Page 15 of Dark Souls Academy: The Sacrifice

“You may never fully trust me, but know that I can identify those who need to be eliminated. There are only three of us with any morals. I won’t name them now, in case this doesn’t go as planned. They’ll fight alongside us regardless.” His desperate tone suggested he was speaking the truth, but trust was not something I could give easily.

I needed to find spells or curses to verify his honesty. I turned away. This conversation was over. “I have a lot to think about. The lack of trust is the issue, so I’ll be back when I find a way for you to prove your sincerity.”

He let out another bitter laugh. “So, you’re just going to keep me locked up here? I can’t survive on just food. I need to feed off the damned souls of Hell and lust.”

I hesitated, caught off guard. “How long can you go without it?”

I knew demons fed off the souls of the damned to gain power or avoid starvation. The memory of their agonized wails from my childhood flashed in my mind, and I suppressed a shiver. Another issue to address if it proved true. Lust mightbe compliant now, but like other powerful Potens Demons, he wouldn’t be contained forever.

“About three days, but I’ll become primal if you wait that long.” He meant he’d become a predator and go hunting for his meal, which wouldn’t be good for anyone.

So, two days. The rectangular flowers around the academy walls prevented the souls from coming into the Academy. How was I supposed to get one down here?

Another fucking thing I needed to find answers for. A flare of longing for my mates hit me. They were so good at finding answers to relieve my stress.Not anymore,a bitter part of my brain whispered, taunting me.

"Understood.” I nodded.

He called for me again, but I didn’t listen. Right before I closed the door, he threw a metaphorical grenade through the crack, blowing me up into tiny pieces.

“I know where your parents are!”

CHAPTER SEVEN

It took every ounce of my willpower not to storm back into that room. I slammed the door on Lust instead. How the hell did he know I was searching for my parents? The demons I’d released were questioned only about Lucifer, not my family. Did Lucifer know?

Shit, if he did, they would be used as a bargaining chip. It would fucking work, too. I’d give myself up for them in a heartbeat. Those glorious people deserved freedom. They gave up everything to protect me and Zar, so I’d do the same.

Too rattled to go back in there, I forced my limbs to move away. The clever demon reminded me how much trouble I would be in if the Devil found out my biggest weakness, my heart. Lucifer loved his mind games, and he took pride in winning them. Using those precious to me would quickly turn the tables, making it his game. One that I couldn’t play. When I went back, it had to be with a winning hand or at least a really good bluff.

“What are you going to do?” Ark asked, startling me slightly. I almost forgot he was there; the guy was unnervingly quiet.

Instead of telling him I had no idea, a thought popped into my scrambled brain. “Do you know the things I need answered, or do I have to go over that?” I needed to see how intelligenthe was. If he doodled on his communicator the whole time, not paying attention, I didn’t need his help because he didn’t take this seriously.

He nodded, holding up a finger as he spoke. “First, you need a truth potion or something to verify if he can be trusted.” He lifted a second finger, his eyes shifting as he thought. “Next, find out if he really needs souls to survive, and how to get one in here for him. I’m not sure if it’s true or just a rumor.” A third finger emerged slowly. “Also, more information about the Sins. If we kill a lot of these demons, will it doom us all? And—” He raised a fourth finger with a wicked grin “since he’s the original source of lust, does he perform better than any Sex Demon? Because I’m more then ready to volunteer for that test.”

I snorted and couldn’t help but grin. “Good. Get all the Sex Demons eager to help. Take them to the Headmaster to do the silencing oath.” He shuddered at the last part. “Then, get them to look into those answers for me. We have two days, so they need to move fast. Do not let anything leak to my mates, understood?”

The gleam in his eye made me roll mine. “If he consents to the testing, you can fuck the prisoner. I don’t care. He must stay bound, though. Other than that, all it could do is help butter him up.”

I moved to leave but turned back around. “Oh, and don’t die. You’re more useful than I thought. Keep me updated. I’m going to the other prisoners tointerrogatethem for answers.”

He chuckled as he lifted his communicator to start everything. “I’m glad you’re finally using us, Queen Ivy. You may never be my Queen mate, but you’re a good ruler.”

I didn’t respond to him. My cheeks were too red to even glance his way. For all my power and tough skin, it felt great to hear that I wasn’t completely screwing this up.

The next room was the same as the last, but this one held a highly ranked Nati Demon, guard of Lucifer’s army, so he didn’tpose a threat of magically escaping. Nati Demons were pure blooded demons, but they were also the weakest. The closer to human a demon looked, the higher their power.

Except if you were my attention hungry demon who demanded to always have our horns out. She could put them away, but she wanted everyone to see her. Being hidden for so long had given my demon a complex. I wore them with pride, though.

This demon was purple skinned with a circular body, a long snout looking thing, and beefy extremities. Four red eyes that were bunched together narrowed at me as I approached the large metal table he was strapped to. He thrashed around weakly, but his strength had gone yesterday. The Nati Demon had led a small horde of demons in the academy yesterday to kidnap me. It was an understatement to say they were unsuccessful. A slave heard their plan and warned me.

“Hello, Nomad, how are you doing today?” I purred out. My finger caressed his cheek to throw him off guard.

When he flinched at my touch, a wave of guilt hit me. It didn’t last long. The flashes of how I found him, forcing himself onto one of the smaller slave guys, made my spine harden. He didn’t deserve my sympathy.

“Fuck your Nomad shit.” I ignored that comment.

Demons didn’t use names because they had power. The people that knew a demon-name could summon that demon whenever. There were some exceptions like nicknames—even those could be used against them if enough people knew it. Or angel names like Lucifer.

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