Page 162 of Dark Souls

“So… Ilaria’s ex is now her mate’s little bitch? Oh, this is gold.” Leif laughed. It took everything in me not to throw a rock at his head.

“He needs to feed. Only then will he be able to tell us what happened,” Grandpapi said, stepping towards Ronnie and bending down. “Ronnie? Leif, Sienna and Raiden are going to stay here and protect the bones. Ilaria and I are going to take you to feed.”

He started shaking his head. “I can’t leave them here–”

“You won’t. We will be back, and we will take them with us. You did well, and you’ve done what your master asked of you. What else did he ask you to do?”

Ronnie lifted his head and looked directly at me. His red eyes shimmered so beautifully in the sunlight. As much as he was a mess right now, it was clear to see that this man would make a beautiful vampire.

“Find and protect her.”

I sucked in a sharp breath. My heart nearly broke all over again just knowing that Luka did all this because he felt like he had no other choice.

“And her,” he pointed down at the pictures in the dirt. “Protect them both because Master can’t.”

I pressed my lips together as the raw emotions took me by the throat once more. Luka was in serious trouble. I knew that anxious feeling in the pit of my stomach that just would not die was there for a reason. A warning that only truly bonded mates can experience. He would never have gone to such extreme measures unless he really believed he wouldn’t be around much longer to protect his sister. To protect me.

“I need to find him. I need to find Luka. He’s not okay, Grandpapi, I know it. Something awful is going to happen to him if we aren’t quick enough and–” Firm hands were placed on my shoulders.

“We will find him. But we can’t rush this, Ilaria. Too much is at stake. One step at a time. We feed Ronnie, and then he tells us what he knows. Okay?”

I nodded, pulling myself back to my feet as we both grabbed Ronnie’s arms and hauled him up onto his shaking legs.

“It’s your lucky day, Ron bear,” Raiden said with a twinkle in his eyes as Grandpapi and I helped Ronnie into a pair of sweatpants. “New entry on the system today. Seven men wanted for child-trafficking in Manchester. Sources say they are all hiding out in an abandoned warehouse in the city.”

Leif opened a portal to the location and the three of us stepped through to a dive alleyway marked with graffiti and littered with needles and cigarette butts. We tugged Ronnie towards a dented metal door.

“You will feel better after this. Go wild, Ronnie. These men are the true monsters of this world, so no need to feel any remorse for taking every drop,” Grandpapi said before mumbling some Latin, which bent the metal bolt on the door right off. He kicked it open with his foot to show a darkened warehouse. Deep voices echoed in the distance.

Ronnie didn’t even look back as he zoomed inside with his mouth wide and teeth bared. I glanced at Grandpapi, who gestured for me to enter next. “After you, Princess.”

In under ten minutes and between the three of us, all seven bodies had been drained of blood, and we’d piled them in the centre of the warehouse, setting them on fire and transported ourselves back to the others.

Ronnie slumped down on the floor, with his knees bent and head hanging in his hands. Sienna sat next to him, pulling him in for a hug when she realised his hunger was sated and his eyes were no longer gleaming with bloodlust. They wouldn’t return to their normal brown for a few days yet. Not until he had greater control over his thirst. But they were much duller than before.

The rest of us walked away to give them a moment of privacy, which really pained me to do. I was trying not to be a selfish asshole right now, but I needed to know what the hell Luka had told Ronnie before he turned him. I needed to know what was happening to my mate.

After a minute, I couldn’t wait any longer. Ignoring Raiden’s protests, I marched up to them and sat down on the other side of Ronnie. He lifted his head to look at me and even gave a half smile.

“So, I met your soulmate. Charming dude,” were the first words out of his mouth. Despite my misery, I snorted, which turned into a desperate choking sound as the panic sank in. Ronnie threw his arm around my shoulder and pulled me to his side.

“I’m sorry, Ronnie. You were never meant to get dragged into all this.”

“Don’t be. I agreed to it all.”

“What?” I sat up straight to gape at him.

“Well,” he chuckled, shaking his head. “Maybe not all of it. Being abducted from my home by some scary ass demon, flying three hundred metres in the air all the way to Oregon by my ankle and then tied to a chair in your apartment wasn’t exactly consensual, but the rest…”

“Wait! Heathen kidnapped you?”

“The sarcastic as fuck winged one with horns? Yeah. He kept looking at the clock when he had me tied to that chair, shitting my fucking pants, thinking I was about to be eaten alive and then as soon as the clock struck the next hour, boom! He shifted into a red-headed tattooed punk who told me he was your soulmate and if I cared about you, wanted to ensure you stayed alive as well as everyone I loved, I would agree to his plan.”

“What plan? Where is he?” I asked, unable to sit still as I shuffled closer to him and grabbed his arm with desperation.

“He said he didn’t have much time, but he was going to tell me everything I needed to know. About who he is, what he is and how he is controlled by a man called The Devil. That he works for him inThe Undergroundbecause it’s the only way to keep his sister alive. He told me that The Devil wears a sigil around his neck and his demon’s soul is siphoned to it. He uses it to control his shifts and makes Heathen do whatever he demands, because if the sigil is destroyed, it will kill them permanently. It also stops him from harming or killing The Devil and any of his family.”

“Did he say who The Devil was?”

---