Page 147 of Dark Souls

I wasn’t exactly expecting a group hug after Ilaria announced me as her soulmate but this awkward silence as they all just stared, unmoving, unblinking, was a little disconcerting. Ilaria looked from all their frozen faces to me and I shrugged. She glanced back at her mum, who was staring at me with a mix of shock, disbelief and distrust.

“Can someone say something?” Ilaria finally broke the suffocating silence as my talons tapped against the tablecloth, itching to dive into my dinner. It was still warm and bloody. Fresh. But time was ticking before the tender tissue would be like chewing rubber if they didn’t hurry the eff up.

“Is this a joke?” Alpha King Ezra questioned with fury lacing his tone. He was still half shifted into his wolf with his claws and canines on show and white fur sprouting out of his enormous, broad shoulders.

“No. It’s very much not a joke, Dad,” Ilaria answered, placing her hand on my shoulder. I hooked my arm around her waist, pulling her into my side. I wanted to tug her down on top of me but I think that might cause an aneurysm in the wolf. Even my arm snaking around her waist elicited a deadly hiss from Arius Romano.

“Get your fucking hands off her,” were his very next words.

“Papi! He is my soulmate. What aren’t you getting here?” Ilaria said defensively. I am glad she was the one to speak up because what I would have said in return wouldn’t haven’t been so friendly. I had to remember that they were in shock and protective.

Their concern comes from a place of love. Keep calm and don’t kill anyone.

“This can’t be true! He’s a Demonski Upir, Ilaria!” Her tribrid uncle stated the obvious.

“I am well aware of what he is,” Ilaria answered with a sassy roll of her eyes. Gods, I loved her. “Look, I know you are all in shock right now. But Heathen’s kind is misunderstood. He’s not the monster you all think he is.”

“Misunderstood?” Her dad growled. “He just murdered an innocent man who told us about his existence and was meant to be under our protection! He broke through a window with a bloody heart in his hand which he is waiting to eat! How is he not a monster?!”

“A heart that is getting rather cold,” I muttered under my breath, which earned me a shove from Ilaria’s hip.

“Can you all just back off with the intimidation for one second? Why don’t we all sit down and I will explain how all this is possible?”

“Not until he shifts,” Arius demanded. “I’d rather deal with a vampire than a demon.”

“Ouch,” I slammed my hand over my unaffected heart, which still didn’t warrant any laughs. Tough crowd.

“He can’t shift. He’s not in demon form as a threat. He honestly isn’t in control of his shifts. Like I said, if you all relax a little and take a seat, I’ll explain. He won’t hurt anyone.”

It was Queen Ruby who conceded first, lowering her magical hands to her sides and agreeing as she pulled out her chair and took a seat opposite. Ilaria sat next to me. And slowly, one by one, the rest joined us, though they never took their hostile glares off me and remained on high alert. Snow exhaled a shaky breath and turned to face me.

The oak doors opened abruptly and a black-haired man walked in. Jesus. He was a good-looking fucker if ever I’d seen one. Like a Greek Ken doll, but with bigger muscles. He froze when his green eyes landed on me, taking in my wings, horns and claws. I lifted one claw and wiggled my talons at him, smiling in greeting.

“Did I miss the memo?” he asked in confusion, glancing round the room at his family before staring at me again. “Who’s in the impressive fancy dress Satan costume?”

“Demon,” I corrected. “Demonski Upir, to be exact, but you weren’t to know.”

“A what?”

“Lorcan, this is Heathen. And it’s not a costume. He’s an actual demon and he’s my soulmate. Heath, this is my brother, Lorcan.”

“Oh, the wolf one? Back from Heroux? How’d it go, mate?”

Lorcan blinked. The whole family looked perplexed. Oh, yeah. I forgot I knew far more than I should, thanks to my noteworthy stalking skills.

“Come and sit down, Lorc. I’m about to explain how this is possible. Can I tell them? Everything I know?” Ilaria turned to me and my black eyes darted around the room at the skeptical faces of her family. I knew when I bulldozed my way in here this would be the outcome but it still gave me a squeaky bum. Trust wasn’t something Luka or I had much of and clearly her family hated my fucking guts already. But what choice did I have? That gobshite fae had outed me. To stop The Devil from harming Hana, this was my only option. Show myself, allow Ilaria to tell them the truth and pray that they had our back in this. I knew they loved Snow and would hesitate enough not to kill me when they found out I was her soulmate but that didn’t mean they would help me. If word got back to The Devil that the royals knew about me, it would be game over. He’d kill both me and my sister to stop him from being exposed.

I nodded and Ilaria gave me a proud smile that warmed the icicles off my frozen heart. Speaking of hearts, I glanced down at the one on my plate. “Do you all mind if I dig in while Snow explains? A wasted heart is really a bugbear of mine.”

No one said anything.

“Just eat the damn thing,” Ilaria whispered and I smiled. Using my telekinetic powers, I picked a knife and fork from the table at the back of the room and flew them over her parents’ heads and into my talons. It had been a very long time since I’d used utensils and they felt extremely fiddly in my huge claws.

“I need you to all keep an open mind when I say this. Everything you’ve ever read or been told about Demonski Upirs is wrong,” Ilaria started, as I dug the fork into the centre of the heart and cut a corner away. All their eyes moved with my fork as I took my first bite and chewed. I felt Ilaria’s eyes burning into the side of my head and turned to look at her innocently. “You are really not helping your case here.”

“I’m hungry!”

She rolled her eyes and faced her family again. “Okay, well, nearly everything. Yes, they can only survive off blood and organs and yes, they are extremely powerful and deadly but they are not crazed monsters with no feelings or morals. Heathen has proved to me time and time again that he cares, that he respects me and shows empathy. He had a family who were just like us. Full of love for each other. They never killed anyone unless it was completely necessary to survive or defend themselves, just like we do. They were hunted without mercy. What happened to Heathen’s kind was completely unjust and undeserving. Not all Demonski Upirs were a threat to humanity. Not all Demonski Upirs were evil. Many lived normal, civilised lives. Yet, every single one of them was treated as such just because of the reputation of a few that was exaggerated by our own ancestors. All because of greed and jealousy.”