Page 26 of Dark Souls

Count To Five

G roaning, I blinked against the pounding in my head and lifted my arm sluggishly to cover my eyes. Urgh. Why does this never get any easier? You’d think I’d be used to the sensation of being summoned from the void and given back control of my body once more after years of this shit, but no. It still hurts like a motherfucker every time.

Ice cold water pelted my face as I spluttered from the shock and struggled for a breath until it ended. I sat bolt upright on the dirty floor and hissed through my fangs as I wiped my eyes with my talons.

“Apologies for the rude awakening, but I’m not feeling in a particularly friendly mood,” The Devil said calmly as he dropped the hose from his grip and stepped closer to me. I remained sitting, legs apart as I lowered my head to my chest and started to chuckle silently, my shoulders shaking.

“Yet you still apologised. You really need to up your villainous game. Such an amateur,” I taunted, earning me a powerful boot in the face. I fell back on the ground as I tasted my own blood in my mouth but continued to laugh, knowing how much it pissed him off when I didn’t fight back. What would be the point? I’d already clocked the ritual chalk circle around me and the flickering candles that kept me in a magical bind. Unless he broke it, there was no way out of this invisible prison and even if there was, that sigil around his neck protected him from any harm coming to him.

He crouched down just behind the outer line of my prison and clasped his hands together over his knees, bouncing on his heels a little as he looked me over suspiciously. “You disappoint me greatly, Heathen. You are supposed to be the most powerful killing machine. A weapon with no morals. Yet, you’re turning soft.”

I forced myself up to a sitting position again to stare into those crystal blue eyes. A twisted smile formed on my face as I fantasised about pinning him down and plucking those pretty eyeballs out of his skull before forcing him to swallow them. Soft my ass.

“Must be all that tender love and care you give me,” I replied sarcastically as his eyes narrowed. He really was radiating all kinds of pissed off. Yet, for the life of me, I had no idea what I was supposed to have done.

He stood up, walking methodically around the circle with his polished shoes. I loathed his style. Always in designer suits and polished shoes that he thought gave him righteousness and authority. To the outside world, he wanted them to think he was the good guy. The family man. The protector. The hero. It was the reason he kept his name out of the Club and let Luka and me do all the dirty work. He didn’t want to taint his perfect image. It was all a lie. That was the problem with greed. Once you had a taste of power, a taste of wealth, a taste of darkness, you’d do just about anything to keep it.

“When I give you an order, I expect that order to be fulfilled.”

“I am well aware.”

He paused, working his jaw as he gave me a disapproving glare. “Then tell me why you didn’t kill Tamara Rosen after I commanded it.”

I frowned. “The fae? I did—” I froze. Shit. Snow. She’d used the fae’s identity to get into the club. I knew there was a slim possibility that someone might spot her entry on the system even though she was supposed to have her membership revoked, but I thought that someone would be Luka. Not The Devil. He never checked the systems. He had no need to. As long as he got his money the club earned each month and used me for his crimes, he was happy.

My heart started thundering and I clenched my claws to avoid them shaking with worry for Ilaria. I knew this was too risky. I knew I should never have let her go to that event. If he’d done anything to her, so much as touched a hair on her head—

“Don’t lie to me, Heathen. How does a dead woman walk into an Underground event?” he growled. Wait. I glanced up and stared into his furious eyes. He didn’t know it was Ilaria. He thought it was Tamara. I breathed out a sigh of relief as my shoulders slouched.

“I thought I did. I guess I didn’t stick around long enough to check she was really dead,” I answered with a nonchalant shrug of my shoulders.

“How. The. Fuck. Do you let something like that happen?”

“I was distracted,” I answered calmly. “There was an owl. You know how I feel about owls. They freak me out. It’s their heads. No creature should be able to turn their head exorcist style like that.” I shook my shoulders for dramatic effect, pretending to shudder. He snarled, curling his upper lip above his fangs as I had to fight the urge not to laugh at his anger.

“If you let me out of this bind, I’ll rectify the issue right away. No need to get your Calvin Kleins in a twist.” I stood up, folding my arms across my bare chest and releasing my wings from my back. My skin was crawling with the urge to fly to my angel. It had clearly been far too long since I’d been freed, and she’d be wondering where I was. She’d be missing me and thinking I’d abandoned her. I needed to know she was safe and that she’d walked away from that event unharmed.

“No need,” The Devil said, turning away from me and picking up the grimoire in his hands. I eyed it with trepidation. No. No, I didn’t want to go back to the emptiness. The black hole of nothingness. “Luka handled the situation. He made quite a spectacle of it which he’s been punished for, but at least she’s no longer breathing.”

My eyes widened. What did he mean by that? What did Luka do? I needed out. I needed to see her. Right fucking now. But I didn’t have a clue how to get him to free me for a few hours. Not after admitting my so-called mistake.

“He’s been eager to take on a lot of your responsibilities recently,” he stated, while rubbing his sigil between his thumb and forefinger, causing a pain in the back of my skull to throb. “Maybe I should let him. Seeing as you are clearly slacking in your own department.”

My brain was frantic, trying to think of anything to keep me from the void. To keep me present. Why the hell would Luka take on my murderous jobs? Why would he be trying to keep me locked away on purpose? What the hell was happening? The frustration of knowing nothing, of losing so much time in the void, had red-hot lava spewing through my veins.

“I’m sorry,” I rushed, hating myself for pleading with The Devil. Of allowing him to see even an ounce of my weakness. But that was how I felt right now. Weak in body. Weak in mind. “I fucked up. But it won’t happen again. Let me out. I’ll do whatever you need. But I really need to feed. I’ve been kept away for too long without a kill and I’m growing weak.”

I tried my best to make my body look less intimidating, slouching my shoulders and allowing my wings to droop. I was always hungry. The thirst for blood and organs never eased. I could still function, but I’d kill just to see Snow again. I’d kill every damn soul on the planet if it meant I’d know she was safe.

He stared at me hard. “Fine.” He finally broke the silence and I tried not to look too ecstatic. “I’ll give you an hour. Go and feed, but don’t be seen. I mean it, Heathen. You need to earn back my trust, or you’ll be facing the darkness a lot more than you’d like.”

I nodded, my wings twitching with the anticipation to feel the wind beneath them. He chanted the Latin scripture and drew a line through the chalk with his foot, breaking the bind he had me in. Without so much as a word or glance, I raced for the window, climbing onto the ledge and taking off into the sky. I didn’t have a minute to waste.

As I soared higher above in the darkening sky, becoming hidden by the stormy clouds, I closed my eyes and focused on the Romano Castle. Transporting myself above it, I swooped down and landed on the pointed spire. I crawled across the roof like an animal as the rain pummelled against my back and prayed I’d find her in the safety of her room. If not, I’d head to the palace next. Then that quirky apartment. Then there was her uncle’s house. I’d try every place until I saw her face, even if it meant I only had a second in her company. But I really hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

Opening the window latch with my mind, I tugged and jumped onto the uneven floorboards of the attic, dripping rainwater and creating a puddle at my feet.

“What the hell, Heathen!” The whisper-yell from across the room was followed by a pillar candle being catapulted towards my head. I dodged it just in time as it disappeared through the open window and into the dark.

My whole body relaxed when I took in her furious little face. Her fluorescent pink eyes narrowed into that adorable glare and her finger pointed at me with savageness, but the only urge I had was to suck it into my mouth. “Now you decide to show your face! Where have you been, Demon?”

I smiled. She’d missed me. She seethed even more. In a split second, I was in front of her, grabbing the sides of her face in my huge talons as I took in her delicate features, checking she was unharmed. How was she more beautiful every time I saw her? Her little hands wrapped around my wrists, attempting to rip me off her, but I didn’t give her an inch. Instead, I leaned down and kissed her lips softly. It was our first kiss. And though I wanted more, just the feel of her supple, pillowy flesh beneath my hard lines was enough for now. She froze, clearly not expecting it. I pulled back and stared into her eyes. And then her hand connected with my face. Hard. My head whipped to the side from the impact. Damn, the little firecracker has some strength in her. I turned back to face her, peering down with a delighted smile.

“You’re angry,” I whispered the most obvious statement possible.

“Uh-huh, you think?” she replied sarcastically, slamming her hands against my chest and trying to push me away. I let my hands fall from her face, and she stormed around me, tugging her worn leather rucksack onto the bed. I studied the bedsheets and the lack of silk drapes. A low growl rumbled from my chest.

“You changed the sheets.”

She paused her throwing of items in her bag to give me another one of those looks that could kill. “You expected me to sleep on cum-stained sheets?”

“Yes,” I replied immediately. She rolled her eyes. “At least tell me you fucked yourself on them first?”

Her cheeks flushed a slight shade of pink as she avoided my eyes and continued grabbing some clothes from a drawer. I had my answer. I chuckled darkly, knowing my dark angel was as twisted as I was. “Did you use your fingers or that monster dildo in your top drawer, imagining it was my cock as you got off to the scent of my cum?”

“Stop it,” she hissed. “You don’t get to say shit like that to me. Not when you sent me to an Underground event with a dead woman’s membership card. A woman that you killed.”

I frowned. “How do you know that?” She scoffed, zipping up the rucksack and I finally took notice that she was packing. “Where are you going?”

“So it’s true? You killed her?”

“Yes,” I answered honestly.

“Why? Did she deserve to die? Did she do something unforgivable?”

I didn’t like her tone. Or the way she was looking at me. Even though she’d seen my true form several times now, she’d never once looked at me like I was the monster I am. Not until now.

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I prefer not to know details. It doesn’t make a difference either way.”

She put her hands on her hips and looked at me as if she was about to detonate. But I didn’t find her anger entertaining anymore. Because this felt personal. She was angry with me. Hurting, and it felt like it was my fault. And I didn’t like it one bit.

“What the fuck, Heathen! What am I supposed to do with that? How am I just supposed to turn a blind eye to the terrible things you do when you show zero remorse? You and him are exactly the same.” She shook her head as I frowned deeply.

“Me and who? Snow. Talk to me. What happened at the event? I’m sorry I’ve been away for so long. Trust me, it wasn’t by choice.”

“Can I?” she argued. “Trust you? Because I don’t know anymore. I don’t know what to think about any of this. What am I even doing?” she muttered, more to herself, as she rubbed her forehead and closed her eyes. She was spiralling. Something had seriously spooked her. I stepped towards her, grabbing her hand and placing it on my chest. She opened her eyes and stared up at me with confusion. But at least she had calmed down.

“You feel that? As long as it beats, you can trust me, Snow. I will never lie to you. It may not always be what you want to hear, but it will be the truth. The ugly truth. My world is dark, and you know I am not in… you know I am limited to what I can say, but I will give you as much as I can. You can trust me.”

She tilted her head to the side and I could see the depth of her sadness deep in those stunning eyes. Eyes that were too pretty to be sad. It didn’t look right on her. I wanted to take it away and make them shine again. Make them sparkle with passion. Sadness didn’t belong.

“What happened at the event?” I asked again firmly. She sighed, pulling her hand from my chest and I immediately wanted to force it back there. I liked her touching me. I yearned for it.

“Why don’t you ask your friend? The Dealer,” she said with irritation and something else lacing her tone.

“Ah. Well, I would, except we aren’t exactly on speaking terms right now.” I rubbed my claw down my face. “So, you met him? I warned you he was an asshole, Snow. What happened? Did he upset you?”

“It doesn’t even matter. You were right about that, he’s an asshole. But you were wrong about everything else. He won’t help me figure your situation out, and he told me not to trust him. In fact, he told me to stay as far away from him as physically possible if I valued my life and never show my face in the club again. So that’s what I’m doing.”

My whole body rippled with violent energy. Why the fuck would he say that? Surely, he wanted out of the devil’s clutches just as much as me? Why couldn’t he see that Ilaria could help us both? She was someone we could trust to figure out the truth. This didn’t make any sense. He clearly protected her identity from The Devil. He lied and said it was Tamara at the event and he’d killed her. His actions didn’t match his words.

She huffed, her shoulders tense as she turned around and lifted her rucksack onto her shoulder. And that’s when I noticed the large, centuries-old book that had been lying underneath it. My eyes fell on the gold-foiled lettering on the front. The Book of Dark Magic. It was the original book created by the Anderson sisters (Ilaria’s ancestors) centuries ago. The greatest dark witches that have ever lived. A book I had seen once before. And a book that was one of the catalysts in ruining my life. My shoulders started to shake uncontrollably as I forced my eyes away from it and trained my concentration on Ilaria instead. But her words only caused me more anxiety.

“Look. I know I said I’ll help you, and I’m not saying I’m giving up. Whatever messed-up situation you’re in, I’ll figure it out and do what I can to help you get out of it but right now, I just need some… space. Some time to think.”

“Where are you going?” I said with a deep frown, approaching her slowly. I didn’t like this.

“To help my brothers.”

“But they are in another realm.”

“Your stalking knows no bounds,” she replied sarcastically.

My heart raced. “How long will you be gone?”

“I don’t know. As long as it takes. They’re about to go to war against a magical force and mutated zombie wolves, and I’m not going to miss out on all the fun. They are my brothers. They need me. And right now, I need the distraction.”

A fierce, protective growl escaped me. That sounded dangerous. Too dangerous for her to be going alone, and I didn’t like the idea of her being in a completely different realm, unreachable, untraceable. In fact, I fucking hated it. I wanted to be with her. But that was impossible. I was trapped. Trapped in a cycle of never-ending torture. I didn’t give a fuck about money or power. All I wanted was freedom. All I wanted was her. And she was leaving. Feral, primal rage took over as I grabbed the antique full-length mirror and launched it across the room. The mirror smashed as I heaved aggressively and Ilaria jumped back, startled by my outburst.

“And they say I have anger issues,” she muttered, staring down at the mess before her eyes studied me with curiosity. I was pacing. My wings were flapping behind me. My claws ripped against my chest, drawing blood as I tried to escape the confines of my own skin. Red coated my vision. I was losing it.

“Hey!” I heard her voice, but it felt miles away. Too far. Like she was already leaving me. “Heathen. Calm down. Calm the fuck down before my grandpapi comes up here. Heathen!”

I felt a tug on my wrists, pulling them down to my sides and away from the harm I was causing my chest.

“Stop! Look at me. Breathe.”

I tried to focus. I tried to clear the bloody haze. Pink sparkled behind it. I latched onto the colour like it was my only lifeline. My only way out of the darkness.

“That’s it. Breathe.” Her soft voice soothed the anger to a dull agitation. I slumped, sitting on the edge of her bed as she stood between my thighs. As I regained control of my body, I realised her hands were on my shoulders. The simple act grounded me like nothing ever had before. Just her touch, her voice, pulled me back from the edge of total destruction.

Closing my eyes, my head fell forwards against her chest, listening to the peaceful rhythm of her heartbeat. My fangs ached when I heard the rushing of her blood pumping through her veins. I’d never desired another’s blood as much as hers, yet I would never take it without her consent.

“You good?” she asked tenderly, and I lifted my head to stare at her face. The face of an angel. My snow angel.

“No. Sorry about the mirror,” I grumbled, lifting my hands to my face and pushing my fists into my eyes. “I haven’t fed in a while and just the thought of you leaving, of not being able to see you when I can, sent me into a blind rage. I shouldn’t have sent you to the club. It was foolish and selfish, especially when I knew there was a chance I wouldn’t be there to make sure nothing bad happened.”

She licked her bottom lip, her eyes flicking over my face and down to my chest as she contemplated something. Something that was causing hesitation to flow from her in waves.

“What is it?” I asked as she chewed her bottom lip.

“You’re going to kill again, aren’t you? You’ll leave here and kill someone because you need to. It’s an urge you can’t control.”

I sighed. “I have no other choice. I am already growing weak. I need it.”

“Can’t you just feed? Instead of killing?”

I thought about that. It had been years since I had. My missions were always to kill. I’d never had to reign in my urges or force myself not to go too far because Master demanded that I see the job through. But the truth was, if I wasn’t compelled to kill, nowadays, I probably still would. Once the blood hit my tongue, I was frenzied. I never cared about the life in my hands, so I had no need to stop.

“I don’t know. Possibly. I can’t remember the last time I tried to control my hunger.”

“But you think you could?” she asked quietly, the cogs of her brain whirling behind those pink eyes.

I lifted a strand of her icy hair between my talons as I asked, “What is it Snow? What’s going on in that curious little brain of yours?”

She held my gaze, determination tensing her eyebrows. “I want to be able to trust you, Heath. I want to know that by helping you, I am not making the biggest mistake of my life. I am lying to a lot of people to protect you. People I love. And I won’t do it for a monster with no soul. You must prove to me there is more to you than the crimes you commit. I need to know that I can trust you with my life.”

“I’ll earn your trust however I can, Ilaria.”

She suddenly dropped to her knees and pressed the palms of her hands carefully on my pecs, pushing until I leaned my claws back on her bed. Her eyes darted down to the fresh cuts I had made on my skin in anger and her eyes turned blood-red with thirst. Her fangs snapped down a second later, and I was hard as stone at the sight of her true vampire form.

“I’m going to teach you,” she said, her voice huskier than normal which had my dick aching and heart pounding. Hello Rue, you beautiful creature . “I’m going to teach you how to control it. How to stop before the frenzy takes hold.”

She leaned up on her knees as my breathing caught. She was going to drink my blood. My ancient demon blood would be gliding down her throat. Feeding her. I’d never willingly let anyone feed from me before. It was a vulnerable act to give something so intimate. But with her, she could take every last drop.

With her hands on either side of my hips, her red eyes roamed down to the first cut on my chest. “The first taste is always the best. I allow myself to indulge in those first gulps. The warm sensation of thick blood travelling down my throat. The taste. I connect with it. Give in to it. Five gulps. That is all I allow before I force myself to break away for control.”

I watched her in silent awe as she lowered her lips to my skin. Her tongue flattened against my wound and I released a choked noise as she slowly followed the length of the cut, lapping up the oozing blood until it was clean. She did the same thing to the next one and the next. Each time, my cock jolted, my throat growled, and my head swam with pleasure. Suddenly, her fangs sunk into my skin, and I groaned loudly as my demonic eyes rolled back into my head. She took five slow, sensual gulps of my blood, squeezing my hips in her hands on each gulp to help me count with her before she broke away. With my blood coating her lips and dripping down her chin, her eyes wide and alert and the scent of her arousal, she was the most enchanting I’d ever seen her.

“You taste so good. Powerful. If I can stop drinking from you, you can control your thirst, Heath. Count to five. And repeat,” she husked. She counted five more squeezes on my hips, digging her nails into my flesh and holding my gaze before she sank her fangs into my other pec, being careful to miss the thick, solid shadow vines that snaked down my torso.

“Fuck,” I moaned, unable to take my eyes off her as she counted out her five gulps again. This was the most intense and erotic thing I’d ever experienced. I could so easily come from just the feel of her fangs deep in my flesh. The pain mixed with pleasure was so mind-blowing, it was embarrassing how close I was to blowing my load. Yet, I couldn’t help but want more. I wanted her wild. Wanted to see her lose control and take what she desired with no restraint. I’d give it all to her without hesitation.

She pulled back once more, panting heavily as she stood up from her position. She hiked up the sleeve of her off-the-shoulder jumper and held out her dainty wrist to me. “It’s your turn. Think you can handle it, demon?”

My eyes widened as I realised what she was offering. A guttural growl rocketed from my chest as I grabbed her wrist and yanked her onto the bed, throwing her down and climbing on top of her. Pressing her to the mattress with my weight settled between her legs, she blinked up at me with a mix of alarm, fear and excitement.

“You think I’ll be drinking from your wrist like a perfect gentleman? Snow, you know me too well to know that isn’t me.” I moved back to sit on my knees and grabbed one of her legs, lifting it onto my shoulder. My forked tongue snaked out and licked a trail up the smooth, milky skin of her thigh, my eyes locked with hers as her breathing became laboured in anticipation. I flashed her my fangs, watching as her pupils dilated slightly with a little fear before I sunk them into her flesh and closed my eyes. The moan that caught in my throat when the first taste of her burst onto my tongue was so euphoric, I lost all train of thought. It was only her. Her honeyed blood tasted like the most heavenly nectar from the rarest, most forbidden fruit. Blood was blood to me. The more fear evoked in the victim, the better they tasted. But Ilaria was different. It wasn’t her fear I craved. It was her desire.

Her head tipped back on the pillow as I started to drink, her eyes rolling to the back of her head as the most delicate moan left her lips. I groaned with satisfaction when her blood spiked with arousal, making it that much sweeter. Shit, how much had I taken already? I hadn’t even been fucking counting. I started again, squeezing my sharp talons into her flawless thighs and causing pinpricks of blood to ooze from the marks they left with each count, relishing in each slow and drawn-out gulp so it would never end. But five came too soon. I released my fangs on a hiss, my vision blurring and cock throbbing. I needed more. So much more. But then I met her eyes. Her chest was heaving rapidly, and I centred myself with the sound of her thundering heartbeat. Once I felt more controlled, I lapped at the blood on her thighs and let her leg fall from my shoulder, spreading her around my waist. I dropped forwards, lifting her jumper to expose her soft stomach and sunk my fangs in without warning. Her back arched off the bed in pleasure as my claws held her waist, keeping her still as I tried to focus once again. Counting to five had never been so fucking hard. After my five gulps, I couldn’t help but kiss my way up her torso, licking her sweet scent off her skin as I went. One claw found its way to her tits, feeling the hard metal in her nipple which had me growling with want as I pressed my erection to her clit over her underwear.

“Yes,” she gasped, writhing beneath me just as I’d imagined she would when I finally got her in this position. “I… I don’t understand,” she breathed between her pants as I scraped my talon over her piercing, causing her whole body to jolt. “It shouldn’t be like this. This is wrong on so many levels.”

“As far as I can see, it feels fucking right to me,” I groaned, shifting my hips to slowly start to rub my length up and down her pussy. Her nails dug into my shoulders as I took one of her nipples into my mouth, teasing the metal and flesh between my fangs. When I couldn’t hold back any longer, I bit into her chest, taking five more controlled but erotic gulps as I ground up against her core. The air was thick with the scent of our arousal as she moaned and gasped beneath me. After five, I released her, licking the bite mark.

“You’re a fast learner,” she moaned, her hips rotating so her pussy ground against my erection as I tried to fight the urge to rip that skirt and those little lace panties off and sink my monster cock to the hilt, claiming her over and over until she couldn’t remember her own name.

“No, I need more practice,” I groaned, sinking my fangs into her other breast as I started to really move against her, giving her a tiny glimpse of what I had in store for her. She was fucking soaking against my jeans, her pussy screaming for me to take it, but I wanted the words from her mouth. I wanted her to beg me to make her mine.

“Heathen…” she gasped loudly, the sound of my name on her lips as her orgasm hit was the hottest thing I’d ever heard. I groaned, taking a cheeky, extra gulp of her blood, doubting she’d notice as she was so lost in her own pleasure. I moved my hand between us to her pussy, shifting her thong to the side as my fingers delved into her, prolonging her orgasm as her walls clenched around me.

“Snow, you’re strangling my fingers so tightly, I can only imagine how you’re going to take my cock, Snow. You want it, don’t you? Tell me how much you fucking want it.”

“Oh god,” she moaned, her arms locking around my shoulders as my tongue licked up the column of her neck, where I would sink my fangs in at the same time I buried myself deep inside her.

Footsteps sounded somewhere in the distance of the castle, growing closer. I froze, hissing through my fangs as they started up the stairs leading to her attic room.

“What?” Her head snapped up, staring at me with panic. “What is it—” And then she heard them too, her eyes widening. “Fuck! Get off me!” She shoved my chest, pushing me to the side of her as she jumped up from the bed just as a knock came on her door.

“Ilaria?” a woman’s voice echoed through the heavy oak door. “Are you ready? Everyone is waiting downstairs, and the White Witch from Heroux is opening the portal any minute for you.”

“Urgh. Yeah. Uh, hang on!” She glared at me, flapping her hands for me to get up off her bed and pointed her finger to the window, signing for me to get the fuck out. Yeah, that wasn’t happening. I wasn’t sneaking out the window without saying a proper goodbye when I had no idea when I’d see her again. Just the reminder she was leaving had me clenching my jaw and shaking my head with stubbornness. She groaned, almost stamping her feet in frustration as the oak door started to open.

She zoomed towards it, slamming it shut violently with her back pressed up against it. “Don’t come in! I’m not decent!”

“Oh, okay. I just wanted to check if everything was okay. I swear I heard some strange noises when I was coming up the stairs. Is there someone in there with you, darling?”

I delved my hand into my jeans, fisting my dick as her eyes widened. I released a deep erotic groan.

“No grandma!” She panicked, looking even more flustered with every growing minute as I relaxed back on the bed with a twisted grin. My dick was noticeably still rock hard under my jeans and my chin was covered with her blood. I would have painted quite a pretty picture for her grandma. “I was watching porn!”

I scoffed, slamming my claw over my mouth to stop the laughter threatening to give me away as she cringed with flushed cheeks.

“Oh. Oh okay, sweetie. Well, good for you. Masturbation is extremely healthy, especially to relieve stress. Just come on down when your… um… done. The witch can wait a few minutes.”

“Hmm, okay. Thanks.”

The footsteps retreated. She dived for me, claws extended, but I was faster. I twisted her beneath me, pinning her hands above her head as my wings extended with excitement.

“You are infuriating! I can’t believe you made me tell my grandma I was masturbating! I’ll never be able to look her in the eyes again!” she yelled with an embarrassed smile on her pretty face.

“That was all you, Snow. You could have told her the truth. That you were going out of your way to seduce a demon with your blood just so he’d fuck you so hard you’d see the stars.”

“I was not seducing you! I was trying to help you!”

I wrinkled my nose, pretending to disagree, and her little fists came flying at me once more. “Such a violent little creature,” I teased, pinning her down again as she snapped her fangs at me, and I chuckled darkly.

My laughter died away as she stared into my eyes.

“I don’t understand this. I don’t understand why I still feel so drawn to you,” she said with a pensive expression, her eyes roaming over every inch of my monstrous face.

“Maybe you don’t have to understand it. Maybe you just have to feel it.”

She swallowed. Suddenly, she looked worried. Almost scared. I pulled back a little, releasing her wrists in case I was hurting her, but it was the next words out of her mouth that had me livid.

“Heathen. You know I am a vampire. You know that means I will have a soulmate, right?”

I snarled; red-hot rage clouded my senses at the thought of someone else claiming her as theirs. Over my dead body. She was mine.

“If you do, I’ll kill him. No one is taking you from me, Snow.” I meant every word. I’d live with the consequences of that action, whatever they may be. She could hate me for hundreds of years, but she’d forgive me eventually. I’d wait lifetimes for her, but I’d never see her in someone else’s arms. Not while I was breathing.

Her nostrils flared as she inhaled sharply. “You are serious, aren’t you?”

“Deadly.”

She held my gaze, and I knew in that moment that my feelings for her scared her to death. I could see it in the depths of her soul. She was starting to realise the magnitude of our situation. Good. It was about time. Her soul will inevitably belong to me one day. She just had to give it to me.

“Perhaps you won’t have to kill him. Perhaps he won’t even want me.” The sadness in her tone caught me off guard and I narrowed my eyes.

“Then he’d be a fool. And he’d deserve to die just for that.”

She burst out laughing but complex emotions glistened in her eyes. Before I could ask what had brought this on, she shimmied out from beneath me and exhaled with her hands on her hips.

“I left my phone and my favourite dagger at the event. Any chance you’ll be able to get them back for me?” she asked hopefully.

“I’ll try. But I can’t guarantee someone else hasn’t already got their hands on them.”

“The Dealer, you mean?” she asked with ice in her voice. What the hell had he said to her to make her so… reactive to him? She sighed when I didn’t answer.

“Don’t suppose you know his real name either?”

“I do, actually.” I narrowed my eyes, studying the little mannerisms that gave away her intrigue. Her head lifted, her eyes sparkled, and her shoulders tensed before she looked away again and scanned the room, pretending to be disinterested. “Why do you want to know his name?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “I just think it might help me find out more about the man I’m supposedly meant to work with to figure this all out. I could do a little research on him. Find some leverage to make him help us.”

My muscles tensed and my jaw clenched. “No. No, definitely don’t do that. Don’t blackmail him. That’s not the way to deal with this.”

She frowned, placing her hands on her hips. “I wasn’t planning on blackmailing him, Christ! I was thinking more along the lines of a deal. He is named The Dealer after all. I think it would work best if I offered him something that he wants in exchange for his help, but in order to do that, I need to know more about him. So, what’s his real name?”

No. That wasn’t it. I could sense she was hiding something. There was more to this. I tilted my head as I watched her making herself busy around the room, opening drawers and grabbing more stuff to put in her rucksack. “What’s going on here?”

“What?” She bristled, her tone defensive. I rolled my tongue over my fangs, making a clicking noise in irritation.

“You still haven’t told me what happened between the two of you. Or why you are so upset.”

“I’m not upset!” There was that defensive tone again. “I’m pissed. There’s a difference. He was exactly what you warned me he would be. Cold, heartless and a complete asshole. He refused to help and practically told me he wanted nothing to do with… this. He told me you killed that fae, and it made me feel like shit. That’s all you need to know.”

“He wasn’t always that way,” I muttered, rubbing my claw up and down the back of my head. She paused her rampage around the room, my words seeming to gain her undivided attention.

“You know him well?”

“I used to,” I answered honestly. “A long time ago…” I growled when the block stopped the words I wanted to say from leaving my lips. “I guess you could say we used to be friends. But now, I don’t think I recognise him at all. This life has not been kind to him, Snow. It’s not been kind to either of us. And sometimes, there is only so much you can take before you snap. Before all you know is your own pain and darkness. So, instead of fighting it, you find a home in it.”

She chewed her bottom lip between her fangs, lost in her thoughts. I stood up and walked around the bed towards her, tugging her lip out from her teeth with my talon before her fang punctured her soft flesh and had me diving for another taste of her blood again. Because I was a weak, weak demon who could not resist that kind of temptation.

She peered up at me, those dazzling pink eyes blinding me as they warmed my black soul. “Is that the same for you, demon?” she whispered.

“Yes,” I husked, leaning down to brush my lips against hers. “I was starting to believe that I would spend eternity alone in the unyielding darkness. That the black void of my existence would be all I’d ever know until my last breath. But then…” I paused, lifting a strand of her icy, white hair to my nose and inhaling deeply. “I found a Snow Angel. I knew she’d save me from the darkness.”

“Talk about pressure.” She released a shaky breath, holding my gaze. “I have to go.”

The four little words I’d been dreading. I slouched back down on the bed, placing my head in my hands as I tried to control the overwhelming torrent of distress that they caused me.

“I’ll be back. And I’ll find a way to help you, Heathen. I made you a promise and I intend to keep it. Just… try not to kill anyone while I’m gone.”

Well, that was a big fucking ask, especially because knowing she was leaving made me feel savage. I didn’t speak. I couldn’t. I wasn’t sure what would come out of my mouth. I wasn’t opposed to getting on my knees and begging her to stay even though I knew that wouldn’t be a good look. But the thought of her leaving in search of danger in an unknown realm where I could never find her if she needed me was almost too much to bear. I thought being held captive in the void for days at a time was bad enough, but this was so much worse.

“Don’t look so worried. I’ll be fine,” she said as she lifted her rucksack on her shoulder and picked up the huge book of dark magic. My head snapped up to stare at it with unease. That book cost me my freedom. The quicker it was out of my sight, the better.

“Are you taking that with you?” I asked, my tone dangerously dark. She frowned, peering down at it as she casually balanced it on her hip.

“This? Yeah. Apparently, it has a spell in it that may help my brothers figure out the magic behind the zombie wolves. So I am delivering it to them.”

“Do me a favour?” I gritted, moving my gaze up to her face. “Keep it in Heroux. Give it to someone you trust with your life and never bring it back to this realm. Or better yet. Burn it.”

“What? Why?” she asked as I stood up and stepped into her. Just the evil radiating off that thing in her arms had me on edge and I needed to get away from it.

“Because in the wrong hands. That thing can ruin lives.” Just like it ruined mine.

She stared up at me with a bewildered expression and I couldn’t help but lean down and kiss the tip of her nose. “Come back to me, Snow. Or I’ll be burning down an entire realm just to find you.”

Before she could speak another word, I was out the window and soaring above the clouds with only one destination in mind. I had less than ten minutes until I’d be summoned, but ten minutes was all I needed to send a certain someone a message. A message to the asshole, who dared upset my Snow Angel and nearly ruin everything I had built with her over the last few weeks, so much so that she was fleeing to another realm. If anything happened to her, I’d be holding him personally responsible and I’d never fucking forgive him.