Page 138 of Dark Souls

She slid off the bar stool slowly and walked towards me, holding my gaze. I stared at her, unable to look away, fearing that this might be the last time she let me before she walked out that door.

When she stopped right in front of me, I gulped; my throat vibrating with the movement. Her stunning eyes darted between mine as if she was looking at me in a whole new light, and then she did the one thing I never expected. She stood on her tiptoes, weaved her hand in the back of my hair and pulled me down to meet her full lips. The kiss was soft. Loving. And I frowned deeply, not understanding what was happening. Was she saying goodbye? My stomach twisted with the thought.

She opened her eyes, keeping our heads touching as she peered into my eyes.

“Lukas Nezera. I love you.”

I stared. I held my breath. My frown deepened. Did I just imagine those words leaving her lips? Was I having some kind of mental breakdown and hallucinating?

“I… I don’t understand,” I mumbled, pulling away from her slightly to stand straight.

She gave me a small, sad smile as she let go of her grip on my hair and ran her hand down the side of my face in a tender caress. “I know you don’t. And that’s okay. But I still needed you to know.”

“That… you…” I couldn’t even say the words out loud, fearing that I really had imagined them, and I’d sound like a complete fool.

“Love you. Yes. That I am hopelessly and obsessively in love with you and Heathen. Because you are him and he is you. And it is the best fucking thing I could have ever asked for in my wildest dreams. To have you as my mate.”

I stood there like an idiot. Speechless. Completely baffled and waiting for the other shoe to drop. For thebutor the laughter at it being a cruel joke before she ripped my heart out. But neither happened.

She turned and walked back over to the island and poured me a glass of vodka, holding it to me when I still hadn’t moved.

“You look like you could do with a drink, Red.” She smiled with slight amusement dancing in her eyes, and I blinked rapidly as the reality sank in. She wasn’t leaving. She was… accepting me? I cautiously approached her, still not trusting it as I took the glass from her hand and downed it in one go.

“I mated with Heathen. We drank each other’s blood and I felt our bond establish properly. But I am guessing you might have figured that out,” she said carefully as she held my gaze.

I inhaled as I placed the glass back down. “I had figured that out, yeah. He didn’t… force you? Hurt you?” I asked with disguised concern.

She shook her head and smiled. “No. I promise. I wanted it.”

I swallowed again, trying to dispel the lump lodged in my throat. This was all too weird. Not that she fucked Heathen because I was fine with that. He was an extension of me, after all. But because she was so… unbothered by this enormous revelation. I huffed and started pacing the floor a little, keeping my eyes on her as she watched me with just as much caution.

“Sorry- I… I’m just struggling to understand this.” I pointed between us as she frowned.

“Understand what? Me and Heathen?”

“No. Why are you so… calm? Why are you still here and saying…” I shook my head and tugged my hair through my fingers. I knew I must have looked insane, but honestly, I felt a little insane. This wasn’t what I’d prepared for or expected when she finally figured out who I was. I glanced over to find her still staring at me. “How did you know?”

She broke eye contact and sucked in a breath. Her whole demeanour changed, and I felt the anger suddenly rolling off her in waves.

“Calli translated a diary that belonged to Alatar Knowlton. It had entries that explained what they did to you. To your family. For years. I knew it was bad, Luka. But I didn’t realise just how long you’ve suffered. And I am so fucking angry at the world for how it treated you. Not just you. Hana too. Your entire family. Your entire species. It makes me livid beyond belief and I just want to–”

“You don’t think I’m a monster?” My blurted question hung in the silence, a desperate plea for clarity echoing in my mind as her expression softened.

“No. I don’t think you are a monster. I think everyone who hunted your species because they feared what they couldn’t understand and were jealous of your power are the true monsters, Luka. They committed genocide against an entire species just because your existence threatened their selfish greed.”

I licked my bottom lip as I searched her eyes, looking for any sign of dishonesty, but all I saw was genuine emotion. She really meant it. And it was slowly beginning to sink in.

“You still want this? To be with me? Even though I’m a Demonski Upir?” I asked, the words coming out of my mouth before I could think about how insecure I sounded.

“Luka. I don’t care that you’re a Demonski Upir in the slightest. In fact, I fucking love it. I think it’s awesome and–” She paused, her pink eyes widening so much I thought they were going to leave her head for a second. “Wait! You just said you were a Demonski Upir!”

I stilled.I did, didn’t I?What the fuck… I haven’t been able to say those words for nearly a century.

“Say something else!” she shouted, bolting off her stool and grabbing me by the T-shirt. “Say something you shouldn’t be able to say.”

My lips parted as I braced myself for the familiar frustration that came every time I tried to talk about myself, but instead, words left my lips. “Heathen is my demon side.”

“Oh my god!” Ilaria screamed, slamming her hands over her mouth and staring up at my shocked face. “How? How are you doing this?”