Page 22 of Tortured Soul (Soulless #1)

Lola

B ringing Dimitri inside the camp took some convincing. Arc and Carter remained silent, happy to just glare at the two of us.

“We still have room left.” Aymeric smiled, nodding at Carrie. “It’s no problem at all to welcome Lola’s friend for a few days.”

Marcus mumbled from his spot near the door. Funny how he had his helmet and uniform on, but I still recognized his grumpy ass the moment I turned in the forest.

Dimitri stood still next to me, his hands in his leather jacket’s pockets. His sunglasses were back on, hiding the madness that people in the room already suspected was there.

“That’s kind of you to offer, Aymeric,” Carrie said, her hands clasped in front of her on her desk. “But have you ever encountered a Nephilim before?”

Aymeric winced and shook his head.

“Nephilims are cursed from birth,” Carrie explained. “They’re the offspring of angels or demons with humans. They’re Immortal, and if they don’t break the curse by binding their soul to their true mate, their curse progresses until they become mad.”

Aymeric nodded. Dimitri stiffened next to me.

“Physical signs of madness are the hair turning silver or white, and eyes becoming red,” she added, casting a wary glance toward Dimitri.

“If Lola trusts him, I do too.”

What a kind soul. Aymeric was too good for this world. My throat bobbed as I turned my face toward him with a feeble smile.

Marcus grunted his disapproval behind me.

“If it’s too much of an inconvenience, I won’t be staying long,” Dimitri said, his tone clipped. “I noticed that humans are surrounding the area. If you need any help, I’m good at tracking and killing. ”

My eyes widened but I forced my body to stay still. He was good at those things. At least back then…

“You’re not making a good case for yourself here,” Carter drawled. “What's to say you won’t use those skills on our people?”

Dimitri ripped off his sunglasses with an annoyed sigh and turned toward him.

“I’m cursed, I’m not a mindless beast. I know when I need to isolate myself, and I won’t risk innocent lives. I’m here to spend time with my—with my friend ,” he corrected himself. “ Not to cause trouble inside your camp.”

I reached for his hand and interlaced our fingers. He was getting frustrated and angry; not a good combination to convince anyone to trust him enough to stay here.

Dimitri’s fingers tightened around my hand and he relaxed next to me. Arc’s eyes slid to the motion and my hand suddenly felt clammy.

“Dimitri is good at tracking and finding people,” I jumped in, turning to Carrie. “Maybe he could help you find the ones who are missing.”

She studied me for a beat, her eyes drifting repeatedly between Dimitri and me.

“We’ll see,” she said, standing up. “For now, he’ll need to go with Arc to settle the paperwork.”

I nodded. “Sure, we’ll—”

“Not you,” she interrupted, lifting her hand to stop me. “Have a seat, I’d like for us to have a word.”

Dimitri tensed again next to me, gripping my hand harder. I gave him a reassuring squeeze and met his gaze. I’ll be fine , my eyes said to him.

“I’ll see you at home as soon as we’re both done,” I said out loud.

He frowned, uneasiness and anxiety clearly visible on his atypical handsome face. Our hands unclasped after everyone else had already left the office, and he followed reluctantly.

I sat, exhaling slowly.

Carrie stared at me with narrowed eyes.

“He’s your mate, isn’t he?” she asked, her voice surprisingly kind.

I darted my eyes away, worrying my lower lip.

“I can see it in the way he’s looking at you. Occupying the space around you,” she mused. “There’s a lot of history there, isn’t it? ”

I scoffed. “That’s an understatement.”

She tilted her head to the side in wonder, her demeanor a far cry from our last exchange in this same office a week before.

“Why has his curse taken over?” she asked, her voice displaying actual confusion. “Was he already old when you met? Already too far gone?”

I didn’t answer, my stomach churning with guilt.

“I know we’ve started out on the wrong foot.

And I apologize for my past words. I’ve been meaning to for the last week, but could never find the right time.

I’m doing it now. I’ve been unfair. Suspicious, when I shouldn’t have been.

I understand that you don’t want to talk about your private life and relationships with me, but I’m the commander of the guards here.

I need to know if a newcomer is likely to cause trouble.

“And I don’t understand what’s happening between you and your friend . He’s your mate. And his curse has taken over. Completely , it seems. I just want to understand why.”

“Succubi and Incubi don’t have souls,” I whispered, avoiding her gaze. I could hear her flinch and her back meeting the backrest of her chair. “When I became one, I broke him. I severed my abilities to ever bind myself to another soulmate.”

She cursed under her breath and I let out a dry chuckle.

“I’m the reason his curse won. And the worst is, he can still feel the dead link connecting us. I don’t. Because my soul is gone, owned by someone who lied and manipulated me to get it.”

Our eyes met then. I wasn’t sure what she saw in mine, but hers were sad. Sad, but confused.

“You’re wrong,” she said, her voice soft. I tilted my head in confusion. “I mean, you’re right when you’re saying you don’t have your soul. I could feel from the start that something was strange about you. But it’s not all Succubi and Incubi.”

What? That couldn’t be right.

“When I confronted the demon the next day, he told me that it was that way. That he couldn’t hold his end of the deal and turn me into a Succubus without taking my soul.”

She shook her head, closing her eyes. “He must have lied.”

My heartbeat picked up and I stood up abruptly.

“What do you mean he must have lied? ”

“I’m probably not as old as you, but I’ve been collecting souls for a long time,” she explains, lifting her hands in a placating way. “Selling your soul means giving away your control over it.”

I narrowed my eyes, searching her face.

“There are two possibilities when you’re selling your soul,” she continued, explaining as if I’ve never been in a tied group and worked with other demons before.

“It always starts with a human making a deal for something he wants, in exchange the demon can offer him two different things. Either a limited amount of time before he collects his soul to fuel the River of Tears, varying from a few years to a couple of decades, or, if the profile fits the second option, he can offer to join our ranks, turning the person into any kind of demon.”

She paused, staring at me to make sure I was listening.

“I know that. I’m saying that it’s not how it happens with Succubi and Incubi.”

“It is ,” she insisted. “The soul is only ripped in the first option, after the time allotted is over. No matter what species of demon the human is turned to, he keeps his soul, only losing his hold over it. I’ve met a few Incubi and Succubi who were part of a binded group.

Hell , I’ve officiated the binding of one of them. ”

“That— no , it can’t be true,” I said, shaking my head. “Why would the demon lie?”

She stood up slowly, leaning over her desk to get closer.

“Who did you sell your soul to?” she asked, searching my eyes.

My throat closed and my lungs started to burn. “I’m not supposed to be offering such advantageous deals. You can never tell it was me…Your mate will be angry, but it’s the only option if you want to fix your mistake and save your father. ”

“I—I can’t tell.”

“Why? He lied to you, it doesn’t matter if you betray his trust.”

“He made me swear before our deal. I can’t—” I choked on my words, my body punishing me for even considering saying his name. “—can’t say.”

She sighed and turned around, crossing her arms over her chest, walking back and forth in front of her window.

“There has to be something we can do. We could appeal to Lucifer? Ask for an audience. He’ll know who it was. He could be able to return your soul to you. ”

“I was freed,” I explained, shaking my head. “I can’t go back there anymore as I’m not—”

“Working for him, yeah…Shit.” She slapped her hands on her desk with another forceful exhale. “You were freed, and your soul wasn’t returned? Was it Lucifer who freed you? In person?”

I nodded. “Lucifer and Lilith, yes.”

“And he didn’t notice that you didn’t have your soul anymore?”

I frowned. Lucifer never mentioned anything about it.

What if he didn’t know? What if the bastard who took my soul never told anyone about it?

After all, I’ve never met Lucifer nor Lilith outside of hell, where most lost souls were kept.

If mine was there, could it be that he never picked up on me missing it?

“I’ll ask around,” she concluded before I could voice my thoughts. “We need to get your soul back.”

I groaned. “Why does it matter to you? It won’t make Dimitri less dangerous. We can’t reverse the madness.”

“I know,” she nodded, determined. “But with your soul back, you’ll be able to bind it with all your mates. It will strengthen you and them, and it might also appease the Nephilim’s madness.”

My heart stopped. She couldn’t know about my other mate. The one I left behind about ninety years ago and avoided as best I could. The one who would be killed if I saw him again.

“What do you mean, all my mates ?” I asked, playing clueless. She couldn’t know. He wasn’t here. I checked .

“Arc and Carter, of course.”