Wicked Soul

by Nora Ash

  “Not here,” he said—and then proceeded to close the door in my face.

  I managed to wedge a foot in the gap and put my hand on the door before he succeeded. “Hey, rude much? I really need to see her—it’s important. Any idea where I can find her?”

  Kevin glowered at me, and from the way his jaw was working, I guessed he had more than a few choice words he wanted to sling at me. Seemed his dislike of the girl who got their peace treaty with the vampire Lord rolling hadn’t eased in my absence. “Try Dark Dreams,” he snapped. “Now leave—’m busy.” He reached out and gave my shoulder a shove, making me stumble two steps backward. Before I’d regained my balance, he’d shut the door again.

  “Busy asking the wizard for manners, I hope!” I yelled at the closed door. Jesus fuck, that dude was an asshole!

  * * *

  Despite my irritation with Joana’s First Disciple, I did as he’d suggested and went to see if Joana was at Dark Dreams. Even if she wasn’t, Raven might be—and Skye and Dennis too. A small stab of guilt sliced through me at the thought of my former colleagues. I’d been so consumed with longing for Warin while I’d been gone, I hadn’t really spared many thoughts for them. But they’d been my friends, too. Or at least, they could have been my friends, had I stayed in Chicago long enough. And I’d disappeared without a word.

  Hopefully my reception wouldn’t be as unpleasant as it’d been when I turned up at Joana’s place. Kevin was an asshole, but my colleagues had actually cared about me, once upon a time. And I’d repaid them by leaving them high and dry, too wrapped up in my own drama to even feel bad about it.

  * * *

  The store was quiet when I walked in, the merrily jingling bell above the door announcing my entry. There wasn’t any customers, and no one behind the till either.

  “Hey, welcome to Dark Dreams!”

  I looked up just in time to see Skye come around the corner from the staff room, bright smile in place. She froze in place when our eyes met, trading in her smile for an open-mouthed gasp.

  “Hey, Skye,” I said.

  “Liv!” she screeched, and before I knew it, she’d crossed the store and thrown herself around my neck. “Oh my goodness, we thought you were dead!”

  “Not dead,” I said, returning her hug. “I just… had to skip town for a little while.”

  She pulled back and looked at me, mouth pinched in worry. “Was it because of that vampire? We tried to report you missing, but… no one ever came to take statements, or even look at your apartment. Are you okay?”

  “I’m okay,” I said. “I’m sorry I worried you. And no, it wasn’t really because of Warin. It’s… complicated.”

  She sighed, mouth still locked in an unhappy frown. “Complicated… everything’s complicated around here these days.” Then her face lit up in a half-smile. “But maybe it’ll be better now that you’re back. Dennis has been such a prick since you left—I think he was worried about you. You know how he’s always had a bit of a thing for you.”

  I blinked. “Uh… no.”

  Skye rolled her eyes and grabbed me by the hand, leading me toward the back of the shop. “You’re so oblivious, girl. Raven! Look who’s back!” The last bit she called out as she dragged me through the beaded curtain to the back.

  “What?” Raven’s head popped out form the break room. When she saw me, her eyes went wide, and a wide grin stretched across her normally stern face. “Liv! Fucking hell, I thought the vamper had eaten you!”

  “I just had to go away for a while. Hey, have you seen Joana? I need to speak with her, ideally today… before the sun sets.”

  “She should be at, uh… home.” Raven glanced at Skye, and for a moment, I pitied our blonde colleague, who had no idea her boss and two co-workers were actual witches. Even if one of them was a pretty shitty witch.

  But then I thought back to how uncomplicated life had been before I fell down the supernatural rabbit-hole, and my pity turned to envy.

  “I just came from there—Kevin answered the door, said she might be here.”

  Raven rolled her eyes. “Ugh, Kevin. He’s been such an asshole lately. I’ll shoot her a text and ask, tell her you’re looking for her. She’ll be happy you’re back!”

  “And speaking of being back,” Skye interjected, “you’re going to sit down with us and have a cup of tea, and tell us what you’ve been up to for the past three freaking months!”

  “But I have to—“

  “Yes, yes, you have to see this Joana girl, but it can wait until she texts back, right?” Skye looked at me with such a sad frown that my guilt flared hotly again.

  “Yeah, I guess it can. I… I missed you two,” I said, rubbing my neck awkwardly. It’d been easy enough to tell Warin how much I’d missed him. It was something else with the two girls I’d befriended without really realizing it.

  “Aw, we missed you too, didn’t we, Raven?” Skye beamed. “Now come, sit! We’ve gotten the best herbal blend in stock since you left.”

  * * *

  We sat in the staff break room and gossiped for a few hours while waiting for Joana to text back.

  It was a slow day, customer-wise, so we weren’t disturbed by the jingling bell much. It was always nice when work didn’t get in the way of socializing.

  It was only when I happened to glance at the time on my phone that I realized how late it’d gotten.

  “Yikes, it’s gonna get dark soon! I need to get my ass back,” I said, finishing off my final mug of tea. Skye had been right—it was the best blend in the store, and I’d had about five cups.

  “Someone have a sunset curfew, huh?” Raven said, eyebrows arched. “I take it you’re staying with Warin?”

  “Oh, how very kind of your ‘completely platonic, definitely not banging him, nuh-uh’ vampire friend,” Skye said, a shit-eating grin on her lips.

  “You guys are jerks.” I couldn’t hold back a laugh, even as my cheeks heated. “Okay, so maybe we’re not completely platonic friends anymore.”

  “Ha, I knew it!” Skye lit up. “I have so many questions! Is it cold? Does he—“

  I held up a hand, interrupting what was undoubtedly about to turn into a way too intimate Q&A on sex with the undead. “I really have to get back. And also, I really don’t want to answer any of that.”

  “Prude.” Skye sulked. “Fine, be that way. It’s not like you just left us for three whole months, and we missed you and you should feel guilty enough to divulge every dirty detail of your sex life. I mean, jeez, Liv, what are girlfriends for?”

  “You never did answer me about the friction thing,” Raven joined in with a teasing smirk.

  “Really, you too? I thought there mere thought of a nightwalker had your skin crawling,” I huffed.

  “It’s just for science, of course,” Raven said as she pulled out her phone. Her smirk became a frown. “I don’t understand why Joana hasn’t texted back—it’s not like her.”

  “You think something’s wrong?” I asked.

  “Nah, probably not,” she said, but the frown didn’t leave her face. “But I think I’ll head over to her house once we’ve closed up. Do you still have your old phone number? I’ll text you once I’ve got a hold of her.”

  “Yeah, I do. Thanks, Raven.” I turned to my blonde friend. “And thank you, Skye. I’ve really missed you both. It was great catching up.”

  “Will you be looking for a job? Dennis would probably hire you back,” Skye said.

  I grimaced. “Maybe. I, uh… need to work some things out with Warin, first. But I’ll definitely stay in touch. I promise.”

  I left Dark Dreams out the back entrance this time, thinking to cut across the alleyway and run-down staff parking to hail a taxi off the large road a few blocks away from the shop. It’d be much quicker than calling for a cab and having to wait for it to arrive, and the sky was darkening swiftly now.

  A flutter of heavy wings made me look up just as the backdoor to Dark Dreams clicked shut. A large raven landed on one of
the trash containers on the other side of the alley, its dark eyes gleaming as it cawed at me.

  There were probably a bazillion ravens in the Chicago area, but there was just something… oddly familiar about this one. “Hello, you. Have we met before?”

  The raven cawed again and flew to the floor, landing right in front of my feet.

  “Oh, wow, you’re a friendly fell—oh my goddess!” My cheerful greeting died on a shriek when the bird’s wings cracked, fanning out in an unnatural angle. I quickly dropped to my knees, wanting to see if I could somehow help the poor creature even if I didn’t know the first thing about bird anatomy. The raven fluttered awkwardly a few times, and then its chest bulged outward, fragile bones breaking with loud snaps in a flurry of feathers. Raw flesh expanded rapidly up and out, and I fell back on my ass with a squeak from the burst of energy. When I looked up again, mouth open in shock, Dennis stood in front of me. Stark naked.

  “Oh, what the fuck?!” I gasped as my former boss worked his shoulders with a grimace. “What the actual fuck?!”

  “You shouldn’t have come back, Liv,” he said, voice grim. “It’s not safe.”

  “I don’t… what?” I struggled to get a hold of my scattered mental capabilities, because what I was seeing just couldn’t be true. It couldn’t be. “You do not get to explode out of a fucking raven right in front of me, and then that not be the first topic at hand! Tell me I’m fucking hallucinating—tell me you’re not a goddamn skinwalker!”

  “Of course I am,” he growled. “Why do you think you weren’t killed the second you stepped foot in the slaughterhouse? I kept you safe. I told them you weren’t her. And now here you are, back in Chicago. Do you want to die, Liv? Do you want to sacrifice yourself for that… thing?”

  “I’m not who?” As much as I tried to keep my eyes on his face, it was impossible not to notice that he’d changed while I’d been gone. He seemed thinner, and there were dark hollows under his eyes that hadn’t been there before.

  Dennis drew in a deep breath, trying to fight back his apparent anger at my presence. “Eight hundred years ago, my coven was tasked with watching over the vampire Lord you have spent so many nights with. Through generations, through countless rebirths, we have fulfilled our duty. I was beginning to think it was just another stupid legend. I thought him harmless. And yet…” His gaze swept over me, odd possessiveness flaming in its depths. “And yet there was you. Do you know who my coven thinks you are? Do you know what your little infatuation with the undead Ancient has caused?”

  “Dennis, you’re not making any sense,” I told him. I wanted to get to my feet, so I wasn’t in such a vulnerable position in front of him, but he seemed so unhinged, I didn’t dare to make any sudden movements.

  “They think you’re her, Liv! His soulmate, reincarnated to finally heal his black soul! When he claimed you for everyone to see, as his little blood whore, they were so sure. But I proved them wrong… I got you to leave. You were safe—so why the fuck are you back?”

  Eight hundred years ago. His soulmate. My mind fogged, and something… something clawed at my mind, as if there was something I was supposed to remember.

  “Thea?” I whispered. “Thea was his… his soulmate?”

  Dennis’ eyes widened. “How do you know that name?”

  I shook my head, trying to clear it. There were other, more pressing matters to focus on. “You sent me away? You sent me that letter? But… but why? And how did you know I… that I’m… a witch?”

  “To protect you!” he snarled. “To prove that you are no threat! And then I get a fucking text from Kevin, saying you’re back. Don’t you get it, Liv? He knows you’re back now! He knows you came back for your precious vamper!”

  “Who, Kevin?” I asked, blinking at him. “Why the hell does it matter if Kevin knows I’m back?”

  “My master,” Dennis hissed, “will gut you like a fish before he will see the Night Lord bonded with his soulmate. Is that what you want, Liv? To die?”

  “N-no,” I croaked. Dennis looked absolutely deranged in his fury. He glowered down at me, and the shadows seemed to draw around him, blotting out the sky.

  “Then I am your only hope,” he hissed. And then he launched himself at me.

  I tried to scramble backward and away, but I wasn’t fast enough. Dennis landed on top of me, pinning me down, and though he was thin, he was freakishly strong.

  “Get off me! What are you doing?!” I shrieked. “Help!”

  “No one can hear you,” he rasped. “It’s just me and you, Liv. I’ll save you from my master. I’ll make you my mate. He’ll see you don’t belong to the vampire once you carry my mark!”

  “Are you insane? I don’t want to be your damn mate! Get your goddamn hands off me!” The last bit I screamed as he put a hand between my legs, feeling for the outline of my sex through my pants.

  “You don’t have to want it,” Dennis gritted. His questing hand pulled up higher, ripping at my zipper. “You just have to take it.”

  The snap of my jeans breaking sounded like a gunshot in my ears. Unwanted fingers reached inside my pants, touching me—and in a horrible, thick fog of panic, I was transported back into the body of a child. My body. My bed, when my stepdad came for me those late nights.

  But I wasn’t helpless. Not anymore.

  “No!” I roared, and grabbed at the well of power flooding up from deep within. This time, I recognized the green light as I pulled on its strength and let it explode out of my body in a wave of energy.

  Dennis flew off me with a shocked cry, his body flipping through the air until it was smacked hard against the trash containers with a painful-sounding crack.

  Gasping, I scrambled to my feet just as Dennis groaned and rolled over. His nose looked like it’d been broken, blood spurting from his wrecked face.

  I remembered the wolves, and how little time it’d taken them to renew their attacks.

  I ran.

  I didn’t pause to look back as I crossed the parking lot, instincts telling me to find a place with lots of people. He wouldn’t be able to attack me again in public without attracting attention from the human population, and psychotic as he might be, I doubted he’d want that. But I couldn’t get into a cab. One lone taxi driver would be too easy for him to dispose of. I glanced frantically at the sky and cussed. The sun hadn’t set—Warin would still be asleep, trapped in his hiding place. Unable to help me.

  But Roy wouldn’t be.

  I frantically rummaged through my purse until I managed to pull out my old phone. Thank the goddess I’d had the urge to put it in my bag the day after I’d called Warin from Kentucky.

  I turned it on and scrolled through to find Roy’s number as I power-walked down the crowded pavement, away from Dark Dreams.

  The line rang five times, each buzz in my ear ramping up my anxiety. Come on, Roy, pick up! Please, pick up!

  “Yeah?” The gruff voice in my ear might have well belonged to an angel. My heart skipped a beat form pure relief.

  “Roy! Roy, it’s me! Liv. Please, I need your help!”

  “Liv? Calm down. What’s goin’ on?”

  “I’m being chased by an asshole skinwalker and I need you to come pick me up. Please, can you come get me?” I ignored the look that sentence got me from the passersby. I guess I did look pretty insane, with my clothes in wild disarray while talking about skinwalkers.

  “Shit. Yeah, just stay ahead of him, ya hear? Where are you?”

  “Downtown,“ I said. “Southside.”

  “All right. Can you make it to the Union Stock Yard Gate? I’ll be there in fifteen, tops.”

  “Yes, I’ll be there.”

  He hung up without saying goodbye, but right then, I appreciated speed over manners. Doing my best to breathe evenly, I crossed the street and headed for the agreed upon pickup point.

  That was when I saw the raven overhead, circling like a vulture.

  “Fuck!” I muttered. Warm energy rose inside of me without my consci
ous thought, making me gasp. But when I didn’t call for it, it just… hovered inside of me. Waiting.

  “Nice time to start working,” I mumbled, but even if my magic had chosen the absolute best possible time to finally function, I couldn’t use it. Not when stuck in the middle of a crowded town center. Like Dennis couldn’t change shape in public, I couldn’t very well start slinging green light at birds, either.

  He followed me in his raven form all the way to the square, and to my dread, I saw the crowd of people thinning as the sun slowly set. But before I could panic too much, Roy’s big truck pulled up across the square.

  I’d never been so relieved to see my former bodyguard. No longer caring if I drew any attention, I sprinted toward the car and—as he swung open the passenger side door—jumped in.

  “Oh my goddess, thank you!” I gasped, flinging myself around his neck. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

  “Hello, little lady,” he said peering over my shoulder. “Where’s the skinwalker?”

  I pulled back and pointed upward, as I fastened my seatbelt with my other hand. “Flying around up there somewhere. He’s a raven. I didn’t know they could do birds!”

  “Some can,” he grumbled, trying to catch a glimpse of my stalker out the windscreen. “Let’s get you out of here before he has the chance to meet up with more.”

  * * *

  The sun finally disappeared below the horizon as Roy drove us along the deserted road to Warin’s fancy neighborhood, and I breathed a sigh of relief. He was awake now. Soon, I’d be back safe in his arms, and I could—

  My thoughts came to an abrupt halt when something heavy crashed into the the truck’s roof.

  I screamed and Roy swerved, swearing up a storm as he tried to get control of the car again, but before he could, claws smashed through the roof and ripped long, screeching lines in the metal.

  “Sonuvabitch!” Roy growled, slamming on the brakes. He ripped the door open and jumped out, shouting, “I just paid the fucking thing off!”