Page 4 of Tortured Soul (Soulless #1)

Some of us could. I’ve been traveling as a man for the last couple of weeks, knowing it would be safer and I was less likely to get attacked. Any Incubus who could, rarely took a female form though, for that same reason.

“It’s irrelevant,” I snapped.

“It took less than forty-eight hours for that Incubus to reveal all of the immortals’ dark secrets to the former president after he’d been caught sleeping with his wife.

To tell the politician and the world about how she loved him more because he could be either male or female and indulge in her wildest fantasies.

It took him less than a week to reveal half of what humans now know about all the other Immortals.

Your kind is nearly extinct now because of that.

So how can I know for sure you’re not here to harm any of us? That we can trust you?”

“One does not define a whole species.”

The scoff that escaped his throat was filled with condescension. If I wasn’t so confused and scared by his whole energy, I would have punched his face.

“If it were true, maybe the other succubi and incubi would not have rebelled against your master, when he decided to punish his one bad spawn.”

Divine. Definitely Divine. He wouldn’t have talked about Lucifer like this if he was a Hellriser.

If he was of demon kind. Then why did his scent, his whole aura, felt like it was flickering between evil and holy?

Why were his ears tipped? Divines, even archangels or the mighty old dude himself, were not known to have tipped ears.

It was a rare trait, only seen on Hellrisers or a few Earthwalkers.

The first of their individual kinds. But then, why the blue eye? Why the confusing aura?

“They were all punished,” I countered, taking a step forward.

“I was not. I don’t care for the other Succubi.

It could have been any other Immortal caught doing the wrong thing.

As far as I know, we are not the only ones enjoying ourselves, are we?

Would you have been acting so pompous if it was a Divine instead?

They’re not all innocent, and the result would have been identical.

If the old president tried to kill a Divine for sleeping with his wife, it would have resulted in the same way.

He would have found out that your kind couldn’t die.

Both of our kinds would have been outed one way or another.

The only way it wouldn’t have happened is if it was an Earthwalker and even then something would have felt off, because in case you never noticed, dead humans rot.

Their skin and flesh don’t turn to earth or stone or whatever else different kinds of Earthwalkers do and—”

“Are you done?”

Infuriating. Everything about this man made me want to scream at his face and pull at my own hair in frustration.

“I was not .”

“It seemed like you reached your point.” He shrugged again. “I don’t care enough to keep listening to it. Who gave you the coordinates?”

“Who do you think?” I asked through my teeth. My face burned with rage.

“I don’t, that’s why I’m asking.”

“You think that your little camp is some kind of well kept secret? Well, it’s not. Turns out there are dozens scattered around the world.”

“Great, then you could have gone to any other one.”

“I won’t.”

He took a slow step forward, bringing us almost nose to nose—or nose to collarbone, to be more accurate—the tip of his shoes less than half an inch from touching mine. “Who gave you the coordinates?”

The smell of burning embers and thick smoke overpowered the previously dominant smell of mist and cinnamon. How—

“What the hell are you?” I asked, frowning.

“That’s not how it works, blondie. I asked you a question first. I’ve asked many times actually, and I’m not in the habit of repeating myself.”

Blondie? What was this guy’s problem?

I crossed my arms over my chest, my frown deepening. “This conversation is not going anywhere.”

“It would if you could finally answer the damned question.”

“Why is it so important?”

“So I know you’re not here to harm anyone. So I know you’re not some kind of spy. A lot of reasons, really.”

“I told you I was not here to cause problems.”

“Then tell me who the fuck told you about this camp. ”

I was close enough to gouge out his eyes with my bare nails. I was tempted to. Really tempted to. If only I knew what kind of Immortal he was so I could know what were the risks of a direct attack. If only—

Someone cleared his throat behind him and I tensed again. In our animated exchange, I almost forgot there were six other Immortals in the too-small room with us. Six heavily armed ones.

“Lucifer,” I conceded. If that revelation was going to get me kicked out, I didn’t even care anymore. I just wanted to be free. Whether it was here among other Immortals or somewhere else, it didn’t matter. I’d just have to be cautious just a little longer.

I could do it.

Maybe .

The corner of his lips stretched imperceptibly as the smell of cinnamon became stronger, overpowering even the embers. His eyes gleamed and shone a little darker, the ice blue one turning deeper.

“That wasn’t so hard now, was it?”

Before I could even open my mouth to scream at him or spit at his damned handsome face, he was already at the door, his back turned to me.

“Get her settled,” he said to one of his men. “Send Kai to take care of the usual paperwork. I’ve got shit to do, and I’ve already lost too much time with this whole shitshow.”

I forced my body to not go after him and push him down the stairs. If he was going to be a rude asshole, I’d show him I could be worse.