Page 165 of Dark Souls

Holding his finger to his lips to remind us both to be quiet as he held the door open for me. “Nah. My ego, sure. But not quite my heart.”

“Good.” I squeezed his shoulder as I walked past him into the club. He shut the door behind us quietly, and we made our way down a narrow corridor lined with heavy doors. Ronnie stopped suddenly by the nearest one, somehow sensing this was where he needed to be. He used another key on the bunch, and it opened up into a somewhat empty office. A worn leather sofa with frayed, saggy cushions was against the wall on one side of the room and a desk with a computer sat on the other. Ronnie moved towards the computer, pulling out a piece of paper and started logging into the system.

“Awesome. I’ll be able to watch everything,” Ronnie said, standing straight and gesturing to the screen. I moved around the desk to see the screen had split into four live camera feeds from around the event. Pride warmed my blood that Luka really had thought of everything. “So, do you have a plan or are we just winging this shit?”

“The only plan I have is to find Wesley and read his mind. Get the information I need from him and take it from there. Depending on what I learn will determine what I do next.”

“So winging it then?” Ronnie smirked. “My favourite kind of mission.”

I walked towards the door as he plonked his huge body in the chair and made himself comfortable.

“If I need you…”

“You’ll make it obvious. I know. Good luck, Princess.”

I held my finger up to him. “Still not allowed to call me that.”

Pulling my shoulders back, I shook my hair behind me and exited the back door, making my way to the queue of people at the front of the club. I wasn’t taking any chances tonight, and I’d be playing by the rules… more or less.

‘Rue, are you ready?’

‘Fuck yes. We’ve got this. Let’s find this weasel and make him suffer.’Of course, she remembered Luka’s nickname for him from The Pleasure Den.

Allowing the darker side of me to the surface, my vision turned sharper and a red haze cast over my vision as my eyes changed to scarlet. My fangs sharpened, nails extended and that rush of adrenaline spread through my veins as I gave full trust to my vampire instincts. Once I was through the doors and refused a human blood slave for the night, I made my way to the cornered off section at the back of the club, where two sinister-looking bouncers blocked access to the red curtain. A case of déjà vu hit as I lifted my chin and strutted up to them with confidence. The girl that had tried to get past them months ago was almost unrecognisable to me now. Looking back, I could see how unfulfilled I was. How much I craved something, anything, always seeking or searching but never feeling satisfied. Not until Heathen. Not until Luka. They were everything I needed. The challenge, the thrill, the adventure. The love.

Before the bouncer opened his mouth, I held up my black membership card between my fingers with confidence that bordered on arrogance. He narrowed his eyes, taking it from me and placing it into the scanner. He glanced down, checking the profile of Raven Darmont and then back up to my face while the other bouncer ran a device across my body to check for any weapons. Leif didn’t fail me. Nothing was detected.

“Do you agree with the only rule for tonight’s event? No killing or violence towards other members.”

‘Hmm, that could be problematic.’

I nodded. Three loaded seconds passed between us, and then he held the card back out to me and stepped aside, opening the red curtain.

Electric energy pulsed through the air, hidden by the thickness of smoke. The vibrations from the seductive, throbbing beats were almost visible to my vampire vision, feeling the tingle of unholy rhythms that fuelled a sense of lust and madness with every step I took further into the enormous underground club. The walls were lit up with flickering neon signs, distorting the faces of supernaturals beneath their glow, only to submerge them in the darkness of the room once again.

I forced myself to keep my expression neutral as I walked through different sectioned areas, each one showcasing the twisted indulgences that supernaturals were consumed by. The event was called Fright Night and I could see why. Members lost themselves in frenzied abandon, their eyes gleaming with hunger, lust and violence as they gave into their darkest urges without shame or restraint. Whips, torture, aggression, twisted games and sexual acts were all around me.

Screams of victims, cries of pain and moans of pleasure blended together over the repetitive beat of music. It called to every part of my primal instincts with a sense of excitement. I licked my lips as the deeper I moved through the room, the thicker the scent of blood and something more sinister emerged. Chaos. This wasn’t like any other event before. Not even the Murder Maze. It was in the air. In the faces of the members. There was no fear here, at least not on their part. The absence of Luka and Heath spoke volumes. There was no one to keep order.

Tonight, I really had walked into The Devil’s lair.

Red 14

Itwasonmysecond lap around the club in search of any sign of Wesley that I spotted another familiar face, or two to be exact. Sammi was sitting in a booth, a dark expression on her bruised face and adorning a nasty black eye. Her hands were restricted in silver handcuffs in her lap, the skin of her wrists burned and sore, which meant she had been wearing them for more than a few hours. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to work out that her suffering was caused by one man in particular. The very man who was sitting beside her. Alpha Hugo. Although he didn’t quite look as distinguished as he had the last time, I’d laid eyes on him at the Pleasure Den. He was now sporting an eye-patch to cover up the damage my mate had caused him, but it still couldn’t hide the sadistic glee he had while another woman was on her knees between his legs, sucking his dick and forcing Sammi to watch.

My eyes found Sammi’s through the crowd, and she cast her gaze away quickly. There was no recognition there, which didn’t surprise me. Luka had explained the spiked drinks at the Pleasure Den. They had no memory of meeting me that night. But what the hell was going on here? Disgust and rage rampaged through me, wanting to gouge out his other eye for the way he was treating her. Emotion.Deep breaths. Remember what Sienna said.Take the emotion out of it. Think clearly. Don’t become distracted. I turned my back on them, walking towards the bar instead.

Bloodied hands grabbed the leather sleeve covering my forearm and I glanced down to see a distressed, injured human who had fallen to his knees beside me. His tear-stained face and terrified eyes pleaded with me as he spluttered, “Please help me! I don’t want to do it anymore. I didn’t-ahhhh!”

He was ripped off me by another vampire, who threw him over his shoulder, laughing vindictively as bile rose in my throat.

“Not getting away that easily,” he chuckled, turning to stride back to a dark corner with him.

“Hey! Leave him-” I shouted, taking two steps after them, my instinct to save him from that asshole taking control. Curious eyes swerved in my direction. I paused. I closed my eyes, fighting the vile taste of guilt on my tongue. No emotion. No distractions.Cold sweat broke out across my skin as I leaned over the bar. Erratic breaths squeezed through the closing of my throat as my ears zoned in on every shrill scream and cry for mercy.Don’t react. Don’t feel. Control it.I felt internally torn between the morals I was raised by and my need to remain focused on the sole purpose of my being here. My mate. Saving Luka, Heathen and Hana took precedence over everything. It had to.

Lifting my gaze, I caught the bartender’s attention and waved him over.

“What can I get you?” he asked with a thick Irish accent. Looking him up and down carefully, I sensed he was a warlock and, by the way his eyes kept darting around the room, he was extremely on edge. ”Blood? We have O, A and B?”