Page 63 of Dark Souls

Devil, Devil

“A nd you are sure no one is home?” I whispered behind Lia’s shoulder as my eyes darted around the pristine mansion and sleek, minimalist furniture in neutral tones. The whole place exuded luxury and wealth. Blood money. Money made off the back of my mate’s suffering. I gritted my teeth, forcing myself to follow Lia towards her parent’s joint office at the back of the house.

“Positive. My mother said she would be away for a few days working on a spell and dad is always out of the house early.”

“She said she was working on a spell?” I frowned. Those words triggered an acceleration in my heart rate. “What kind of spell?”

“She didn’t say.” Lia paused at the door and pressed the pad of her finger to a scanner at the side. It pricked her finger and a bead of blood soaked into the pad, giving us access. “My mother never tells me anything. She’s always been vague. Cold and distant. I just thought that was the way she was, but obviously, she had other reasons.”

The door opened and Lia peered around it to check the coast was clear before shoving me inside and closing it behind us.

The space was open and airy, with two desks on either side of the room that looked out on the immaculate back gardens through the large bay windows. Lia rushed towards her father’s desk first, her heels clipping against the polished marble floor. She yanked open drawers, ruffling through papers, and I walked over to her mother’s side, scanning the neatly organised contents of potion bottles, files and spell books.

“What exactly are we looking for?” Lia asked, lifting a pile of papers from a file and flicking through them.

“The original Anderson spell that separated their demons. It’s most likely written in Latin or coded, and it will be old,” I replied, opening one of her mother’s desk drawers only to find more books and a few potion recipes. “Your parents must have it. When they bought Luka and Hana at the auction, the Knowltons would’ve had to teach them how to use the spell to summon their demons and use the sigils. It has to be here.”

I didn’t want to entertain the idea that it wasn’t. That Parisa or Mitchell might have been smart enough to keep it somewhere much harder to locate. Leif said he needed it if he had any chance of reversing the spell without any hiccups. My gaze lifted to an antique jewellery box sitting at the back of Parisa’s desk and I narrowed my eyes. Something about it seemed so strange. The entire contemporary design of this house and this office was done with sophistication and class in mind. So having an old, battered eye-sore of a gold box among it all felt odd. I leaned over and opened the lid, seeing the inside was just as dated as the exterior. The black velvet was worn and frayed as I delved my hand inside and pulled out a necklace. The chain was broken but the pendant of a constellation of stars was still intact though it had clearly lost its shine.

“What are you doing?” Lia hissed, peering over at me with irritation as I stood there, frozen in place and staring at the necklace in my hand. Where had I seen this before?

‘It seems familiar,’ Rue agreed in my mind.

“Is this your mum’s?”

Lia tugged off her heels, casting them to the side, and walked over to me to take a look at it. “Yes. Why?”

I licked my lips, an unsettling feeling gnawing at the depths of my soul as I rolled the stars over in my fingers. “I’ve seen this somewhere before.”

Lia shrugged her shoulders. “She probably wore it at a gala or something. Come on, I thought you said we had to find this spell before my father meets with Arius?”

I placed the necklace back in the box and shut the lid. “We do. Keep looking. Is there a safe?”

“Probably. But fuck knows what the combination is.”

After a few more minutes of hopelessly searching every drawer, file and book in the room, I grew increasingly agitated. I peered over my shoulder, my eyes fixed on the jewellery box again, unwilling to let this gut feeling go.

“That box is pretty intrusive for this white and pristine look your parents are going for.”

Lia huffed, placing her hands on her hips. “What?” She followed my gaze to her mother’s desk. “Why are you being so weird about that thing? It’s just an old antique that’s been passed down through my mother’s family for centuries.”

“An heirloom?” I asked, walking back over to it and picking it up.

“I guess. I asked about it once and mother just said it was a memory of her past life or something or other. Like I said, vague as fuck.” I turned it over, picking at the layer of velvet underneath when I saw a faint engraving. “What are you doing? She’ll kill me if it gets broken!”

Ignoring Lia’s protests, I ripped the velvet off completely and ran my finger over the indistinct letters carved into the gold.

Belladonna.

Luka’s memory of her flashed through my mind. Her brown ringlets piled on top of her head, falling elegantly around her striking face. Those blue eyes were haloed by dark brown and the necklace that sat at the top of her cleavage. A star constellation.

“Is your mum related to the Knowltons?” I spun around to face Lia’s perplexed face.

“Who?”

“The Knowltons. The witch coven that was murdered over forty years ago? Was she related to them somehow? A woman called Belladonna?”

“I don’t–” Suddenly an intense pain burst through my body, knocking the air from my lungs and causing me to fall to my knees as I gripped my stomach. I panted through the pain as Lia fell to my side and put a nervous hand on my shoulder. “Ilaria? What’s wrong? What’s happening?”

A deep voice boomed through the house and I glanced up at Lia’s face in panic. Our wide eyes locked as the voice grew closer, and heavy footsteps came our way.

“Fuck,” Lia whispered. “It’s my dad. We need to get out of here.”

I couldn’t stand up on my feet yet. The pain was too excruciating, but Lia gripped my hand that was still holding the box and I transported us outside into the garden, pressing our backs up against the outside wall of his office. The pain remained, but I breathed through it, trying to focus and think clearly. Even though it felt like physical pain, it wasn’t. I wasn’t harmed. Which meant the pain wasn’t mine but Luka’s.

“What’s going on?” Lia whispered, her face scanning my tense body with concern as I squeezed my eyes shut.

“Luka. He’s hurt.”

Which made little sense. Who was hurting him if The Devil was here? Parisa?

I peered carefully into the bay window just as the door opened, and Mitchell Morton strolled in with his phone pressed to his ear. My blood set alight with hatred as I took in his designer suit, handsome and distinguished features and well-styled brown hair that was peppered at the sides, the only sign that he was well over a century old. He stormed towards his desk, throwing himself down in his chair as he trapped his phone between his ear and shoulder so he could start typing frantically at his computer. I glimpsed the silver chain around his neck and breathed out a small sigh of relief. They hadn’t destroyed it yet.

“That doesn’t make fucking sense, does it? How the fuck did not one single bouncer see The Dealer leave the club, and no one has any idea where he is? His phone was in the office and his car was outside his house. What the fuck happened?” Silence as someone replied. “I want every name of every female member who attended last night sent to me in the next five minutes.”

He hung up and threw his phone across his desk in a rage. “Fucccckkkk!” he swore loudly, running his hands through his hair before focusing his attention on the computer. He must have been going through the CCTV footage of last night’s event, trying to figure out what had happened to Wesley. I smirked a little despite the ache in my stomach, enjoying the sight of the stress lines around his eyes and forehead deepening as he watched some of the footage.

“We should go,” Lia whispered, but I pressed my finger to my lips to silence her. I had him right there. There was no way I was leaving now. Especially if Luka was in trouble. He was my only ticket to finding my mate.

Mitchell picked up his phone again, his sharp jaw working overtime as he ground his teeth together with frustration. Leaning back in his chair, he closed his eyes and massaged the bridge of his nose as he exhaled a long breath to get his anger under control.

“Arius, hi,” he said, sitting up straighter and causing my nostrils to flare. “I’m really sorry, man, but could we rearrange this morning’s meeting for the soldier’s rotas? I’m not going to make it.”

My chest rose and fell rapidly, adrenaline coursing through me and I thanked my lucky stars that I was here to witness this because my family’s plan was about to fall through. They wouldn’t be arresting him the moment he entered the castle grounds because he had no intention of fucking going.

“I know. I understand how important it is, but something really serious has come up, and I need to deal with it. A family matter.”

A response from Grandpapi. Mitchell closed his eyes again, his stress levels growing more visible as his face reddened.

“I appreciate that you are a busy man, Arius. It’s just… there has been a sudden death of someone close to us.” Mitchell opened his eyes when an email notification pinged, and he multitasked, speaking with my grandpapi and reading it. “Parisa’s childhood friend. It was sudden and Parisa really needs me right now. She is distraught.”

Fucking liar. I dug my fingernails into my palms because I knew my grandpapi had no choice but to go along with this conversation, so Mitchell was none the wiser to my family coming for him.

“Thanks, man. I appreciate it. Yes, of course, I will send my love to Parisa. Yes. Okay. Thanks. I’ll be in touch.” He hung up the phone, shaking his head, and made another call.

“Ilaria, come on. You don’t look well—” Lia started, but I slammed my hand over her mouth to silence her, keeping my gaze fixed on Mitchell through the window as my heart constricted in my chest, making it harder and harder to breathe. Whatever was happening to Luka right now was bad. Really fucking bad.

“Where are you?” he asked whoever was on the other end of the phone. He ran his hand down his face and then stood up, pacing the room. “Wesley is missing. And Hana is gone. I mean exactly that!” He moved closer to the window and I plastered myself back against the wall, turning to look at Lia. Her eyes were wide with anxiety. “He was seen with a female member last night, but no one seemed to know anything more. When he didn’t answer all night and no one had seen him, I went over to his house. Hana was gone and so was her sigil. Maybe he has just taken her somewhere but I don’t think so. He knows never to do that. This isn’t like him to just leave his shit and fuck off. It had to be Hana. She must have escaped and attacked him. I knew trusting him with her was a mistake. The stupid fucking twat. We need to find her. How close are you to completing the spell to kill Heathen?”

He exhaled a breath and closed his eyes. At that very moment, the most profound sense of loss crippled me from one beat of my heart to the next, forcing me to the floor as I clutched my chest. Rue roared in my mind. No. No. No.

“Ilaria!” Lia whisper-yelled, yanking me back to the wall and out of view from the window.

“What do you mean Luka just died?” Mitchell shouted down the phone as my whole body trembled with such force it caused my teeth to chatter and eyes to squeeze shut. No. He couldn’t be dead. A piercing sound of white noise took over my senses, blocking the next words from Mitchell’s mouth and making Lia’s soundless begging in my ear to disappear under its volume. It was the sound of nothingness; of my entire world ending. Rage. Hate. Despair. They burned my veins, poisoning every cell in my body. I refused to believe this, despite the excruciating pain in my heart that said it was true.

Leif’s phone started vibrating, and I glanced down to see it was my grandpapi calling. I silenced it quickly before Mitchell heard, unable to speak, let alone endure this pain a second longer. A text came through immediately after.

Ilaria. Mitchell isn’t coming. Where are you? Ring me. We are going to ambush them but something is up with Luka. I felt the blood oath break, Ilaria. We need you back here ASAP.

To hell with their back-up plan. Mitchell was right there and the need to see physical proof that my mate was really dead took full force as I grabbed Lia by the throat. She gasped at my sudden aggression as I hissed, “Go the fuck along with this. Otherwise, I will kill you.”

Before she could even open her mouth to protest, I transported us both back into Mitchell’s office. His blue eyes widened in shock and alarm when he saw me holding Lia’s body against mine with my extended claws wrapped around her throat.

“Take me to him,” I ordered, my voice terrifyingly calm. “Or I will rip her throat out right in front of you.”

Mitchell lowered the phone from his ear slowly and raised his hands to the side. “Ilaria. What are you doing?”

I sharpened my nails, piercing Lia’s throat as she whimpered, pleading silently with her fear-stricken eyes. His face paled, seeming to actually care about her life, which was a surprise.

“I won’t ask again. Take me to Luka. Right now, Mitchell.”

“I don’t know who you’re talking about, Ilaria. I think you must be confusing–”

“You with The Devil?” I sneered, a twisted smile creeping up my face as he stared at me blankly, giving nothing away. “At first, I wondered how that could be too. How could Mitchell Morton, the cherished, highly respected family man and commander of the Romano Army be stupid enough to think he could run The Underground, keep two Demonski Upirs captive, and still get away with it right under the royals’ noses?”

Understanding registered on his face as the pieces fell into place. He cocked his head to the side as his eyes darted between Lia and me.

“I know you and Luka had some kind of relationship, but he was just using you, sweetheart. I don’t know what lies he fed you, but he’s a sick man. A man like him can’t feel anything for anyone. He’s not a good person. He’s done terrible things. His kind are evil and need to be controlled or ended. It’s best you forget him and move on.”

I threw my head back and released a vindictive, ice-cold laugh that filled the confused silence.

“It wasn’t me he fed lies to, Mitchell. It was you. I know everything. Your nephew isn’t missing. He’s dead. I killed him. And I am the only person who knows where Hana is. So, you have two choices. Either I kill Lia too, rip out her throat, and I run to my family to tell them exactly who you are and what you have been doing so they can hunt you down and make you pay, or you take me to Luka right this very second.”

’Shit. I am going to have to take her to him and kill her. That is the only way this stays quiet.’ His thoughts made me smile. They were exactly what I hoped he would be thinking.

“Okay, okay. Let’s just calm down. I’ll take you to him. Just let my daughter go.”

“Not until I see my soulmate with my own eyes.”

His eyes widened when I said the word soulmate and a heavy silence settled between us. We stared at each other. As I read his mind, I tightened my grip on Lia’s throat.

“No, Mitchell. I’m not fucking bluffing. Try me,” I dared. His jaw tensed as his blue eyes flickered down to the blood that was trickling down Lia’s neck.

“Please, daddy. Just do what she says,” Lia begged, her voice shaking with fear. She was either a brilliant actress or she really believed I would kill her if I had to.

Mitchell hesitated but then slowly lifted his hand towards us. “Okay. I’ll take you to him.”

I nudged Lia, and she stretched out her hand, placing it in his. A second later, the room blurred as he transported us to a rocky cliff top. The raging sea below and the wind whipping at our bodies created a soundtrack to the eerie scenery as my eyes scanned the ground for the cave’s entrance.

“Let her go now, Ilaria,” Mitchell demanded, still clasping Lia’s hand.

As soon as I noticed a small drop a short distance away in the rocky terrain, I shoved Lia into his chest before I zoomed over to the cave’s edge and shouted down into the darkness.

“Luka!” My voice bounced off the walls, projecting back to me with no response. And then I saw him. Lying on his back, his clouded eyes open but unblinking and staring up at me. A faint smile curved his lips. Tears welled in my eyes as my gaze drifted down his body to find a huge, bloody hole in his stomach. A pool of blood had formed beneath him, tainting the sand a dark brown colour. A heart-breaking sob choked in my throat as a few small rocks tumbled down the death drop when I scrambled closer to the edge. He was dead. That much was obvious. And even though I knew he had died in his vampire form and would soon resurrect, it was still the most gut-wrenching and sickening thing I had ever seen.

“The monster is dead, Ilaria. Was it really worth your life to see him one more time?” Mitchell’s voice came from behind me and I closed my eyes, allowing all the pure anger and hatred I had for this man to poison any ounce of morality or goodness I possessed. He wanted a monster? I’d fucking give him one.

Slowly, I raised myself to my feet and turned to face him. His vampire side had taken control, ready to attack as he stood tall, his red eyes gleaming with viciousness as he unbuttoned his suit jacket. I held his gaze, allowing Rue to the surface to meet his beast with my own. Lia stared between us from her position on the ground. Undeniable fear and anxiety possessed her pretty face as the wind blew her blonde hair back and forth.

“I never wanted to kill you, Ilaria. You should never have got yourself caught up in this mess. Despite what you might think, I respect your family, and I am loyal to your grandfather.”

“Hmm, I think we have different definitions of loyalty.”

“How so? I have served Arius faithfully for years as his commander. Running The Underground is not a crime. Your family has never tried to put an end to the club. I may have omitted my involvement, but only because I didn’t want to bring the negative attention it could cause so close to your family.”

“Wow, you really expect me to buy your bullshit, don’t you?”

“I don’t want to hurt you, Ilaria. We can put this behind us. If you allow my wife to erase your memory, we can all go on with our happy lives.”

“Quite an offer.” I clicked my tongue over my teeth. “But there is one major issue. I really want to hurt you.”

He straightened his spine and cracked his knuckles, hissing between his fangs in a last attempt to intimidate me.

“Dad, please,” Lia whimpered, with tears in her eyes. “Just go to the royals and confess. They may show you mercy. It’s not too late.”

“Stay out of this, Lia,” he hissed, never taking his eyes off me.

“Don’t you think this involves her just a little, Mitchell?” I cocked my head to the side. “After all, my soulmate is down in that cave with hers. Hayes Cohen? Running The Underground may not be against our laws, but abducting and torturing an innocent Romano soldier sure is.”

Mitchell lunged.

His outstretched claws swiped towards my throat. I ducked, the air hissing above as his swipe cut through it, and I countered his attack with a roundhouse kick that connected with his ribs. Mitchell snarled, stumbling back, but he recovered instantly, his eyes glowing crimson with rage.

“You may be a royal princess, but you’re still just a little girl with arrogance bigger than her bite. I train vampire soldiers to fight daily. I was beside your grandfather and led his army against Caspian. What makes you think you can take me on and walk away from this alive?”

“I may not have your combat experience. But I have something you are forgetting,” I shot back, my voice cold as I circled him. “I was trained by Arius, Ruby and Raiden Romano. The fastest, strongest and most vicious vampires alive. Maybe you need reminding of whose evil blood courses through my veins. Lucius Romano’s. You will never be my equal.”

Mitchell flung himself in the air again, fangs bared, but this time I met him halfway, sending rocks and dust into a cloud behind me. Our bodies collided with a savage force that cracked a rib in my side and shattered his collarbone. We fell together to the uneven ground, grappling in a blur of motion, trading vicious strikes to each other’s bodies and faces. My claw slashed across Mitchell’s chest, drawing dark, glistening blood. Mitchell roared, but instead of retreating, he caught my wrist and twisted it.

Before he could break my bone, I grabbed my silver dagger from my boot and sent it slicing along the length of his forearm, causing him to hiss and let go of me. He kicked me off of him, sending my body flying with his strength, but I skidded on the landing, crouched down with my hand in the mud. We both panted heavily, glaring at each other’s blood-smeared bodies. Before he could react, I pretended to dart left but then surged forwards, plunging my blade into his side. He howled in pain and staggered backwards when I ripped it out just as brutally. Even though his footing faltered, his eyes flashed with defiance.

In one swift movement, Mitchell launched his whole body at me, tackling me to the floor with his sheer size and weight. The impact was brutal. The harsh, crippling rocks beneath dug their pointed edges into my back as I cried out. He punched my face, sending it flying to the side, which gave me the perfect view of a large rock just within my reach. I laughed when he punched me again, sending blood flying from my mouth because it gave me time to pry my fingers around the heavy stone.

Using all of my strength, I flipped Mitchell over and pinned him beneath me, raising the rock above his head to strike. Lia screamed, burying her face in her hands and distracting me with a second of guilt, knowing she was about to watch me kill her father. Sensing my moment of distraction, one of his hands found its way around my throat, and he squeezed with a vice grip, attempting to crush my windpipe while the other gripped my wrist that was holding the rock.

With my one free hand, I plunged my blade into his ribcage, causing his grip on my throat to tighten the deeper I forced it.

For a moment, everything was still. Our gazes locked and time slowed as we both realised neither one of us knew who had the upper hand. My eyes roamed down to his neck and the silver chain that snaked around it. My vision started spotting as I gasped for air, causing the rock to fall from my hand. Leaving my blade wedged inside him, I gripped the chain and with all my might, I tugged it, attempting to rip it off his neck. When it wouldn’t budge, I twisted it, watching as it caught against his skin, causing it to grow redder and raw. I strangled him with the very thing he believed made him invincible.

His eyes widened as his airways closed.

“Stop! Please!” Lia’s pleas were somewhere behind us, distant and insignificant. Neither one of us was willing to surrender.

I held onto the last shred of strength I had, fighting against the lack of oxygen he was causing and the slow crushing of my neck. I had to hope that Leif’s ring would still be in effect, even though the sun was rising over the cliff. Somehow, I found the determination to twist the chain one more turn. His face turned red as he spluttered, and I felt the pressure on my neck loosen. He gasped, his veins protruding out of his skin like roots in a jungle as the light waned in his eyes. I paused. Something stopped me. It wasn’t Lia’s blubbering or a sudden attack of conscience. This wasn’t my kill to make. He had people to answer to for his crimes. Luka deserved to watch life drain from his eyes. Not me.

I suddenly let go, releasing him just before he took his last ragged breath. I grabbed the rock and knocked him unconscious. He slumped beneath me. I turned the chain, unable to locate the clasp and realised it was spelled to his neck.

“Fuck,” I hissed, ripping Leif’s phone out of my black leather trousers. I rose slowly, breathing hard as I tried to ring my grandpapi. I stamped my foot when I saw I had no signal, wincing because I forgot about all the injuries to my body. Storming towards Lia, I grabbed her shoulder and shook her. Her face was damp with tears as she stared at her dad’s motionless body.

“Is… is he dead?”

“No. Not yet. Do you have any reception?”

She blinked at me. “What?”

“Your phone. Do you have any cell service?”

She pulled it out with a quivering hand and shook her head.

“Fuck’s sake,” I growled, standing back to my feet and looking around for any ideas what to do next. I didn’t want to transport Mitchell back to the castle and leave Luka here with Parisa still out there somewhere. And I didn’t trust Lia to do it herself. “Come on. Help me move him.”

“Where?” she asked, dragging herself to her bare feet and following me to her unconscious father. I grabbed his arms and hauled him closer to the cave’s entrance.

Luka would wake soon. He had to.