Page 156 of Dark Souls

“Not yet,” Leif muttered. “Dirty stop out was gone all night. I hope he doesn’t make a habit of this, or I’ll be having words.” He mimicked our dad’s voice, which was his favourite party trick, and grinned. His smile fell when he saw my face. Kicking his legs off the table, he dropped the book and walked over to me. “Hey, what’s up?”

“He’s not here, Leif. Something is seriously wrong. The sun is up. The spell! You said so yourself, if he wasn’t here when the sun rose he’d…”

“Burn from the inside out?” he repeated the words I couldn’t bring myself to say. “Shit. But he can’t die, right? Not in his vampire form?”

“No, but what if he was still in Heathen’s form?” I panicked.

Leif shook his head. “No. The spell is for one soul only. A vampire. It only restricts Luka. Maybe that is why he isn’t back? He is still in Heathen’s form?”

“Maybe,” I chewed on my lip as I wrapped my arms around myself. “I still don’t like this. He’d never go this long without contacting me.”

“But you broke your phone, right? Maybe he thinks he can’t contact you.”

“Stop being so logical! I am telling you, something is wrong. I can sense it.” I raced from the room and headed to the corridor, tearing up the rug to lift the latch to the cellars. I can’t believe I didn’t think of checking down here last night. What the hell was I thinking? Luka always said he slept down there when I wasn’t around.

“Ilaria? Where are you going?” Leif shouted, following me down the narrow steps into darkness. “Well, this isn’t creepy at all.”

“This is where the Knowltons used to keep him prisoner. They tortured him down here and sometimes he still comes down here to torture himself.”

“Torture himself? Physically?”

“More mentally. Emotionally. Sometimes, physically. He’s a tortured soul, Leif. In more ways than one, and none of it is his fault, even though he blames himself for everything.”

“Jesus,” was all Leif mumbled behind me as he flicked his wrist and magically lit all the candles on the walls. My heart sank when I saw the abandoned sheets and cushions on the floor. He wasn’t here. I walked around the damp cellar, sinking to my knees to remove the stone that he hid his belongings behind. It was empty.

“What is it?”

“They’re gone. His things are gone. Personal belongings. Things that mean everything to him. They aren’t here. And they weren’t in the library.” I spun around and fell back against the wall with a gasp when I stared at the empty bed of dried flowers and leaves. Panic, harsh and visceral, scraped inside my throat.

“What is it now? You’re freaking me out.” Leif grabbed my shoulder, following my gaze to the bare shrine with a frown.

“His mother’s bones. Her remains are gone. They used to be there.”

“I’m sorry, what? Did you just say his mother’s bones?”

“It’s a long story but…” My hands ripped into my hair as my heart started pounding uncontrollably. “I don’t know what this means. I don’t–” I didn’t want to admit what my brain was telling me because my heart was refusing to accept it. He wouldn’t. He would never leave like this. Just disappear.

“Ilaria!” Grandma’s urgent voice echoed from the top of the stairs and my gaze snapped at her as she and Lorcan appeared in the cellars. “He’s texted.” She held her phone out to me and I dived for it, snatching it out of her grip with desperation.

TELL ILARIA TO MEET ME AT HER APARTMENT ASAP.

I read the text out loud and stared at the words, feeling a whole torrent of emotions. Relief that he was okay and contacting me; wanting to see me. But also confusion and apprehension about what was happening. Why had he taken the only things that meant anything to him out of this place? Why did he want to meet me at my apartment and in the light of day? Even though I had heard from him, something still didn’t sit right with me. The anxiety hadn’t dispersed but only heightened.

If he was out during the day that could only be for two reasons. Either he was in Heathen’s form, but from the capitalised text and wording that seemed unlikely, or The Devil had let him out for a specific reason. And that reason would never be for any good.

“Well, then. Shall we go?” Leif asked, pulling me out of my spiralling thoughts.

“I think I should go alone,” I said slowly, feeling completely out of sorts. I had no idea how to feel about any of this but the desperation to see him pushed all my doubts aside.

“No way,” Lorcan’s deep voice demanded my attention as I glanced up and met his green eyes. “You’ve been saying that something doesn’t feel right. There is no way we are leaving you alone. We go together. You transport me and Leif can transport Grandma.”

“Okay.” I nodded, agreeing without a fight, which was very unlike me, but deep down, I knew it was because Lorcan was right. I wasn’t sure I trusted this. Whatever this was, it didn’t feel like Luka.

We wasted no time in grabbing our stuff and transporting ourselves to Neve’s old apartment in Oregon. As soon as Lorcan and I appeared in the cluttered, brightly coloured living room with Leif and Grandma not far behind, I moved frantically through the flat.

“Luka?”

My hands slammed out to grab the frame of my bedroom door. There he was. In all his ruggedly handsome glory, wearing his ripped jeans and a grungy T-shirt that highlighted his toned physique and tattooed arms that were firmly folded across his chest as he stood in the middle of my bedroom. My immediate instinct was to race towards him, throw my body at his and bury my face in his neck, telling myself how stupid I was to think something was off, but the look on his terrifying face pinned me in place.

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