Page 37 of Tortured Soul (Soulless #1)

Lola

I hadn’t felt that awkward for a long time.

Arc and I were both seated at opposite ends of the kitchen counter— yes, that same kitchen counter —and eating in silence. The food was good. The silence was deafening.

I didn’t take the time to properly look at the room this morning. Unlike the cramped but cozy apartment I’d been sharing with Aymeric, Marcus, Savi, and Francesca until now, this house was huge and kind of cold.

The kitchen alone was the size of the whole apartment’s first floor. The cabinets were dark wood, topped with rough stone countertops. The island was enormous, and the appliances a bit more modern.

Like the entrance of the house and all the corridors, the floor looked and felt like old marble, and the walls—at least the ones that were neither wood nor stone—were painted black.

“Why is this house so…different?” I asked, breaking the silence.

Arc lifted his eyes, chewing on his food, and grabbed his glass of wine slowly.

“Are you insulting my house, now?”

Unbelievable . I rolled my eyes. “I’m not insulting anything. I’m just saying it’s a far cry from the apartment I was stashed in until now.”

He lifted a brow. “The apartments were built on the existing buildings. The city hall, this house, and most of the shops were already here before. When we settled here and our population grew, we had to add some space for people to live in. So we built up to avoid having to change the barrier perimeter.”

So this place already existed and it was more than just the City Hall and the archives.

“I’m guessing you’re thinking about before we got here? ”

“I am.”

He nodded, taking a sip before placing the glass back where it was.

“The Arizona desert was already a place people didn’t want to live in much,” he said.

“Then why the lone town in the middle of nowhere? With such a grand building like the City hall?”

The corner of his lips tilted up in a small smile.

“It was kind of a cult. I’m not familiar with the specifics, but I’ve heard about it. A human man settled here, presenting himself as some sort of god to his hundreds of followers. They lived here for about thirty years, secluded, serving this corrupted man.

“When the war started and people began to freak out about angels and demons alike, they had no idea about what was truly going on, as the only access to the outside world was the TV and Radio in his house. They managed to live through the first two years of the war in complete ignorance.

“He then proceeded to tell them that outside these walls, the apocalypse was happening. That he was punishing humanity for their sins, but chose to spare them, his faithful followers. That by obeying him, they were saving their kind.

“He was killed by his followers when a group of Divine landed there, seeking refuge. Then, they were so freaked out they killed themselves.”

I looked around the room. Yeah, those dumb humans definitely turned into ghosts and were haunting this place. Maybe Maggie was one of those dumb humans…

No. Not Maggie. She was too smart for that.

“So…” Arc broke the silence. “Care to explain what happened in my living room?”

I groaned and gave him an angry look, taking a sip of my own drink to avoid answering.

“I mean, I asked him to go and get you for a nice dinner, only to find you two, once again, fighting on the floor, breaking some of my stuff in the process.” He paused, eyes throwing daggers. “Now, I don’t have any more of my favorite scotch, and cleaning that sticky mess will be a nightmare.”

I arched a brow at him. “Maybe you shouldn’t send assholes to fetch me like you would a child. I have a phone, you know?”

He shrugged. The audacity .

“The reception gets spotty at times and Carter was nearby anyway.”

Now I felt bad for the guy.

“So he is your lap dog,” I crooned, swirling the wine in the elegant glass. “Must be great to have minions to do everything you don’t want to do. Maybe you’re a little like the human who occupied this house before you.”

I stared at his face, waiting for a reaction. He gave me none, his face hidden behind a blank expression.

“He’s not a lap dog, nor a minion,” he said, cutting a piece of meat from his plate.

“Carter and I have a mental link connecting us. He can see through my eyes and talk to me, as well as read some of my thoughts. That's how he knew I needed someone to come get you, as I was otherwise engaged and couldn’t do it myself.”

I chuckled, the sound a little dry, as I placed my drink back on the table next to my plate.

“Yeah, sure. Filing paperwork is a long and taxing task.”

He tilted his head to the side, his blue eye sparkling under the ceiling light.

“I was cooking, Lola. Because I thought it would be nice to have dinner, all three of us, to try and get to know each other better so you guys could finally get along.”

I looked at our plates, at the dish pushed to the side with enough food to feed one or two more. Was Carter aware of that plan? Did he agree to it before I pushed his buttons and we started to fight?

I squared my shoulders, stabbing a piece of vegetable. “Well, that backfired, didn’t it?”

He closed his eyes, releasing a long, exhausted exhale. “How can you be so—”

“I’ll stop you right there,” I interrupted, dropping my fork and knife on my plate.

“Dimitri told you how I fucked up and I didn’t have a soul.

I told you I lost it for selfish reasons.

So be smarter than him. Don’t get hung up on the hope that you can somehow retrieve it.

It’s been gone for over fifteen hundred years, Arc.

I’m sorry to be such a disappointment, but no matter what your powers are, you’ll probably never find it. ”

My hands were crossed over the table in front of me. His stare was trying to pierce holes into my absent soul, calculating. Studying my face, my moves .

“Carter and I are a lost cause, and I found your behavior toward Dimitri sketchy. Know that Dimitri has been my rock for my whole life,” I said, ignoring the pang of hurt at the memory of the last eighty years I spent without seeing him.

“I’ll always choose him over anyone. I’ll always trust him over anyone when it comes to my well being and happiness. ”

The muscle in his jaw twitched as his mask started to crumble.

“So let’s take back the binding promise,” I continued. “Because as soon as he’s back, we’ll be leaving. I don’t want to stay here, where Carter doesn’t want me anyway, and you manipulate me to get what you want.”

We glowered at each other in awkward silence.

I was done with all this. Something felt fishy here.

Arc manipulated a binding promise out of me, and used it against me too much over the last two days, making me move in here, dangling it to Dimitri’s face, taunting me with his damn hot body to confuse me.

Carter had beaten me once and I attacked him twice.

There was no way we could ever get along.

Leaving with Dimitri was the safest option. I only had to hope he wouldn’t run off again.

“No.”

My hands uncrossed and turned to fists on the table.

“No?”

“You heard me right.”

I stood up abruptly, his eyes turning playful as he resumed eating.

“Why the fuck not?”

“It was a pretty speech and all, but…I don’t care that you think I won’t manage to get your soul back. I will, at some point. And when I do, you’ll be right here where you belong, with all of us.”

I scoffed. “So what, are you planning to keep me here against my will?”

He shook his head, chuckling.

“You might have succeeded in convincing yourself you wanted to leave, but I don’t buy it.”

“Then you’re delusional.”

The grin spread to light up his whole face. Smug bastard .

“If I leave,” I continued, remembering his exact words, “I’m not breaking the binding promise. Because you won’t be here. ”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” he said. “If you’re leaving, I’m going with you.”

I groaned, bringing my hands to my head.

“I don’t want you to.”

“Why?”

“Because I make people miserable . That’s what I do!

Carter is right to hate me, it seems he’s the only sane person in this damned group!

Being an insistent jerk like you’re being now, do you know what that makes you?

A fucking masochist and sadist at the same time.

Because you’re only going to get hurt, and I’m just so fucking tired of having things to lose! ”

He was suddenly up and in my face, his hand grabbing my jaw to make me look at his thunderous face.

“Let’s stop the pity party, shall we? Whether you want to or not, you’re stuck with us.

There’s no return policy. I’ll get your soul back.

Carter and you will figure things out and make it work.

We’ll become the strongest binded group that exists and live a carefree, unthreatened eternity.

Get that into your thick skull, because I’m not giving you up. ”

The tip of his fingers sent sparks through my skin, electricity zapping toward my brain, my heart.

His lips landed on mine, muffling my gasp. His teeth nibbled on my bottom lip, his tongue invading my mouth to dance with mine.

I bit back a moan as his arm circled my waist, pulling me flush against him, his hand sliding from my jaw to grab the back of my hair.

He pulled back, leaving me breathless.

“Got it?”

I held his gaze with defiance.

“You’re such a cliche. Too scared to go against fate even though it played you a bad hand, just because you refuse to ignore your primal instincts.”

He only smiled. “Why would I go against it? Just for the sake of it? Fate decided that our souls would fit together, and I have no reasons to doubt it. I am not scared to fight for it if I must.”

“What if I am?”

The soft laugh that escaped him made his chest rumble against mine.

“Then I’ll be confident enough for the both of us. ”

Such a cheesy line would have made me laugh on a normal day. But right now? Now I was just trying to keep my mind clear. To resist the slight tug I started to feel in his presence. To resist his soul reaching for mine, only to find emptiness.

“Trust me,” he said, before kissing me again.

And I didn’t want to. I wanted to push him away and lock him in a room long enough so that I could escape. So that I could run away from them all and hide from the whole world. So that I could never hurt his soul like I’ve damaged Blake and Dimitri’s.

But that empty space inside me was weak, aching for them all.

Still hoping that, someday, I’d get the happy ending I was never supposed to have.

He groaned against my lips when I finally kissed him back, grabbing his head to pull him closer as he caged me against the island counter.

“Stop torturing the poor kitchen, I’m pretty sure it’s seen enough horrors already,” Carter grunted.

I jumped and pushed Arc away. He was looking at me with hazy eyes, ignoring his shirtless friend walking past us to reach a drawer.

“Don’t mind me,” he gritted out.

My eyes couldn’t help but follow his frame. He was walking slowly, a wince pulling at his face with every step. His wings were still out, hanging low and sweeping the floor behind him. He grabbed a small box and turned to leave the room from where he came from.

Why did he not retract them? Why were they soaked in golden blood?

Why did the sight of his chest make me want to slide my tongue along every ridge?

“Go and help him out,” Arc said, giving a small slap on my ass. “I’ll clean up the mess you guys made.”

I opened my mouth to retort, to tell him that this particular touch was inappropriate, but he was already gone, leaving me alone in the kitchen with my confused thoughts.