Dark Souls Academy: The Sacrifice (Hell Dimension #4)

Chapter 12

CHAPTER TWELVE

T ila groaned as all three of them stood from the couch and lifted their right leg and shoved their fingers in their own noses. When they began hopping around, I couldn’t hold back my laughter. It took me a few seconds to finally say, Stop. Their backs went straight with the magic commanding them, and they gained full control over themselves again. One more experiment.

Kill yourselves. Nothing.

Kill me. Nothing again.

I held my breath for the last one. I was even more nervous to try this command, but I needed to know. Kill my mates.

Time slowed as they twitched, their gazes shifting towards me.

“Be careful. We can sense that you haven’t fully mated with them. The Goddess might have blessed the union, but it’s not complete,” Balthazar chided, making me feel like dirt.

I take it back. Never hurt any of my mates. That time Tila’s back popped she straightened so fast. Her glare at me was well deserved. I might have really wanted her to get that message.

“What the fuck is going on?” Kain finally broke the silence. He and his brothers leaned against the wall on the opposite side to the other three. Dex and Alaric stayed near me.

“She was testing us. Ordering us to kill each other, her, and you guys. Since most of you haven’t completed the bond, which is ridiculous, we felt a small tug to do as she ordered because your souls aren’t fully connected. She took it back, though.”

Kain glared at me. “You need to tell us these things before you just start issuing out death orders.”

I rolled my eyes. “Of course, mister bossy pants and my way or the highway guy would demand I ask his permission. May I breathe, kind sir?” The last sentence was done in an English accent. I knew he was right, of course, but I still didn’t like him bossing me around.

Tila snickered and sat back down. The couch almost wrapped around her as she sunk into the cushions. Her mates followed her down. “Someone’s bitter already. I don’t miss that.” She glared at Trigger.

“Did you ever really love them?” Dex growled out. He flinched, almost toppling over his chair from Alaric’s brutal pinch. “Ow!” But Alaric ignored Dex’s protests. His hazel eyes never left the brothers. Mine watched Tila.

Her delicate fingers rubbed the bridge of her nose with a sigh. “No. Now that Lucifer’s magic grip isn’t on me, I understand my feelings.”

Trigger walked over and plopped down next to Dex, punching his arm. He grunted from the hit, but took everyone’s abuse, understanding he put his foot in his mouth with that question. It wasn't for him, though, it was for Bones.

All eyes shifted to him.

Bones’ expression fell. His stone, still body almost looked like he was a part of the wall he leaned against. He had once truly loved her. When he moved, he balled his fist and tapped each finger of the opposite hand on his knuckles. It was a promise of pain like he was doing eenie meenie miney moe to see which knuckle got to hit her first.

“Well, might as well get it all out. What were your feelings?” His growl was in every syllable.

Flashes of Tila holding Bones while he cried flickered through the bond. I felt a pang of jealousy, but the sorrow emanating from Bones broke my heart. Still, I knew he needed to hear this.

She bit her lip before answering. “Lucifer was manipulating my mind from the very beginning. I did like you guys and maybe I thought it was love, but I think it was self-preservation. I knew you could keep me safe. For what it’s worth, I wish I did love you. It would have made my life easier.”

I rolled my eyes. Did she understand that wasn’t an apology? It was her being selfish.

Dex grabbed one of the blades Trigger had put down to point it at Tila while he spoke. “Well, I for one am glad you weren’t because now they’re my mate brothers. We’re a family, and no one like you can ever hurt them again,” Dex said, shocking me. It was how I felt as well.

Trigger punched his arm. When Dex yelled in pain, Trigger hugged him. “Stop making the rest of us look bad,” he said and let go. “I bet it got our mate all wet.”

I snorted. There was my crazy Trigger. He couldn’t be serious for too long. My smirk turned into a wince as my wrists healed again.

“Let’s finish this. I’m ready to get down.” My pleading tone was whiny, but I didn’t even care.

“When Tila remembered Lucifer talking about a curse, I went to the Headmaster, and he found it. It's something only the king of Hell could do. He learned how to manipulate the dark energy that changed Hell after demons lost the war to the angels. It’s the reason why we are called Dark Souls. Lucifer found a way to manipulate it and make us all Dark Souls, and for some reason, it affects female demons a lot more than it does males.” Stanine finished his explanation and sat at Tila’s feet.

“Fuck.”

I didn’t know who said it, but I could tell there was more.

“He puts it in the fucking fruit cups.” Both Dex and I gasped. All the air got sucked out of the room. Those were Dex’s favorite thing to give me because people hoarded them, and they were always gone. That explained how the curse got to me so fast. The past week he had been drowning me in those blasted fruit cups to say sorry.

“That fucker tampered with my Queen’s fruit cups. That sick son of a bitch!” His red eyes met mine. “I didn’t know. I swear I didn’t know.” He ran over to me, dropped to his knees, and wrapped his arms around my legs, but I couldn’t fucking move to comfort him.

“Shhh, you’re okay. I don’t blame you, Dex. You had no idea.” My reassurance was moot. I could feel his guilt rising in the bond. Shit. Incubi were protectors, and he would blame himself if they couldn’t fix me.

“Figures. I wondered why he gave us treats,” Kain scoffed. “Everything is probably laced with some type of curse. We’ll need to stay away from anything the soul building doesn’t prepare itself.” He turned back to Stanine. “Where’s the cure?”

Tila jerked forward. She twisted to fully face her mates. “Don’t tell them. We only have one batch, and it takes forever to make. I need it to start feeling normal again.” To my surprise, their harsh expressions were on her, not us.

“You drank Lucifer's blood. You will never be normal, period. That will always taint you. You willingly fucking accepted the darkness. She didn’t.” Bones’ words were like a whip to the face. He moved from the wall to plop on the bed. He was sick of this conversation.

I searched inside of him to see where that harsh outburst came from, though. He didn’t fight me. My third eye naturally turned on without me even trying. His red aura flared with his fury at Tila for being so selfish, but the sense of protectiveness inside of him overshadowed any of it. It took a few seconds, but I could feel that his protective flare had been for me, and that was all I needed to know.

She snapped her pointed finger at Bones. “You don’t know that. I could?—”

Bones cut her off to shake some sense into her with his words. “Stop being stupid. Lucifer’s blood is pure evil. It’s black, for fuck sakes, even though he isn’t a colorful demon.” When she didn’t respond, he explained further, but his tone had softened like he spoke to a child. “Demons with colorful skin have black blood. What did you think that meant?”

Before she could reply Stanine spoke. “Tila, she is our Master and protector.”

“But—”

“We can’t afford her to turn on us. That potion was always meant for Ivy. I thought you knew that.” He moved passed Stanine and knelt in front of her to cup her face. The pouty lips she gave him made me smirk. He was a Tila whisperer. Good.

He continued. “I knew I’d have to fork over a piece of my soul the moment you lost your other mates, but I was willing to pay the price because I’m not as powerful as the three of them put together. I love you guys too much to lose you. We’re not strong enough to take out your old faction. So, please stop fighting this.”

Tila slumped back on the couch, when Balthazar moved away to sit back down. She stared at the ceiling. Slowly, her legs spread, exposing her bare pussy.

Close your fucking legs! I roared, ready to strangle her. She jerked so hard upright, with her legs closed, the crack even hurt me.

“Ouch!” Her death glare didn’t faze me. Her mates moved with her, but their expressions said they were confused, but they stayed quiet.

“Then, don’t.” My growl rumbled my entire body. My demon had popped out of me, ready to kill her. My red eyes warned her that I wasn’t kidding.

She lifted her hands in a surrender motion. “I had to give it one last go.” Her eyes swept over me with heat shining in them. “For the record, that flash was for you.” The little bitch winked at me. She truly was part Sex Demon.

“I’d kill you first.” Trigger’s tone was matter of fact, like it was an already done deal. It made me shiver.

She sighed. “Yes, I believe you would. You’ve always been a little cuckoo.”

My smirk dropped to a scowl. “Keep it up and you’ll end up dead.”

Tila didn’t say anything else, but she nodded that she understood. Good.

Stanine stood to face me and pulled out a large vial with a red liquid sloshing in it. “I brought this as a bribe for you to help me find Tila. It’s what will take away the darkness.”

Trigger was behind him in the next instant with a blade to Stanine’s neck. How the fuck did he move that fast? My eyes went wide as my wetness grew in my panties grew wet. He was so sexy.

The red jewel at the tip shined in the light. All of the daggers hummed with anticipation, including the one in my skin. They loved getting covered in blood. “Hand it over. No bribes or terms, give it over or die.”

Stanine obeyed immediately.

He lifted his arms. “I said that even before I knew Tila was here I was going to give it to her. I don’t think you understand the bond we share. If anything happens to Ivy, we all die. My soul is literally tethered to hers.” Stanine’s aura shifted as he opened himself up to the room. It wasn’t just his words, but his vulnerability.

Demons could sense such things, so Trigger stepped back, recognizing the sincerity in Stanine’s stance and energy.

Kain growled when Trigger moved to give it to me. “Run some tests on it. Bones help him, make sure it’s safe. I don’t care what he said, I’m not taking any chances with our mate.”

Stanine moved away from everyone and helped himself to the open liquor on the bar. “Yes, do whatever you need to do. I promise that I’m not lying, though. It might have been messed up how I ended up being mated to Tila, and for that I apologize, but I just want you to know that I fell in love with her the moment I saw her. None of this has been a game for me. I hope that we can eventually trust one another.”

As they continued to talk my focus went to Trigger and Bones. Watching them move around as if they were on the same wavelength was beautiful. Jars broke, making glass and dust fly behind them, the energy sizzled and popped in the air.

When casting either dark or light spells, a person needed either an incantation or ingredients. Some of the more complicated magic needed both. But using words without ingredients took a lot of magic and not everyone could do it.

Neither of them hesitated, this wasn’t their first time working together. Trigger ordered Bones to run his magic over everything, and without question he did.

Watching them made an envious green monster come out and me. I missed doing magic and spells with Trigger, and I wanted Bones to be there with us like they were doing now. The familiarity was what I wanted. I could have lost that opportunity if I let the numbness take me. The room blurred around me as my eyes zeroed in on each of my mates. The way they moved and worked together. They had become even closer in my absence.

Did they even want me back?

As expected, the numbness crept in, offering me a tempting escape. If they decided I was too much trouble, my world would shatter. For a brief moment, I entertained the idea of giving in. It painted scenarios of isolation in my mind, and the tingle at my hairline signaled my demon's desire to either feed or kill—though it was unclear which. Since I wasn’t indulging the numbness, we’d see which way my demon leaned.

Dex and Alaric must have felt something because they appeared at my side. Maybe the bond let them see the pitiful show dancing around in my head. Or they just knew me better than I even knew myself. Either way I welcomed their nearness.

Warm hands cupped both of my cheeks. Dex’s red eyes were my home. “Hey Succy, look at me, my Queen. I’ve missed you so much. Not just because Alaric has been using me like a juice box.”

Alaric and I snorted, but I let him continue, needing to hear his words. My heart knew I had nothing to worry about. My brain, most likely caused by the curse, didn’t comprehend their love. I had never been good with emotions, though.

“I love you. I don’t care what I have to do. You’re not going to be alone, okay. So, smack those thoughts out of your head like the bitches they are because you’re never getting rid of any of us again.”

The confirming grunts from the rest of my mates pushed those dark feelings away. I needed that potion already. It was time to get rid of the numbness before it became too tempting, and I gave in.