Claimed

by K. H. Kate

  "Of course, I will help you. I have to defend my wife's actions after all. As I'm basically a shadow, I can blend in with your members and take any information that sounds important."

  She looked guilty as hell as she suddenly cleared her throat. "You see, um...you alone wouldn't be strong enough to help. But your soul? It's basically a danger magnet. I need your soul to do the ritual."

  Hell no. I could only utter those words as my glare cut through her. Nobody could ever take my soul for a ritual. Not even Keisha who basically had to force it out of my body back then. I was not about to hand my precious soul to her. Nope, No way. In fact, that thing was only reserved for my little soul!

  "I...I don't think I can help you with that." I immediately took a defensive step back.

  "I know you love your soul to an extreme level but I already told Emie and she told me that she'll help. Both of you bound together is all I need. You can't even do that for her?"

  "I thought you said nothing about this to her?" I narrowed my eyes. The idea of calling on my soul made my skin crawl.

  "I didn't tell her the reason. Look maybe by doing this we can get some answers. I don't want to risk the Coven or Emie."

  I didn't want to do this, I really didn't but what was my other option? Where were the loopholes? As for now, there was none. Besides, Allegra was one stubborn woman and if Emie was ready to bare her soul then so could I.

  With a sigh, I nodded. "Fine. Tell me when."

  "Today midnight. The fewer people know, the better. Not even Zedkiel." It was surprising that she didn't want Zed to know but one secret wouldn't hurt him. He was an annoying ass anyway.

  "If you insist." I tried to grin instead. But the moment she walked out, closing the door behind her that my grin vanished.

  It was going to be one hell of a midnight.

  A pounding at my door forced me upright. Outside, it was pitch black through the windows. As if to taunt me of what was coming, the clock on the bedside table now showed 2:40 a.m. Shit, I didn't even realize when my eyes dropped on their own.

  "Come in!"

  I yelled out, trying to pull my hair into a ponytail. The door slowly opened to reveal Emie in the doorway, some candles and a book in her hand. Her expression was guarded when she entered the room but the moment her eyes found me, they widened.

  "Put some clothes on for God's sake!"

  I looked down to see I forgot to wear a shirt. Who wore one to bed anyway? "My naked body won't kill you, little soul."

  "J-Just do it." She stuttered, color flashing over her cheeks.

  Despite wanting to provoke her, I picked up a blue one from the chair. Buttoning it up with a smirk, I couldn't help but watch her fidget. "Fine, I'm decent. Way to make me believe I'm hideous."

  "You are not-" She bit her lower lip hard to stop herself from finishing the sentence. Instead of continuing to hold the conversation or handing me the book as I thought, she walked over and put it on the table. Just as quickly she came, she returned to her previous spot near the door.

  At my questioning gesture, she shrugged. "I'm waiting for Allegra to return."

  Liar. She was terrified of me. I could taste the fear in her soul.

  "OK."

  She nodded but didn't move or say anything else. I could tell by her expression that there was something else she wanted to tell me but she just stood there, watching me. What was she waiting for me to do?

  Try to kill her? Of course, she was still clinging to the memories of me trying to take her soul.

  I forced a smile onto my face. "So, do you know what we're going to do?"

  "Allegra said she needs my soul for some ritual and yours too. But there's a..." She hesitated for a moment before shying away from any conversation. I would have none of it. I needed to hear her voice. Again and again.

  Every minute of my life.

  "There's a what?" I pushed with a gentle tone.

  "You told me that we are beloved, soul mates. And to truly share the soul we had to...you know sleep together? So, did we?" She trailed off, scratching her neck.

  Fuck.

  "No!" She jumped at my voice. "I mean, no, we didn't. There wasn't much time left for us. We only got married and everything went downhill pretty quickly."

  "Oh. Talk about having an unhealthy marriage..." She let out an anxious chuckle where I couldn't meet her gaze.

  "Hey, you all ready?" The voice had me sigh in relief.

  Allegra.

  "Yes, I'm ready. What about you, Emie?" She nodded with a small smile. I could basically feel her fear from our connection so I tried to be strong for the both of us. I really wanted to comfort her but she'd kill me if I even tried to touch her. If she felt my emotions, at least that would put her to rest.

  "Come with me, both of you two. We need to go to the basement." Allegra announced, taking the ingredients with her. We both followed her to the lower staircase and finally in the open basement.

  It was a cemetery for witches.

  I could feel her shivering with unknown thoughts so without thinking, I wrapped my arms around her body. Thanks, devil, she didn't push me away but tightly held onto me. Only when her trembling stopped that she stepped back from me. Dejected, I turned back to where Allegra was working.

  A dozen candles were now lined on both sides of graves with the book open in the middle of a gravestone and some herbs mixed in a plate.

  Allegra started lighting the candles. "This is going to be easy. But you two need to relax. Leave every negative thought and think positive."

  "Why this creepy basement?" I asked, looking around. Call me crazy but graves always reminded me of my own thousands of years of living in one. From the corner of my eyes, I could see Emie trying to hide a smile and Allegra rolling her eyes.

  "So that souls won't get too far from here, Darkness. At least for your soul's sake." She pointed out with a raised eyebrow. Ok, she got me there.

  "What do you want us to do?" Emie asked next, trying to keep the fear she was feeling from showing.

  Allegra gestured at the ground. "Lie down there. Both, side by side."

  She started sprinkling some blood from her palm on the ground around the gravesite. I watched along with Emie as she chanted some more ancient spells to which a breeze passed by. When she came to take my blood, I spoke quietly. "I trust you won't let any harm come near her soul."

  Her expression turned sullen. "I won't but what about yours? What if I can't handle your soul and it got trapped with the souls here? You know you are not quite alive."

  I wanted to laugh. Wasn't she the one telling me that nothing would happen?

  "I don't care, just take care of her." She nodded, proceeding to do the same with little soul.

  "Both take each other hands and close your eyes. Remember, relax."

  "You can do it."

  I whispered to Emie who had her eyes shut tightly. They suddenly opened and it was filled with anger. "And what if you're wrong? What if something goes wrong?"

  My shoulder tensed, the thought of not being able to help her burning through my veins. "Trust me, she won't let any harm come to your soul."

  At least I hoped that she won't. Or I would have to recreate her Coven and that won't be nice considering who I was or how much damage I could cause.

  "E ra ke la nyisk bina lij dekha pi wo na re ke."

  I flinched when Allegra's hands circled around my body. I was the first one then. She started to chant loudly now as my eyes closed on their own. My lungs were bursting with the need to breathe. Even then I could feel Emie looking at me in horror. I just hoped that she didn't stand up in fear.

  There was a burning in my chest and my eyes clouded with shadows-the desire to escape, to be free, was so strong that I could feel it pulsating through my whole being. My thoughts turned to the terrible burning that was consuming my body. I could feel her spells crushing my soul, biding it to come forward.

  Then there was nothing. No pain.

  Just a feeling of another so
ul meeting mine.

  It was done.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  I never felt this free before.

  For so long, every time I closed my eyes, only vivid memories of my past and the people in it filled my vision. The only thing it did was opening the emotional scar these people left for me. But now? Right now my soul consumed with another felt different, like a string bound together as if it was always meant to be.

  I wasn't afraid anymore. And, I loved it. I loved it more than I wanted to admit.

  But like always the feeling of triumph collapsed when I realized in a moment of horror that I was sensing something nearby. At first, I couldn't hear or see anything in the dark. Not until I called out his name that a rush of noise surrounded me.

  Those hushed whispers started to get loud and now I could finally see past the blurriness. Some people were in the middle of a clearing near a lake. The longer I took to get close to them, the louder I was surrounded by the harsh chanting which quickly turned into a terrifying scream. Someone was yelling in pain.

  Where in hell was I?

  "You don't have to do this."

  "You don't but I do."

  "It won't end well."

  "So be it."

  Just as I started to suffocate in panic, I felt something pulling me into a darker abyss. I struggled against the pull. I fought to go back to the other soul which was beckoning mine to follow him.

  Alexei's soul.

  The harsh memories filled my body first. Memories of burning in the hot fire of the Hell and the hellhounds waiting for me to be their feeding source. I couldn't leave it no matter how many times I tried to. No, I couldn't get stuck in there again. I won't be able to survive this time. My body jolted suddenly hearing a shout. Was it a hellhound? My ears perked up to listen clearly when I heard it again. It wasn't a hellhound but someone familiar.

  "Come on, Darkness!" Someone yelled out. I realized I could feel my body again so I looked around to see Allegra who looked terrified. I had yet to see what caused her to become afraid when my gaze went to Lex.

  He was pale. Unnaturally pale. I tried to say something but I couldn't. So, I sat there shaking, not knowing what I was really feeling. Was I terrified too? For him?

  "Emie, I don't know what happened but his soul...it's not returning from that place." Sweat glistened along her forehead, the force of what's happing finally restoring through my haze.

  He's hurt.

  I had to do something.

  But what?

  "I've got this." I assured her with a smile. I could already feel my arms prickling with something. I just needed to tap into that, to be focused on the job. With determination, I pulled his head onto my lap so he could feel more comfortable. He looked so peaceful there like he didn't have a worry in the world. Despite not wanting to, I couldn't help but rub his cheeks with my knuckles while smiling foolishly.

  "You're my beloved."

  My eyes closed immediately. I tried to hate him, to get him out of my mind but he was always there, whispering apologies as threats. I realized with another shocking revolution that what memories I had of him was not all bad. He did save my life even when he didn't mean to. I was so deep into my thoughts that I didn't even notice when with a force, someone grabbed my wrist.

  Startled, I looked down to notice Lex had his eyes open and staring back at me. Besides us, Allegra let out a heavy sigh.

  "What happened?" His voice came out raspy.

  "I couldn't command your soul. It didn't want to come back from that place." Allegra explained, looking away from both of us. I opened my mouth to say something but Lex's hold tightened, making me remember where I was. I was still hovering over Lex and his face was still too close to mine.

  "Are you all right?" He whispered, barely able to keep his eyes on me.

  "I'm fine but you're clearly not. We need to get him upstairs." I said to Allegra who was fast enough to give me her hand.

  "I'll help."

  "I can walk." He snapped, rolling his eyes. I watched him push himself up slowly but unsteadily to his feet. I could scoff by the way he was wobbling.

  "You can't even stand." It's like he didn't even hear me and started limping toward the staircase. "Lex! Would you listen to me for once?"

  "I'm fine." He shrugged, not taking a break.

  "But-"

  He cut me off with a cheeky smile. "Aww, are you really worried about me, little soul?"

  This asshole and his attitudes...

  "No." I bit my lip from saying anything else like-let me help you. He was already asking for more, I could always see it in his eyes. If I even gave him a piece of me, he'll consume me whole. So, I looked away as if I was indifferent or didn't care. When he was sure that I wouldn't fuss over him that he turned to Allegra.

  "I saw them, Allegra. Your theory was partially right."

  She looked at him sharply. "What did you see before I broke you two apart?"

  "Those de-people were literally being beckoned by a deity. Not their leader."

  "A deity?" Allegra actually flinched in shock. "How can you be so sure?"

  Lex proceeded to rub his eyes with a hiss. "Because that thing almost scratched my precious eyeballs out."

  A deity...that word almost brought me to my knees. "I-I felt something odd too."

  "Are you all right?" Out of nowhere, Lex gripped my chin. Looks like the more I wanted to get away from him, the faster he ran toward me.

  "Stop asking me that." I gritted out, trying not to give in.

  "I'd take that as you're not fine. I need to have a little discussion with her and then I'm coming back to your room." I tried to protest but he had me cornered with a scowl. "I wasn't really asking."

  Well, then...

  I was trying to sleep.

  Trying not to overthink.

  Why couldn't I just shake off Lex like I meant to do when I first remembered who he really was? Last night when he came to my room, I pretended to be asleep. He was almost shaking when he started telling me about the tragic story of a girl he cared about. I didn't get to know the last part though. Cause by that time he was already blaming himself by suddenly leaving the room in a haste.

  But I could never forget the sound of fists hitting the wall over and over again in the next room.

  More than that, I was ready to pull my hair out thinking of just where Demos disappeared. Back in the days, he would never dare to let me go out of his sight. So why now? Why did he lie? What was he planning? What was my purpose with him? Did I really even believed in the marriage now that I knew about Lex?

  Then again, Prophesy was missing too along with Jonathan.

  God, I was this close to losing my sanity.

  Without warning, my head started to throb. No, no, no. This couldn't be happening. Not now. The familiar wave of darkness was there to snatch me away before I could feel the rise of panic in my bones.

  "Why are you here? What do you want from me!?"

  "You know what I want. Just give in, come on. You can never escape me, sweetheart."

  My eyes were glued to the past, watching Lex threaten me with my soul. Before I could shout for him to listen, I was back on a beach, surrounded by a woman and Lex.

  "Lex...do you need it back? Your soul?" The pathetic voice couldn't be mistaken. It was me, begging Lex to listen for once.

  "He's lying..." Someone hissed near me. The woman or was it...Keisha?

  The moment I remembered all about the famous Reaper that Keisha smiled mischievously as if she could feel the future me with them. The pain that tore me apart was nothing like I felt before.

  "...Did dear Alexei tell you about the prophecy? Or especially how it ends?"

  "Should I tell her or should you?"

  No, please don't, I cried out. For the first time ever I sobbed with the loss of my life, a life that could be normal if Lex didn't...

  "The prophecy said the pure soul dies in the hands of whose soul she is bound to."

  I woke up screaming. It
was so vivid...so real that my heart was breaking again. Did he feel that way every day? Did those beautiful lies always choke him in his sleep? Did he even feel regret for what he has done to me?

  A sound came from my right. I whipped around, expecting Desmos to finally grace me with his presence when a scream formed on my lips. There was a large shadow floating only a few feet away from me. As if it could see the turmoil in my eyes, the lights flickered on and the shadow transformed back into a half-sleepy Lex.

  "You again." I started to get up, giving up trying to sleep at all. This man could never give me one second to myself, could he? Did he not know the look on my eyes? Could he not feel the raw pain from my heart?

  He waved my displeasure away with the back of his hand. "I heard someone screaming. Are you okay?"

  "I'm fine. It was just a nightmare." It was a nightmare, a memory now I wanted to erase at any cost.

  "That just doesn't seem like a nightmare."

  "It doesn't concern you."

  He brushed off my comment again. "Stop lying to me, little soul. Just tell me what you saw."

  "No." Not when I'm still hurting, I wondered with a tight smile.

  He sat down next to me like I didn't just tell him no. "If it's something bad...I can handle it. But I can't handle you suffering alone."

  "I am fine..." I trailed off, noticing his curious gaze on my marks. While once they were all over my body, now they were only on my wrists and hips. "You don't have to always stay outside of my room, you know? Just because you are my-just because we were something before doesn't mean we have to be something now. I can take care of myself."

  He looked taken back. "You've been crying, little soul. You are far from fine."

  He made it hard to think at times, hell, it was hard to breathe near him. So, I moved away, putting some distance between us. "You don't have to know why I was crying. Just go."

  "Just go? We don't know what was that we saw last night and your so-called fiancé is missing." He leaned back, watching my reaction. "It's dangerous for you to even stay here. I can't let you go even if I wanted to, Emie. Ask me anything. I'll happily hand it over to you but that? I can't do that."