Kindred Souls: Entire Series Books 1 - 5

by Bree Branigan

  It was hard to believe that it had been so damn easy to sneak into this brand-new life of hers. Had Elise’s intentions been hostile, she would be completely screwed. Both of them would be. Elise had always been capable of a cold-bloodedness that Nora wasn’t interested in and, had she wanted to, she could have beheaded both Nora and Fletcher before they even realized she was there. But that wasn’t the plan.

  Antoni stepped into the darkened hallway.

  Nora gasped. “You’re here too?”

  “It’s nice to see you too, Nora.”

  “I guess it’s safe to assume that this is not a social call,” she said, tightening the knot on the silk flowered gown she had thrown on when she made her way out of the room, leaving Fletcher to groan and complain about being interrupted as he looked for something to wear.

  “What’s going on?” She looked them both in the eyes, looking for some sign of their motivation.

  “We need you to come back,” Elise blurted out, leaving Antoni looking frustrated with the hasty response.

  “Come back?” Nora’s brows rose in question and she looked from Antoni to Elise, “You know I can’t do that. It’s already been decided; we need to stay here at least until after Fletcher’s class graduates.”

  “We know why you’re here, Nora. We need you back.”

  “What the hell is going on?” Fletcher asked as he stepped into the hallway wearing track pants and a t-shirt. “We were told to stay away and now we’re supposed to go back?”

  “That’s exactly it,” Antoni said dismissively, glancing back at Nora. “It’s Marcel, we need to figure out a way to help him. Octavia and Lena aren’t saying anything, but I know them. They think he is a threat and…”

  “And they have never been afraid to take measures when it’s necessary,” Nora interrupted him, knowing full well that Octavia and Lena would be willing to sacrifice a great deal when it came to the safety of the clan.

  “Come. Let’s sit down.” Nora gestured towards the plush couch as she led the way into a small, sparsely furnished living room. She sat in a chair opposite the couch. Fletcher lowered his body gracefully to sit on the carpeted floor beside her.

  “You know I wouldn’t go against Marcel’s wishes if I didn’t think it was important,” Antoni pleaded with Nora. The room was completely dark except for a lamp in the far corner. It let off only a small, soft light making them feel like they should be whispering their conversation. It made Antoni uncomfortable; this apparent domestic bliss of theirs. Like they could have gone on without ever hearing about Marcel if he and Elise hadn’t decided to come ask for help.

  And it was true. It wasn’t about Nora being careless. She had her orders and she intended to see them through. Four years weren’t very long at all, not when you had an eternity ahead and you had already seen enough time go by to feel like you’d lived several lifetimes. There was no doubt in her mind, though. She was going to do whatever it took to help.

  This was Marcel they were talking about. There was nothing she wouldn’t do to ensure his safety. His and the clan he had worked so hard to build. His philosophy on life and death lay at the very core of everything that made their clan work as smoothly as it did. Everything that had kept them alive and well for so very long.

  “Okay,” Nora sighed after a thoughtful moment. “So what’s going on?”

  “Lena and Octavia think that there is an... echo of Ben still living in Marcel’s head.” The words burst from Elise’s lips.

  “An echo?” Nora shivered, feeling a sudden sense of foreboding. She stared intently at Elise.

  Elise nodded.

  “This connection you guys share,” Antoni said, looking at Nora and Fletcher. “It’s stronger than just being meant to be with each other, isn’t it? When we needed to rescue you Marcel knew where Ben was. There is a part of Ben that will always be with Marcel, and both Lena and Octavia are worried that this could mean something else. That the part of Ben that’s still in his head could take over and endanger us all.”

  “Why would they think that?” Fletcher asked, his resentment showing towards Elise and Antoni. He couldn’t help but feel irritated. They had crashed the general peaceful life he’d taken up with Nora.

  It was a good life, but as a new vampire, Fletcher also craved that sense of belonging. He was part of the clan now, but he’d never experienced living under the same roof as the rest. He didn’t know what it was like to be a part of something so big and timeless. He wanted to learn all of it, and while Nora was spectacular as far as teachers went, she was just one person. She hadn’t seen what Marcel had seen. She didn’t have the knowledge that Lena or Octavia did. And she was too old to understand what Fletcher was going through as well. He couldn’t complain, though. Not after all she had given up to be here with him. To keep him safe.

  “There have been signs…” Elise looked grudgingly at Antoni.

  “Signs?” Nora asked, her tone sharp. “What kind of signs?”

  “I…” Elise nodded at Antoni, turning her attention to Nora and pausing to come up with the right words. “I heard him talking to Ben. He hasn’t told anyone about it but I know what I heard, and he was having a conversation with someone.”

  “I don’t understand. What does that prove?”

  “It proves that he’s still in Marcel’s head.”

  “And they have locked him up until they can figure out if that is a threat—”

  “What?” Nora jumped up from the chair she sat in.

  “He’s at the house, but there’s all this security and I’m beginning to feel like they’re going to kill him. That they’re not willing to risk what he might do if Ben’s presence is as strong as they suspect.”

  “They fucking locked him up and you waited this long to tell me?” Nora hovered over Elise threateningly, her face a mask of fury.

  “We didn’t exactly expect to walk in on you two fucking,” Elise half-teased. “That was very distracting.”

  “We need to go,” Nora snapped at her before rushing out of the room. “We need to go now.”

  Chapter 33

  Travel had its challenges for vampires. Films made it seem easy. Just pop a coffin in a big box and send it on a plane to your chosen destination during the day. The sleeping vampire would wake rested and energized in the safety of their own accommodations. In reality, everything was both simpler and a little bit more complicated.

  Short flights were never a problem. One just needed to choose night flights and feed before leaving, in order to be safe and warm with a recent feeding. Long ones, however, needed to be timed perfectly so that they only ever spent time in airports at night in case some sort of emergency forced them into the outside world. Being a vampire in the 21ST century could get complicated when just gliding by unnoticed was such a rare commodity. No one seemed to notice the cameras or care that they were everywhere but when you technically didn’t exist, you were all too aware of these things. Their paperwork was convincing enough too, but it would only take digging a little deeper to realize that there was a point in their past where there was no more past to look at.

  Which Nora always found ironic.

  On top of it all, they had Fletcher with them. Fletcher with a makeover but still, Fletcher. A college kid that had recently gone missing. A college kid with a desperate family that was still looking for him and posting his picture all over the place. And how could they not? It had only been months. It was too soon. That much had been instantly obvious to them. To everyone. To have him around was a threat to them all; one they were risking because losing Marcel was an even greater one.

  Marcel was more than just a founding member of their clan; he was their leader. There were others, older, more powerful even, but it was Marcel that commanded the respect that kept their rules in place. Marcel that supervised them. Marcel that took care of overlooking who joined them and what happened after they did. Marcel who made sure that everything was working out, running smoothly. And whenever it wasn’t? He saw to it an
d sorted it out.

  While other clans had to deal with power-hungry or blood-thirsty leaders they had one who had figured out a way for them to live and feed without being miserably guilty about it. To actually experience the eternal life they’d been granted without being driven underground by bad choices.

  In fact, he was such a key ingredient in their way of life that they all knew it wouldn’t survive his betrayal. And this is what they’d been talking about, wasn’t it? Elise and Antoni were here because they didn’t think this was something Marcel could control. They weren’t saying it. They never would, but not being able to control the presence of Ben in his head would lead to him, directly or indirectly, betraying everyone he had inspired.

  The worst scenario, the one Nora was most afraid of, was for it to be subtle. For Ben’s influence to be a whisper at the back of Marcel’s head, manipulating his choices and stepping right into his business. Into the clan’s business. If Marcel were to suggest something, no matter how ludicrous, the clan would at least consider it. After all, he’d been the one defending Fletcher’s right to remain under their protection and become a part of the clan. It had been Marcel who had made them all embrace someone who hadn’t been through the rigorous selection process and training that each and every one of them had endured however long ago. A process and training that none of them was likely to forget any time soon.

  Nora had experienced it. Being in someone else’s head. She knew what it felt like to have someone lingering in hers, too. She’d slowly learned how to hide things from Fletcher because her love for him needed its boundaries and access to her mind was where she drew the line. She was learning to stay out of his, too. Not to give into the temptation of sneaking in and looking around to understand things more clearly. It was right there. And it had been the reason for all their fights so far. Not just the intrusion, but the easy way in which nothing seemed to be off-limits between them. It was all there for the taking, all they needed to do was to know where to look.

  It was a terrible weapon to have against someone you loved, but what might happen when the other one was gone had never occurred to them. Where that connection went after all other ties had been severed.

  Suddenly, it seemed a much worse fate, having emptiness instead of the place where she could now feel Fletcher. Like a whisper, rattling somewhere deep at the back of her head. A whisper like the one she could feel herself becoming at the very back of his.

  Chapter 34

  Soft lights filtered throughout the luxuriously decorated room. Although there were no windows, lush gold-colored drapery hung on the walls. The carpet beneath Nora’s feet was thick and soft, and the sound of classical music could be heard playing quietly in the background.

  Marcel’s voice sounded deep and sad. He looked beaten. “You shouldn’t have come…” Were tears glistening in his eyes?

  “Risk my life and this is all the thanks I get?” She half-smiled crookedly.

  “This isn’t funny, Nora.” His dark eyes looked deeply into hers.

  “No,” she said nodding to the guard and waiting quietly as he stepped out of the room and locked the door with two heavy locks and an electric code. “You’re right. This isn’t funny at all.”

  The door had been unlocked for Nora to make her way into the place that Marcel, her maker, the father of this clan, now called a home. It was a bitter pill to swallow and it stuck to her throat, lodging itself in a place where Nora could not ignore it. Couldn’t pretend this wasn’t real. Couldn’t pretend it didn’t drive her crazy to see him like this.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “You know what I am doing here,” Nora moved closer, slowly but without hesitance. “People are worried.”

  “People?”

  “Stop acting oblivious. It doesn’t suit you. It has never suited you. One of the greatest things about you is that you always look like you know what you are doing.”

  “It’s a ruse.” His face fell as he looked down at the floor.

  “It’s super fucking comforting is what it is.” She smiled, standing right before him and opening her arms hesitantly. Like he was as likely to shove her away as he was to just walk away and leave her standing there.

  She wasn’t used to his being this distant, and while she tried to hide her hurt, she knew he could feel it. There was too much history between them. Even with two different people lingering in their minds at all times, their connection was something that Ben and Fletcher would never be able to understand. What they had wasn’t that effortless link that they each shared with their soul-mates. It was an understanding that had been built on years of hard work and trust. On years of relying on each other and taking care of each other. It was a relationship they had been a part of for so long, that it made Nora wonder if it wasn’t even more powerful than the kind they shared with Ben and Fletcher. One that was far more meaningful.

  This distance, this reluctance of his to touch her, was torture for Nora. She never could have anticipated how much so. Never really understood how much she needed just to know that there was a possibility there. That no matter what was going on with them, there was always that need to touch that made them snag any and all opportunities as they presented themselves.

  “Don’t do this…” She said finally, standing in front of him, searching his face helplessly.

  A face he’d learned how to veil entirely too well for her to see anything that he didn’t want her to. For anyone to see anything he didn’t want, really. She had never been on this side of his impenetrability, and to be honest, she never wanted to be there again.

  “Do what?” He spoke almost in a monotone.

  “Shut me out,” she cried desperately.

  “What do you want me to say, Nora?”

  “I want you to talk to me so we can figure out a way to help you,” she said, tentatively reaching for his hand.

  “You can’t help me…” Marcel watched her as she took his hand, relaxing for the first time since she had entered the room. He stood still, the stiffness of his limbs softening slowly as she lifted his hand to her face. His face cracked for the first time since she’d arrived.

  “There are sacrifices that are hard to survive, my darling.” He looked deep into her eyes. His began to glimmer with life again.

  “So, it’s true?” Tears sprang to her eyes, and she felt her body tense.

  Marcel stood quietly, looking her in the eye, caressing her face sweetly. Tenderly.

  Nora knew those hands so damn well. She knew those smooth patches where he’d once had scars from his human life. She stroked them with her fingers.

  Nora could remember hours pinned beneath him, his hands in deep exploration of her naked body. He had kissed her for hours, finger-fucking her slowly because he loved watching her gradually lose control at his fingertips. And she had. She’d moaned his name, hips tilting furiously into his touch, managing only to make him go slower. She remembered how he’d pressed her down against the mattress, making sure she couldn’t grind back unless he allowed it. He liked being in control, and Nora liked surrendering to that firm sort of tenderness that had always been his. A tenderness she had never recognized in any other elder. A tenderness that, sometimes, she thought was only hers.

  She felt as his hand trace along her jaw, stroking tenderly until, quite suddenly, his fingers began to wrap around her throat. The pressure gentle at first, but tightening more and more powerfully

  The look she saw on his face wasn’t Marcel’s. It was a bizarre thing to see, how his features frowned and rearranged to imitate Ben’s. How his eyes darkened and his lips turned to form a sadistic little smile as he began to crush Nora’s throat. Her feet left the ground as she was lifted. There was nothing he could do about her breathing, but with the pressure he was applying, she knew he could easily pulverize her neck.

  Chapter 35

  “What happened?”

  Nora woke up without knowing where she was or how things with Marcel had ended. How long it had been.
She glanced around the old room, familiar walls and furniture coming into focus as she blinked herself away.

  “Marcel tried to kill you,” Fletcher hissed. He hovered over her, his face contorted with anger.

  “Ben,” Antoni corrected hastily. Nora looked over at Antoni, standing at the end of the bed, his hands grasping one of the posters. “Ben gave her a warning. She would be dead if he wanted her to be. He’s got Marcel’s body. His power.”

  “His mind,” Fletcher stood up, almost lunging at Antoni; a foolish move for someone so young.

  “You better fucking sit down, boy, before I rip your throat out and leave Nora with a ghost a lot less talkative and powerful than Ben.”