Page 125 of Dark Souls

Making my way towards him, I stood between his legs as his rough hands ran up the back of my thighs, leaving a pleasurable tingle in their wake. I grabbed his jaw and forced his face up to look at me.

“Luka, I promise, whatever I find out about you won’t change how I feel. I’m in this. I want you. Someday, I hope you will be able to trust that.”

He stared at me with a blank expression before he replied, “I’ve heard that before. Though, this time, I really hope it’s true. Because I can’t lose you, Ilaria. I’ve survived everything else. But I won’t survive that.”

I leaned down and kissed him.

The List

“So,hekilledthemboth? And you are certain they didn’t recognise you?” Grandpapi asked over the phone after digesting the slightly warped version of my story about the missing Romano soldiers. The wind howled somewhere in the distance through the damaged roof of the manor, heightening my anxiety as I picked a hole in the sleeve of my jumper. I was trying to keep as close to the truth as possible because if anyone could see through a lie, it was my grandpapi, so I was taking the cowardly way out and phoning him while he was busy at the Academy.

“Yes. He killed them to protect me. And no, they believed I was just a new member.”

There was another long pause. The hole in my sleeve grew.

“And how did he know they were planning to harm you?”

“He overheard their conversation. About all the vile, explicit things they were going to do to me once they got me locked in the BDSM room and—”

He coughed loudly, clearing his throat, and I tried to hide my smile at his sudden awkwardness. I knew he wouldn’t want to hear the graphic fictional details.

“Right. Well, like I said, I’ll deal with the families. I guess we should thank him in that case. Do we know his name yet? Hard to show gratitude to a nameless man.”

“Grandpapi—” I said, softening my tone to pacify him because he was fishing for information I’d already told him I couldn’t give.

“Right.The Dealer.I still find it odd that a man as ruthless and unemotional as him would give his life for yours in a blood oath.”

I closed my eyes. The word soulmate was on the tip of my tongue. It was getting harder and harder to hide everything, especially from my mum. I felt guilty whenever I spoke to her, so I tried to avoid her as much as possible. Luckily, Leif and Lorcan’s crazy lives occupied a lot of her mind. I wanted to tell them about Luka so badly, but I knew his trust was precious and one tiny sign of a betrayal at my end, even if I knew it would be for the greater good, would be catastrophic for our relationship. I couldn’t do that to him.

“He must care deeply about the person he’s asking you to help. They must be important to him.”

“She is,” I said without thinking.

“She?” The surprise in Grandpapi’s voice was hard to miss. “His soulmate?”

“Um, no. Have you seen Leif? I know Neve banished him from Heroux after the ceremony last night to try to deal with his grief head-on and be with the family. But I’ve tried calling him this morning, and he isn’t answering.”

Last night, I visited Heroux briefly, which was a welcome break from the constant reading and researching in the Knowlton’s personal library. It was a big celebration for my brother, Lorcan, finding his mate and Neve’s new position in the Heroux realm, but I dipped out as soon as possible to return here and continue my research. To avoid confronting his inner demons, Leif had once again got himself slaughtered with ale and his own magical concoctions at the party and now he was being forced to return to the human realm for some much-needed TLC. As much as it could be suffocating, my family was incredible at looking after their own so Neve had made the right call, no matter how much Leif hated the idea.

“Hm, nice change of subject, Princess.” I could hear the smile in his voice, which made me relax back in the desk chair. “Actually, I am on Leif duty today. He’s coming to help me teach some classes at the Academy. Should be here any minute, although… he’s already ten minutes late.”

I snorted. “Ah, so is this the new punishment for everyone in the family when we need a timeout from reckless behaviour? You make us professors? First Raiden, now Leif.”

He laughed. “You best stay on the straight and narrow then, Princess, or I’ll have you teaching the eager first years in the Art of Blood Extraction.”

“I’d actually quite enjoy that.” Little did he know that had been one of my favourite lessons as a student – learning how to drain just the right amount of blood from restrained volunteers or animals without causing immediate death. We learned different feeding techniques, emphasising precision and control, ensuring our victims survived.

“I am sure you would. And Leif isn’t being punished. We are all concerned about him right now, so I’m just trying to help him get his mojo back by doing the things he loves best. Starting with magic.”

“Oh, Jesus. Please never say the word ‘mojo’ again.”

“What’s wrong with the word ‘mojo’? Don’t the cool kids still say that?”

“It’s nearly as bad as your terrible dad jokes.”

“Oh, I have a new one for you. What do you call a lost wolf?”

Despite a deep sigh, I smiled; this was what my childhood was made of. “I don’t know. What?”