Page 184 of Dark Souls

“How many of you waited to save your soulmates when they were in danger?” I snapped, glaring at them all. I stared at Grandpops first, raising my eyebrow. He glanced at Grandma Alina with a sheepish expression. I moved my gaze between Grandpapi and Grandma Maddy next. “Hmm? How many of you just sat back and did nothing while you allowed your soulmate to risk their own life?” Grandma Maddy lowered her gaze to her lap and Grandpapi rubbed the stubble on his chin. I pushed off the window and stepped closer to my parents. “You moved hell on Earth to save each other. Yet, you expect me to do nothing but wait?”

“It’s just a few hours, Ilaria. And then we will have them exactly where we need them. In our custody and clueless to our knowledge.”

A tap on the window behind me caused all my family to glance towards it. I turned and walked over to find a large black raven sitting on the ledge outside with something dangling from its beak. Rain pelted against its black feathers, giving it a shiny purple hue as its beady eyes stared directly at me, commanding me over.

“Is that a raven?” Mum asked, stepping closer, but I held my arm out to stop her.

“Don’t spook it,” I whispered. “Everyone, stay where you are. I know this raven. I think it’s Luka’s pet or something. It helped me once before.”

I walked cautiously towards the window, placing my hand on the handle to lift the latch. It hopped back on its feet as I slowly opened it before it tilted its head at me.

“Hello friend,” I whispered. “What do you have there?”

Holding out the palm of my hand through the window, it lowered its beak and released the item into my hand. It gave a loud cawing and then took off into the sky once more. I watched it disappear, a black silhouette against the grey, stormy skies, before looking down at the treasure the bird had gifted me. I glided my thumb across the velvet material of my choker. The diamond that dangled glinted against the warm lights above me and I smiled.

“What is it?” Grandma Alina asked, coming to stand beside me.

“I need Sienna!” I shouted, clasping my hand around it tightly. “I need Sienna right now. Or Raiden. Where are they?”

“At their house, I guess. What’s going on, Princess? Did you say you think that bird belongs to Luka?” Grandpapi asked, staring out of the window in the direction the Raven had travelled.

“It’s a message. This choker has a camera in it. I’m going to Raiden’s.”

I grabbed Leif’s phone off the desk and before any of them could stop me; I transported myself to Raiden’s sleek, modern house in the mountains of Utah.

The house was dark and silent so I tried upstairs. I zoomed towards their bedroom, but just as I entered, a firm hand wrapped around my throat and tossed me against the wall, knocking the air from my lungs on impact as a growl of warning rocketed from my uncle.

“It’s… me!” I wheezed against his steel grip. He immediately let go of me. My body dropped the few feet it had been dangling by his hand as I tried to catch my breath. Raiden’s silver eyes widened before he crouched down, grabbed my arms and helped me to stand again.

“Ilaria? Jesus fucking Christ. What have I told you about sneaking up on me? I could have killed you!”

His dark curls were tousled from what looked like sleep but seeing as it was only late evening in Utah, I guessed it was from some other activity, and he was only wearing a pair of boxers hanging low around his hips. I glanced past him to see Sienna sitting up in their bed, her amber eyes bright and shimmering as her eyebrows pulled down in a frown when she assessed the situation. From her bare shoulders and the way her arms were wrapped tightly around the bedsheet, keeping it close to her body, she was clearly naked. I stormed past Raiden and up to her bed, throwing the choker in her lap.

“I need the camera feed from that. Can you do it here?”

She picked it up, examining it as Raiden groaned at my lack of an explanation. “I’m making some coffee.”

“Is this…?”

“The choker that was confiscated from me on fight night? Yeah. The same one that recorded Luka slicing my initials into his chest. The raven brought it back to me. It can’t be a coincidence. I need to see the footage.”

“Okay, let me get dressed, and we will go to my office,” she said, climbing out of bed as I turned around to give her some privacy.

A few minutes later, Sienna and I were downstairs in her home office, logging into the SIA’s database. Raiden strolled in with three steaming mugs of coffee and handed me one. I smiled, seeing that he had made mine as black as they come, exactly how I liked it. I took a sip as Sienna typed away rapidly at the computer, sticking her tongue out a little in concentration. A puff of purple smoke next to Raiden caused him to jump back, spilling his coffee on the floor, which was rather amusing as he slammed his hand over his bare chest and closed his eyes.

“Fuck! Dad! Will everyone stop trying to give me a heart attack by appearing in my home unannounced and before I have had any coffee?”

“You should really get an alarm detection for magical transportation into this place.” Grandpapi smirked, enjoying the way Raiden narrowed his eyes at him. “Anyone could break in.”

“I can protect my home and my wife all by myself, thank you very much,” Raiden growled, leaning back against the wall and taking a small sip from what was left in his mug. “I let you live just then because I knew it was you.”

“Okay, son. Whatever you say.” Grandpapi patted his shoulder, suppressing a laugh, and then looked over at me. I rolled my eyes.

“Come to babysit me and make sure I don’t do anything you would all deem as impulsive?”

“Something like that,” he replied with a smile. “And I was curious to know what that raven brought you.”

Sienna pushed away from the computer in her desk chair and pointed at the screen. “Come and take a look.”

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