Page 58 of Tortured Soul
I sat in the living room of the shared house, toying with the wedding ring hanging on the delicate chain around my neck.
The girls were asleep. Aymeric and Marcus were probably working. Dimitri was still not here.
So I stayed on the couch, alone with my thoughts, my legs folded against me.
I should’ve known.
There had been signs, after all. Fromeveryone.
Even thinking about that woman who sold me clothes on my first day. “You must be so grateful to finally meet them!”
Grateful? No. I was terrified.
Carterhatedmy guts. He would have beaten me to a pulp when I first stepped foot into the camp if Marcus hadn’t intervened.
Our relationship had barely improved since.
Arc had said that Carter had been disappointed because he thought that I was a Divine. Now, it made sense. For an angel—fallen or not—being binded to a demon was probably one of the worst things that couldhappen. To a Succubus, even worse. We were one of the only types of Immortals who could not procreate. Giving me four mates was a waste…
But I wasn’t a Succubus when Fate had played its cards.
The older I got, the dumber I felt.
On so many levels, selling my soul had been the stupidest thing to do. Not only because it appeared I was fooled by that bastard of a demon, but also because it made me loseso muchof myself. That single action had affected so many people in the span of millenia.
And now, according to Carrie, I should never have lost it in the first place, and Arc and Carter were my mates and theyknew.
“I shouldn’t have said anything. Carter wouldn’t have acted like he did if I didn’t.”
“But why did it make him so mad? I don’t get it.” His eyes narrowed in confusion. “I haven’t been here long, but it doesn’t seem like the cohabitation between Divines and Hellrisers is a problem here. I don’t understand why he would be mad about me being—”
“Fuck,” he mumbled, turning around to bury his face in his hands. “You don’t know. Of course, you don’t know.”
Dumb me. If I wasn’t still so shocked about all this, I’d slap myself in the face.
“What’re you doing, sulking here alone in the dark?” Marcus grumbled, pulling me out of my own mind.
He sat ungraciously next to me, handing me a bottle of beer. My fist tightened around my ring as I accepted the drink.
“Heads up, they’re pissed,” he said, taking a swig. “Arc and Carter already hate Nephilims and you’ve just invited a mad one.”
I scoffed, hiding the ring under my shirt discreetly. “Carter hates everyone, including me. His own fuckingmate.”
Marcus stiffened next to me, the bottle halfway to his mouth.
“You know?”
Unbelievable.
“I didn’t until Carrie told me about him and Arc earlier. Is there anyone here who doesn’t know?”
He winced. “Not really. Arc messed up by telling Carter when he had his vision, and that dumbass couldn’t keep his mouth shut for two days straight. He was really excited about meeting you.”
I pulled my legs closer to me, pushing myself deeper into the couch.
“Finding out you were actually a demon and that you didn’t seem aware of the mating link was a huge plot twist in the gossip mill. And when Arc went to meet you only to feel the link binding him to you too? Carter got his ass handed to him.”
“Wait,” I interrupted, turning to him with a frown. “Arc didn’t know?”
