Page 51 of A Soul’s Curse (Fallen Souls #1)
The Friday night club scene was electric.
Music pulsed through the walls like a heartbeat, lights flickered in dizzying patterns, and the air buzzed with a heady mix of perfume, sweat, and anticipation.
Bodies moved in sync with the beat, laughter spilled from the bar, and somewhere in the chaos, secrets waited to be traded in the dark.
“What now?” I shouted at Caspian, barely able to hear my own voice over the music.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Stella, her hips swaying to the beat and shoulders rolling in time with the rhythm as she danced around and surveyed her surroundings at the same time.
Her partner in crime, Ivy, stood off to the side with a drink in hand, stirring it constantly but never taking a sip.
Colorful lights flickered off the sequins of her shirt.
I ignored them, trying not to draw attention to their presence, and shoved my way through the busy dance floor.
Someone’s hand brushed just above my waist, close enough to make my skin crawl and send a jolt of discomfort through me.
At first I thought it was Caspian, and as I turned around to punch the bastard, I realized the bouncer was leading me off the dance floor alongside Caspian.
I was surprised to see that the man was a demon, with shiny black horns, dark red skin, and a glare so intense he could probably open up a portal himself and send me to the afterlife with just a blink of his eyes.
I didn’t retaliate, letting the demon lead me and Caspian to a corner in the back of the club.
Leon was there, lounging casually across the leather cushions of the black booth, his foot up on the low table in the center.
Two women giggled playfully on either side of him.
To his right was an attractive fairy with a shimmering dress that looked like it was made of stardust, clinging to her curves in all the right places.
Light blonde hair cascaded down her back like a waterfall.
To his left sat another woman with bright red hair and smooth, iridescent skin that caught the light in the most mesmerizing way.
She wore no clothing, but covering her more private areas were shimmering scales that glinted like the surface of water under the sun.
He leaned in to kiss the red-headed woman, his hand slipping dangerously low toward a place I didn’t want to look. “Sorry, ladies. I have business to conduct tonight. But this shouldn’t take long. Wait for me? I promise I’ll make it worth your while.”
The fairy pouted, reaching out her hand as Leon stood up from the booth. He kissed her palm, sucking a finger in his mouth as she moaned, and I had to swallow down the bile rising in the back of my throat.
Leon said little as he led us through the back hallway of the club, the thud of bass muffled by thick walls and velvet curtains. His black button-down was half-unbuttoned, sleeves rolled to his elbows, and his slacks freshly pressed. The handle of his magic knife hung in a sheath on his hip.
“This way,” he said, flashing a tight smile over his shoulder.
He stopped at an unmarked door near the end of the corridor and tapped a small panel beside it.
A soft chime sounded, and the door clicked open.
On the other side was a narrow staircase that spiraled downward into darkness, lit only by a few dim yellow bulbs.
I glanced at Caspian, who was trailing behind with his usual air of casual arrogance. The phantom didn’t seem fazed by the fact there was an ominous hidden basement underneath the club.
Leon took the lead again, his dress shoes surprisingly quiet on the concrete steps.
“The Deep End isn’t just the name of the club, you know,” he said.
“It’s a special place meant only for very …
esteemed members of the Syndicate. It’s a place where they can go to lose themselves, where no one asks questions, curiosities are explored, and fantasies are indulged.
That demon pest of yours, Ren, has been here a few times, if you’re wondering. Strange tastes, that man.”
A surge of jealousy stabbed me in my gut.
I discreetly adjusted my jeans at the memory of Ren’s tongue, vibrating with electrifying magic as it glided along my cock.
How many of these undeserving bastards had experienced the same ecstasy?
Had tasted what I didn’t have the chance to?
I knew he wasn’t mine, but that didn’t stop me from wishing I had him all to myself.
I brushed the thought aside, refocusing on the mission.
The basement was nothing like the grim, industrial underbelly one might expect.
In fact, it was lavish, almost absurdly so.
Velvet-lined walls in deep crimson stretched across the space, broken up by sleek mirrors and gilded sconces that flickered with enchanted lights.
The air was warm and perfumed, thick with a blend of incense, sweat, and something darker, like magic left too long to simmer.
The music from above was completely muted, but it was replaced with something much more disturbing.
The first door we passed was shut, but there was an unmistakable sound of a headboard hitting drywall in a pattern that spoke of urgency, friction, and absolutely no regard for subtlety.
Screams escaped the second room, the cry of a woman that teetered somewhere between pleasure and agony, so raw it raised goosebumps along my arms. Leon stopped at the third door, one that was left wide open.
I thought we might have reached our destination until I saw the scene he was watching unfold.
Pinned against the wall was a woman, her cocktail dress ripped and her long brown hair falling out of its bun.
Bruises littered her arms and face and blood dripped down her arms. Pressed up against her was a brute of a man, his forearm pushing against her neck to cut off her air as he used his other arm to graze a sharp knife down her cheek.
Leon held out his arm to stop me before I could take a single step into the room.
“He’s hurting her,” I didn’t speak so loud as to draw their attention, but the anger was still laced in my words.
“Is he?” Leon gripped my shirt as I tried to slither around him. “The Deep End isn’t just a place to explore sexual desires. Some people get off on pain, either giving or receiving. Both parties here have consented to this. There’s no need to interfere.”
“But—”
The woman moaned loudly as the man, a vampire, licked the blood off her cheek. Her hands grabbed onto the sides of his head, her fingers digging deep into his black hair to guide him as he swept his tongue across her skin.
“Enjoying the show?” Leon asked with a hint of smug satisfaction.
My skin felt like it was on fire. I wasn’t into this type of thing, even though Sly had always tried to get me to experiment, but I still couldn’t turn my gaze away from it.
“You know, if you joined the Syndicate, you could take part in such activities whenever you liked. There is no judgment here.”
Caspian nudged me with his elbow. Right, I was supposed to be convincing Leon that I had changed my mind, and he had just presented me with the perfect opening to do so.
“Actually,” I said as I stepped away from the door. “I’ve been thinking about what you said. A lot, to be honest. And I think I’m ready to join the Syndicate.”
“Oh?” His brows lifted, the sound stretched with curiosity and just a hint of disbelief. “What suddenly has you changing your mind?”
“Well, your little stunt at Emberheart Place showed me how easily trust can be shattered. And as you can see, Ren isn’t here with me, but Caspian is.
He … showed me the truth about Ren, and what he’s really capable of.
The demon’s done unforgivable things to me and my family.
He manipulated me, hid the truth. I wanted him to be different, but he wasn’t.
It turns out his magic is dangerous. People like him need to have their magic restrained.
” The anger that bubbled to the surface wasn’t for Ren, but for everything that had led me to this moment.
My real fury was reserved for the ones pulling the strings, the ones who built this system and called it justice.
“People like him,” I continued, my heart pounding wildly inside my chest, “people with that kind of power, don't just change. They just leave a trail of broken lives behind them. He needs to be stopped before he hurts anyone else.”
Leon’s gaze was sharp and unrelenting, searching for cracks in my story.
He wouldn’t find any, because everything I said believed.
I had just twisted the truth a little. It wasn’t people like Ren who abused power and needed to be stopped, it was people like Leon and the Syndicate. “And what about your friend, Ellie?”
“You will let her go. She’s only here as a bargaining chip. I delivered Caspian. Ellie has nothing to do with any of this. Your end goal was our magic right? Me and Caspian? Now you have it.”
“I suppose that’s true.” Leon hummed his thoughts. “Your power still intrigues me, Theo. It should be an abomination to magic, but somehow there’s purity to it. Between you and Caspian, we could do wonderful things together!”
“It would seem I did your job for you,” Caspian interjected. “I convinced Theo to do what you couldn’t. I believe a thank you is in order. I also wouldn’t mind an egregious paycheck. I hear the Syndicate pays well.”
“And why are you so eager to help the Syndicate?” Leon asked him instead.
Caspian brushed a strand of hair off his face, flashing Leon his sparkling brown eyes.
“I’ve been told magic like mine is exactly the kind of power an organization like yours could benefit from.
And, well … I’ve been alive for over a century, hiding who I truly am and what my magic can do.
You could say I’m getting a bit bored with life.
I need a little adventure to spice it up. ”