Page 77 of Souls We Rip

The truth was, I never dared to question my master.

Nobody ever did. We just granted its wishes. In any way, his powers throned over us, making us act as I did with Ana and Andrei.

But what Ana was saying seeped doubt into my mind.

The Elk was the only one I knew for centuries, the only one who could hold the truth.

“I don’t know,” I sighed, the thoughts spiralling into my mind.

She kneeled in front of me, her warm hands capturing my chin. “If you want to find out, let’s go to him.”

I laughed, the sudden feeling of losing this woman drenching my body.

My laughter was rough, throaty, as my neck was a rusty tool, waiting to be used. She watched me, her almost pure eyes widening.

“Do you want us banished?” I asked, worry suddenly clogging my veins.

“No, of course,” she gasped. “But how else would you know if you do not ask?” She stood up on her feet, watching me from above. Her dark lashes touched her cheeks several times.

“Then what? We strut into the Elk’s lair and ask our questions?”

She offered her gentle hand, and I grabbed it. When our skin touched, I felt things I could never feel with her.

“Yes, that is exactly what we’re going to do, Goat Man.”

There was a weight on my chest. Seeing us hand in hand, I had to get all my feelings out.

“I treated you badly, and you are trying to help me.” I shook my head. “I am a pure excuse of a man, who cannot achieve his purpose unless I drag the most caring woman after him.” Her hand squeezed mine once. “I bound you to me by a contract. You cannot leave the lair or its premises, unless you are going to take a soul. I lied, I tortured you with those gruesome images of your family, I made you think you were stupid, I…”

One soft finger touched my lips, making me stop my ranting, “I know, and still, Goat, I forgive you. Maybe this demonstrates that I kept my soul untouched. I won’t forget what you did to me, but I can forgive.”

I took her finger, kissing it once. Her eyes closed as if she was savouring the moment, pink seeping through her pale skin.

She looked at my lips, teeth sinking into hers.

“I…” she whispered, leaning closer to me.

I couldn’t relish in the moment. I couldn’t catch her waist and drag her vest off her shoulders and throw it away. I couldn’t rip the garments off her, the shreds of them decorating my old family’s home. And I couldn’t dive into passion with her. Not if I would taint her soul.

Because someone who doubted themselves when taking a soul was not a ripper. She was still human, in search of her heart.

“We are opposites. You are the light, and I am the shadow.” I closed my eyes, letting her flowery scent wrap around me. “After a time, I would overthrow your light. I cannot do that to you. And everything that passed between us makes me wonder if I would still have a place in your heart.” My words hurt more than every burning thought I had of her. Her chin trembled, and she closed her eyes.

Her hand touched my cheek slightly. “I don’t think we are opposites.”

“No?”

“We might have been at some point, before I took the first soul. But, as I, you’ve changed too.”

There was an urge in me to hold her, to kiss her. But I did not want her to lose herself in it. She was the light that appeared in each dark corner of my mind.

“Let’s see about our master, and then we will resume this discussion,” she proposed, tugging me by my hand.

Once again, I had the confirmation that she was above me. Never in my eternity did I look for answers at my master’s lair. Not once.

She turned around, her skirt floating in the breeze, the perfect picture of a woman walking into the sunset, the beauty of the world fading in front of her.

“Inside, we cannot see a thing,” I warned her. We were in the forest surrounding the ancient cemetery, our eyes on the entrance. “Hold my hand, and I will guide you.”