Page 236 of Dark Souls

My lips trembled, but I held it together and gave him a sharp nod. He smirked and patted the side of my face with his scarred and burned hand.

He turned abruptly and slid off the branch. His demon wings expanded to slow his descent, and he landed crouched on the forest floor. I caught up with him, and we strolled through the vibrant bluebells that spread through the forest as far as the eye could see. Before we reached the castle grounds, he stopped and peered around at them all, taking in the idyllic scene.

“Here will do.”

“For what?” I questioned, frowning when he took off his shirt and stretched each of his muscular arms across his chest.

“I want you to fight me.”

I scoffed loudly. “What?”

“You heard.” He stood wide and summoned me with two bent fingers and a wicked grin. “I’m out of practice, and I want to see what gifts you stole from me.”

When I narrowed my eyes, he laughed.

“What’s going on?” We turned around to find Ilaria walking towards us, followed by Hana, Ronnie, Leif, and Neve, staring between us with curiosity.

“Zoran wants me to fight him.” Hana’s face stretched into a slow grin, while the rest of them looked alarmed. “He says he is out of practice and wants to have his ass handed to him by his now much more lethal brother.”

Zoran snorted, his eyes gleaming as his smile widened. Zoran responded in Serbian. “Even with my gifts, I’ll be the one putting you on your ass, little brother. You forget who taught you everything you know.”

Hana giggled, seeing that she was the only one who could understand what Zoran had said, and sat down on the mossy ground among the delicate bluebells to get comfortable.

“What’s happening?” Ilaria asked again, confused when Hannah grabbed the sleeve of her top and yanked her down, too.

“They are talking shit to each other,” Hannah answered.

“Oh, what? And we’re missing it? Wait!” Leif strolled forward, standing between Zoran and me. “I can cast a spell, and you’ll be able to speak in fluent English. It might help you when it comes to finding your wicked witch.”

Zoran’s brows tightened as he looked from Leif to me with suspicion.

“He’s trustworthy. I promise. And he’s right. You’ll need to learn the language if you are going to have any success finding her. This is a pretty cool shortcut. I’d take it if I were you.”

Zoran clicked his tongue as he studied Leif with unease before huffing and speaking in Serbian to me, “Fine. But if he tries anything else, I’ll eat his eyeballs.”

I smirked, folding my arms across my chest. “He said yes, that would be really helpful. Thank you, Leif.”

Leif clapped his hands together. “Awesome. This might feel a little strange.” Leif stepped forwards to place his fingertips on Zoran’s skull, and Zoran instantly dodged him with a hiss. Hana burst out laughing behind us.

“Z, stop being such a baby and let the man touch you!” she shouted in Serbian.

“No one apart from you two has touched me in centuries, and I was hoping the next person who did might be a female. Not some pretty-boy warlock with weird eyes,” he grunted, glaring at Leif, who was looking between us all with frustration.

“I am starting to get the feeling he is insulting me,” Leif said, causing Hannah and me to laugh and Zoran to scowl. Leif turned towards him again. “Do you want to be bilingual or not?”

“Fine,” Zoran gritted through his teeth and closed his eyes. Leif quickly placed his fingers back on his head and muttered some Latin. It was over in a matter of seconds, and Leif stepped back.

“Now. Insult and beat the living shit out of each other, you demonic dreamboats. And don’t hold back. I want to have a raging hard-on after this.” Leif patted my shoulder as he walked back over to the others, who were now all sitting comfortably to watch. Neve, Ronnie, and Hana roared with laughter.

“Is he talking about his dick?” Zoran said in perfect English, only his accent giving away that it wasn’t his first language. The deep frown on his face matched my own. I blinked at him and then turned around to look at Ilaria in question as her brother sat beside her with a smirk.

“I didn’t realise he was gay,” I said. Not that it mattered, but it was just a surprise.

“I’m not defined by labels, demon. I just like sex. A hole is a hole, as far as I am concerned. Gun to my head, I’d probably choose to fuck a pussy over an asshole, but if this is you offering, Luka, I’m down.” Ilaria punched him in the ribs, which caused him to let out a loud groan and fall to his side on the soil. “Ow! They are the siblings that are supposed to be fighting, not us!”

“Then don’t be a despicable whore and stop flirting with my mate!”

“But look how uncomfortable it makes him.” Leif chuckled, sitting upright again. “It’s adorable.”