Page 153 of Dark Souls

The Devil sighed. “You know I hate hurting her, Lukas. She’s such a sweet little thing. You’d never know she’s a demon from her timid and gentle nature. And she really isn’t made to withstand torture. Not like you. All you have to do is tell me the truth and nothing more has to happen to her.”

I growled and slumped down the wall to the floor, my legs unable to hold up my weight any longer. He walked towards me and squatted down, so his face was level with mine. All amusement was now gone and seriousness projected through his blue eyes. He wasn’t fucking around anymore.

“What is going on between you and the royal princess?”

I closed my eyes briefly, knowing the one thing I could never admit. He could never know she was my soulmate. “I’m fucking her.”

He scoffed before staring at my deadpan expression and realising I was serious. “And how did you happen to start fucking a royal princess?”

I exhaled a deep breath. “I met her at the club in London the same night the auctions were on. She’d been in the main club with some friends. The event was over, and I tidied up Heathen’s mess he left of that wolf before leaving. She was outside when I saw her. I approached her with the intention of a one-night stand. I had no idea who she was. We flirted. I brought her back to the manor and we fucked all night. After that, she started turning up here randomly. That’s when I realised she was part of the Romano Clan, because she could magically transport herself anywhere she’d already been to because of her grandfather’s magic. When I realised who she was, I tried to scare her away. To make her fear me. Hate me even. But she just kept coming back for more. Turns out I may be a dick, but I am still the best dick she’s ever had.”

He stood up, glaring down at me with distrust. “I found her diary, Lukas. She knows things. She knows about Heathen’s existence. About the Knowltons. You told her?”

“How could I possibly tell her? Your mate put an identity restriction spell on me, remember?” I glared back. But it was a reminder to myself that I had to watch what I said so he didn’t figure out that the spell was broken. He cracked his knuckles but knew I was right so I continued, hoping he was buying this crap. “Ilaria wanted to know who I was. She was curious because I refused to tell her anything. All she knew was my name. Luka. I was a mystery she decided she wanted to solve. She did her own research, coming up with her own wild theories when she found the name Lukas Nezera. She learned everything she could about Demonski Upirs and decided she believed I was one. I told her she was crazy to believe I could possibly be the same person. The book stated Lukas Nezera was dead, so how could I be? Heathen appeared here one night when she was waiting for me. But he had no idea who she was and flew away, unaware she’d even seen him. She drew a picture of him to confront me and accused me of lying to her. We got in a fight because I still refused to tell her a damn thing, told her she was crazy and no one would believe her and she left. She hasn’t been back since.”

“You expect me to believe this?” He moved back towards his phone and I held my breath. “You would swear it on your sister’s life?”

My gaze flickered down to the image of my sister’s body trembling on the table and bile rose in my throat.

“I would.”

He fixed me with a thoughtful expression, searching for any doubt. He knew I loved my sister more than life itself. I had to hope he believed I’d never lie for that reason. Thanks to having no humanity, I knew I was giving nothing away. He walked away from the phone and I released a subtle breath.

“And Heathen?”

“Knows nothing,” I said, shaking my head.

The Devil took out my scorched stake made from hellfire from his pocket and rotated it in his hand, studying it carefully.

“Lukas, you’ve greatly disappointed me. You’ve lied to me. You’ve thought with your dick instead of your head. You’ve risked everything. And now a member of the Royal family is suspicious. Ilaria Romano Black is a stubborn creature. She won’t give up on this. It’s interesting that she hasn’t told any of her family about you, which is the only reason you are still breathing right now.” He sighed heavily as he if the next words really hurt him to admit. He was a terrific actor. “I always told Heathen and you to be careful. That if someone figured out what you were, you had to kill them before they could open their goddamn mouths. Or I would have to kill you, and I really hate being the bad guy here, Lukas. Maybe she’ll let it go, but maybe she won’t. I can’t take that chance. Something will have to be done about her.”

My heart raced as I frantically tried to devise a plan to keep her safe.

“She won’t be back. And she won’t talk. I’ll make sure of it.”

“And how do you intend to do that? If she lives, you have to die.” He smiled at me with a sickness that made my insides crumble. He meant it. He was going to kill me. “You’ve really given me no other choice. You’ve exposed yourself to a royal. She knows what you look like and where you live. She’s seen Heathen and believes you are him. It’s only a matter of time before she tells her family. You need to disappear before they realise your link toThe Underground. Your link to me. And so does she.”

“No,” I blurted, feeling more control over my limbs as I hauled myself back to my feet. “I can easily deal with this. Nothing needs to happen to her. She has to fear ever crossing me. You can’t kill a member of the royal family and get away with it. They will never stop until they find you.”

“You’re right. I can’t. I could ask Heathen to do it, but unfortunately, I no longer trust either of you. But I know someone who can be trusted to follow through. Your sister.”

No. No. No.

“You don’t want the mess,” I said with fake conviction, shaking my head. I had to play to his weakness. Exposure. His key fear was being exposed. LosingThe Undergroundand the world he’d created that had made him rich beyond belief. For the world to know what he had been up to all these years. “Hana hasn’t got the skills to pull off such a high-stakes kill. She’d expose herself by accident. Then you’d lose us both.”

He tapped his chin as he walked in circles, thinking it over. “Hmm, I could just hand The Underground over to Wesley and keep you in Heathen’s form forever. Obviously, he couldn’t stay here anymore. But I could easily lure Ilaria back here alone and have Hana kill her,” he muttered to himself.

“You don’t have to kill Ilaria. Killing her will cause unnecessary drama within the entire realm. The royals will never stop hunting those responsible. Do what you want with me.” I was past caring what he did as long as Ilaria and Hana were safe. If he killed me, Ilaria would rally her family, and they wouldn’t stop until they found The Devil, and he wouldn’t even see them coming. Hopefully, they’ll be able to save Hana in time. The biggest problem I faced in making sure that happened was the fact that I knew nothing would ever stop Ilaria from fighting for me. She’d never accept that I didn’t want her. And she’d never walk away unless… I closed my eyes as a plan formed in my mind. “I’ll make sure she hates me. I’ll make sure she never tries to see me again. Then you can kill me, and she’ll be glad when she hears of it.”

The Devil turned to face me with a frown. “How?”

His phone rang, interrupting the live footage of Hana, and he groaned, storming towards it and answering when the name ‘Darling’ flashed across the screen.

A distorted female voice came through, and I could just about hear her asking if I’d confessed yet.

“He has. But there may be a way the girl doesn’t have to die. Yeah, if we can keep this as low-key as possible, the better. I’ll be home soon, and I’ll fill you in. Yeah. Okay. Fine. Love you.”

He hung up and linked back up to the live footage of Hana again. Walking closer to me, he held it up to my face, giving me a perfect view of my sister. She looked the same as she did a hundred years ago, seeing as we don’t age once we reach twenty-five. Beautiful. I stared at her, unable to believe this was the first time in years that I had seen her alive. The photos could have been faked but this couldn’t. She was still breathing, and I’d do everything in my power to keep it that way. I couldn’t just tell Ilaria to pretend to hate me and never want to see me again because I had no idea how far The Devil’s reach was. He could be someone Ilaria or her family trusted for all I knew. I had to do something believable. Something that would get back to The Devil and make him believe that she really would never want to see me again. Something despicable.