Page 155 of Dark Souls

God, yes. That wasn’t even a question. But I didn’t want to do anything without Luka agreeing to it. “Not yet. We have to keep things as they are to avoid any suspicion.”

“Gotcha. Just say the word and poof,” Leif twisted his hand and the silvery bubble disappeared. “Your man will be free to tan.”

I rolled my eyes and yanked open the kitchen door. The others followed me in, but I was already rushing down the hall, searching every room. Nothing.

I stopped at the bottom of the stairs and peered up. “Luka?” Silence. “Heathen?” More silence. Where the hell was he? It was nighttime, so obviously, he could be anywhere. I opened the front door and stood on the veranda, taking in the stark and harsh cliff edge and never-ending sea. There was no sign of him out there either. My stomach tied itself into knots as the wind whipped my hair around my face. Something felt wrong. Rue felt restless, too. It wasn’t unusual for Luka or Heathen to disappear during the late hours of the night but this just felt… different.

“Any sign of him?” Lorcan asked, stepping up next to me on the creaking decking. I shook my head. “I can only scent one male that’s been here. And from the clothes in the bedroom, it’s Luka. Whoever The Devil is, they are clever enough to disguise their scent when they come here.”

“I don’t like this, Lorc. Something just feels off. He should be here.”

“I know I should probably try to comfort you, tell you that I am sure he is fine, and you’re worrying about nothing, but I have learned to trust those instincts, especially when it comes to soulmates,” he replied, and I turned to look at him. “Is there any other place he would go?”

I shook my head. “Unless... there might be anUndergroundevent tonight.”

I dashed into the library, finding Leif and my grandma already there. Leif was overly animated as he flicked through the mountains of Knowltons’ spell books like a kid on Christmas morning. “Jesus fucking H. This is like eight hundred years old! And it’s just been sitting here for years collecting dust!” He started piling them under his arms. “You’re mine now. Mine. Mine. Oh, baby, you are definitely mine. Book of Malicious Codex... come to daddy.”

Ignoring him, I grabbed Luka’s laptop and turned it on. Grandma came and sat next to me as my knee bounced impatiently for the login to appear. Typing in his password again, I opened the calendar and groaned when I saw that today’s date was empty. There was nothing happening. There was an event tomorrow night called Fright Night, but that didn’t help me know where my mate was right now.

“Grandma, can I borrow your phone again?” I asked, slamming the laptop shut. I’d already tried to ring my old phone, which Luka now used as his, many times tonight but got his voicemail every time. I growled with frustration when it happened again.

“So, what do we do now?” Lorcan asked, flopping down into an armchair that sent a flurry of dust in the air around him. He coughed and waved his hand in front of his face as I fell back onto the cushions of the sofa, too.

“Wait here, I guess. I have no idea where he is, but I know that when the sun comes up in…” I grabbed my grandma’s arm to look at her watch. “... five hours. He will have to be back.”

“Fine by me,” Leif mumbled. His head was already deep in a spell book as he kicked his boots up onto the old desk and he leaned back in the office chair. “That gives me plenty of time to read.”

I stood up and grabbed the pile of books that I knew from Calli’s translations had specific information about Demonski Upirs in them. “Start with these, please. There has to be a way to break the spell Heathen is under somewhere in these.”

Leif saluted me, throwing down the book he was reading and picking up the one on top of my pile. I smiled at him as he leaned back and made an apple appear in his hand. He took a huge bite as his multi-coloured eyes swirled with that spark of joy he always got when he immersed himself in magic. A spark that had been so dull for the last few weeks was suddenly vibrant, and it sent a warmth to my chest to see it returning.

“What? You’re staring,” he mumbled, never taking his eyes off the page he was reading.

“Nothing. I’m just glad you are back.”

“I’ve been back from Heroux for over a week, weirdo.”

“I know,” I smiled wider before turning my back to leave him in peace. “I’m just going to check upstairs.”

“Want me to come?” Lorcan asked from the armchair.

“No. I’m good, thanks.”

“Go and get some sleep. I’ll shout if he calls,” Grandma said.

I made my way up to the bedroom and stopped in the doorway. Nothing was out of place. Everything was how we left it. Yet, I couldn’t shake that feeling that something was different. I stepped inside and looked around carefully, opening the drawers and running my hands over the few items of clothes he had hanging up on the open rail. I grabbed his worn leather jacket off the hanger and pulled it on over my shoulders. It swamped me completely but the smell of him engulfed me like a much-needed embrace. I fell onto the bed and curled up, pulling the jacket around my body and staring out the window at the night’s sky.

“Where are you, Red?” I whispered, breathing in his scent to calm the anxiety that just wouldn’t ease up. I wasn’t sure how long I stayed like that for, but eventually, the sound of the waves roaring against the rocks and the cawing of ravens that flocked around the cliff’s edge forced my eyelids to close, and I fell into a dreamless sleep.

Wake up, Ilaria.

I woke abruptly to Rue’s voice in my head, sweat coating my skin as the blaring sun shone down on me through the window. With Luka’s leather jacket still wrapped around me, I felt like I was in a cocoon of heat as I peeled it away and sat up. Wait. The sun. He had to be back.

Racing down the stairs, I sprinted into the library using my vampire speed, only to find my grandma and Lorcan asleep on the sofas and Leif in pretty much the same position, still buried deep in a book.

“Morning, sis. Sleep well?” he asked from behind the leather cover.

“Where’s Luka? Heathen? Did he come back?”

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