WORE a body similar to the one I'd just been ripped from, still felt all the physical sensations of my environment. Heat, pain, ache, hunger.
    The hunger was new. I hadn't been hungry when we did the ceremony, which was supposed to be a simple talk, not a yank-me-from-my-body trip to the demon world.
    The hunger, it gnawed at me, making me empty and desperate.
    It wasn't the kind of hunger that could be fed by a sandwich. No, this felt soul deep and connected to my awful power. I shuddered, imagining what exactly this darkness in me would  consume before it would stop tearing me apart from the inside out.
    Bent over, shivering despite the oppressive heat, huddled in a corner in a dark, dank room, I made myself as small as I could and surveyed my surroundings.
    I could see why Blake wanted to leave this place so badly, why he was willing to sacrifice someone to stay on our world. The darkness seemed alive, as if it would devour any color or light that had the audacity to penetrate this dimension.
    Fires burned in pits dug deep into the rocky ground. Around me stood tall walls of stone, built so high I couldn't view the ceiling, if there even was one. Hallways branched out in multiple directions and screams of agony echoed through the chamber. Fear and pain squeezed my heart. Derek was here, and one of those screams was his.
    His need, his hurting, pushed me to take action. I'd come for answers, and I intended to find them.
    Standing, I strode with confidence I didn't feel toward one hallway, when a hunched over demon with blue skin and black eyes grabbed my wrist and pulled me into a shadowed corner.
    A scream escaped my throat, and he covered my mouth with his scaly, clawed hand. "You not be making noise here. They find you and eat you they will. And that path, the one you be on, that take you straight to the mouth of the dragon. You not be wanting that."
    Struggling against his wiry body, his thick skin scratching me, I pushed him away. "Get off me. What are you? Who are you?"
    I wanted to run, to get away from this creature with eyes that sunk into nothing, but what was the point of being here if I refused to talk to a demon?
    "You be the one calling, I be the one answering."
    Body shaking, I forced myself to stand and face him. "I wanted to talk, not come here in person. I was told the ceremony was only for making contact."
    He shook his head, thick brick red hair as coarse as a horse's tale fell around his misshapen, hideous face. "Twas for talking, but you be feeding the fire too much pain with your blood. It too sweet to resist. We needed to taste more."
    Ugh. Oh God, I almost puked. They pulled me here to feed on me?
    "You have friends of mine trapped here." Friends. No. Family. My whole heart. "I need to get them back."
    The ground trembled beneath us, and the fire pits shot out sprays of red light. I braced myself against the wall as a roar filled