Page 26 of Dark Souls

Hey girl, I had a wicked time the other night. Can’t wait for Sienna’s hen do at Elk Resort next weekend! Maybe this time we will leave the leashes at home, though. *laughing face emoji*

Ilaria had liked the comment. No reply. Just a thumbs up.

I guess that was a good sign that she was still alive. I’d love to ask Heathen himself what the fuck he was doing with this girl but that was impossible. The Devil kept him securely locked away and out of reach, even from me, and the last thing I was about to do was tell him about this little situation. If there was anyone I didn’t trust more than Heath, it was The Devil himself. So, until I saw with my own eyes that she was unharmed, and we wouldn’t have the powerful royals come tearing through our doors, I knew this agitation wouldn’t subside.

Typing in the name of the resort brought up a picturesque glamping campsite and lodges in Oregon. That could work. The next Underground event was for the witches in New Orleans, a dark annual ritual of transferring power. They requested it become an Underground event to give them the exclusivity and privacy only this club could offer. I could be there the day before and then make my way to Oregon after. I just needed a glimpse of her, proof that she was alive and well, and I’d leave without even being seen.

Another knock on the door caused me to slam the laptop shut abruptly. The door opened and Dalton, one of the Underground’s bouncers, waltzed in, his arm outstretched, holding a phone towards me.

“Fuck’s sake,” I muttered under my breath, knowing full well what that meant. Snatching the phone from his hand, I waited until he’d left the room to answer. “Let me guess…”

“Thin fucking ice,” The Devil’s deep, furious voice echoed through the speaker and I scoffed. “Wesley might one day take my place and run this operation so you’d do well to play nice.”

Grinding my teeth, I fought the urge to demolish the phone in my grip. I’d rather burn alive than ever have to answer to that scumbag but even my own death wasn’t in my control.

“Then keep him the hell away from me.”

“He is a member. And my nephew. He can come and go as he pleases. I’ve managed to talk him down from the tantrum he was throwing over some woman you stole from him and damaged. So, you have ten fucking minutes to find him a new one for the night.”

“I didn’t steal her. She came to me. I can’t be blamed for her questionable taste in men or Weasel’s inability to keep a fucking woman interested enough to suck his dick.”

He hissed, a low rumble coming through the phone that told me I was testing his patience. Which only made me want to push more. I didn’t give a fuck what sick and twisted methods he used to punish me. I hadn’t for a long time, and he knew it, which only infuriated him more.

“You aren’t there to piss off my nephew, Lukas. You are there to do a job, so do it. And while you are at it, send me your ideas for the next three events you’ve come up with. Membership has dropped in the last month since that shit went down with the Royals and the new fae princess, Sienna. So these events better be fucking spectacularly evil to keep people coming back for more, or I may have to take a little trip soon, check in on a certain someone.”

My whole body tensed, nostrils flaring as my vision turned blood red. My chest rose and fell with rapid breaths.

“Am I going to have to make that trip, Lukas?”

“No,” I gritted through my teeth. “I’ll send the details now.”

“And Wesley?”

“I’ll find him another girl.”

“Now, that wasn’t so hard, was it? You’re dismissed for the night. I’ll be summoning Heathen to deal with the drug drop later tonight.” He hung up and I stared at the phone in my hand, willing it to detonate like a bomb and put me out of my misery. But that couldn’t happen. I had to survive, not for me, but for the only weakness I had.

For my sister.

Obsession's Descent

Wellfuckingplayed.MySnow Angel had done an impressive disappearing act on me and while I enjoyed the hunt to begin with, I was starting to feel desperation seeping into my bones. The need to find her was driving me insane. To smell her. Feel her. Talk to her. This thrilling game we were playing was only meant to affect her. To get me so deep under her skin that I was all she could think about. I wanted her sharp little mind on me at all times. I wanted to own her every emotion: her fear, her adrenaline, and her excitement. Well, more fool me because what I didn’t account for was not being able to find her would sendmespiralling. My obsession was out of control, pushing me to the edge of recklessness.

I had no idea how long it had been because time was lost on me when I was constantly pulled back and forth from the void. But I knew it had to be over a week. The last couple of times Master had summoned me, I’d been distracted. I used to take my time on his tasks, stretching out my short-lived freedom for as long as I could, but now I was becoming impatient with my missions. I completed Master’s tasks as quickly as possible so I could spend the rest of my time searching for Snow. I needed to be careful. Because soon, he would notice. Or I’d slip up. And I couldn’t allow that to happen.

The sigil and grimoire were a cruel way to control me, binding me to an invisible prison. The punishments were meant to force me to submit or keep me locked up. He knew that was the worst punishment for me. I could handle the tortures, but what I hated more than anything was the black emptiness of the void. After I’d refused one of his commands to kill an innocent child just to ruin her father’s life, I’d been kept in that unforgiving void for a full year.

And now I have even more reason never to let that happen again. Snow.

So, I forced myself to slow down, assess the situation and ensure I was leaving no tracks behind. Leaning down, I opened the fae woman’s bag and rifled through her purse. Finding the matte blackUndergroundmembership card, I removed it and placed it in my back pocket. Then I moved to the lifeless body next to me in the woodland. She must have pissed off The Devil because the order was to revoke her membership, in other words, death.

I didn’t like killing women. Men, I couldn’t care less. But the first woman I ever killed had left a tragic, distressing imprint on my black soul, and it was always triggering. So, I tried to make this fae’s death as painless and as quick as possible. She didn’t even see me coming. Lifting her arm, I rubbed my thumb up and down her forearm, searching for the tracking device that every member ofThe Undergroundwas injected with upon joining. With what happened at the events, we couldn’t have members disappearing on us and potentially exposing the club's secrets. It was a symbol of control. One that made The Devil truly feel like the Master of his domain and all his members, his puppets. To have that kind of power over even the most ruthless and despicable supernaturals was an ego boost, not that the asshole needed one.

When I felt the hard bump of metal, I used one of my sharp claws to meticulously slice a thin line through her flesh and remove the device. Her blood trickled out of the cut and the scent of it sent my thirst into overdrive. But I didn’t have time to feed. Not if I wanted to spend as much of the precious time I had finding Snow. Instead, I raised her arm to my mouth and let my long, forked tongue lap the blood away. Fuck. I was in so much trouble. The fact that I was passing up a perfectly good feed just to catch a glimpse of Snow again proved it.

Digging a deep grave, I placed the woman’s body in it and covered her with mud. The SIA were on my back, especially after I killed Rapist Prick so I needed to be more attentive.

Taking off into the sky, I headed for the Romano Castle. I knew she hadn’t been to the palace for a while, as the last time I’d visited her room, her intoxicating scent was fading. I’d also stalked a few of her family members in the hope they’d lead me to her. During my last visit, I’d overheard her mother say she was at the Academy. My little vamp was very clever to be hiding out at her grandfather’s school for supernaturals because it was in a magical dimension that only students and teachers were granted entry to.

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