Catch, Curse, Release (Immortal Warriors #1) ✅ Completed

Chapter Twenty-Two: Show of Power

 Show of Power

A/N: If you hit the video at the start of when Lori begins her song (denoted by the two ** & bold print), then you should be able to read in time to the lyrics (mostly).  Thanks as always for reading and commenting! You guys are awesome!!

=c] wendy

                  

Lori followed Des's lead down the dais.  As they strode down the raised platform, Des directed several soldiers as they pushed a covered lump into the center of the dining hall.

“I don’t even want to guess what you have under that thing,” Lori whispered. The last time she followed him towards an unknown object she ended up in a different reality. This one would probably spit her out into the inside of a volcano on Mars.  

“Relax, they don't have active volcanoes on Mars. Besides, you’re gonna love this,” he answered, looking a little too excited for comfort.

When they reached the center of the floor, Des reached up and pulled the covered sheet in one big jerk much like a magician would. Under the covering were several tall conga drums, though they didn’t look like any Lori had ever seen before.

Around the modified drums he’d arranged several odd looking cymbals. Walking around, Des grabbed a large candelabrum and set it up alongside his drum set. Lori watched as the candelabra flickered with the glow of several tapered candles, casting him in dramatic relief.

Des took position behind the tall drums, indicating where she should stand on the other side of the candelabra. When she was positioned exactly where he wanted her, Des began to pound out a beat with both hands.

Lori listened for a few seconds as he played and found herself feeling more than a little nervous. She knew this song, but wasn’t sure she could do it justice, though that wasn’t what filled her with trepidation.

“Are you sure?” she whispered to him.

“You got this,” he said sure.

“I don’t know if this is the right song for this group. It’s a little…intense.”

“This is the perfect song. Take a deep breath and listen for the cue,” he instructed.

Lori stood fighting back her nerves for a minute, still unsure about Des’s choice. For his part, Des only stared at her, the pupils in his eyes growing wide as the black all but consumed the grey. “Trust me. You can do this. You have to, so breathe and go on my mark.”

She nodded and filled her lungs with oxygen, feeling the expansion in her diaphragm and listened for her cue.

**When she began to sing, the sound came out slow and deep, “There’s a drumming noise inside my head and it starts when you’re around. I swear that you could hear it, it makes such an almighty sound…”

Lori closed her eyes, feeling the drumming music sweep over her as Des played. It was wild and exotic, and fitting for a hall full of wolves. She felt her body sway as she sang the words, feeling connected to the soulful music. The sound of Desmond’s drums echoed off the stone walls around them, sounding deeper and multiplying until it was as layered as the real song, “Louder than sirens. Louder than bells. Sweeter than heaven. And hotter than hell.”

Eyes closed, Lori gained a new appreciation for the Florence and the Machine song. The heavy beats enveloped her, filling her with a sense of something at once entirely foreign and utterly familiar. It was like herself only darker, more base in nature. She could feel it building inside her, the drums adding further to it. Whatever was happening, she knew Des was at the center of it. Whatever magic he was slowly unleashing was getting larger, growing not just inside her but also around the hall, moving through the room, touching everyone before coming back to her.