Page 33 of Tortured Soul (Soulless #1)

Lola

J eremiah was called to escort Dimitri around town to get some new clothes and supplies for his mission.

I, on the other hand, was still stuck in Carrie’s office with her, Carter, and Arc.

“If something happens to him, I—”

“What do you think will happen?” Arc interrupted sharply. “He’s a Nephilim. They can’t kill him. If they scan him with their tracker and they’re smart, they’ll just run the opposite direction.”

“And if they’re not?” I challenged.

He cocked a brow. “Then they’ll die.”

There was a long pause.

I knew I was worrying for nothing. That Dimitri, even alone, was one of the deadliest beings walking the earth.

But I still had a bad feeling about all this.

“Alright, we should get going,” Arc said, gathering the documents on the table into a neat pile. “Tell Jeremiah to fetch us before the Nephilim leaves.”

Everyone stood, and I followed, my body moving slower than usual. My energy was at its fullest and yet, I felt crushed under some weight.

“No need to fetch us ,” Carter sneered. “I’m busy and I don’t care much about saying goodbye.”

“I was not referring to you,” Arc said. “Come on, Lola.”

My eyes drifted to him in surprise as Carter swiftly left the room. “Huh?”

Arc tilted his head to the side, lifting his arm to give me his hand. “We have a date, remember? We’re going out for lunch.”

“I’m not that hungry.”

Lies, of course. As if on cue, my stomach grumbled loudly.

Sex with Dimitri had prevented me from finishing up my breakfast …

“Sure,” he grunted. “I bet Dimitri was potent enough, and now you’re full.”

“Okay, get out of my office,” Carrie groaned. “I take back everything I ever said about wanting to find my mates; you guys are giving me the headache of a lifetime.”

With burning cheeks, I reluctantly took Arc’s hand and followed him out of the office.

“Why did all of you have to act like giant children in there? Carrie and I just started to get along, and now she’ll be uncomfortable with me because of you .”

He closed the door behind us, but Carrie’s chuckle still managed to get through the door.

“She’s just acting like she is. We’re quite tame in comparison to Kai’s binded group. It took a long time for them to find their footings.”

He didn’t let go of my hand as he started to walk in the corridor, heading to the stairs to exit the building.

“What, were they acting like jealous pricks too?” I scoffed.

He ignored my jab, pulling me with him outside, where a lot of curious eyes landed on us.

Great .

I scanned the menu, feeling Arc’s gaze burning my face. Feeling a lot more eyes than his, actually.

“There are a lot of things that are hard to find,” I said, noticing the large choice of dishes. The waiter placed a jug of water on our table before leaving to tend to other customers. “Including water. And electricity. And the internet .”

“I have my ways.”

The ass had the audacity to shrug as I glowered at him.

“Care to share them?”

He stared at me for a while, arms crossed over his chest.

“Our elemental warlocks and witches make sure to keep our water tables and generators full. As for the internet, we’re stealing access.”

“How?”

“Do you really want to know the specifics or just asking for the sake of it?” he asked, a small smile tilting at the corner of his lips.

I slid my tongue along my teeth, glaring at him over my menu, before ultimately deciding to focus back on what I was going to fill my stomach with.

“I guess I don’t.” The silence that followed made me grit my teeth. Come on, I can be reasonable. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude.” Or I did, but couldn't figure out why . “I’m just curious about this place. It seems it’s been prospering for a while, and I just wanted to know how.”

Arc leaned against the back of his chair, his arms crossed over his chest, studying me. Searching my face for something I couldn’t point out.

“It’s fine. I did say that we were partially here to ask and answer any questions the other might have.”

He paused, looking at me some more, a small smile pulling at his face. It took only a few seconds for my lips to do the same.

“Can I start?” I asked, closing the menu and pushing it to the side of the table.

He nodded. “Go ahead.”

“What can you do?” He arched a brow at my question. “I mean, I’ve obviously never met someone like you before. And Marcus said something like you ‘summoned’ him? Plus, there was that time in the alley, where the demon who attacked me just…well, vanished.”

He groaned, turning his gaze quickly from side to side. People were sitting at tables not far, enjoying their own lunch.

Arc leaned closer to me over the table, sliding his hand over mine. Oh, so my touch didn’t repulse him anymore? Good to know.

I gave him a questioning look.

“As I told you before, my father is a Prince of Hell. He’s considered to be of the Hellriser family but he’s still of Divine origin.

” He spoke low enough that I knew I was the only one to hear.

His thumb rubbed gentle circles over my knuckles.

“It allows me to command lower demons, in some situations.”

My gasp was silent, my lips only parting in surprise.

“What do you mean, command them? ”

He nibbled on his lower lip, narrowing his eyes in thoughts.

“It usually happens when I’m mad, or feeling something too strong.

I summoned Marcus and a few others when I got mad at you for leaving the camp and doing just what I told you not to.

Because I needed to assemble a team to go fetch you and your ‘friend’ quickly.

I didn’t have the time to contain my power and then it was already done.

“As for the demon vanishing, I think you can guess what happened.”

My eyes left his hand holding mine to meet his gaze. Could I? I mean, I had theories, but none seem probable.

“Did you send him back to Hell?”

“No.”

I gulped. “Is he…dead?”

His eyes searched mine, his thumb stopping its caresses for a beat.

“If that scares you, know that as your mate, I can’t—”

“Kill me? Yeah, I know.”

But hurting was still on the table, as Carter had shown.

“But you did, right? Kill him? You can do that?”

I could see the hesitation on his face. He probably didn’t tell many people about that particular power of his.

“Yes. I do regret it, though.”

I tilted my head to the side. “Why?”

“Because I acted on a whim. I saw you fighting to escape in vain and, once again, I couldn’t hold back.”

I frowned. Was that what Kai meant when he said he struggled with his demonic powers? And that I, somehow, made him more in touch with them?

“I—is it my fault?” I asked, but he was interrupted by the waiter taking our orders. The two minutes it took him to leave again felt like an eternity.

“I think so. I’m assuming the mating link binding me to you made that side more…difficult to ignore and repress.”

There was something in his eyes. A glint that made his dark eye almost gleam.

“Why did you sell your soul?” he asked, interlacing our fingers over the table.

Why did that make me feel calm when that question usually pushed me into a fight or flight response?

“ He’s your mate too, zhizn moya. You don’t have anything to hide from him, ” Dimitri’s words from this morning echoed in my mind.

And he was right, in a way. I had told Blake, after a little while. I didn’t have to go too much into details…

“I fucked up,” I said, trying to keep my tone as detached as possible. “Made a selfish mistake that resulted in my father dying. I made the deal because that demon said he could bring him back if I joined their ranks and became the first Succubus. The first of Lilith’s new project .”

My voice had turned bitter at the memory. At the way the demon had sold it, omitting the complete loss of my soul and what my existence would become.

Nothing more than a whore.

“The mistake I made was related to Dimitri. To the fact that he was my mate and I knew . To the fact that my Father was against it.”

Arc listened, never letting go of my hand. His eyes studying me like my face could give him the details I was purposefully omitting.

“I regret that mistake every day.” I shrugged, as if it was no big deal now. As if I got over it.

I didn’t.

“Is it selfish that I don’t regret your choice? I might never have met you if you hadn’t done it.”

I forced a smile. “So you prefer finding your mate but not being able to bind with their soul, than living in ignorance and peace?”

“I wasn’t aware that humans could be Immortal’s mates too,” he mused, ignoring my remark. “Must be why some of us never find ours. I wouldn’t have found you if you lived a human lifespan.”

I could swear I felt the empty space inside me ache at his words. Like my soul, wherever it was, was pained at the thought that I might never have met more of my mates if I had taken the path that was meant for me.

The path that my parents tried to force me to follow.

“Maybe,” I simply answered, staring at his hand covering mine.

He moved it to slide his fingers between mine again.

“So, how do we get your soul back?” he asked after the waiter brought drinks.

I lifted a brow. “What do you mean? ”

He grabbed his glass, bringing it close to his lips for a sip. “Well, if a demon stole it, it has to be somewhere. Probably back in Hell or something. There must be a way to retrieve it.”

“I wouldn’t count on it,” I gritted out. “I never heard of this demon again after that day, and he made me promise to never even say his name.”

He leaned forward and pulled on my hand to make me come closer. Once only a few inches separated our lips and I could feel his warm breath fanning over my face, he continued, a smile growing on his face.

“We just need to find that scum,” he said. “In case you forgot, I can kill lower demons. That can be a good motivator for uncooperative Hellrisers."