Page 207 of Dark Souls

“More like a mission. Have you met Leif yet?”

“Briefly.”

“Well, I’m here to drag his crazy ass back to Heroux and force him to face his responsibilities. And, of course, I came to see my girl. I was honestly shocked to hear everything that has been happening between you two. I can’t believe she didn’t tell me.” She peered down into her lap, looking deflated.

“Don’t be mad at her. I told her not to tell anyone about me. Our situation, it was… fucked.”

She lifted her gaze to meet mine with a nod of her head. “I heard. I’m sorry. For everything you’ve been through. You and your family didn’t deserve any of it. But I am so glad you and Ilaria found each other and figured this all out. Once you have that girl in your corner, you’ll never feel alone again. She will fight for you till the end of time. I should know.”

I bobbed my head as my chest expanded with pride. “I do know. She saved my life. In every way possible.”

Neve reached across, hesitated slightly but decided to go ahead and pat my hand that was resting on my towel-covered thigh. Brave girl. “I’m not really here to grill you. I know she’s in safe hands with you. I don’t even have to give you the whole ‘ever hurt her, and I’ll boil your balls and have them for breakfast’ speech because I know you never will.”

I narrowed my eyes a little in surprise. Of course, I knew I would rather cut my own balls off and eat them for breakfast before ever hurting Ilaria, but this woman had just met me, and I wasn’t the most delightful or charming of men. How could she trust me so easily?

“That’s it? You really think I deserve her?”

“What makes you think you don’t?”

I stared down at my hands, scarred and rough from years of violence and brutality. Hands that had committed so many horrific acts. The evil masterminds ordered me to do them, but the truth was, I still had. I killed, I tortured, I sinned to keep my sister alive. I put one life above hundreds of others. And I still would. So what did that make me? I wasn’t even sure.

“She has seen all the worst parts of me and she stayed. She accepted me for my darkness, but… I wish I wasn’t so broken that I could give her some of my light. I wasn’t always like this. I’m not sure if I ever will be the man I once was. What if what I am, what they turned me into, isn’t enough to keep her happy?”

“Who you are, right at this very moment, is who she fell in love with. You are enough for her. And over time, parts of the man you used to be before this nightmare might return, or they might not. But Ilaria will be here loving you for who you are, regardless.”

I exhaled a breath as I tensed my jaw. I wanted so badly to find the parts of myself that I’d buried deep beneath the steel layers of my cold exterior. My lack of humanity was a shield. A form of protection from the harshness the world had always shown me and even though I was technically free now, I was having a hard time accepting it. I wasn’t sure I truly trusted that this still wouldn’t blow up in my face. That the world won’t turn against me again when they know what I am. Ruby called me a royal. I knew she was subtly telling me I was under their protection now, but they were just words. Actions were what I believed in. Ilaria had once said she didn’t want me to turn my humanity back on for her. I had to want to do it for myself. I wanted to, but I didn’t know where to even begin.

The bedroom door opened and Ilaria leaned her tiny body in a black corset and little plaid skirt against the frame, placing one hand on her hip. She gave me the most dazzling smile and then looked between us both.

“I approve!” Neve pointed to my face and grinned.

“Wouldn’t matter if you didn’t.” Ilaria stepped into the room. “But I knew you would. What are you doing here, Neve?”

“Leif,” Neve said in a heavy exhale while giving Ilaria a look that spoke a thousand words. Words that I clearly wasn’t privy to.

“Ah. Well, good luck with that. And you might have to hang around for a few days because he’s still working on Hana’s sigil so until he cracks that, he won’t be leaving.”

“Hana’s sigil?” I instantly stood to my feet, my overprotective nature sparking on hearing those words, especially when they were mentioned in the same sentence as an Anderson warlock.

Ilaria sensed my uneasiness and walked towards me, wrapping her arms around my waist. “It’s okay. It’s safe. Leif is being extremely careful and is trying to reverse the spell and free her demon, but without the original spell that was used to create it, it’s proving pretty difficult. He’s up against some extremely powerful and dark magic from centuries ago. Do you have any idea where the spell might be? Leif has checked The Book of Dark Magic our great-grandmother created, but it was never put in there.”

I shook my head. I knew I had to place a little trust in Ilaria’s family and if anyone could free Hana’s demon, it would be an Anderson, but it still made me feel a certain way.

“Mitchell knew the spell by heart. He would speak it every time he summoned Heathen. I could probably repeat it if that helps. I’ve heard it enough times.”

“That’s the summoning spell. Not the original soul possession spell, which is what Leif needs. So that won’t—” She paused, her eyes growing wider. “Wait. That’s it. Now we know the soul binding works to break the spell, we can use the sigil to summon Hana’s demon and then Ronnie can give her his soul. Just like I did for Heathen. And don’t worry if you can’t remember it. It might be more fun to find creative ways of extracting it from Mitchell’s thoughts.” She smirked with a wicked glint in her pink eyes that made me instantly hard again.

How was this girl so fucking perfect for me? I ran my hands over her now dry white hair and stared into those sexy eyes.

“You are a genius, love.”

“Seriously?” Neve scoffed. We turned to look at her as she gestured her head towards the erection that the flimsy towel couldn’t hide.

“Are you really surprised? You heard us in there. My man can fuck.” Ilaria grinned smugly, which caused Neve to roll her eyes and reach into a large bag. She pulled out some grey joggers and a white tank top and flung them towards me. I caught them in my hands and frowned.

“Not really my style, but thanks.”

“Courtesy of your new father-in-law. You look about the same size so they should fit.”

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