Page 64 of Dark Souls

What Have You Done?

L ia lifted his legs, and together we dragged Mitchell over the rocks. I was torn between taking him to the palace or the castle, but I had no idea where my family might be let alone which room, and there was no time to search. The thought of leaving Luka alone, with Parisa still out there and able to move him at any moment, was a risk I couldn’t take. I wasn’t letting Luka—or that sigil—out of my sight.

Lia suddenly dropped him, falling to her knees and burying her face in her hands as she sobbed. I sighed, irritated and impatient, but knew this was probably a lot for her.

“I don’t think I can do this. I thought I could, but I don’t think I can. He’s still my dad.”

Rubbing my forehead, I tried to dig deep to find some level of sympathy for the girl. It must suck to be related to monsters, but even so, it would be worse to watch them die.

“Go then,” I said, staring down at her. She blinked up at me with her mascara smeared below her eyes. “He’s a piece of shit, but he’s still your dad. Transport yourself to the Romano castle, find my family and tell everyone what’s happening. Sienna and my grandpapi should have nearly figured out the location from the raven’s journey by now, so once Leif creates a portal, they will be here any minute.”

“But.” She side-eyed the crack in the ground that led into the cave and her lips trembled. “No.” She stood up, brushing the dirt off her dress. “I need to see Hayes. I need to know he’s okay.”

“You’re sure you can handle this?” She nodded and I exhaled. “I’ll get Mitchell down there. Follow after.”

Once we were both inside the cave, sitting on the sand around Mitchell’s body, I immediately turned and scrambled over the rocks towards Luka, grabbing his face in my battered hands. His skin was pale and freezing. His lips were a dull grey colour. Moving my gaze to his wound, I felt a small wave of relief seeing his skin slowly healing itself, but he’d lost so much blood.

“Luka?” I pleaded, lifting my arm and biting into it. Pressing my wrist to his lips, I stroked his damp hair from his face as I whispered, “Come on, Red. Come back to me.”

“Oh my god!” Lia’s scream made me glance over my shoulder as she stood, staring down at something with her hands covering her mouth. She slumped to her knees as her shoulders shook. I followed her line of vision and saw a body slumped against the cave wall.

“Shit,” I mumbled, realising it was Hayes. “Lia!” She turned her head to me, her blue eyes full of tears. “Check if he has a pulse.”

She crawled towards him on her hands and knees. Carefully, she placed her fingers against his throat and leaned down to listen to his chest. A huge sob escaped her lips and I briefly closed my eyes. Fuck, he was dead.

“He’s alive!” she shouted. “But barely.”

I threw my head back, thanking the Gods. “He’s probably too weak to heal himself. You need to feed him, okay? Give his body a fighting chance.”

She nodded, biting into her wrist with her fangs and placing her skin against his lips. She lifted his head into her lap and ran her fingers through his dirty hair, pleading with him to drink. When he slowly came around, his eyes flickering beneath his eyelids, his hands gripped her arm, and he gulped down her blood. She laughed and cried, continuing to soothe him with her fingers in his hair. I moved my attention back to Luka and his expressionless face. I smeared more of my blood across his lips, forcing it into his mouth, but with every passing second that he didn’t stir, my heart felt like it was about to crack into a million tiny pieces in my chest.

“Luka, please. Come on. Wake up,” I begged, placing my forehead against his.

A groan from behind me made me spin sideways, and I cursed when I saw Mitchell getting to his feet.

“You should have killed me when you had the chance, little girl,” he sneered, popping his shoulder back in place and wiping the blood from his head wound. Turning to face him, I prepared myself for round two.

“Don’t worry. I won’t make that mistake twice.”

He lunged across the cave, slamming me back against a boulder and sending his fist flying towards my face. I dodged it and his knuckles collided with the solid surface, causing him to growl in agony. I spun out from under his arm and jumped onto his back, locking my arm around his throat and my legs around his waist. He thrashed, rolling and slamming me into the cave wall, wedging me between his body and the rocks as I tightened my arm, trying to get the right grip to snap his neck. Just when I thought I had it, a blinding light lit the inside of the cave and my blood boiled beneath my skin when I felt the impact of magic crush me against the wall. My grip on Mitchell weakened, and he fell forwards out of the way as I screamed at the illusive agony of being cooked alive from the inside out.

It suddenly stopped, and I fell to the sand, panting heavily.

“Oh, princess,” a sickly sweet voice said, laced with venom. “How completely tragic you are!”

I lifted my head to look up and every muscle in my body turned rigid with shock. Belladonna. My face must have given away my disbelief because she smiled with beautiful viciousness.

“I see, you know who I am,” she said, taking a step closer to me. “Though you may know me better as Parisa Morton.” She clicked her fingers and her appearance transformed into a familiar blonde woman who I had seen a few times at royal events.

“But it feels so good to be myself again.” She changed back to Belladonna and I narrowed my eyes.

“Mother?” Lia’s terrified voice echoed around the cave as she gawked at her. Clearly, she had no idea that her own mother hadn’t even been who she appeared to be her entire life. Belladonna had deceived her own child and just shattered the illusion of the mother she thought she knew.

Belladonna rolled her eyes with disregard before peering over her shoulder at Lia with so much disgust written all over her face. “I’ll deal with you later, Evangelia. Of course, you would be the reason we got caught.”

Lia swallowed her fear as Belladonna’s eyes cast down to Hayes’ head lying in her lap. “It seems Lukas has disappointed us yet again. Mitchell, kill the boy.”

Lia screamed, her upper body shielding Hayes as she stared from her mother to her father. “No! You can’t. He’s my soulmate! I won’t let you.”

“As if you can stop us.” Belladonna smirked. “We are doing you a favour, Evangelia. He’s a low-life. A nobody. With him gone, you will be free to choose whoever you wish for your future. Someone who can provide the life you deserve.”

“I choose him!” Lia shouted, her blue eyes shining with defiance as she glared up at her mother. “I don’t care who he is or what he has. He is mine, and I won’t let you hurt him.”

Belladonna tutted, flicking her wrist dismissively towards Mitchell. “Darling, get on with it. She’ll thank us one day.”

Mitchell hesitated, his eyes shifting from his daughter to his soulmate.

“Mitchell!” Belladonna shouted when he still hadn’t moved. “Fine. I’ll do it myself.”

The moment she turned her back on me, I flung myself at her, tackling her to the ground. Grabbing her hair, I slammed her face into the sand and viciously sunk my fangs into her throat, causing her to scream. I ripped away, forcing blood to gush out from her neck and kept her thrashing body pinned beneath me with all my strength.

I raised my head and screamed across at Lia, “Get him out of here! Go to my family!”

“Lia, No!” Mitchell demanded as he glared over at her. “Stay here. We are your family. We won’t kill him, I promise.”

Lia’s gaze flicked between me and her father, realising this was the moment. The moment she needed to pick a side. She threw herself on top of Hayes, and they disappeared before our eyes. Mitchell roared and in the next second, his hard body collided with mine, sending us both rolling across the ground. My head slammed into a rock and black spots peppered my vision as I groaned, feeling the warm trickle of blood down the side of my face. Steel-like arms grabbed me by the waist, tearing me from the floor and pinning my body in Mitchell’s embrace as I struggled to fight my way out of his iron grip. Belladonna’s hateful eyes ran up and down the length of my body. She performed a spell with her hand stretched towards me, which caused my muscles to weaken as she slowly took steps towards us. She grabbed my jaw roughly in her hand.

“I always knew if he had a soulmate, she’d be a spirited girl. Full of fire and savageness. Just like me.” She grinned with malice as I hissed between my fangs. “Telling me he loved you before he died was his biggest mistake. I’m going to enjoy killing you. But do you know what I am going to enjoy even more?” My red eyes narrowed as she pushed my lips together roughly, pulling my face closer to hers. “Making him watch. Taking away the love of his life so he can finally understand that no matter what he does or how hard he fights, he’ll never win. Not against me. We will ensure he is alone for all eternity. Even in the afterlife.”

Suddenly, a flash of red blurred towards us from over her shoulder, grabbing Belladonna aggressively and throwing her against the cave walls. I gasped when I realised it was Luka pinning the front of her body against the rocks with his own strength. She laughed when he twisted her arms behind her back and hissed in her ear, “I will never let you kill my mate.”

Mitchell tightened his grip around my throat, digging his nails into my flesh in response as my heart thrashed wildly against my rib cage, relief and so much love flooding my body with every beat.

“Are you sure about that, darling? Because I am interested in knowing how you plan on stopping me.”

The moment Luka tried to twist her neck in his hand, a powerful magical force catapulted him backwards. His body slammed into a ragged boulder and he fell into a crouched position, hissing between his fangs. His red eyes swerved towards me as my breathing became sharp with panic. The fear in his eyes made a shiver run down my spine. We both knew he couldn’t kill them because of the damn sigil.

“Let her go. I’ll do anything you ask. Just let her go,” he hissed, slowly standing to his full height as his huge shoulders heaved up and down.

“God, it is so pathetic to see you like this, Lukas.” Belladonna walked towards me and Mitchell. Luka growled in warning, which only made her chuckle. “You have always been soft. Even turning your humanity off didn’t help you, did it? You still feel . You would still do anything for love. That’s why you have always been so easy to control.” She shook her head, giggling as she picked something off the floor. “Shall we see just how far you would really go for your princess?”

My eyes widened and my body trembled uncontrollably when I realised what she was holding. It was Luka’s scorched dagger. The one charred by hellfire. She twisted it in her hand, glancing up at me with pure wickedness in her eyes before she looked over at Luka.

“I’ll spare her life. For yours.”

“No,” I breathed, as Luka stared at her.

“The time has come to kill you anyway, my beautiful monster. I have completed the spell to destroy the sigil, which you know will be the most painful form of death for you and Heathen. But, given our history and everything we have been through together, I’m feeling generous. I’ll stake you with hellfire in Heathen’s form and grant you a quick death. We will let her go before we disappear and restart our lives somewhere else as new people.”

Luka’s eyes darted over to me as I shook my head frantically. “No. Don’t do it, Luka! Don’t believe a word she says. My family are coming and—”

Belladonna shouted angrily in Latin, waved her hand towards me, and I suddenly had no voice. I screamed soundlessly and thrashed against Mitchell as my eyes pleaded with Luka not to agree to this. Belladonna became a blur of speed, zooming up to Luka and grabbing his hair, yanking his head back aggressively and forcing him to his knees. Oh my god, she was a vampire too. I screamed for her to leave him alone, Rue using all her strength to fight against her magic, but no sound left my lips.

“You’ll still try to kill her after you’ve killed me,” he stated, distrust deepening his tone.

“I guess you will just have to take our word for it. You don’t really have any other choice, do you?” She peered up at Mitchell. “We need to change location. If Evangelia goes against us, Ilaria is right. The royals will come.”

“The manor?” I could hear the smirk on Mitchell’s face through his voice as he spoke behind me. “For old time’s sake?”

Belladonna smiled. “Seems rather fitting.”

The scene of the cave distorted as Mitchell transported me to the Knowltons’ cellar and a second later, Belladonna appeared with Luka. She let go of his hair and shoved his head forward, but he didn’t fall on his hands and instead kept his eyes fixed on my face. I could already see the defeat in them and tears formed behind my eyes. Silently, I shook my head, begging him to continue fighting. I forced myself forwards and then slammed myself back into Mitchell’s body in another attempt to free myself, but he held on tighter, squeezing me in a bone-crushing hold that made it hard to breathe. That just seemed to send Luka into a frenzy as he sped towards us to attack, only to be thrown backwards once more. He stood up and clenched his fists at his side.

“Her family isn’t coming, Luka. They have no idea where this place is. And even if they do work it out, we’ll have killed you both and disappeared before they could do anything to stop us. So it is your choice. Watch her die and then suffer a cruel, horrific death when I destroy your sigil, or I kill you right now with your own dagger, and we let her go. Your choice.”

“I don’t want her to watch,” Luka said quietly, still staring into my eyes as tears streamed down my face.

Belladonna exhaled and pointed towards the chains that were attached to the wall. He walked over slowly, positioning himself against the wall and lifting his arms. With a flick of her wrist, the chains that were woven with magical rope attached themselves to his wrists and ankles and pulled tight, slamming his arms and legs against the wall. I hated how he looked so unfazed by the situation, knowing he was used to being tied up here repeatedly.

My determination to not let this happen sent a surge of energy through me as I fought with everything I had against her magic manipulating my limbs and tore myself out of Mitchell’s grip. When I kicked Mitchell in the groin, it worked, and I zoomed over to Luka, slamming my body against his and grabbing his face in my hands. I knew what I had to do but I needed my voice to do it.

“Wait!” Belladonna said from behind me, pausing Mitchell in his attempt to come after me. “Let them have their moment. It will make his death even sweeter.”

Luka’s red eyes peered down at me, and he gave a small smile as the constant tears escaped my eyes. I tried to speak, but Belladonna’s magic was still in effect.

“I love you,” he whispered, lowering his forehead to touch mine as he stared into my eyes. “Go. Save yourself for me. Please.”

I shook my head, grabbing his face in my hands so tightly as I mouthed, ‘I will never leave you.’

“Stubborn little brat,” he whispered against my lips before pressing them to mine in a bruising kiss. I heard Mitchell muttering Latin behind me and when I opened my eyes and pulled back, I was met with Heathen’s face. His black eyes stole my next breath and a choked sob lodged in my throat as I clung to his body.

“Don’t cry, Snow. I don’t know how, but when we woke up, I could see through Luka’s eyes. We tried. No one can say we didn’t try. We got to love you and that’s the best thing that has ever happened to us. So please go. Leave right now. Let us die with the peace of knowing you are safe.”

My hands gripped his chest as I leaned up on my tiptoes and kissed him again, before turning around and facing Belladonna. I pressed my back against his chest and narrowed my eyes, showing her I was willing to take them both on. They were going to have to get through me to get to him.

“Snow,” Heathen growled from behind me when Belladonna’s lips curved into a sinister smile.

“Brave little thing, aren’t you?” She clicked her fingers and I felt the restriction on my throat ease so I could respond.

“I’ll fight for him until my last breath.”

She smirked. As I read her mind, I lifted my chin a little higher, knowing that she had no intention of stabbing Heathen with that stake. She was going to destroy the sigil because she wanted to make him suffer the worst death imaginable. “As you wish, princess.”

She opened her palm to Mitchell. “The sigil, darling. Let’s get this over with.” He ripped it off his neck and placed it in her hand. “Go and get her.”

Mitchell took a step towards me and I kicked up a steel bar from an old, dismantled cell and sent it hurtling towards him through the air. It tore right through his thigh, causing him to fall back to the ground and grit his teeth through his pain.

Belladonna’s face twisted with fury as she quickly opened a vial of blood and smeared it all over the sigil. She muttered her spell, her eyes illuminating with her magic.

“Snow. Get out of here. Right now.” Heathen tried to buck me forwards with his hips, the panic rolling off him in waves because he didn’t want me to see the excruciating death she was about to put him through.

A calmness took over as I turned around and placed my hand over his chest, directly above his beating heart. He stared down at me with confusion as I smiled. A strange sense of peace washed over me and I became completely okay with what I was about to do. I had never desired anything more and the oddest thing of all was that I knew exactly the words to say to make it happen.

“I, Ilaria Anderson Romano Black, give my soul to you, Lukas Heathen Nezera. Forever yours, forever more, in life and in death.”

His chest glowed beneath my hand as I felt the most deliciously painful tug on my heart, as if an invisible thread had been woven through it, sewing it to his through an unbreakable bond. The strength of our connection warmed my blood, knowing that not even death could part us now.

“What have you done?” Heathen whispered. A single black tear left one of his eyes and rolled slowly down his cheek.

My smile trembled when I felt the sharp pinch on my back that I already knew would be coming. Heathen scanned my face, his eyes full of fear. We both peered down at the blood that was oozing out of my chest. A roar so loud ripped from Heathen which caused my ears to ring when we both realised I’d been stabbed in the back with his scorched dagger. There was no pain though, only relief that if the enchantment on Leif’s ring was no longer working, I would at least die completely bound to the love of my life.

His arms thrashed against the chains, tugging furiously to escape as I rested my head against his chest and whispered, “Your dark soul for mine.”