Dark Souls

Introductions

Ilaria (Playlist - Girl Like Me by Dove Cameron)

“I guess you found me, Snow. But forcing me out from my hiding place with this…you don’t play fair.”

His voice. It was unlike anything I had heard in my life. He spoke in such a deep and dangerous drawl that I could almost feel the vibrations crackling through the air between us, licking at my skin. And the accent was so unusual, as if it was alive with ancient, dark secrets dancing behind his sombre melody. Spell-bindingly mythical yet undoubtedly sinful.

The unexpected shock jerked me back in control of my body as my vampire’s blood-red eyes returned to fuschia, staring wide-eyed between the body on the floor and the man standing before me. No, not man. Psychopath. His dark, lethal gaze slammed into me like a freight train and pinned me in place. The viciousness that exuded from the pores of his skin was crippling, paralysing me against the chair.

He bent down with predatory elegance, his black soulless eyes never leaving mine as he picked up my discarded leather trousers from the floor. With a hiss through his teeth, he held them out to me.

“Unless you want me to finish what he started, I suggest you get dressed before my self-control snaps.”

Self-control? He was certifiably insane. What self-control? He just mercilessly murdered an innocent before my very eyes. As the shock ebbed into rage, I snatched my trousers from his grip and frantically pulled them on as I levelled him with my fiercest glare.

“Who the f*ck do you think you are? You just killed an innocent man! You have zero self-control,” I roared, standing up to button my trousers as his eyes narrowed into slits when I leaned down to check for a pulse on my human submissive, even though I already knew it was pointless. F*ck, I was so screwed. He’d been in my care.

“He was not innocent in my eyes. He was touching what was mine.”

My head snapped up. Not an ounce of remorse or even recognition of the life he had just taken was projected on his face. Before I could think about the potential consequences of assaulting a serial killer, my rage overpowered all logic and I’d used my vampire speed to slam him into the wall, holding him there by his throat.

“Yours? So, you’re delusional as well as unhinged,” I hissed up at his face, allowing Rue’s power to come to the surface. “Let me set one thing straight in that twisted brain of yours, H. Or whoever the hell you are. I belong to no one. No one owns my body, my mind or my soul. No one, except me. And I will do as I please. So, the next time you try to excuse your sadistic acts of murder as some deranged possessiveness over me, think twice or it’ll be the last thing you do.”

His dead black eyes shone like onyx crystals as Harry Gould’s lips curved into an award-winning smile showcasing the whites of his human teeth. It was such a paradox to the devil inside the man and it sent a sliver of unease skating down my spine. I tightened my chokehold with my claws extended to show him how serious I was, digging into the flesh of his neck where I was holding him.

“There she is,” he groaned in pleasure at the pain. The purr of his baritone voice and the erotic moan that followed it caused my stomach to flip and unwelcome heat to spread between my legs. The ache only increased when his tongue darted out over his bottom lip as he searched my tormented face. I couldn’t understand why my body was reacting to this monster. Why was his lack of morality and the longing in his dark eyes a temptation unlike any other?

“I knew that sexy little vixen inside wanted to come out and play.”

“Don’t try and turn this into something it’s not, assh*le.” My body instinctively leaned in closer to make him believe he had no effect over me whatsoever. “I could end you right here, right now. Rip out your throat before you can even take your next breath. So, don’t f*ck with me.”

He dropped his head back against the wall, pushing his throat further into my hand and released a low feral sound of arousal. “Stop flirting with me, Snow. I am trying to be a gentleman, but if you keep this up, I’ll lose it and f*ck you over that human blood bag's body. And guess what…” My nostrils flared as I narrowed my eyes. He lowered his head towards me, staring directly into my soul with icy conviction. “You’d f*cking love it.”

Ignoring Rue’s insane voice in the back of my mind, which found his dark warning slightly appealing, I shoved myself away from him and masked my expression with disgust. “You’re sick.”

“Says the one who chose a human blood slave that has an uncanny resemblance to me?” He arched his eyebrow suggestively and the arrogance radiating off him had me grinding my jaw. “Tell me, who were you thinking of when you drank his blood or took pleasure in his tongue? Admit it, Snow. You are just as obsessed with me as I am with you.”

I scoffed, folding my arms over my chest as he ran his tongue over his bottom lip once more.

“The only thing I am obsessed with is finding out who the you are because we both know that the real Harry Gould is probably sitting in his New York penthouse right now eating dinner with his parents. While you kill innocents using his identity. f*****g coward. What’s wrong with your real face? Too hideous or are you just not man enough to allow the people you kill to see their murderer for who he really is.”

He tilted his head to the side, that charming smile plastered so wide. “Oh, I’m hideous alright. And who said I didn’t let them see who I am when I watch their last breath leave their body? That’s the best part. And you still admitted it. You are obsessed…with me. So obsessed that you have clearly gone out of your way to do your research and realised I’m a face stealer. So I’ll take it.”

Quick as a flash, I grabbed my wooden-tipped dagger from my boot and I held it up against the side of his throat, letting the sharp wood pierce his flesh. He didn’t even flinch. Or fight me. My eyes narrowed when his skin refused to sizzle like it should have. Only wood could cause permanent harm to a vampire. If he was one of my kind…the material should splinter his skin and burn.

“What the f*ck are you?”

He answered with a knowing smile, placing his hand over mine which held the leather handle of the dagger. “Seems you still have some more to figure out. Good. We can let our game continue. It's your turn to hide, Snow Angel.”

“What makes you think I’m playing your little game? I should transport us to my parents right now. Or the SIA. You’d no longer be breathing when dawn approaches.”

“You probably should. Think of all the lives you’d save, Snow. You’d be a hero. The princess you were born to be, right? Then everything could go back to normal. You’d go back to feeling restless, always fighting that dark instinct within you. Knowing that boring mundane life of yours makes your skin crawl and your bones ache. You’ll keep looking for the next thrill. Searching. Seeking. But never find it. Or…you could keep playing…for a little longer.”

“And why would I do that?”

Before I could even comprehend his next move, he’d used my hand with the dagger to twist me around so my back slammed against his chest. My chin instinctively lifted, my head pressing back into his chest when the wooden tip was now against my own throat. I tried to use all my strength to pull it away from under his iron grip, but damn, he was strong. I was a pure-blooded Romano, one of the strongest bloodlines of my kind, which meant, if he could overpower me, he was someone to truly fear.

He lowered his lips to the shell of my ear and I gulped when I felt the tip of wood burn slightly against my skin.

“Because you have never felt so alive as you do right now.”

My chest rose and fell with harsh breaths as my whole body heated under the sudden shift of power between us. I felt my blood rush; thick and fast through my veins, trying to keep up with my rapid heartbeats. My skin prickled with electricity at knowing how much danger I was suddenly in. His shallow breaths against my ear and the way he inhaled slowly into my hair sent goosebumps everywhere and my core to pulse. My life was in his hands. And that really turned me on. There really was something wrong with me.

“So here’s what’s going to happen, Snow. When I let you go, you’re going to get the f*ck out of here. Hide from me. Make it hard this time. It’s no fun otherwise. I like to hunt. Impress me and I might give you a clue as to what I am.”

I swallowed thickly against the wood. He eased it off my throat slightly to ensure it didn’t cause a permanent scar. My eyes darted down to the body on the floor. He was right. I’d never felt so alive as I had since all this began and I wanted more than anything to figure out the mystery of this monster on my own. To hand him over with all the information and prove that I could be the best agent the SIA would ever have. But there was one thing I would never risk for any of it.

“If I agree to keep playing your twisted game…you must never threaten or hurt anyone I love. I f*cking mean it. My family. My friends. They stay out of this.”

“You have all my attention, Snow. Not them. You have my word. No harm will come to anyone you care about.”

“How do I know I can trust your word? You have a blade to my throat after all.”

“That was only to excite you. Did it work?” He chuckled darkly when I refused to speak. He lowered our joint hands, causing the blade to hang between us at our sides, but kept his other arm locked firmly across my chest, keeping me pressed against him. “I’ll sort out this little mess here and no one will ever know you were involved. That little contract you signed will disappear. His death will be a tragic accident. I will keep your princess image squeaky clean and because I know it will mean something to you, I’ll even go out of my way to make sure he is returned to his family, so they can grieve. If he even has one.”

“What a stand-up guy you are,” I gritted through my teeth, which caused him to chuckle again. Knowing I didn’t have many other options right now if I didn’t want to cause a huge scene in the vampire club and disgrace my family, I exhaled a heavy breath.

“And I’ll give you my name.”

I froze. Now that was something, but I still hated to agree to any of his terms. “Don’t think for one second that me agreeing to this is me letting you off the hook. I will figure out who and what you are. And when I do, I won’t hesitate to hand you over to your doomed fate. Or perhaps I’ll be the one to end you after all.”

“Flirting with me again?” He released me and I spun around to face him, my fingers squeezing the leather handle of my blade at his cockiness. “Shall I start counting for you to hide or?”

“Name.”

His obsidian eyes twinkled. “Heathen. But you can call me Heath.”

“How very fitting.” I lifted my hand, giving him the middle finger before dematerialising behind a puff of black smoke.