Page 55 of Dark Souls

A reminder that deep at the core of me, Lukas Nezera was somewhere still inside.

Arena Of Death

Iinhaledadeepbreathand clasped my fingers together to stop them from tapping against my thigh as I stared at the perplexed faces in front of me. I was taking an enormous risk by telling my mum, Archer, Sienna and Raiden aboutThe Undergroundevent tonight. But with the amount of lies piling up and the obvious unknown danger I was about to walk into, I knew I had to confess to at least some of what was going on with me. As much as I loved the adrenaline of a dangerous situation, I wasn’t suicidal. If anything went wrong tonight, I couldn’t have my family not knowing what happened to me or who was responsible.

I had hoped that Heathen would show up so I could question him further about what to expect at the event, but he’d gone AWOL again. This whole hot and cold stalker act was starting to really piss me off. I mean, where was the commitment? I was never one to do things in halves and the fact that it had been nearly a week since I’d seen him showed he wasn’t taking his stalking responsibilities as seriously as he should be.

’Are you listening to yourself?’ Rue snapped.’You’re annoyed that you aren’t being stalked more when we both know you’re really pissed off because you have nothing to distract yourself from thinking about our soulmate. You know, the one that you still haven’t found!’

‘I’ve been trying! You know I have!’

’Try harder!’

God, she was in a violent mood. She’d become increasingly difficult the longer we went without finding out any further information on Red. My grandma had discreetly searched through the Academy archives to see if any male vampires with red hair had ever been a student there. The two she showed me were most definitely not him. I’d tracked down the license plate on the CCTV cameras that showed him parking in the resort, but it was a dead end. Apparently, someone named Bram Stoker rented the car. At least the asshole had a sense of humour.

My mum leaned forward, resting her manicured hands on the table between us. “So let me get this straight. You have a membership card and access toThe Underground,but you won’t tell us how you got it?”

“That’s right. The person who helped me get it could get in a lot of trouble, so I need you to just trust me on this,” I explained, holding her firm gaze with my own pleading one. She exhaled and glanced across at her brother.

“No.” He shook his head, his huge arms folded across his chest and giving me a ‘no fucking way will I agree to this’ look. I knew my uncle would be the toughest to convince out of the four, but as long as I got the other three to agree, he’d be outnumbered. “Absolutely not. Did you really think we’d allow you to attend anUndergroundevent undercover and alone, without telling us who helped you get in? It could be a set-up, Ilaria.”

“Why would it be a set-up?” Sienna asked next to him.

He stretched out one arm towards me, staring at her as if she was crazy not to see it. “She is the royal princess! This ‘person’ who gave her this access toThe Undergroundcould work for someone in the club. They may want her dead and are luring her into their twisted lair so she just disappears or maybe this is a planned kidnap to get to us royals.”

“He has a point,” my mum added. “If you tell us who it is that you’re protecting… if we meet them and have a chat first, I am sure there is something we can do to help him without putting you in danger.”

I shook my head. “I can’t. He trusts me. I gave him my word, and I am going to help him. I can’t tell you who he is because… he’s complicated. And he doesn’t trust anyone.”

“But he trusts you? Why the hell, out of everyone on this planet, has he sought you out to help him, Ilaria? It doesn’t make any sense. These aren’t just some rogue supernaturals we are talking about; this is a highly dangerous organised crime club he has asked you to walk into. He clearly doesn’t care about your life if he expects a little disguise will be enough to keep you safe,” Raiden protested.

“Or he doesn’t have any other choice. Maybe I am his only chance,” I argued, feeling a strange protectiveness bubbling in my chest. I had given Heathen my word that I would help him. That I would go toThe Undergroundand find out as much as I could about who he was because he wasn’t able to tell me himself. And I never went back on my word.

Raiden scoffed, shaking his head again. “This guy sounds like trouble, Ilaria. I don’t like the sound of him at all.”

“You don’t even know him,” I snapped. Rue’s anger mixing with my own had me on edge as I dug my nails into the palms of my hands under the table. “Look. I don’t expect any of you to understand this. I didn’t even need to tell you about this at all, but I am. I am asking you all to put some trust in me. Know that I can handle this and that I know what I am doing.”

Liar. I didn’t have a fucking clue what I had got myself into but the moment I admitted that it would be game over.

“Do you trust this person? This mysterious man that needs your help?” Sienna asked as we locked eyes.

It was complete insanity, but yes. I trusted my serial killer stalker. I was confident that he was being honest and not leading me into a deadly trap. I knew that much.

“Yes. I trust him. So I am asking you all to trust me. Let me go undercover as an agent tonight. Let me find out whatThe Undergroundis all about. The SIA and our family have never had an opportunity like this. We will finally know what goes on at these events and whether it is something we need to be worried about.”

They were silent for a few moments, exchanging heavy glances that spoke a thousand words. I bit my tongue, needing to allow them to mull this over. I’d be going whether or not they agreed to it. They couldn’t stop me. But I’d feel a hell of a lot safer if they’d help me with this.

“The Undergroundis an organisation that we have never been able to crack,” Archer spoke first. “It would be good to know exactly what we are dealing with here and whether it is something we should be working to take down. Ilaria has proved herself as intelligent, fierce and resourceful. I don’t have any qualms about allowing her to go undercover, but she is your daughter, Ruby. It’s your call.”

I peered into my mother’s purple eyes and silently begged. It was times like these that it would have been extremely handy to read my family’s minds.

“Mum.” I leaned forward, directing all my attention toward her as she chewed on her bottom lip, clearly feeling torn. But the fact she wasn’t closed off like my uncle right now was what I was focusing on. I could work with uncertainty. “The other night, at the resort, we had a moment. I know we were both high but…” That caused a few raised eyebrows from Raiden and Archer and a giggle from Sienna. “... I felt like you truly understood me. That you saw me for who I was. This could be my wishing well, Mum. Let me dive down.”

“I’m lost. What wishing well?” my uncle questioned; his brows pinched together.

“I think it’s a metaphor,” Sienna whispered.

I didn’t look at either of them, keeping my gaze locked on Mum. I could see her face softening, her memories of that conversation flooding back to her. So I dug my nails in a little deeper.

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