Page 110 of Dark Souls

“But at least you tried.”

He straightened his spine and nodded at me to ask him a question.

I chewed at my lip. God, how did I choose where to even begin? Why isn’t he free? Who has power over him? What is his connection to Heathen? What did the Knowltons do to him? Why did he turn his humanity off?

“I don’t know where to start,” I said honestly, the potion still working for me too. “Are you and Heathen both controlled by The Devil? Who is The Devil? What’s his or her real name?”

Luka opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. Lines appeared on his forehead as he scowled deeply and slammed his fist down on the table. He grabbed the potion bottle and downed the whole thing, discarding it to the side and causing the glass to smash on the floor.

“Ask me another,” he demanded, his voice gravelly and on edge. My whole body tensed in response and my stomach dropped. It wasn’t working.

“How do you know Heathen? He said you used to be friends. What happened?”

“We—” he started and then roared when once more he couldn’t get his sentence out. The veins in his neck were pulsating and his fangs had elongated with his rage. I grabbed his trembling shoulders and forced him to focus on me.

“It’s fine. It didn’t work, but we will find another way. I won’t give up.”

My words didn’t seem to help, though. He brushed past me and started pacing the room. Agitation and anger were rippling off him so furiously that I jumped off the island and stood back to give him space to calm himself down.

His head snapped up at me as he continued his long strides. “What’s the fucking point, Ilaria? If you haven’t figured it out by now, you never will. This is all a waste of your time and energy. You are risking your life for this, and you should just forget I exist.”

“Hey!” I snapped back, pissed that he was taking his frustration out on me. He was doing it again; reverting to his go-to survival tactics of pushing me away. But this time, I could recognise it for what it was. He felt out of control. “Shut the fuck up with that shit, Red. I may not know much yet, but I will figure out how to free you and Heathen. Even if it kills me!”

He growled at that. “And then what? Say you figure it out? What are you going to do about it, Ilaria? You are one fucking person. No one else will help me when they know who I am. You’re going to get yourself killed for nothing.”

“I’m offended by just how much you underestimate me, Luka.” I folded my arms over my chest with sass.

“Oh yeah? What about Heathen then?” he snapped, towering over me. I narrowed my eyes as I matched his glare.

“What about Heathen?”

“You know what he is. You know the history of his kind. What do you think will happen when others hear of him? If you free him, what then? Do you think the supernatural community will accept him with open arms? Don’t be naïve, Ilaria.”

I shoved his chest. “I don’t know.” Damn, I wish I could tell a little white lie right now and make myself sound more convincing. “But I won’t let anyone hurt him.”

Luka scoffed, his eyes burning like an inferno of chaos.

“You can’t protect him. He’s a psychotic, unpredictable killing machine, Ilaria!”

“You think I don’t know that?! He’s been stalking me for weeks, ripping out hearts and leaving one as a gift in my bedroom. Killing any man he sees touching me, spying on my family to learn more about me, serving me coffee as a barista just to watch me squirm, making me feel things… want things from him with his sexy mind tricks and giving me insane orgasms with that fucking forked tongue! I know he’s a freak, but I don’t care.” I yelped, slamming my hands over my mouth when I realised what I’d just admitted.

Luka froze, his eyes wide and his lips curling over his fangs. Oh shit. Ohshitohshitohshit!

“What?”he hissed.

“And I kissed him!” I mumbled against my hand, cursing myself internally as the potion released the floodgates of honesty.

‘Oh my god! Know when to stop, Ilaria!’Rue panicked.

‘I can’t help it!’

“After I woke up from my heat. He was here. Burning piles of bodies in the garden and I kissed him. He knew we’d had sex, so I told him we were soulmates, and he said I had to figure out what he is to me, because when he saw me next, he would be taking what was his.”

Luka inhaled sharply and turned his back on me. In the next breath, his fist crashed through the wall. I startled, my heart thumping erratically as panic took over.

“You need to leave before I lose control!”

“I’m not leaving you when you’re like this! Look, I’m going to talk to Heathen. Tell him that it’s over between us. That all I want to do is help him.”