Page 94 of Souls We Rip

He broke the kiss, my lips feeling numb from his loss. “We really need to get back. Three souls still await you, and only two months are left,” he breathed.

He pulled me again for another searing kiss.

“And we still need to search for a way to get out of your mess,” I mumbled against his lips.

Nodding, he took my hand in his. “And afterwards, I promise you, Ana, I will be forever yours.”

I pressed my forehead to his, nose to nose, mouth over mouth. “And I will be yours, Tiberius.”

And with that promise, we kept on living.

The Goat Man

Ana was watching the sunrise, slumped on the patch of grass in front of the cave.

It was an image I wanted ingrained in my skin, to haunt me for the rest of my days. The sun cast its light over her dark locks, illuminating her skin and creating starlight over her naked legs.

The cold didn’t even try to bother her; no goosebumps covering her skin. A thin shawl with red and gold flowery motifs hugged her shoulders.

Next to her were some of the tomes she took from the library. I stood two nights without sleep to translate them for her. She read almost all of them and found out that the master of them all would have the power to disrupt the contract. Either that meant God or my brother. This left us with two options. We die, or… we die anyway.

“I miss them deeply, Tiberius! Sometimes, I would tap on the Mirror just to see their faces. As long as their smile filled the glass, I would be relieved. And as for my father… he is either hiding or he is dead.”

“He is hiding,” I stated, walking towards her. I stopped next to her, crouching down. “He is ashamed of himself.”

Her nose turned upwards, her voice softer than the sunlight. “How do you know that?”

“The last time I was in my…brother’s lair, I heard the whispers. They keep count of every soul any of us from the Order failed to rip. Your father is hiding from the Mirror.”

“So, I cannot see him?” she asked, looking at me.

“Or I.”

She moved her gaze again to her old family home.

We stood in pleasant silence. Slowly, her fingers intertwined with mine, the desire to take her away from all this flooding me.

“How many more souls, Tiberius?” she asked, placing her head on my shoulder.

She would ask me this every day. The question was like a clock, ticking in my brain.

Reminding me of all I’ve put her through.

“Three,” I whispered.

Three more souls, and I still have not found a way for her to become human.

My mistake and my selfish plan made me want to throw myself over the edge, without a skull, so I could feel the pain devastating my body and mind.

“And then?” she breathed, her warm breath touching my chest.

The answer to that inquiry was better left unspoken. She either died or I would be human, and she would be in eternity.

Reversing the roles.

“Master, can you not modify the contract?” Andrei asked, clearing the kitchen table with a rag.

Since Eugen joined us in my lair, Ana made a rule for everyone to eat only in the kitchen, unless serious illness. The three of us men bowed to her and agreed by saying Yes, my lady!