Page 186 of Dark Souls

“I’m not following.” Raiden frowned. Grandpapi lifted his hand to his chin, the way he always did when he was deep in thought. “Are we talking about the same dark witches here?”

“Cora loved her sister. More than life. She cherished family above all else. But what did Celeste cherish?”

“Lucius,” Grandpapi answered.

“Her soulmate. Her one true love.” I stepped forward, taking back Leif’s phone and ringing Ronnie. As it rang, I continued to elaborate, “Every spell has a clause, if you will. Right?”

“Yes. Most spells created have a catch, a way of being broken or reversed by the victim or by the person who created it. But that is why it is so difficult to do because it is often hidden within the spell itself, unknown to anyone else that uses it or its victims.”

“Ilaria?” Ronnie answered. “Everything alright? Have you found him?”

“Not yet, but we are getting closer. Can you put Leif on, please?”

“Sure.” The phone was passed to my brother.

“Yo.”

I rolled my eyes. “Leif, have you ever created a spell from scratch? Like Celeste and Cora did?”

“Yeah… why?”

“Am I right in thinking that for the spell to work, especially if it is extremely powerful, there always has to be a way to break it with a stipulation? Some hidden clause within the spell itself?”

“Yes, that’s what I am trying to do. I’m trying to detect beneath the layers of magic to find the clause that Celeste would have used to allow the spell to be broken.”

“I think I know what it is.”

There was a silence at the other end of the phone as well as all around me as I held my next breath.

“Well… don’t leave us in fucking suspense here, sis,” Leif groaned.

“Love.”

“Love?” he repeated, nearly scoffing at the word.

“Specifically, the love of a soulmate. I think that the spell that Celeste placed on Luka and Hana’s demons would only be broken if they found their soulmates and experienced true love.”

Another few beats of silence before Leif answered, “That’s a very optimistic and romantic notion, but it was Celeste and Cora who created this spell.”

“Exactly! Cora could see the future of anyone she touched apart from family. Luka said that she and Celeste studied him and Hana for a month before they went away to create the spell. What if Cora couldn’t see Luka’s future because he was always destined to be mated to me? To be a part of this family. She would have known on some level. Maybe that is why she refused to come back and perform the spell. Maybe that was the rift between the sisters because Cora refused. And… what if, on some level beneath her darkness, Celeste actually believed her? So, when she created the spell, she ensured the spell would only be broken if they found their soulmates?”

“But that isn’t how dark magic works, I’m afraid. I hate to be the one to rain on your parade, but dark magic requires a sacrifice. Always. Finding their soulmate wouldn’t be a sacrifice.”

I rubbed my forehead as I thought frantically. “A willing sacrifice,” I muttered under my breath. My eyes snapped up and found Grandpapi’s. “A willing sacrifice of true love. That’s it!”

“What?”

“My soul. I sacrifice my soul and give it to Heathen.”

“There is no sure way of knowing that, though, Ilaria,” Grandpapi argued, deep concern appearing on his face as he stepped towards me.

“Yeah, Grandpapi’s right. Until I can unpick the spell, that is just a guess, Ilaria. One that you cannot bet your life on. Say you give your soul to Heathen, and it doesn’t work. You’ll die if they kill him.”

“I know. But it is my choice to make.”

Leif groaned and Grandpapi turned his back on me, walking a few paces away as he ran his hand through his hair. Raiden and Sienna were staring between us with equal amounts of worry and interest as to how this would pan out.

“I’ll give my soul to Hana,” Ronnie’s deep voice interrupted in the background through the phone.