Wicked Soul

Chapter 13

THIRTEEN

ALERIC

It didn’t take Aleric long to find Warin. He was wandering the streets nearby where they had discovered Thea’s corpse. Aleric followed the now oddly muted pull from their bond, weaving through drunks and late night revelers until he finally laid eyes on his brother.

The absence of violent pain in their bond spoke the truth of the witch’s words—her spell had worked.

Aleric couldn’t care less if he never found some human girl to f**k with his mind like Thea had with Warin. Marie’s revelation that she’d cursed their entire bloodline seemed more like a blessing. He had no interest in losing himself like Warin nearly had. No, if the witch had ensured neither of them would ever suffer this soulmate bullshit ever again, perhaps the visit to London had been worth it after all. Even if he had no doubts Zet would call on him to fulfill his debt at some point in the future.

“Brother!” He called out at the sight of Warin’s slumped form resting against a building. He walked to his side at human pace, fighting the urge to use his supernatural speed to get to him quicker, and clasped a hand to his shoulder. “Have you fed? Are you ready to leave this hellhole of a town? I can’t wait to get as far away from any and all Ancients as we possibly can!”

Warin slowly turned his head toward him, his blank face devoid of the usual zest for life that had adorned it since the day they escaped to the wilds together. “I am not hungry. We can leave if you wish.”

Aleric frowned at the apathy in his brother’s voice. Warin’s usually vibrant blue eyes were flat, deadened. It struck him that, despite their undead state, he had never seen his brother so devoid of life, as if he truly was nothing more than a walking corpse.

You think just erasing his memories will heal his soul? It’s been rent in two, vampire. He is lost. Forever.

The witch’s words rang through his mind as he stared at the husk of the man he’d known and loved all his undead life, sick dread burning in his gut.

Warin seemed to notice his stare and smiled softly. “What has you so worried, brother? Tell me you didn’t bed the Ancient’s bonded human, or something equally Aleric-like.”

Relief flooded through Aleric. He returned Warin’s smile with a grin and squeezed his shoulder. “Would I do something like that? All I’m saying is we should probably get out of town before dawn.”

His brother would be all right. It might take him some time to heal from the impact of such a strong spell, but he would pull through.

One month of hunting through the deep forests of the continent and no remnants of Thea’s curse would be left from their time on the Isles.

No soulmate would break his wild brother.