Page 59 of Dark Souls

“Why?”

“I killed my dad in his sleep.”

My feet halted. The nonchalance in her voice was almost as startling as the confession. She turned to see me standing still in shock. With a roar of laughter, she threw her head back. She was completely unhinged. Yet, she seemed so free.

“Don’t worry, he deserved it. He was an abusive bastard. Towards me and my siblings. But he was my mum’s fated mate, so you know. I did the crime, I’ll do the time. I don’t give a fuck. At least my sister and brother are free of him now.”

“Why didn’t the Alpha stand up for you? If he was so abusive?”

“Because no one believed me. My mum was too distraught by his death to tell the truth. That she’d been turning a blind eye to the things she knew were happening just because of the mate bond. He had rage issues. It turns out I have them too.” She shrugged her shoulders and kept walking.

Jeez.

No wonder this girl was messed up. Her own pack had cast her out for protecting herself against someone who was supposed to care for her. I felt for her. But that didn’t explain how she ended up as a member ofThe Underground. To even be considered, wouldn’t you need to be super rich?

“How did you get into this place, then? Not being a bitch, but if you were exiled, surely you wouldn’t have much.”

“I didn’t. Then I went and got myself a sugar daddy.” She winked. “He’s a member here. He pays for my membership and when he can’t attend, he sends me in his place. You know, for bidding purposes.”

She pushed open a heavy metal door and an enormous room appeared full of bodies. The noise was deafening. There was booming rock music blaring from speakers and people were shouting over each other to speak. I was a little shocked at just how many people there were. With high stands like a football stadium around a large combat arena in the centre, it felt more like a concert where everyone was waiting for the main act to come on stage. The air was thick with excitement and rowdy eagerness to see something dark and taboo.

“Ah, right,” I shouted over the noise, trying to keep our conversation going, feeling more fucking lost than before. So, was tonight about money? Gambling? Arena of Death… were we bidding on people’s lives? “So, uh, how long have you been coming to these things?”

“A few years. It’s fun. You’ll love it. There is just something so freeing about being able to let your depraved, dark desires come out to play and not feel an ounce of judgment from anyone here. It’s in our nature, you know? Like we are beasts, yet society has trained us to all act like humans. To live a life that is so unnatural to our genetics.The Undergroundgives us the freedom to truly be ourselves. Honestly, I think it probably saves lives, too.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, everything that happens here is contained. There are very few rules to follow at each event. But if you fuck up, you’re…” She made a slitting action across her throat with her finger. “But because of the nature of the events, it satisfies the urges and cravings of our beasts. The members here are less likely to go and act on those impulses in the real world if they can do it here.”

That kind of made sense. Living with a bloodthirsty counterpart in my head who couldn’t help but want to suck the blood of every human in a mile radius was exhausting. The urges never went away, but I was strong enough to control them. Some vampires weren’t. I could see how a place like this would be inviting for our kind.

“Come on. Let’s grab a drink and find some seats before they’re all taken.”

Once we grabbed some drinks from the bar, ignoring the leery eyes that scraped over my body like I was a feast they wanted to tuck into, Sammi and I sat down halfway up the stand. She exhaled with buzzing excitement as she glanced down at the empty arena.

“These are good seats! We can see the action perfectly but won’t ruin our dresses with bits of flesh and gore. One year, I got some intestines stuck in my hair. That was a nightmare to wash out.”

I wasn’t sure I heard her correctly over the music. Did she just say she had intestines in her hair? Before I could question her, she shoved a programme in my hands. I stared at the scheduled fights that members could bet on throughout the night. Round one was between a wolf and a fae. Round two was the winner from round one against a vampire. Then round three, the winner against a wolf/vampire hybrid and so on.

While I was distracted, a man suddenly appeared next to her. “Any bets?”

“Yes. 10k on the wolf in round one. 10k on the vampire in round two. Then I’m betting 50k on the wolf and vampire hybrid, Ripper, to make it all the way to the final. And finally, I am betting 100k on The Dealer killing him within the first three minutes.”

My interest perked up on that name, but I tilted my head, glancing around at the crowd to not give away my reaction as my mind raced. Sammi wrote out a cheque and handed it to the man.

The Dealer.That was who Heathen said I should ask for if I found myself in any trouble and he wasn’t around. The man whose trust I had to gain because he could help me find the answers I was searching for. I hadn’t seen any signs that Heathen was here but I also knew he most likely wouldn’t be walking around in his true form. He’d be in some kind of disguise. Or perhaps, like he said, he wouldn’t be here at all.

“Any bets?” The man directed his attention to me and I shook my head. He moved on to the row behind us and I leaned into Sammi’s side to shout over the music.

“The Dealer? Who is that?”

She smiled wickedly, with greed in her eyes that hadn’t been there before. “Oh, you are in for a treat. He is delicious. A real snack if you’re into dark and dangerous. He runs this whole place. Well, The Devil owns the club but no one knows who he is. The Dealer is the face of the operation. The authority. He scares the shit out of everyone because he is just so fucked-up. You do not want to end up on the wrong side of him. There are rumours that he kills when he fucks. And that he blends the brains of his victims into a Bloody Mary when he’s finished torturing them. Oh, and apparently, he killed his entire family. But no one knows anything real about him for certain. He’s very mysterious. The fact he’s fighting tonight is why it’s so busy.”

“Shit. What is he?” I asked, my curiosity sparking. Finally, I was getting somewhere.

“Vampire. But shit, he’s powerful. Or maybe it’s just because he doesn’t give a fuck about anything or anyone that makes him so ruthless. Apparently, he turned his humanity off years ago.”

“So, he runs the club? All the events? On his own?”

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