Page 57 of Tortured Soul
“There are two possibilities when you’re selling your soul,” she continued, explaining as if I’ve never been in a tied group and worked with other demons before. “It always starts with a human making a deal for something he wants, in exchange the demon can offer him two different things. Either a limited amount of time before he collects his soul to fuel the River of Tears, varying from a few years to a couple of decades, or, if the profile fits the second option, he can offer to join our ranks, turning the person into any kind of demon.”
She paused, staring at me to make sure I was listening.
“Iknowthat. I’m saying that it’s not how it happens with Succubi and Incubi.”
“Itis,” she insisted. “The soul is only ripped in the first option, after the time allotted is over. No matter what species of demon the human is turned to, he keeps his soul, only losing hisholdover it. I’ve met a few Incubi and Succubi who were part of a binded group.Hell, I’ve officiated the binding of one of them.”
“That—no, it can’t be true,” I said, shaking my head. “Why would the demon lie?”
She stood up slowly, leaning over her desk to get closer.
“Who did you sell your soul to?” she asked, searching my eyes.
My throat closed and my lungs started to burn.“I’m not supposed to be offering such advantageous deals. You can never tell it was me…Your mate will be angry, but it’s the only option if you want to fix your mistake and save your father.”
“I—I can’t tell.”
“Why? He lied to you, it doesn’t matter if you betray his trust.”
“He made me swear before our deal. I can’t—” I choked on my words, my body punishing me for even considering saying his name. “—can’t say.”
She sighed and turned around, crossing her arms over her chest, walking back and forth in front of her window.
“Therehasto be something we can do. We could appeal to Lucifer? Ask for an audience. He’ll know who it was. Hecouldbe able to return your soul to you.”
“I was freed,” I explained, shaking my head. “I can’t go back there anymore as I’m not—”
“Working for him, yeah…Shit.” She slapped her hands on her desk with another forceful exhale. “You were freed, and your soul wasn’t returned? Was it Lucifer who freed you? In person?”
I nodded. “Lucifer and Lilith, yes.”
“And he didn’t notice that you didn’t have your soul anymore?”
I frowned. Lucifer never mentioned anything about it. What if he didn’t know? What if the bastard who took my soul never told anyone about it? After all, I’ve never met Lucifer nor Lilith outside of hell, where most lost souls were kept. If mine was there, could it be that he never picked up on me missing it?
“I’ll ask around,” she concluded before I could voice my thoughts. “We need to get your soul back.”
I groaned. “Why does it matter to you? It won’t make Dimitri less dangerous. We can’treversethe madness.”
“I know,” she nodded, determined. “But with your soul back, you’ll be able to bind it with all your mates. It will strengthen you and them, and it might alsoappeasethe Nephilim’s madness.”
My heart stopped. She couldn’t know about myothermate. The one I left behind about ninety years ago and avoided as best I could. The one who would be killed if I saw him again.
“What do you mean,all my mates?” I asked, playing clueless. She couldn’t know. He wasn’t here.I checked.
“Arc and Carter, of course.”
Chapter 18
Lola
Iwished I could pretend it made sense. That Iknew. But I didn’t. Because without my soul, I was clueless to this type of thing.
When Dimitri and I met, I still had it. I felt it instantly; that link connecting our souls together, the brightness of it and the way my world started to revolve around him.
With my other mate, the one I’d left behind in the early 2000s and avoided meeting again ever since, it took time for me to understand. I simply became hyper aware of him. Could feel his mood shift, his presence near me.Hewas the one who recognized it as it was.Heaccepted that I could never feel it the way he did.
Hewas the one who asked me to marry him the human way, no matter how incompatible we were on paper.
