Poison and Potions: a Limited Edition Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy Collection

by Erin Hayes

"Yes, and this process is partly in her hands. Should she allow herself to be consumed by the pain, by the unmaking, she will be lost. Even I can’t retrieve a soul that doesn’t want to be found."

  Noah pursed his lips and took a deep breath. "She is going to come for me."

  Bishop met his eyes. "Constance Grace, you mean? Yes, she is."

  "She’s going to kill me."

  "I believe she will."

  "You’re on her hit list too, Bishop."

  "True, but there is nothing the soul-keeper can do to me that I haven’t already done to myself."

  "What did you call her?" Noah asked.

  Bishop didn’t answer, only turned back to Tanya.

  Noah sat down and let the man work. Bishop probably needed to concentrate. And Noah needed to focus on Constance—and what she was about to do to him. He would fight. He would fight until his last breath, but she would be angry enough to make it hurt.

  The sound of a heavy banging echoed through the house and most of its empty rooms. He didn’t think she would come for him so soon.

  Bishop looked up from his work. "Just in time. If she wakes up she will be healed."

  Noah walked over and kissed his sleeping sister on the cheek. "Fight for it, my love."

  They exited the room together and ascended the stairs to the main foyer. Constance and a Reaper stood in front of the door, naked weapons in hand.

  "Constance," Bishop said by way of greeting. "Xander."

  Constance met his eyes, but made no other move. Xander inclined his head.

  "Shall we take this into the living room? There is much more room in there," Noah said, gesturing to the room they had fought in previously. He saw her hesitate and thought he could use it to his advantage later. The death of her lover weighed heavily. She was acting more out of love and loss than out of desire for justice.

  They walked into the room together, Noah and Bishop preceding Xander and Constance.

  "How is this going to play out?" Noah asked, squaring off with Constance.

  "It’s not going to play anything. You’re about to have a pretty chest ornament."

  "Crude, my dear."

  Bishop cut in. "Actually this won’t play out."

  "Stay out of this, Bishop." Connie pointed at him with her knife. "We’re going to discuss your part in this next."

  "Constance, has your mind left you? When do you speak for the Church, the Brotherhood, or God?"

  "I speak for no one but myself."

  "You think yourself so important that you can take a life?"

  "I think Mikon was so important his death shouldn’t go unpunished."

  "So you’re now the Hand of God?"

  "No. I’m only me."

  He laughed softly. "But you’ve always been more. You can’t even feel it because of your heartbreak, but you’ve changed."

  Noah broke in. "So, am I dying today or not? I’d really like to get on with it."

  Chapter Twenty

  Constance felt the anger swell up. She almost struck out at Noah until a gust of wind blew through the windowless room. A current of air swirled around Bishop who chuckled softly, drawing everyone’s attention.

  Noah asked the question. "What is it?"

  When Connie met Bishop’s eyes she knew something wasn't right. She reached out to Xander who bowed his head. "What the fuck?" she asked.

  "Noah Hannock." The voice came from Bishop, but it didn’t belong to him. It sounded like a collection of the midnight voices the Reapers adopted, like Mikon's did, when he lost his control.

  Noah took a step back from all of them.

  "Noah Hannock. You are charged with crimes against humanity, the Church, and the Brotherhood of the Reapers. How do you plead?" Bishop said.

  Noah cast his eyes back and forth between Bishop and Connie, but Constance had no answer for him. She was just as confused.

  "I think I’m supposed to say ‘not guilty’ but you’ll have to let me check with my counsel."

  Noah dropped to his knees after his smart ass comment, clutching his throat.

  Satisfaction shot through Connie for the first time.

  "You’ve already been judged, Noah James Hannock. Your plea was your chance to own your crimes. You choose not to, but it won’t alter your fate." Bishop gestured with his hands and Noah coughed, sputtered, and clutched his throat tighter.

  Connie realized what Bishop was about.

  "No," she shouted, pushing Bishop’s arms down.

  Xander stepped between her and Bishop and took a gust of air to the chest. He fell to the floor at her feet and she decided she'd had enough.

  "I claim this man’s life," she yelled.

  Bishop fixed his gaze on her. "You claim this man’s soul?"

  "I don’t want anything to do with his sorry soul. I want his life."

  "To take a life is to take the soul, soul-keeper. You do not know what you ask."

  Connie shook her head and gestured at Noah. "He already took half my soul when he took the life of my soul mate. I would take vengeance."

  "Vengeance belongs to me. ‘I will repay, saith the Lord.’"

  "Well, God isn’t here."

  "Is he not?"

  Connie stared at Bishop. She had no idea who she spoke to: heaven, hell, or something else. "Who do I speak with? Name yourself!"

  "Daughter of Rhys, you speak with the Brotherhood. The souls of those who have gone before."

  Her first thought was Mikon. He couldn’t be in there, could he? "Well, Brotherhood. I claim this man’s life. You can take his soul."

  "They are not exclusive. You take his life, you take his soul."

  Connie inhaled. So be it. "Fine. I’ll take both then, if that’s my only choice."

  Xander grabbed her leg, slowly starting to climb to his feet. Constance, you can’t know what you are agreeing to. There are consequences.

  Bishop spoke again. "If you wish this man’s soul you must reap it."

  "Reap it?"

  "Open yourself to us and we will show you the way."

  Connie stared into the black depths of Bishop’s eyes, hesitating for the first time. Her life was worth the risk, but was her soul?

  "You wish this man’s soul. You will reap it, and pay the consequences."

  "What are the consequences?"

  "You will be of us."

  "You want to perform a making on me in order to take this man’s soul?"

  "Not a making, no. An unmaking."

  Connie shook her head, and for the fiftieth time wished she knew where her Reaper manual was. "Xander, what is he talking about?"

  It is not for me to share the secrets of the Brotherhood.

  Connie took a deep breath, filling her lungs, stalling so she could think. Mikon’s face floated in her mind, the way he’d looked when he slept beside her, and how he always led to his left when they fought. The pain burned her chest and she pushed the memories back, locking them away inside her heart again. She stiffened her spine and returned her gaze to Bishop. "I’ll pay the consequences."

  Xander’s voice blared in her mind. No!

  A flash of light eclipsed the room for the second time that day and she blinked it away. A pain bloomed in her chest, similar to her broken heart. It only added to the burning fire of vengeance within her. Connie opened her eyes and saw the world clearly for the first time.

  Xander lay at her feet, his soul blossoming out from him, glowing red around his form. She looked up at Bishop and had to look away. It felt like trying to see a black hole, nothing there and yet everything. She shifted her gaze to Noah. Black oozed from his body like a thick tar. She could see their souls.

  Xander clutched her leg again, this time sitting up. A red string connected him to her when he removed his hand.

  She plucked it with her finger and he winced. "Sorry," she said. Her voice. Was that her voice? It came out husky and hoarse.

  "It’s the power," Xander said.

  She nearly jumped back when his deep throaty voice cut through
her thoughts. "How are you speaking?"

  "I was always speaking. You just didn’t know how to listen."

  Bishop broke up the little reunion. "Soul-keeper, you have been unmade and you claim the soul of Noah Hannock for your own."

  She pursed her lips and tried to look back at the creature Bishop had become. "I do."

  "So be it. But know once you claim his soul, or any soul, you keep it."

  "What does that mean?"

  Bishop’s voice boomed through the room. "The sentence has been passed, the price paid. You will reap his soul and be done with it."

  The menacing figure disappeared and the usual Bishop stood before her. He met her eyes, before dropping to his knees and falling over. A thought passed through her mind. She could kill him right now and he would be down forever. All she needed to do was find the Spear of Destiny and Bishop could be crossed off her list.

  Xander reached for her hand. "I’ll show you."

  He led her to Noah who stared up at them, fear in his eyes for the first time since she met him, and all thoughts of Bishop were lost.

  "Can you really kill me?" Noah asked.

  Connie searched the depths of her heart and what remained of her soul, and she found she could. She wouldn’t take the pleasure in it she’d thought, but she wanted him dead. "Yes."

  She didn’t need Xander’s guidance. She reached out with her mind, latching on to the filthy stinking thing sludged all over Noah—and ripped it off.

  He screamed then collapsed face down on the floor.

  The filth clung to her mind like taffy. She couldn’t get it off, the residue making her feel dirty and disgusting.

  The gravity of the entire day hit her hard. She’d taken a life, reaped a soul. She met Xander’s eyes, seeing his fear just before the world went dark.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Connie ripped herself from unconsciousness through a fog.

  When she opened her eyes she looked around, finding herself in a hospital bed. She’d never been in a real hospital in all her life, only the church adjacent ones. She began to pull plugs and cords off her skin and alarms began to ring. Xander rushed in, followed closely by Father Reynolds. She looked at them both, the only two things she had in her life now, the only family she had left.

  "Constance, no," Father Reynolds said, gripping her hands tight, while Xander attempted to replace the sensors. "You must remain here for a few more hours until the test results come back."

  "What tests?"

  "The tests Bishop ordered."

  "Father, Bishop is a traitor. He’s the reason Mikon is dead. He sold us out," Connie said, returning his biting grip against his wrists. Father Reynolds jerked away from her touch and she stared at her mentor. He acted as if her touching him would harm him in some way. "Father—"

  "Constance, you sought vengeance on your own."

  "I sought recompense for my soul, and for Mikon’s soul."

  He sighed and produced a small compact mirror.

  Connie gripped it and looked at her reflection. Two thin black bands ringed her neck exactly at the center. A permanent mark on her skin as a reminder. Her eyes widened. "What does it mean?"

  "It means you’re now in the Brotherhood. According to the old texts, they are the marks of a soul-keeper. A form of Reaper that reaps a soul but keeps it, never allowing it to move on to another place. Neither heaven nor hell. You are, in essence, the same sort of being as Bishop. Give or take a few…” he waved his hand searching for the right word, “eccentricities.”

  Connie touched her neck. She didn’t feel any different and her skin felt as smooth as ever under her fingertips.

  Father Reynolds watched her from the corner of his eye as if it painted him to look at her full on, finally, he whispered, "it’s the price you paid for your vengeance."

  "How many other soul-keepers are there? And what is the significance of the bands?" Connie asked.

  "There are no other soul-keepers alive and each band represents a soul," Xander said. He lifted his sleeve so she could see the same fine lines circling his forearm.

  "But why do I have two? I only took Noah’s soul." She watched Xander’s face warily.

  "The other soul is mine," he said.

  Connie stared at him open mouthed for a second. Her heart began to thunder against her rib-cage. She accepted the penance or whatever for taking Noah’s soul and his life but she didn’t ever mean to cause Xander additional hardship. "Wait. I’m confused. You’re alive. How can I have your soul?"

  "Somehow you called my soul from Bishop’s care when I touched you. You are now my soul-keeper."

  "How many souls does Bishop “care” for?"

  He shook his head. "Bishop plants souls in places for keeping. You personally keep the souls you reap."

  "You mean right now I have Noah’s soul and your soul swimming around inside me?" The thought creeped her out even more than she expected. "How do I get them out?" She stopped. "No offence, Xander. I just don’t want this."

  Father Reynolds interrupted. "You don’t have a choice, Constance. This is the price you agreed to pay."

  Everything became crystal clear as she saw the entire situation from the outside. Rewards and consequences, although this whole situation looked a little heavy on the consequences. Killing Noah had been worth it though. No matter what it had turned her into. She stared down at the feather on her arm. "But that still leaves Bishop," Connie said.

  "What about him?" he asked.

  "He betrayed us, the Brotherhood."

  Father Reynolds jerked and turned fully to her for the first time. "Us? You’re already assimilated?"

  "I mean Mikon and I."

  "Ah yes, your soul-mated Reaper. I appreciate being informed of that, by the way."

  It was the first time she’d ever heard Father Reynolds use sarcasm but he continued his statement. "Bishop didn’t betray you. Mikon did."

  She shook her head. "No, I was there. Mikon died, not Bishop."

  "Mikon died because he chose to die. Not because Bishop gave away your proclivities."

  Confusion warred again inside her brain. "Father, please. Just tell me what happened."

  "Constance, I’ll grant you this one small mercy. Bishop got word Noah sought a soul-mated born Reaper pair. We had information you and Mikon might be a good match and we set it up."

  "What do you mean?"

  "I mean we set you two up to soul-mate, if that was going to happen."

  Connie shook her head. "How could you have known?"

  "The mysteries of the Church are not for you to know, Constance."

  "Once you soul-mated, Bishop contacted Noah, saying he wanted to exchange you two for the relics Noah possessed. Afterwards, Bishop spoke to Mikon, as the Brotherhood speaks, and told him why he needed to die."

  A hot tear slid down her cheek and she swiped it away savagely. "He chose to leave me? And now I’ve become something else, something other, in order to avenge his death, his meaningless death."

  "No, it wasn’t meaningless. His soul saved a woman who will one day become very important."

  Sacrifice. It always came down to sacrifice. Mikon betrayed her, not Bishop. She needed to get out. The world had suddenly shrunk and took her with it.

  She removed all the sensors and stood, wavering slightly. Father Reynolds moved to put her back in the bed, but she wrenched her arms from his grasp and ran. She didn’t know where or why until she found herself panting on the hospital roof. No one had followed her.

  The chill of the night air coated her skin but she barely noticed. She walked toward the edge of the roof and looked out over the crumbling ruins of a once great city. It mirrored her insides. All the solid pieces of her life now crumbled around her. The job she took so much pride in. Her mentor, her friend Xander, and finally Mikon.

  "You bastard. You fucking bastard. That wasn’t your choice. The moment we shared a soul was the moment your decisions became ours. How dare you," she said out loud to empty night air. "H
ow dare you!"

  She screamed her rage, her pain, her grief until she clutched her stomach, her bare knees pressed into the cold concrete ground.

  The slam of a door caused her to look up. Xander stood there.

  "What do you want?" she asked, tears now coursing down her face.

  "I wanted to see if you were okay."

  "I’ll never be okay again."

  He stepped forward, "the Brotherhood won’t be bad for you. You’re not being punished. It won’t be a terrible job."

  "That’s not it," she whispered.

  "You loved him?"

  "Yes. Look what good it did me."

  "Love should never be regretted."

  "How do you know?"

  "I loved once. I loved so much that I gave up everything for it once it ended. I’ve known love and I’ve known loss, Constance. You don’t hold the vigil for those feelings alone."

  "How do you make the pain stop? I feel like my chest is cracked open like an egg."

  He placed his jacket over her back and adjusted it around her. "You wake up every morning and try to make it through each day without crying, without screaming, without tearing yourself apart. Every day that passes, it gets a little easier to do each thing until it becomes a distant memory in the back of your mind."

  "Just like that, huh?" she said, swiping a hand under her nose to stop it running.

  "Just like that. You’re alive, Constance, and that is more than a lot of people can say."

  She allowed him to help her up, and she instantly became thankful she had his jacket as the gape in her hospital gown was not flattering, even in the darkness. "You can call me Connie if you want," she said, letting him lead her to the door. "Mikon says you’re a bad person."

  "Mikon is right. I am a bad person."

  "But are you a bad person or are you a person that did a bad thing, like me?"

  He sighed. "My soul is yours. You can answer that for yourself."

  Connie shook her head and went back into the hospital. She didn’t have the energy or the knowledge to look for the information. "I want to go home."

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Xander took Connie home and put her to bed.