Page 74 of Dark Souls

“I do, actually.” I narrowed my eyes, studying the little mannerisms that gave away her intrigue. Her head lifted, her eyes sparkled, and her shoulders tensed before she looked away again and scanned the room, pretending to be disinterested. “Why do you want to know his name?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “I just think it might help me find out more about the man I’m supposedly meant to work with to figure this all out. I could do a little research on him. Find some leverage to make him help us.”

My muscles tensed and my jaw clenched. “No. No, definitely don’t do that. Don’t blackmail him. That’s not the way to deal with this.”

She frowned, placing her hands on her hips. “I wasn’t planning on blackmailing him, Christ! I was thinking more along the lines of a deal. He is named The Dealer after all. I think it would work best if I offered him something that he wants in exchange for his help, but in order to do that, I need to know more about him. So, what’s his real name?”

No. That wasn’t it. I could sense she was hiding something. There was more to this. I tilted my head as I watched her making herself busy around the room, opening drawers and grabbing more stuff to put in her rucksack. “What’s going on here?”

“What?” She bristled, her tone defensive. I rolled my tongue over my fangs, making a clicking noise in irritation.

“You still haven’t told me what happened between the two of you. Or why you are so upset.”

“I’m not upset!” There was that defensive tone again. “I’m pissed. There’s a difference. He was exactly what you warned me he would be. Cold, heartless and a complete asshole. He refused to help and practically told me he wanted nothing to do with… this. He told me you killed that fae, and it made me feel like shit. That’s all you need to know.”

“He wasn’t always that way,” I muttered, rubbing my claw up and down the back of my head. She paused her rampage around the room, my words seeming to gain her undivided attention.

“You know him well?”

“I used to,” I answered honestly. “A long time ago…” I growled when the block stopped the words I wanted to say from leaving my lips. “I guess you could say we used to be friends. But now, I don’t think I recognise him at all. This life has not been kind to him, Snow. It’s not been kind to either of us. And sometimes, there is only so much you can take before you snap. Before all you know is your own pain and darkness. So, instead of fighting it, you find a home in it.”

She chewed her bottom lip between her fangs, lost in her thoughts. I stood up and walked around the bed towards her, tugging her lip out from her teeth with my talon before her fang punctured her soft flesh and had me diving for another taste of her blood again. Because I was a weak, weak demon who could not resist that kind of temptation.

She peered up at me, those dazzling pink eyes blinding me as they warmed my black soul. “Is that the same for you, demon?” she whispered.

“Yes,” I husked, leaning down to brush my lips against hers. “I was starting to believe that I would spend eternity alone in the unyielding darkness. That the black void of my existence would be all I’d ever know until my last breath. But then…” I paused, lifting a strand of her icy, white hair to my nose and inhaling deeply. “I found a Snow Angel. I knew she’d save me from the darkness.”

“Talk about pressure.” She released a shaky breath, holding my gaze. “I have to go.”

The four little words I’d been dreading. I slouched back down on the bed, placing my head in my hands as I tried to control the overwhelming torrent of distress that they caused me.

“I’ll be back. And I’ll find a way to help you, Heathen. I made you a promise and I intend to keep it. Just… try not to kill anyone while I’m gone.”

Well, that was a big fucking ask, especially because knowing she was leaving made me feel savage. I didn’t speak. I couldn’t. I wasn’t sure what would come out of my mouth. I wasn’t opposed to getting on my knees and begging her to stay even though I knew that wouldn’t be a good look. But the thought of her leaving in search of danger in an unknown realm where I could never find her if she needed me was almost too much to bear. I thought being held captive in the void for days at a time was bad enough, but this was so much worse.

“Don’t look so worried. I’ll be fine,” she said as she lifted her rucksack on her shoulder and picked up the huge book of dark magic. My head snapped up to stare at it with unease. That book cost me my freedom. The quicker it was out of my sight, the better.

“Are you taking that with you?” I asked, my tone dangerously dark. She frowned, peering down at it as she casually balanced it on her hip.

“This? Yeah. Apparently, it has a spell in it that may help my brothers figure out the magic behind the zombie wolves. So I am delivering it to them.”

“Do me a favour?” I gritted, moving my gaze up to her face. “Keep it in Heroux. Give it to someone you trust with your life and never bring it back to this realm. Or better yet. Burn it.”

“What? Why?” she asked as I stood up and stepped into her. Just the evil radiating off that thing in her arms had me on edge and I needed to get away from it.

“Because in the wrong hands. That thing can ruin lives.”Just like it ruined mine.

She stared up at me with a bewildered expression and I couldn’t help but lean down and kiss the tip of her nose. “Come back to me, Snow. Or I’ll be burning down an entire realm just to find you.”

Before she could speak another word, I was out the window and soaring above the clouds with only one destination in mind. I had less than ten minutes until I’d be summoned, but ten minutes was all I needed to send a certain someone a message. A message to the asshole, who dared upset my Snow Angel and nearly ruin everything I had built with her over the last few weeks, so much so that she was fleeing to another realm. If anything happened to her, I’d be holding him personally responsible and I’d never fucking forgive him.

I.R.B

Isworeloudlyinmynative language as the fresh cuts on my abdomen stung like a bitch when I stretched up to cover the last mirror in the manor with a dust-riddled sheet, giving me that satisfying pain I so desperately craved.That fucking demon. I had to admire his creativity, especially when it came to torture. Placing a curse on every reflective surface I glanced into so that the only image I’d see was Ilaria’s stunning face, looking so sad and distressed, was one way to get back at me. Her image was so breathtakingly solemn, it ripped a new hole in my chest every time I saw those eyes staring back at me. Tormenting me. Forcibly, carving the words,HELP HER A-HOLE,across my ribs with a wooden stake was a pretty clear message, too.

I knew, as soon as I killed that vile club member that dared touch my soulmate, it would only be a matter of time before news spread like wildfire and The Devil heard all about my merciless and very public outburst. There was no way in hell I could have controlled myself when I saw his hand reaching up under her dress, even if I had wanted to. Which I hadn’t. In fact, I was enraged that I couldn’t make the bastard suffer more, but I’d already fucked up by killing him with such a large audience. So I had no choice but to take the matter to him directly.

I had to pin it all on Heathen to protect Ilaria. I had to make The Devil believe I was ensuring a member who was supposed to be dead was dealt with thoroughly. The decapitation of the man who disrespected her was harder to explain. I tried to stick as close to the truth as I could and said he was harassing the woman in the audience while I was fighting, causing her and her friend severe distress. When he sexually attacked her, breaking the event’s rules, I intervened to stop everyone else from thinking that was acceptable. Luckily, that wolf she was with reiterated the same events. I lied and said it was only then that I realised who the woman was. Tamara Rosen. I ordered her to my office and killed her myself, emphasising the point that I was having to do Heathen’s dirty work because he’d failed. He seemed to buy it. But of course, that meant he’d summon Heathen to find out why the hell he’d failed to kill her in the first place. As much as I wanted to keep Heathen in captivity for now, I knew The Devil wouldn’t let this slide. But I thought the possibility of him being able to see Ilaria during his interrogation was slim.

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