Page 228 of Soul So Dark

“You found Sergei?” she echoes with amusement.

“Yes, so don’t worry about Colson.”

My mom knits her brow in confusion. “What does Sergei have to do with Colson?”

I shift into drive with a flash of my eyes. “He’s a polar bear bodyguard, too.”

I only catch my mom’s look of shock for an instant before I shoot down the driveway and onto the country road. I can’t stay, because I’m already late. I have somewhere else to be.

The glare from the sun hits my eyes as I take the on-ramp to the highway. I pass the exit I would normally take to go home and, instead, travel a few more miles to the south side of the city. I check my GPS, confirming that I’m at the right apartment complex before shutting off the engine and getting out of the car. I was nervous at first, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t excited to be here. I’ve considered it dozens of times, but always decided against it, until now.

Heading up the stairs to the second floor, I come to a halt in front of #202. I take a deep breath and then give a sharp knock. While I’m waiting, I feel a buzz in my bag. It’s the burner phone.

BOWEN (6:27PM): The Wyandot has really good hunting, too.

A few seconds later, another comes through.

BOWEN (6:27PM): What happens in those woods stays in those woods. Except for the things that come home with me. But I’ve got my eye on something even better.

Oh, shit.

But I don’t have time to respond. The door opens and I come face to face with Luca.

“Wow, you made it,” he greets me with a once-over.

“Why wouldn’t I?” I ask, dropping the phone back in my bag.

“Just surprised,” he shrugs. “Alex keeps you on a tight leash. I didn’t think you’d ever come.”

“He only thinks he does,” I smirk.

Luca steps aside. “Lucky me.”

He’s not wrong. Initially, I blew him off in Tulum, convinced he was just messing with me because he’s Luca and that’s what he does. But he’s different now. He went to prison and somehow seems much less hardened than the first time I met him in Alex’s house six years ago. His buzzed hair has grown out into thick waves that cover his surgery scar and there’s a glimmer in his dark brown eyes that replaces the insidious shadow that hung over them before.

His place looks a lot like my old house on campus, except in a much nicer building. Only the necessities—a big flat screen, gaming consoles, speakers, and mismatched furniture. I think the chicest décor we had were our array of half-burned jar candles scattered all over the place.

Luca shuts the door behind me. “He doesn’t know you’re here, does he?”

I glance over my shoulder with a shake of my head as I stroll over to the bookshelf, admiring a photo of Alex, Luca, and Adrian as children, sitting on the tailgate of a truck while their dad stands proudly next to them.

“It’s a shame I didn’t get to know you until now,” I lament.

“I wouldn’t have been very nice to you back then,” Luca chuckles.

“I guess it’s better late than never, huh?”

He stops just behind my shoulder. “Why’d you change your mind?”

“I thought about what you said in Tulum,” I sigh. “I think you were kind of drunk, but maybe that made you more honest. I like you, Luca, and maybe giving you a chance isn’t the worst idea in the world.”

Luca’s tone becomes more serious. “I admit that I used to be awful—a truly horrible human being—and it probably won’t be the last time. But since you decided to come here, maybe you can look past all that.”

I turn around, eyeing him with a coy smile. “You sound pretty confident.”

“I am,” Luca takes a few steps back, “now that I know I have something you want.”

He glances to the dark hallway and then gives a sharp nod.