Page 55 of Dark Souls
Red 14
I t was on my second 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?”
“Just water,” I said, and he nodded. When he placed it on the bar, I noticed the way his hand trembled before he quickly hid it by picking up a bar towel and wringing it through his fingers. I peered over my shoulder at the chaotic scene behind me.
“Have you worked for The Underground for a while?” I asked, pulling his gaze back to mine.
“Few years. Just bartending events at this club when needed,” he answered quickly, peering down before I could read whatever was going through his mind.
“This is the first time I’ve been to Fright Night,” I admitted. His attention remained focused on the glass he was washing in the sink. “Is it always this… anarchic? Is it just me or do members seem less controlled this evening?”
His purple eyes snapped up to mine. “No. Tonight’s a mess. If I were you, I’d leave if this isn’t your vibe.”
‘Hell, this is the last time I agree to work at this bar if The Dealer is truly gone.’
My chest tightened, trying to contain my pounding heart when I read his inner thoughts.
“Oh,” I sat down on a bar stool. “Then what’s so different about tonight?”
He lowered his voice, his eyes darting around nervously. “We are under new management.”
“New management?” I raised my eyebrows, acting only slightly surprised and more intrigued. “You don’t say? The Devil sold this place?”
He shook his head. “There’s a new Dealer.” One that isn’t capable or feared enough to keep these assholes in check. One that is more concerned with his own pleasure and has already let the power go to his head, so much so that tonight is going to be a complete shit show.
“What happened to the old one?” I asked, keeping my voice naturally calm and showing only a hint of curiosity when inside I was close to a heart attack. He wasn’t dead. I’d feel it through the bond if he was. The painful ache that had made itself a home under my rib cage was an indication of our separation, but I could still feel the bond between us. He was alive.
The warlock shrugged his shoulders and moved on to a new customer that had just leaned against the bar. I sipped my water, scanning the room once again for any sign of Wesley and trying to fight the panic that was rising. The ticking of an invisible clock in my head that resonated with every pounding beat of my heart was a constant reminder to me that my soulmate was truly about to lose his life. If The Devil had replaced him and made it known among the staff and members, there really was no coming back.
Who would he replace him with? Who would he trust enough to put in charge tonight? Surely, it had to be his nephew? I had to create a dramatic scene that would get me taken to The Dealer. But what? Immoral and horrific acts were being performed everywhere I looked. Racking my brains to think of a plan, I remembered tonight’s only rule. No violence towards other members.
I stared at the booth Sammi was still sitting in on the other side of the room. Alpha Hugo no longer had a woman between his legs but was now in deep conversation with another male member, completely ignoring her. I chewed on my lower lip. Maybe there was a way I could help her and get myself noticed by The Dealer. She would hate me for it but if it saved her from this asshole, then so be it.
Strutting across the room, I put everything into the sway of my hips, firmly placing my most provocative smile upon my face and demanding the perverted attentions of any straight man I passed. Alpha Hugo sensed my presence coming his way. His dark gaze from his only good eye drifted up my body as he leaned away from the man he was talking to and licked his lips. I purposely ignored the vicious glare coming from Sammi as I approached her man, not bothering with words and instead, lifted one leg over his thighs and plonked myself down on his lap.
Sorry, Mum and Dad for what you are about to witness through the hidden camera on my corset. But a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.
His lips kicked up into a sideways smirk as he hummed appreciatively when my nails travelled up his thick, hairy forearms and over his black shirt to his shoulders.
“Well, hello there,” he husked.
I leaned forwards into his chest, allowing my tits to brush against his hard pecs and whispered against the shell of his ear, “There is just something about a man with an eye patch that sends me absolutely feral. Violence. I love it. You are someone who clearly knows how to survive a deadly fight, even if it means losing an eye. I saw you across the room and I knew… you had to be mine tonight.”
He groaned, shifting his hips up beneath me to show just how much my words were affecting him. I sat back on his lap, grinding against him and ignoring the painful itch that crawled across my skin at being so intimately close to a man who wasn’t my mate.
“Is that right?” he questioned as his huge hands dug into my hips. His mind raced with depraved sexual fantasies of what he’d like to do to me as mine did the same, except my fantasies were of the deadly kind. Of all the wicked ways I could kill him.
I nodded, allowing my fangs to dig into the plump flesh of my lower lip as my eyes hooded. “Tell me how it happened… how you lost your eye? Make me fucking wet, Alpha.”
My fingers roamed over his shirt, playing with the buttons flirtatiously as I subtly moved my hips, grinding against his growing erection.
“You heard of The Dealer of this club? The vampire with no humanity?” His tone was dark and low as I continued to rock against him, my hips moving with every scandalous beat of the music.
“Yes,” I moaned, my fingers digging into his shoulders enough to cause a little pain. “He took your eye?”
Hugo scoffed. “He tried. But he was no match for me. Barely recognisable when I’d finished with him. That’s the reason he’s not here tonight. It’s the reason they had to find someone else to organise this event.”
‘Oh, you fucking liar.’
“Wow, you won against The Dealer? So I have the most dangerous man in this club between my legs?” I cocked my head to the side as he grinned.
Sammi scoffed, shaking her head with disgust as I turned my attention to her. Her eyes narrowed on me just as Alpha Hugo’s hand snapped out and grabbed her jaw, yanking her aggressively towards him. “Something you want to say, Sammi?”
Her nostrils flared as she held his gaze and when she didn’t make a sound, he shoved her face away, chuckling deeply. “Ignore her. She’s being punished for being a brat and running her mouth, but she’s finally starting to learn her lesson.”
I wrapped my arms around his thick neck. Leaning into him once more, I allowed my lips to travel up his disgustingly sweaty neck towards his ear, fighting the shudder that tried to shoot up my spine at the vile touch. “Looks like fun. What do I have to do to be punished by you?”
A lethal growl came from Sammi as Alpha Hugo’s hand twisted into my hair, tugging my head back sharply as he ran his nose up my throat. “Oh, I can think of a few things.”
“Then ask the useless skank to leave. I don’t like to share, Alpha.”
That did the trick. Sammi’s cuffed hands grabbed the back of my hair and ripped me off his lap, throwing me down to the floor. Thankfully, because of the silver handcuffs, she was unable to shift into her wolf, but she still sent her fists flying into my face, splitting open my lip from the force. Using my vampire strength and speed, I flipped us over, straddling her hips and throwing my own punches across her face. We rolled, punched and kicked, knocking into tables and creating quite a scene as Alpha Hugo roared with delight behind us. A brawny arm wrapped around my waist, hoisting me off her as another bouncer lifted her off the floor, too. We both struggled against their holds to get back to tearing each other to pieces, though my attempt was lacklustre. I didn’t really want to fight the girl, just knock some sense into her.
“You know the rules, ladies!” the bouncer restraining Sammi said with a smirk. “No violence towards other members.”
“She started it!” I hissed. “I was only defending myself.”
“She was all over my man! And called me a skank! The only skank here is you!”
“Girls, girls. No need to fight over me.” Alpha Hugo stood up from the booth, a sadistic grin on his face because, clearly, that was the highlight of his night. “Gentlemen, it was just a misunderstanding. You can let them both go. It won’t happen again. I’ll make sure of it.”
“Actually, we can’t,” the bouncer replied with his arm tightly locked around my waist. “They broke the rules. They need to be taken in front of The Dealer to decide their punishment.”
“Is that really necessary?” Alpha Hugo’s smile had dropped, realising he’d now lost both his play things.
“It sure is,” the other bouncer said, pushing Sammi forwards through the crowd that had formed to watch the show. Placed back on my feet, the bouncer’s hand rested on my shoulder and guided me to follow.
“Fuck’s sake,” I heard Alpha Hugo mutter as he begrudgingly returned to his booth. We made our way towards the back of the club and I couldn’t help the twisted grin that appeared on my face before I spat blood onto the sticky floor. Well, that couldn’t have gone better.
Noticing the entire back wall of the club was blacked out glass, I dropped the smile. There was most likely someone watching the drama unfold from behind it. Sammi and her bouncer disappeared behind a door that seemed to lead right in that direction. When we followed them, I stumbled in my boots as the bouncers shoved me into what looked like an intimate gambling den. A few tables were set up around the room, men playing cards and smoking cigars. Strippers snaked around the poles, bending their bodies in all sorts of compromising positions. One wall was lined with human-sized vertical Russian Roulette wheels and the opposite was that wall of glass that looked down on the shenanigans of the club.
Another shove to my back forced me forwards. The men who were gambling glanced up with hunger in their eyes as they watched Sammi and me being led through the winding paths of their tables and taken before…
Oh, Jesus.
I had to press my lips together to avoid the laughter that was threatening to erupt. There, on a raised platform, was a fucking throne made of gold and red velvet. Three human women wearing nothing but collars sat on the floor around it, blood trickling down their chests from the bite marks on their necks. Their leashes were held by one heavily ringed hand of the man sitting on the throne. Wesley. His mohawk hair was slicked back, thick with styling gel, and he wore a black suit with an open shirt down to his chest. He was in his vampire form, red eyes blazing and fangs peeking out between the amused smile on his face. He was just missing a tiara to finish the look.
“On your knees,” Wesley demanded, looking down his nose at us as if we were so far beneath him, we didn’t even deserve to be in his presence.
Sammi’s unsure gaze quickly flicked over to me before she slowly lowered herself to her knees to kneel before him. I stayed standing, my lips twisting up in a grin as his eyes narrowed.
“You’re The Dealer?” I asked, feigning curiosity.
He lifted his chin even higher, a flash of triumph in his eyes. “I am. And you will get on your fucking knees if you want to remain a member of my club, sweetheart.”
‘Wow, this bellend was on a real ego trip.’
I smiled sweetly. “Of course, sir. It’s my favourite place to be.”
The shock that morphed his face was hilarious. And then he smirked, eyeing me in a way that showed he was suddenly more interested in fucking me than punishing me. Perfect.
“It is sir ? Or do you prefer Lord ? Or King ?” I asked, lowering myself to my knees. He leaned his jaw into his fist as he studied me with intrigue, completely missing the sarcasm that dripped from my voice.
“Dealer will suffice, sweetheart.”
Yeah. Like fuck was I calling him that.
“What are your names?”
“Samantha Perrin,” Sammi said sheepishly, keeping her gaze cast down.
“And you?” He licked his lips, eyes on my tits.
“Raven Darmont.”
He finally remembered I had a face as his gaze locked with mine.
She must be a new member. I’d remember seeing this fine piece of ass. Shame, I need to teach her a lesson or maybe… I could do so with my dick. Yeah. Those ruby-red lips would look perfect choking on it in front of this entire room.
I licked my lips. His eyes darkened.
‘Put that limp dick anywhere near my mouth, buddy, and I’ll bite it off.’
“You girls are aware of the rule against violence towards other members, I presume?”
Sammi nodded, lifting her pleading eyes to him. “I apologise for my aggression. She provoked me by trying to fuck my boyfriend in front of me, Dealer. I saw red.”
He raised his eyebrow at me and I grinned. “Is this true? You tried to fuck her boyfriend?”
“No. I asked him to make her leave so I could fuck her boyfriend. I don’t remember that being a rule.” I needed to get Sammi kicked out of this place for the night. Away from that asshole and away from this one, too.
Sammi growled next to me, sending daggers into the side of my face. Wesley stood up from the throne, folding his arms across his chest and taking what I presumed he believed to be slow, menacing steps towards us, expecting us to cower in fear. When I held his gaze, he looked between Sammi and me, his mind whirling with frantic, panicked ideas about what he should do with us to teach us a lesson. This guy really had no idea what he was doing.
“Who instigated the fight?”
Sammi sighed, her shoulders visibly shaking. “I did, Dealer. I started the fight.”
“But it’s true. I provoked her,” I quickly interrupted, causing Sammi to frown with confusion at my sudden attempt to defend her actions.
“Hmm.” Wesley tapped a ringed finger against his chin. A silver dagger ring. My eyes widened. He was the man who knew where Hana was. I quickly cast my gaze away, so as not to look suspicious, and stared at the floor, hope and adrenaline powering through me.
“We never meant to cause a scene. Perhaps…” I ran my gaze up his body, lingering on the skin of his chest and the slight bulge in his pants. “There is a way we can make it up to you? Without having our memberships revoked.”
He widened his feet into a broad stance and ran his tongue over his fangs. “What did you have in mind, sweetheart?”
“Maybe it would be better if I showed you.” I smiled seductively. The flare of dark lust in his eyes told me all I needed to know. This was a weak man. A man that could be easily distracted by the notion of sex. I grabbed the back of Sammi’s neck and tugged her to me, slamming my lips over hers. Her whole body stiffened as I attempted to deepen the kiss, forcing my tongue through the entrance of her lips. She attempted to pull away, but I held her tighter against me. When I broke the kiss quickly, I whispered in her ear, “Remember me from fight night? I’m doing this to save your life. Go along with it.” Her eyes widened as she scanned my face up close. A hint of recognition flickered over her expression. I smiled a little in answer, before I pecked her lips again and turned back to Wesley.
The room fell silent, all the leering eyes solely focused on the two women on their knees. Wesley’s jaw ticked and even though the raging erection in his trousers was more than obvious, he didn’t look convinced. My heart thundered as a slow, twisted smile curved his lips.
He lifted his arm to gesture to the glass window. “You think that would be enough to impress me? You see this club? It’s full of exactly that. I’m looking for something much more entertaining for my evening. Do you gamble, ladies?”
Sammi exchanged a worried glance with me, recognising the evil in his scheming tone of voice. Fuck, I had to get her out of here. I couldn’t have her life on my conscience.
“Sometimes,” I answered for the both of us as Sammi seemed to have lost her voice.
“Good. Then let’s play.” He stormed through the middle of us, causing us to slowly rise to our feet and turn to see where he had gone. He grabbed two bags off a bouncer and shook them, causing the sound of metal to clank together. “Come on.”
We cautiously made our way over to where he was standing, a distance away from the large Russian Roulette wheels that were vertically attached to the brick wall. Or were they dartboards? I wasn’t sure. But I noticed the leather straps at four different points around it. Wesley hooked a bag over my wrist by the drawstring and positioned me in front of the wheel.
“I’ll give you both a chance to win my forgiveness and keep your lives. All you have to do is hit the target.” I opened the bag to find a few lethal silver daggers inside. Wesley pressed his front against my back, leaning down to whisper in my ear. “You can go first, sweetheart. Hit black and an odd number, and I’ll let you both live.”
A bouncer walked over to the circular board and tugged it by one of the dangling straps. It spun, causing the red and black to blur into one, and it was impossible to see any of the numbers. I inhaled deeply, lifting a dagger out of the bag and wrapping my fingers around the handle. Little did this prick know, knives were my specialty. Especially throwing them. I had never missed a moving target but trying to make sure my dagger landed on an odd black number was still going to be a challenge at the speed that thing was spinning.
With tunnel-vision, I lifted the blade with a stretched arm before bringing it to the side of my face, focusing on making sure it spun with precision to land on the board with an expert flick of my wrist. At the last second I was about to release, Wesley’s hand wrapped around mine and halted me.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. You didn’t think I’d make it so easy, did you?” He chuckled. His hot breath against my neck sent all the small hairs on my skin to stand on end. He straightened behind me and ordered the bouncer to tie her up. The bouncer stopped the wheel’s motion and Sammi screamed, struggling against the other bouncer who had zoomed up to her and threw her against the board. He strapped her feet shoulder-width apart in the leather bounds and then grabbed her cuffed hands, glancing over at Wesley with uncertainty.
“Break them,” Wesley ordered and, on that instruction, instead of snapping the chain of the handcuffs like I thought he might, he twisted one of Sammi’s wrists unnaturally until the bones broke, and she screamed with agony. He squeezed her hand in his grip, crushing all the smaller bones in her hand until he could manipulate it out of the handcuffs. Wesley laughed behind me, pressing himself even closer to my back as my whole body trembled with rage. I squeezed the knife in my hand so tightly my knuckles turned white as I restrained myself from lodging it in his throat. “Now, this makes it far more entertaining.”
Once Sammi was secure, tears running down her cheeks, the bouncer spun the board, sending her spinning around with it. I tried to keep calm and focus on the largest spot at the side of the board that gave me the longest opportunity to hit the wheel and not Sammi. The silver lining of Wesley’s sick adjustment was the speed the board was now spinning much slower due to her weight.
“Black, odd. Go,” Wesley repeated in my ear. His hand snaked onto my hip, keeping me pressed against his front and sending my skin crawling. I tried to focus, ignoring the sensation of his other hand gliding up my thigh.
I threw the dagger.
It missed Sammi.
It hit the board behind her.
The bouncer stopped the spin.
Black. 23.
I closed my eyes, releasing a breath.
“Hmm, well done, sweetheart. Impressive.”
Wesley pulled out another blade from the bag and held it up to me as the bouncer spun the table again. Sammi’s cries were muffled by the laughter and chatter from the other men in the room.
“Red. A number between twenty and thirty,” he sneered as my chest rose and fell with breaths full of fury. “You hit that, and I’ll let you walk out of here without a mark on this pretty, smooth skin of yours. But you miss… and you’re mine for the night. To do with however I please.”
Another deep breath. He’d just give me the perfect excuse to get closer to him without suspicion. I couldn’t walk out of here. I had to miss the target. And there was only one way I could truly be sure to do it. Sorry Sammi. I focused on Sammi’s thigh, tracking it and counting every second between each turn when it came back into my line of aim. I threw the dagger.
Sammi screamed when it sunk into the flesh of her thigh below her mini skirt.
“Shit,” I whispered in a pained voice, slamming my hand over my mouth to fake my horror. Wesley chuckled behind me.
“Lucky me,” he whispered, holding out the final dagger. “Last one. Let’s make it count, shall we? Red. fourteen.”
Fourteen. The date of Luka’s birthday.
Determination strengthened my resolve to see this through. Wesley clearly thought there was no chance I would make this one specific target on the spinning board, but little did he know that by picking that number, I was more driven than ever.
“Because I am such a reasonable man, I’ll let you choose your final outcome. What would you like, sweetheart?”
I stared at Sammi’s bruised, tear-streaked face and the blood oozing out of the dagger in her leg.
“If I hit the target. You’ll kill Alpha Hugo and set her free.” Wesley’s body tensed behind me, clearly surprised by my wish. “He’s been fucking us both. Keeping us both for his twisted amusement. The cheating prick deserves it.” Wesley stepped to the side of me, narrowing his gaze on my face. I read his mind, hearing his doubt that he couldn’t let that happen because his uncle would go mad at a VIP member being murdered under his approval. So, I played to his over-inflated ego.
“You are the new Dealer, aren’t you? You have the power to take a life away? Make a deal?” He cracked his knuckles against his palm, drawing my attention to that dagger ring again. “You kill him and I’ll be single. Free to do whatever I want with whoever I want.” I looked him up and down seductively, fighting the bile that rose in my mouth. “Who would I want more than The Dealer? The most feared man here.”
He lifted his chin, trapping his lower lip between his teeth as he stared at me. I had him.
“If you hit red fourteen, the Alpha will die. But if you miss it, I’ll be having my fun with both of you tonight before he can have you back.” He glanced over at Sammi before stepping away to give me room to reposition myself.
Forcing my vampire sight to track the blurring red slits of the board, I focused on the numbers, attempting to find the one I needed. When I did, I never took my eyes off it, waiting, waiting, waiting for the perfect moment to strike and miss Sammi’s turning body above it. Red. Fourteen. Red. Fourteen.
At lightning speed, my fingers released the dagger with precise force, sending the blade slicing through the air. The silver glint flashed against the dim lighting above us as it twisted and twirled towards the target. Time seemed to slow and an loaded silence befell the room. The only sound was the muffled whimpers of Sammi and the whirring of the spinning board.
The blade soared just like my heart and in the next beat; it struck with a sharp thunk , embedding itself flawlessly in the number fourteen on the red line. The wheel stuttered to a halt, as though the force of my dagger’s impact demanded its stillness and the air hung heavy with shock.
Sammi struggled for a breath, her terrified eyes fixed on the dagger inches from her head and then looked back at me. I winked.
“Get me the Alpha,” Wesley commanded. “And everyone OUT!”
A few seconds passed and no one moved. He turned, hissing at them through his fangs. “Out. Now!”
The men at the gambling tables stood from their chairs, collecting their money chips and left. I turned to face Wesley, trying to hide the satisfaction and glee at the look on his face.
“How did you do that?” he growled, grabbing my throat in his hand. I didn’t react; I just stared into his crimson eyes with the submission that he clearly craved.
“Just trying to impress you, sir. Did it work?”
The bouncers released Sammi from the wheel, and she crumbled to the floor on all fours, balancing on her forearms and knees as she threw up and shook profusely. I attempted to walk over to help her, but Wesley grabbed me by the wrist, slamming me into his chest. His vicious eyes roamed my face with desire, settling on my lips.
The door opened, and the bouncers marched a confused-looking Alpha Hugo into the room. His gaze travelled between me and Wesley and then down to the floor and the state of Sammi. Not a single hint of concern flickered across his face.
“Does she belong to you?” Wesley pointed down to Sammi, who peered up at the wolf with tears in her eyes. He frowned deeply.
“Not anymore. She’s passed her sell by date. But I’ll have that one back,” he said, pointing towards me. My nostrils flared as Wesley’s grip on my wrist tightened, pulling my attention back to his face. He gave me a mischievous smile before he looked back at Alpha Hugo.
“I’m afraid that can’t happen, Alpha Hugo. She’s mine.” He grabbed a dagger from the bag dangling by my wrist and sent it slicing through the air with insane speed. The dagger lodged itself into the Alpha’s one remaining eye, piercing straight through his skull. A moment later, the wolf’s large body slumped to the floor.
A ragged breath left Sammi, who stared down at him with a vacant look on her face.
“A deal is a deal,” Wesley said with amusement before tugging me with him onto his platform. He fell into his throne, pulling me down onto his lap by my hips. “Get her out of here. She’s free to go.”
The bouncers walked over to Sammi, hauling her up to her feet and dragging her towards the door. As they passed the Alpha’s body, she spat on his corpse and looked over her shoulder at me. No words were said, but gratitude was there in her bloodshot eyes.
“And now we’re alone,” Wesley husked behind me, sweeping my disguised hair over my shoulder and running his hand down my spine.
A devilish grin stretched my lips as the echo of the door clicked shut behind them.
“Alone at last,” I agreed.