Page 75 of Dark Souls
Times Have Changed
“Z ?” I shouted, stepping around the tall, slender trees that stretched overhead, providing a leafy green canopy above. The afternoon sunlight trickled down, creating patches of light on the soft mossy ground as my boots trudged through the woodland surrounding the Romano Castle. I’d given him yesterday to cool off and hoped he’d be more willing to listen today. I stopped near a clearing when Heathen could sense Ambroz was close. “Zoran?”
“Up here.”
I zoomed forward towards an ancient oak tree and craned my neck to find him perched high up in the branches, leaning his back against the trunk. He stared out into the distance with a pensive expression, peeling the bark from a stick. I presumed some part of him still found comfort in the trees, having been a bird for so long. Placing my hands on my hips, I sighed before asking in Serbian if he would come down so we could talk, but I was met with silence.
“Looks like I’m coming up then,” I groaned and unsheathed my demon nails and wings to scramble my way to the top. Huffing down next to him, with one leg on either side of the sturdy branch, I stared at my brother’s tense expression and then ran my hand down my face.
“They are only trying to help. Times have changed, brother. You can’t go around threatening, torturing, and killing innocent people to find this witch. The world is more civilised now and there are rules.”
He made a deep grunt of disbelief and shook his head. “I can do whatever the fuck I want. I do not have to live by their rules. They will not control me; you shouldn’t let them control you either. We are Demonski Upirs, and we don’t bow down to anyone. Royal or not.”
“They helped save our lives, Z. And they have welcomed us into their family.”
His head snapped around with a look of barely controlled rage. His eyes turned pitch black with his demon’s presence, and the muscles in his jaw clenched tightly. “No. They are not our family. We are family. You, me and Hana. We are all we have left and all we will ever need.”
I inhaled deeply and swallowed the lodge of sadness in my throat. Before Ilaria, I would have had the same mentality as my brother. It has always been us against the world.
I slowly shook my head. “It doesn’t have to be just us. Not anymore. I have Ilaria. Hana has Ronnie. The royals are our family now.”
He closed his eyes and turned his head away from me, trying to control his emotions. It was hard to see the hurt and pain fighting beneath his rage.
“Where does that leave me?”
I grabbed his shoulder firmly, giving it a little shake. “With us. You will always belong with us. You are our big brother. Our protector. But that is what I am trying to say, Z. You no longer have to work so hard to fight against the world to keep us safe. We have others looking out for us, too. You don’t have to worry so much. Hana and I are going to be just fine. You have permission to start living a life you want to live for yourself.”
“And what life would that be?” He turned to face me again. His eyes were back to their forest green, which blended in with our surroundings. His deep voice was strained with pain as he asked, “What is my purpose if you don’t need me?”
He shook his head, unable to hold my gaze because he could probably see the sympathy in my eyes and hated it. I understood exactly how he felt because that’s how I had felt for centuries. My only purpose had been to keep Hana alive. I had given up on caring for my life. But Ilaria woke me from the grave I had buried for myself and breathed life back into me. She made me realise that my life was nowhere near over. It was only the beginning.
“I’ll always need you, brother. You are my best friend. But you should focus on yourself and what will make you happy, too. Let’s not let our pasts ruin our futures. We can change how the world sees our kind, starting today. So let’s show them who we are.”
“I don’t know who I am, Luka. But I know what I am not.” He threw the shredded stick away, and we watched it hit branches on the way down to the ground. “I am happy that you and Hana have found something more than what we believed we would ever have in this life. And it makes me glad to see you are healing and becoming the man you were destined to be because of your mate.” He turned and grabbed my shoulder too, staring into my eyes. “You are a good man. You always have been. But you and I both know that this isn’t me. I don’t belong in some castle with a bunch of royals who only want world peace.”
I frowned deeply as the ghost of a sad smile toyed with his lips.
“I had already lived for nearly half a century by the time you were born. The world was brutal back then, and from what I have been forced to watch you go through, the world is still brutal now. So if I must be savage to survive it, I will be. It is all I have ever known. If I want someone dead, I’ll kill them. If someone hurts me or my family, I will seek my revenge how I see fit. Anyone who gets in my way will quickly find themselves out of it. We are demons, Luka. Veles’ chosen ones. We cannot pretend to be anything less. We should be feared. And the only thing that is keeping me from releasing my wrath on this fucked up world is my focus on finding that witch and unleashing it all on her. If the royals don’t want me breaking their precious rules, then they had best find her quickly. And because I love you, I will give them one week before I start using my own methods. After that, there is nothing anyone can do to stop me.”
He pressed his forehead against mine and glared into my eyes. We held our gaze for a few loaded seconds, allowing the silence to speak for our shared understanding, before he sat back with a dark smirk on his face. He leaned against the trunk again and folded his monstrous biceps over his giant chest. I had to hope that the royals would find this witch in the next seven days. Once Zoran had his revenge and his anger had subsided a little, I would try to have this talk again.
Zoran had always been the wild one. He would fight back harder if he felt trapped or caged with fierce, unrelenting fury. He’d rather burn the whole world to ash than be held against his will again, so I understood his reluctance to agree to their ruling. It didn’t mean he would attack every person with a pulse just for the fun of it. He just needed to make his own choices. Zoran had always had a problem with authority and following the rules. Our father was the only one who had any control over him.
“If her magic still lingers in your blood, Leif might be able to create a specific blood locator spell to find her. Would you be okay with that?”
“I don’t care how they do it. They can drain me for everything I am worth if it means I find her.”
We both looked out over the treetops and into the English countryside, deep in our thoughts and feelings. There was a conversation that needed to be had. One that I had been dreading, but I knew it was time. I exhaled a shaky breath before I spoke again.
“We need to find father’s bones.”
He gave a definitive nod. “We will. We will start the search tomorrow. I will burn that Knowlton bitch within an inch of her life to see if she knows where they are.”
“She doesn’t. Ilaria has already tried torturing her for information.”
He glanced at me with a sinister smile. “Let’s pretend I don’t know that.”
A heavy silence settled among us. The birds chirped, and leaves rustled. I scratched into the bark of the branch with one unsheathed nail.
“You’ll never know how sorry I am, Zoran. About everything. Everything that happened to all of us was because of me. Do you think you’ll be able to forgive me?”
His eyes narrowed with a look of irritation. “There is nothing to forgive. You were under a seduction spell. She preyed on you, manipulated you, and abused your trust. You were just a kid, Luka. Don’t apologise for something that was out of your control.”
My throat closed with emotion, and I felt the prickling sensation of tears behind my eyes, though I would never let them fall. Not in front of Zoran. He’d let me have my moment when I turned my humanity back on, but now, he’d expect me to keep my shit together, especially when it came to this. However, I couldn’t stop my shoulders shuddering as I stared at the sky.
“Mama blamed me. She said she’d never forgive me for father’s death.”
Zoran sighed, resting his head back against the trunk. He’d taken off all his bandages, and the sight of his burns and scars that would never fade made my chest ache even more.
“She spoke from a place of grief and a broken heart. That doesn’t make it true. She loved you. And father died fighting to protect his family, the only way he would have ever been happy to go. You and I both know that is what he would have wanted. He was sick of running. He chose to stay and fight. Just like I chose to stay by his side.”
“But I killed her.”
“You put her out of her misery and pain. I would have done the same.”
“I stole your gifts. They were meant to be for you.”
He glanced at me with an unreadable expression, and I held his unwavering gaze. “You did what you needed to do to survive.”
“But you are the firstborn. You were meant to–”
“Fucking hell, Luka. Just stop,” he growled, losing his patience. “You think I care? Do you think I would have rather watched you suffer more than you already were? Do you know why a father’s gifts are only transferred to the firstborn once he dies?”
I blinked once. “Because they are the strongest child.”
“No. Because the firstborn must continue to protect the family in the father’s absence. You thought I was dead. You had to protect yourself and Hana. You had to survive. As a raven, they were no good to me, and you needed them more than I did. I am glad you took them. So, stop with the self-blame and apology shit because you did everything right, Luka. You survived. You never surrendered.” He shoved my shoulder and stared into my eyes. “You made me proud. And I know our father would have been proud too.”
My lips trembled, but I held it together and gave him a sharp nod. He smirked and patted the side of my face with his scarred and burned hand.
He turned abruptly and slid off the branch. His demon wings expanded to slow his descent, and he landed crouched on the forest floor. I caught up with him, and we strolled through the vibrant bluebells that spread through the forest as far as the eye could see. Before we reached the castle grounds, he stopped and peered around at them all, taking in the idyllic scene.
“Here will do.”
“For what?” I questioned, frowning when he took off his shirt and stretched each of his muscular arms across his chest.
“I want you to fight me.”
I scoffed loudly. “What?”
“You heard.” He stood wide and summoned me with two bent fingers and a wicked grin. “I’m out of practice, and I want to see what gifts you stole from me.”
When I narrowed my eyes, he laughed.
“What’s going on?” We turned around to find Ilaria walking towards us, followed by Hana, Ronnie, Leif, and Neve, staring between us with curiosity.
“Zoran wants me to fight him.” Hana’s face stretched into a slow grin, while the rest of them looked alarmed. “He says he is out of practice and wants to have his ass handed to him by his now much more lethal brother.”
Zoran snorted, his eyes gleaming as his smile widened. Zoran responded in Serbian. “Even with my gifts, I’ll be the one putting you on your ass, little brother. You forget who taught you everything you know.”
Hana giggled, seeing that she was the only one who could understand what Zoran had said, and sat down on the mossy ground among the delicate bluebells to get comfortable.
“What’s happening?” Ilaria asked again, confused when Hannah grabbed the sleeve of her top and yanked her down, too.
“They are talking shit to each other,” Hannah answered.
“Oh, what? And we’re missing it? Wait!” Leif strolled forward, standing between Zoran and me. “I can cast a spell, and you’ll be able to speak in fluent English. It might help you when it comes to finding your wicked witch.”
Zoran’s brows tightened as he looked from Leif to me with suspicion.
“He’s trustworthy. I promise. And he’s right. You’ll need to learn the language if you are going to have any success finding her. This is a pretty cool shortcut. I’d take it if I were you.”
Zoran clicked his tongue as he studied Leif with unease before huffing and speaking in Serbian to me, “Fine. But if he tries anything else, I’ll eat his eyeballs.”
I smirked, folding my arms across my chest. “He said yes, that would be really helpful. Thank you, Leif.”
Leif clapped his hands together. “Awesome. This might feel a little strange.” Leif stepped forwards to place his fingertips on Zoran’s skull, and Zoran instantly dodged him with a hiss. Hana burst out laughing behind us.
“Z, stop being such a baby and let the man touch you!” she shouted in Serbian.
“No one apart from you two has touched me in centuries, and I was hoping the next person who did might be a female. Not some pretty-boy warlock with weird eyes,” he grunted, glaring at Leif, who was looking between us all with frustration.
“I am starting to get the feeling he is insulting me,” Leif said, causing Hannah and me to laugh and Zoran to scowl. Leif turned towards him again. “Do you want to be bilingual or not?”
“Fine,” Zoran gritted through his teeth and closed his eyes. Leif quickly placed his fingers back on his head and muttered some Latin. It was over in a matter of seconds, and Leif stepped back.
“Now. Insult and beat the living shit out of each other, you demonic dreamboats. And don’t hold back. I want to have a raging hard-on after this.” Leif patted my shoulder as he walked back over to the others, who were now all sitting comfortably to watch. Neve, Ronnie, and Hana roared with laughter.
“Is he talking about his dick?” Zoran said in perfect English, only his accent giving away that it wasn’t his first language. The deep frown on his face matched my own. I blinked at him and then turned around to look at Ilaria in question as her brother sat beside her with a smirk.
“I didn’t realise he was gay,” I said. Not that it mattered, but it was just a surprise.
“I’m not defined by labels, demon. I just like sex. A hole is a hole, as far as I am concerned. Gun to my head, I’d probably choose to fuck a pussy over an asshole, but if this is you offering, Luka, I’m down.” Ilaria punched him in the ribs, which caused him to let out a loud groan and fall to his side on the soil. “Ow! They are the siblings that are supposed to be fighting, not us!”
“Then don’t be a despicable whore and stop flirting with my mate!”
“But look how uncomfortable it makes him.” Leif chuckled, sitting upright again. “It’s adorable.”
Ilaria rolled her eyes and just waved her hand towards Zoran and me to continue.
“Shall we place bets?” Ronnie asked as I tugged my shirt off and threw it to the ground. “I’m going to back my master, obviously.”
“You are such an ass-licker,” Hana teased.
“You’d know that from first-hand exp–” Ronnie thought better than to finish that sentence because both Zoran and I had released terrifying demonic hisses in his direction. He paled and raised his hands up. “My bad. Forgot my audience.”
“I’ll back the sinister heartthrob,” Leif added.
“Yeah, me too. Sorry, Luka.” Neve shrugged her shoulders. “He’s like twice your size.”
“Well, my money will always be on my man.” Ilaria winked at me, and I actually felt myself melt a little. Fuck, this woman made me weak. But I’d beat my brother black and blue for her.
“Hana?” Neve asked. “Who’s your bet on?”
She widened her eyes and shook her head. “Uh-uh. I know better than to get in the middle of these two. I am just here out of pure curiosity. I haven’t seen them fight since I was a child. Zoran is older, fiercer, and very skilled, but… he’s been a raven for a few centuries, and Luka does have the firstborn gifts, so…”
“So, it’s about time I won–” I didn’t get to finish that sentence because Zoran’s fist connected with my cheek, and my whole body spun from the brutal force, knocking me to the ground. Fuck, I forgot just how strong he was, even when he was only in his vampire form.
“You were saying?” Zoran chuckled darkly as I clicked my jaw back in place and spat some blood out of my mouth.
‘Oh, big bro wants to play dirty, does he?’ Heathen laughed maniacally in my head. ‘Okayyy! Let’s go.’
We all winced as their bodies collided once again with so much force that the ground we were all sitting on trembled with their power. They had been fighting for at least ten minutes, and it was the most intense and crazy act of pure aggression and violence I had ever witnessed. I wanted to make them stop, but at the same time, I couldn’t look away. I was somewhere between feeling extremely concerned and ridiculously turned on.
“I honestly can’t tell who has the upper hand,” Neve mumbled next to me, her mouth half hidden behind her fingers as she watched on with wide eyes.
She was right. Not only were they moving so fast and furiously that it was hard to keep up, but they seemed to be equally matched in strength and speed. Whenever we thought Zoran landed a winning blow, Luka would get straight back up and counter it with a move just as impressive.
“We could be here all day,” Hana said, seeming to enjoy the chaos of her brothers letting their demons out to play, literally. They had started off only in their vampire form, but now, they were both half-shifted and sharing control, which definitely ramped up the adrenaline. “Neither of them will back down. They are just toying with each other.”
“What?” Ronnie frowned. “You mean this isn’t even them trying?”
“Oh, they are trying to outdo each other. But this is just training. The winner will be the first one to get the other in a vulnerable position that could cause death to a demon.”
With a guttural snarl, Zoran lunged with his fangs bared and claws outstretched to rip into Luka’s neck. Luka blocked his attack with a powerful swipe of his wing, sending a flurry of soil flying and hitting our faces. They grappled like wild beasts in the dirt, their fangs snapping dangerously close to each other’s throats as they rolled over the bluebells until Luka got Zoran in a headlock, crushing his neck as Zoran’s veins protruded on his face. Somehow, Zoran escaped his vice grip, and they were back on their feet instantly, circling each other with predatory intent.
“I’ll give it to you. You are stronger and faster. I feel like I am training with Father all over again,” Zoran chuckled, wiping blood from his lips with the back of his hand.
“Yeah? Remember this move of his?” Luka shouted. I couldn’t believe either of them seemed out of breath. Luka lifted his wrist and twisted it sharply. A branch broke off from a birch tree beside him, and Luka pointed towards Zoran, sending it hurtling through the air like a spear. We all gasped when it was milliseconds away from embedding itself into Zoran’s stomach, but he caught it with both claws just as the spike broke through the surface of his skin. He tossed it away, threw his head back, and laughed. He was a bloody psycho. They both were.
“You got his telekinesis? I take it back. I am pissed.” Zoran charged at Luka with an evil grin, grabbing his shoulders and slamming his knee into Luka’s ribs. The sound of cracking bones rippled through the air like thunder, and I jumped to my feet. Hana grabbed my arm and gave me a warning look.
I glanced back to see Luka unbothered by his injury. Instead, he spun around to grab Zoran by the throat and sent his enormous body plunging through the air and into the trunk of a nearby birch tree. The brute force of the impact caused the tree to split in half, sending Zoran to the ground in slow motion with the top half of the tree beneath him. A shower of leaves and dirt erupted around him, but he climbed back to his feet, smirking.
“Fucking hell,” Leif grumbled next to me. “Grandpapi is going to lose his shit if they destroy his forest.”
They raced towards each other and leapt into the air, colliding with determination as they took off into the sky. We all stood up, shielding our eyes from the sun to watch them throwing punches and kicks mid-flight before locking their bodies in a violent embrace. Their black wings beat frantically behind them, causing them to rip apart occasionally before they grappled together once again. The fight took a turn when their wings became entangled, and they lost their ability to stay airborne. I gasped as we all watched them plummet towards the ground, fused together like a bullet, refusing to break apart.
The ground shook with their landing, and they rolled together, hidden behind their wings, before one of them broke free. Zoran raced up behind Luka and grabbed his hair, locking his claw around Luka’s throat. Luka was on his knees and frozen in shock, his black eyes wide and ruthless as he panted heavily.
“Zoran’s won,” Hana said in surprise, and I realised that in his current position, Zoran would have ripped Luka’s head off if he wanted to cause instant death to a demon.
“Surrender, little brother?” Zoran smirked behind him. Luka slowly raised his hands, signalling his loss, but before Zoran stepped back, Luka reached up and grabbed Zoran’s head on either side and, with insane strength, flipped him over his own to the ground.
“Never.” Luka smirked as Zoran blinked up at him from upside down, realising Luka could have just ripped his head clean off, too.
I jumped up and down like a high school cheerleader as Luka held his hand out to his brother and helped him up. Zoran grabbed his shoulder and squeezed it with a look of pride on his face as they both stumbled towards us, only just realising the extent of their injuries. Their demons retreated, leaving the horrific signs of bruises, cuts, and blood smeared all over their battered bodies, but their eyes were glinting in the sunlight like they had just had an absolute blast.
Racing forwards, I jumped up into Luka’s arms, wrapping my legs around his waist, and he hissed a little through his chuckle.
“Shit! Your ribs! Sorry.” I tried to get down carefully, but his hands grabbed my ass and kept me in place.
“Fuck my ribs. You’re staying right here.” He grabbed my face and started kissing the life out of me, and I kissed him back with just as much passion because, damn if that hadn’t been the best foreplay, I didn’t know what was.
Zoran groaned, walking past us. “Hey, pretty witch-boy.”
“Who, me?” Leif questioned, looking over his shoulder with confusion.
Luka and I broke apart, because, just like everyone else, we were intrigued about what Zoran was about to say.
“You like to fuck, right? Know where I can find a woman?”
Leif’s eyes lit up with excitement, and he folded his arms across his chest. “Is that a serious question?”
“Good. Because I am in need of a man who knows how to talk a vampire or human girl into letting me fuck her all night and drink her dry. I don’t do small talk, and I sure as hell don’t flirt, so I’m relying on you.”
“Zoran!” Hana scolded him. “You can’t drink them dry!”
“No humans!” I warned. This man was a nutcase.
“Honestly, there is no better man for the job. Pretty sure I could get you more than one for the night,” Leif said, jogging to catch up with Zoran as we all headed back to the castle. “You won’t even have to speak a word, but it might help if you smiled. Just a little.”
“Fuck no,” Zoran muttered as they both headed off towards the castle gates.
“Leif!” Neve shouted. “What about our chat about Heroux?”
“Later, Neve! Can’t you see this is a man in need?” Leif walked backwards and sent her a wink before turning around to catch up with Zoran’s demanding pace again.
“They’ll be fine. Zoran just needs to blow off some steam. He’s been a bird for centuries. The guy needs a good fuck,” Luka said as he pulled me towards the castle.
“Leif! Don’t let him do anything stupid or get in any trouble, please!” Hana shouted, cupping her hands around her mouth. We all stopped and looked at each other with pure panic when we realised who we were relying on to be the most sensible and level-headed one out of the pair.
Ah, bollocks.