Page 111 of Dark Souls

He threw his hands up into his hair, staring at the ceiling and bent his knees slightly as a sadistic, twisted laugh exploded from his lips. I blinked twice, feeling déjà vu. He sounded just like Heathen.

“Talk to him? Fucking talk to him?” He started shaking his head, madness in his eyes. “As if talking to him would make an ounce of difference! If he’s this obsessed with you already, nothing will stop him.”

I opened my mouth to argue but found there was nothing to say to that. He was right. I knew that deep down. Heathen will never give me up. With my hand on my forehead, I rubbed my skin, feeling the panic setting in. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to lead him on. I just feel this gravity towards him. When I’m around him, I lose my sanity. This started between us before I even knew you existed, Luka. And I’ve been confused. You have to believe me.”

He ran his hands down his face but seemed to calm down a little. At least he was no longer pacing like a predator about to strike.

“I believe you. You’ve taken a truth serum. I have no choice.”

“How convenient,” I grumbled. He turned to look at me. Suddenly, he grabbed my face in his hands and stared deep into my eyes.

“I’ll deal with Heathen, but you have to promise me something,” he said with such seriousness that my gut twisted with dread.

“What are you going to do?”

“Ilaria, you have to promise me. I won’t always be able to keep him away from you. So you have to promise, no matter what, do not give him your soul.”

I frowned deeply, pulling my face from his hands. “What do you mean’give him my soul?’”

A memory flashed in my mind of Heathen in the woods, answering my question as to what he wanted from me.To own your soul. You have to give it to me.My eyes widened as I met Luka’s, and he puffed out a breath.

“He’s already asked you for it?”

“Kind of.”

The sound of my phone vibrating in my rucksack echoed around the room.

“You must promise me, Ilaria. Don’t give it to him. No matter what he says or how he makes you feel. Never give him your soul.”

“How can I anyway? How do you go about giving your soul to a demon? And surely, I can’t. We are bonded now. We exchanged blood when we mated. Our souls are bound.”

“That won’t stop him.”

My phone started vibrating again and I groaned. I tugged it out of my bag to see it was my mum. Shit. She must be back from Heroux and wondering where I am.

“Ilaria?” Luka growled, losing his patience.

“Alright. I promise! I’ll never give him my soul.” He stepped back, his shoulders relaxing but the tension remained on his face. “I have to go. My mum is back from Heroux and—”

“Go.” He nodded, glancing over my head at the clock on the wall. “It’s the weekly Underground gambling event tonight. I need to go too.”

“You didn’t say?”

“I know,” he answered with annoying nonchalance. “Women only go to these events if they are on the arm of a man. Which means you won’t be going.”

I rolled my eyes. He grabbed my jaw in his hand, forcing me to stare up at him. He was still livid. I could tell. But he was trying not to unleash his rage on me. I suddenly felt very sorry for whoever got on the wrong side of him at the club tonight.

“I’ll text you later?” I made it into a question and I didn’t know why. Suddenly, the tables had turned on me once more and I didn’t know exactly how we were leaving things between us.

“I won’t be able to reply until after the event,” he said without a hint of emotion. I just nodded like a fool. His eyes fell to my lips and I could see the temptation on his face but also the hesitancy.Just stop being mad at me and kiss me. Or stay mad. Either way, just kiss me!

When his eyes met mine again, I huffed, knowing he wasn’t going to.

“Be safe,” he husked, before he marched briskly from the room, heading back upstairs. My phone started up in my hand again, and I groaned. I vanished behind a puff of black smoke before someone gave me a severe scolding for missing the most important night of the week. Family night.

We Are All Mad Here

Afteranail-bitingdinnerwhere I tried my best to keep my head down and avoid any direct questioning while the truth serum was still wearing off, I was relieved that I’d only insulted the chef’s cooking once, and admitted that I had been having hot, dirty sex with my soulmate in a haunted house when my Grandpops asked what I had been up to recently. Thankfully, after a moment of shocked silence, the entire table fell about laughing (except my dad, who looked like he was about to faint) and thought it was my dry sense of humour at play. Now I was in the clear and agreed to play the first of tonight’s family games.