The Hunted Soul

by Miranda Brock

  I looked toward a trio of lionesses snarling at a pair of demons. The relic had to be somewhere under their feet.

  But I wasn’t the only person watching them.

  A sharp breath hissed in through my teeth. Vehrin also knew where the key was.

  I surged forward, dodging around demons instead of confronting them. I had to get to the key before Vehrin had the chance, but it was still several yards away.

  Vehrin laughed, and his voice rose as he spoke to me, somehow clear over the cries of battle. “Isn’t this a fun little game we’re playing, my friend? Who can get to the key first?”

  My teeth ground so hard my jaw hurt. He would see this as a game, all this death and carnage. The grin spreading across his face dripped with wickedness.

  A heart-broken wail pierced the din. Through the chaos, I saw a woman clutching a child to her chest. The little girl’s eyes stared vacantly at the gray sky above.

  Something inside of me snapped.

  It wasn’t the influence of twisted, ancient magic that had me tearing into the next demon with unmatched fervor. It was something fiercer, unhinged. A fury burned through me unlike anything I’d ever experienced. I was going to make every last one of Vehrin’s minions beg for mercy as I sliced them apart.

  Blood reddened my knuckles and flecked my face. I attacked with my blade and magic alike as I hacked through muscle and bone. Shrieks and wails followed in my wake as demon bodies twitched on the ground.

  One after the other, they fell.

  That’s right, Olivia. Make them pay for the pain they caused. It wasn’t Kael’s voice that crooned in my mind, but Vehrin’s.

  A darkness like soft velvet caressed the edges of my mind. I wanted to resist, but with each strike of my sword and spark of my magic, the shadows became more welcoming.

  Beads of blood continued to fly, and dark magic purred through my bones. I wanted to kill them all, wanted my boots to stamp on the blood-soaked earth. Screams and hisses filled my ears, and I danced to the pained song they created.

  Cut them. Burn them. Bleed them.

  Make them pay.

  Livvie.

  I ignored the soft, rich sound of my name.

  Please, you have to stop. It’s too much. You don’t need to do this.

  I shoved the intruding thought away. I did have to do this. I barely saw what I was doing as I moved from one demon to the next.

  Olivia, remember who you are. Do not become the monster he wants you to be.

  Those words gave me pause. What?

  You are not this person, Livvie. You can be just, but this is not the way.

  I was being swept away in a river of dark magic and malice. I clung to Kael’s words like a lifeline and let them drag me from the clinging current. I blinked and peered around me.

  Kael watched me warily, and behind him lay demon after demon. Many were moaning on the ground, clawing at the earth with the limbs they had left. Blood was everywhere, all over the dirt, all over my blade, all over me.

  I swallowed hard. Defending myself and fighting in a righteous battle was one thing, but the slaughter I’d relished in moments before was another matter entirely.

  Worse, in my vindictive attack, I’d lost sight of the key again.

  I turned my attention back to Kael. “I…” Words escaped me. He stepped over to me and pressed his head against my hip.

  It is okay to fight, Olivia, but do not lose yourself while doing so.

  I nodded. Good thing I have someone to remind me of who I am. I tried to smile but my lips merely twitched.

  Kael eased back, and his yellow-brown gaze watched me for a moment before giving me a nod and turning back to the melee.

  Vehrin was still in the same spot, and a deep frown carved his face. Clearly, he wasn’t pleased with the way this battle was going. Many of his demons had fallen, and it was only a matter of time before he was the only one left. He caught my eye, and this time, I was able to get a triumphant smile on my face.

  “You forget who I am, little mage.” His voice carried over the carnage toward me.

  Then, he raised his hands. Shadow and fire snaked from his fingertips. The dark power wrapped around lions and tossed them easily away. He pulled the shadows back and as a few of the shifters recovered, more demons appeared.

  How many could he summon? We were running out of energy. We couldn’t keep fighting fresh demons over and over.

  Kael lowered his head with a snarl beside me as I braced myself for the new onslaught. A lion came to stand by my side, then another, and another. Together, Kael and I ran forward with the pride. We crashed into the demons.

  This time, I didn’t lose myself in the violence. Instead, I cloaked myself with purpose. Every time I took a demon down, I searched for the key. My muscles burned with each stroke of my sword, and my magic prickled unpleasantly. I was losing energy. Lions fell beside me. I could hear Kael’s heavy panting as he stayed by my side.

  We were not going to win this battle.

  A flash of dark magic pummeled over me, and I could almost feel Vehrin’s satisfaction as I hit the dirt. My sword fell from my hand on impact. I rolled, then screamed as pain bloomed in my shoulder. A demon had sunk its teeth right through my clothes and into my muscle and was latched on like a hyena. I tried to shake it off, but it only bit harder.

  A terrible roar shook through me, and a large, tan lioness crashed into the demon. I gasped when the painful hold fell away. My arms shook as I lifted myself up. Kael jumped off the chest of a demon he’d had his claws in and dashed over to me.

  Livvie!

  “I’m all right,” I mumbled. Truthfully, I wasn’t certain how much longer I was going to last. My shoulder was searing with agony and I really hoped it wasn’t poisoned with demon venom. Aside from the fresh wound, I had nicks and bumps all over.

  Hair rose on my arms. “Get back!”

  Kael leaped to the side as another volley of Vehrin’s magic slammed into the ground. I skittered back, digging my heels into the dirt as another blast of dark energy nearly took out my legs. I glanced behind me to find a large boulder. It was worth a shot. I half-crawled over to it and shuffled behind it. Kael joined me.

  I leaned my head against the rough stone and tried not to listen to the sound of pained roars and pitiful cries behind me. Vehrin was unleashing a barrage of magic into the pride, as if the demons weren’t enough. I wanted to help, wanted to get rid of him for good, but I needed a breath.

  Kael watched me, and I saw the same fear in his gaze I knew was in mine. We couldn’t win this battle. There was a very slim chance the pair of us were going to make it out alive.

  My heart constricted at the thought of losing Kael, and in that moment, my thoughts went back to the kiss he’d promised on the other side of the mountain.

  I leaned over to him and let my fingers trace up the soft fur of his cheeks. I tilted his head down and pressed a kiss to the pattern of spots between his eyes.

  “There is your kiss, my warrior.”

  My warrior.

  The words brought a vision, a memory, from the depths of my mind.

  It was quiet, and the light from the flames caused shadows to dance among the ring of underbrush and tree trunks at the edges of our small clearing. The man at my side was tall, and dark-haired. He watched me with careful golden eyes. The hard edges of his face had been chiseled away to reveal an easy smile he reserved for me. It was a risk to be here with him, but it was well worth it.

  He was, after all, the one I loved.

  My warrior. My protector. My heart.

  Like a snake slipping through the shadows, Vehrin stepped into the clearing.

  “Traitor,” he hissed.

  I couldn’t voice a protest before he sent forward magic like a spear. It pierced straight into the heart of the man by my side.

  “NO!”

  I crouched beside him. Blood bubbled up past his lips as he stared at me with wild eyes.

  “I’ll find you again,” I promis
ed him. “In this life, or the next, until the end of time, I’ll find you.”

  A sharp intake of breath hissed in through my teeth as the memory faded. Vehrin had killed him, the man who had once been Kael. My warrior. My protector. My heart.

  Kael watched me with a fierce intensity that made my body want to go rigid, yet melt into him at the same time.

  My nostrils flared and my brows pinched together. “We will not die today.”

  Kael stood and rolled his shoulders as I got to my feet. Together, we dashed out from behind the rock and sprinted with renewed vigor toward Vehrin.

  Magic swirled from my fingertips and Kael crashed into demon after demon. I could sense the key, and I knew the closer I got to it, the closer I would get to Vehrin. My feet pounded the ground as I dipped and swayed around demons and lions. My heart raced. I was so close.

  My boot snagged on the leg of a fallen demon, and I skidded across the ground. I groaned, but as I looked up from where I lay, my gaze fell on the key. It was no more than a few feet from me. My body protested as I inched my way forward, and my shoulder screamed as I reached out for the key. A rattling breath chased me, and I glanced over my shoulder to see a demon closing in.

  Just before the demon reached me, my fingers closed around the key. I rolled to my back and kicked the demon in the face with both feet, then quickly put the chain of the necklace around my neck.

  Malevolent and dark magic crackled through the air. There was a fierce yell, and in the next moment, Vehrin was on top of me. He reached for the trio of necklaces I now wore. I grabbed onto his wrists, and both of our hands sparked with energy. With a powerful surge, he broke through my resistance, and his fingers grasped the keys.

  My soul was in the dark mage’s hands.

  A glint of delight flashed in his gaze as he got to his feet, and urged me to follow. I did, against my will.

  My pulse tapped in overdrive. He had me in his control.

  Vehrin circled around to my back and kept one hand clasped around the keys as Kael stalked forward. He squeezed the keys, and as he did, air pushed from my lungs as a force pressed in on me.

  “Kill him,” Vehrin said in my ear.

  I raised my arm as tears pricked my eyes. Kael, run! I screamed through our mental bond. He has my soul. You need to run!

  Kael shook his head, and my heart shattered as magic buzzed at my fingertips. I couldn’t even close my eyes as I released the attack that would end him.

  Right before the swirls of magic plummeted into him, Kael dodged. He ran forward faster than I’d ever seen him go before. His jaws opened wide as he leaped, and for a second, I thought perhaps he was going to put me out of my misery.

  Instead, he flew over my shoulder, and together Kael, Vehrin, and I slammed into the earth in a tangle of limbs.

  I rolled to my back and, somehow, Vehrin straddled me. Kael’s strong jaws were latched around his arm. The dark mage screamed in pain, and in the next moment, his arm was torn from his shoulder. Vehrin bellowed, but instead of reaching for the bleeding stump, he reached for the keys with his other hand.

  With all the strength I had left, I lurched back. Something dug into my neck, but the pressure eased in a split second. I blinked, then Vehrin was gone. Silence fell. There was no more fighting. I was afraid to see if it was because everyone was dead.

  Kael released his jaguar and shifted beside me. He grabbed my shoulders and gave them a light shake. “Are you all right?”

  “Ow.” I winced at the hold he had on my injured shoulder.

  He quickly released it. “Sorry.”

  My mind whirred as I tried to catch up, and my thoughts latched on to the last moments with Vehrin.

  “He had me. He had my soul.” My voice cracked, the ghosts of the violation still pressing on me. I had never felt anything so terrifying.

  Kael pulled me closer to him and held my face in his rough hands. “No one will ever have your soul but yourself.” The promise burned in his gaze, and it warmed me, fluttered in me in a delightful way.

  “I’d give it to you,” I said.

  A smile lifted the corner of his mouth. “I’d settle for your heart.”

  I laid a hand on his chest and leaned closer to him. “You already have it.”

  Kael’s lips were soft and warm, but it sparked something inside of me that was fierce and binding.

  He’s mine, I told myself over and over as our lips moved together.

  The taste and scent of him filled me, and I wanted to linger in it as long as I could, but all too soon, he was pulling away. He leaned his forehead against mine, and as we caught our breath, a thought occurred to me.

  “Where’s Vehrin?”

  We pulled apart, and I peered around. There was no dark mage, and no demons. Kael’s gaze dropped to my chest, and I followed suit. My heart plummeted.

  One of the necklaces was missing.

  We had failed.

  Vehrin had taken the third key.

  Chapter 27

  Vehrin had the third key, the one capable of overriding the keys around my neck. I drew on my magic, and a breath of relief sighed through me as energy feathered across my skin. Perhaps he could only overpower the other keys if he was nearby? Of course, if that were the case, it would make any future confrontations with him nearly impossible to win.

  Besides, the mage couldn’t really do anything about my own magic, could he? It was mine, born again in me from an ancient past. Perhaps he could only hinder the darker magic within, the power tied to the first key bound to my soul. Not having the ability to access that magic was daunting. I wasn’t exactly fond of the darker, more sinister side of the magic tied to me, but it did make me more powerful when I needed it. I just had to keep from being tempted and swept away by the shadowy power.

  I tucked the keys under the dirt-and-blood encrusted collar of my shirt, then peered up at Kael. He was staring at my shoulder, worry etched in his forehead.

  “Let me take a look.” He pulled my shirt away. I didn’t have to look to know there were teeth marks there. “Demon?”

  I nodded. “I’m lucky that way, apparently.”

  Kael cursed under his breath. He probed his fingers around the wound. I winced slightly at the pain, but it wasn’t too unbearable.

  “Well, your skin isn’t inflamed and the wound isn’t oozing anything but blood, so as far as I can tell, it isn’t poisoned.”

  Thank goodness. Bibi wasn’t around to save my life this time.

  “You need clothes,” I said.

  Kael quirked an eyebrow and his lips twitched. It wasn’t as if I hadn’t seen him naked before, but after our kiss, after everything we’d gone through, I found him extremely distracting.

  “I’ll see what I can find.” Kael paused for a moment. “Stay here.”

  “There isn’t exactly anywhere else I can go at the moment.” I gestured around me at the carnage. There were dead demons and shifters alike scattered across the ground. Most of the living members of the pride had shifted and were tending to the wounded or mourning the loss of their family and friends.

  As Kael walked away, I realized I couldn’t hear his thoughts anymore. It was a bit of a relief to find I could only communicate to him mentally while he was in his jaguar form. The thought of him being able to read me at any time was terrifying.

  Still, even though he had walked away and was no longer in sight, I could point right to his location. There was an undeniably powerful bond between us now, and I wasn’t quite certain of the meaning of it.

  Stares burned into me as I waited, but thankfully no one approached. I busied myself checking for bandages in my bag while I waited for Kael to return. Confronting the lion shifters wasn’t something I was ready to do just yet, not with some of their blood staining my hands.

  Thankfully, Kael made a quick return. I had to press my hand to my mouth to stifle a giggle. It was inappropriate, given the circumstances, but mirth tickled at my throat nonetheless. I couldn’t help it. Kael strode toward
me looking a bit like Angus Young from AC/DC in the too short shorts he was wearing. Clearly, whoever he had borrowed them from had not been as tall, or as broad-chested judging by the shirt stretched across his shoulders.

  “Don’t.” Kael’s tone was sharp as he stepped up to me.

  I lowered my hand. “Don’t what?”

  “Laugh.”

  “I wasn’t going to.” My lips twitched as he tugged at the collar of the tight shirt.

  He caught the ghost of a smile and scowled. “I’m ready to leave this place and get back to civilization.”

  I had to agree. My gaze swept across the sorrow and broken bodies again. Then, I caught sight of a man holding a sword. I glanced down at my wrist to find my bracelet gone. It was my sword. It had fallen from my hand in battle.

  Kael shadowed me as I walked over to the man and held out my hand. “Thank you for picking it up.”

  He held it closer to him and eyed me suspiciously.

  “It’s my sword,” I said.

  The man shook his head. “That decision will be up to the chief.”

  Was this guy serious? I stared at the weapon in his hands and concentrated, then smiled as it disappeared and the bracelet wrapped around my wrist. I left the man glancing around and wondering what happened.

  “Maybe you shouldn’t flaunt your magic,” Kael murmured as we distanced ourselves from the shifters.

  “I wasn’t flaunting it. Besides, I’m not going to let anyone take my sword. I don’t care what kind of authority they have.”

  Kael glanced over my shoulder. “Speaking of authority…”

  I turned to follow his gaze and found the chief walking toward us. He was flanked by four guards, some of the few who hadn’t been injured. He came to a stop before us, and I ducked my head.

  “I’m so sorry for the losses your people have suffered at the hands of Vehrin.”

  For a moment, it was silent. The air around me felt heavy with the weight of the chief’s judgmental stare. “Some of those losses were done by your own hand.”

  Guilt and anguish flashed through me as I lifted my eyes to his accusatory gaze. His eyes were rimmed red. He was mourning the loss of his mate, the lioness I had killed. I tried to find words to say an apology, to beg for forgiveness, something, but I couldn’t, because he was right. I had killed her, and others.