The Soul's Alliance (The Agents Series Book 2)

by Wendy Knight

  Death. Navi's boss. And I'd met with him.

  They said a piece of my soul had been torn and taken. Taken to create a shell for the sea witch to come to land. Now I could see it — not my small piece of soul, but her shell, made up of hundreds of thousands of souls trapped to her body for eternity.

  Or until Navi set them free.

  Navi's army fought the horde of demons — aswangs, shape shifters who stole human bodies as their shells to protect them from daylight. Otherwise, they were driven back into the ocean at the rising of the sun. The same time Navi's army of ghosts was sent back to their cells and Navi lost all her magical powers.

  We had until sunrise to defeat her.

  We. I hadn't realized I would do anything more than watch from the lip of the canyon until that moment, but her army was falling. She needed every soul she could get.

  Including mine.

  Because if Konstanz lost her best friend, she would never recover.

  Especially if she already lost me. And if Navi died, there went my only chance to make it back to Konstanz. I wondered briefly, because fear held me frozen at the lip I crouched on, how Konstanz would feel with a ghost for a boyfriend.

  Especially since I'd opened her eyes. She'd seen me in the hospital and now she could see everything. Everything Navi had fought so hard to keep her away from. As long as her soul's eyes were closed to the demons and the monsters and the ghosts, she was relatively safe. But once her eyes were open, they hunted her relentlessly.

  And I'd opened them. Because I hadn't wanted her to cry.

  I was just glad she was at a hospital. Hospitals were safe. As long as she stayed there, and as long as Navi's army didn't let any monsters past these walls.

  Below me, a warrior fell. Their weapons laid useless in the sand as the aswang dragged them toward the sea witch. To give her another soul for her shell.

  I jumped, landing in the middle of battle, and grabbed the weapon, suddenly grateful for Navi's torturous lessons. I attacked the nearest demon, amazed at what these swords could do compared to the practice swords we'd been given. It was light, my arms didn't tire, and they glowed with the power of the moon. Elizabeth, Navi's second in command, had called them moon blades. Or something like that.

  I sliced and jumped out of the way, moving from one demon to the next before anything could hit me and take more of my soul. I slashed with my sword, trying to remember my lessons, and stayed mobile. Keep moving, keep moving.

  Make it back to Konstanz.

  It was working. I was alive, relatively speaking. Fighting like her warriors. We were beating them back, but the sea witch wasn't slowing. Between Navi and Death and the hell hounds they'd ridden in on, they were making her crazy but she wasn't dying. I didn't have time to watch, though. I had to keep fighting.

  Keep moving.

  I was surprised, then, when Navi screamed and I risked a glance over to see her being forced deeper and deeper into the water while her ghosts fought to distract the sea witch and the demons fought to drag her further in. Toward the lair. If she was pulled there, she would never make it back.

  "Hey, you stupid monster!" My blood froze as a kitchen knife shot end over end past my face and embedded itself in the sea witch's neck.

  A kitchen knife.

  "Leave her alone!"

  Konstanz. Konstanz was here.

  "No," I moaned as she climbed over the rock wall into the interior.

  "I told you," Konstanz kept screaming, "I wouldn't abandon you again."

  The demons went insane, like someone had presented a drug to an addict, and they raced toward her, climbing the wall like possessed spiders.

  "Konstanz, run!" Navi screamed, leaving the sea witch to go after the demons chasing her best friend. The ghosts, the army, joined her, leaping up the rock to protect Konstanz.

  And Konstanz, my brave, sweet, beautiful Konstanz, stood on the rock like a goddess and hurtled sharp kitchen utensils like a professional knife thrower.

  I couldn't let her fight alone. I had to get her out of there. I had to protect her.

  I moved, between one breath and another, from across the chasm to her side. She couldn't wield these weapons, but I could, and I fought with a ferocity that frightened even me. She didn't seem to realize, though, that I was protecting her and she should run. She kept fighting, kept slicing at the demons like she'd done it a thousand times before and it was then I saw the deep claw marks across her arm and her shoulder.

  She had fought them before. While I'd been so worried about my own soul, distracting Navi and selfishly worried about what would happen to me, the demons had found her.

  Because of me.

  "Konstanz, you have to get out of here. They'll kill you!" I screamed at her. "I'll hold them off. Just—just run!"

  The words rippled the air in front of me, knocking everything back, giving her room to breathe.

  She didn't take her eyes from the monsters in front of us, didn't glance my way, but the sweetest, briefest smile lit her face.

  "No."

  "We'll protect her, Navi! Kill the witch!" one of the ghosts yelled and Navi sent one last, desperate look toward Konstanz before turning on her heel and sprinting back across the chasm toward the witch.

  The demons didn't care about Navi anymore, though. They wanted Konstanz. The force of the horde was focused on the sweet, fearless woman who fought bravely at my side. Which was bad for the sea witch because there was very little standing between her and Navi.

  But bad, so bad for Konstanz.

  For every soul that fell under the onslaught, Navi freed ten from the sea witch's shell, and several stayed to fight. When given the option of an afterlife or a war, they were choosing to fight.

  That was true bravery. I wasn't sure I knew many in this world who would do that.

  "You did," a voice whispered. My mother's voice.

  It was different though, I argued between the slashing of my blade. I stayed for love. I couldn't abandon Konstanz, and I couldn't abandon Navi because if she died, I died, and Konstanz would lose us both.

  So I fought. Over and over, slashing and bashing and kicking when they got too close, trying to knock them down to the chasm below. The army, too, wouldn't give up and wouldn't surrender, even when friends fell under the onslaught. They kept fighting.

  My father had always said that everyone fought for themselves. When men were on the battlefield, they fought to make it out alive. That was the way he'd fought, and the way he'd taught me to fight.

  But he was wrong.

  This army, and I suspected anyone who fought in battle, fought for the one beside them. They fought for those they loved and they fought for those they'd lost.

  From the ground below, Navi yelled. She was barely visible, darting around the sea witch, under legs that she hacked at with her two mighty swords. "Death! We're out of time!"

  It was true. The sun was rising. And the sea witch's shell was cracked and full of holes. She wouldn't survive.

  She didn't seem to care, though. All she cared about was Navi.

  She was pushing them both back to the water. She was giving up her chance at freedom all to take Navi's soul. The waves washed over her, pulling Navi back while in the distance, the water bubbled and boiled and the doorway to her lair shimmered and beckoned.

  Konstanz screamed and scrambled down the side of the wall, fighting demons, shoving them out of her way. They tore at her, reached for her soul even as the sun killed them. They were so focused on Konstanz, they'd forgotten the sun.

  And it roasted them alive.

  I followed, trying to clear her a path because she wasn't stopping no matter what was in her way.

  But Navi was gone, pulled out of sight by the sea witch. What few demons remained went after her. There was no coming back from that.

  Konstanz kept screaming. She would have followed them into the water, I truly believe that, but the mighty hell hound, Garmr, that Navi was so fond of, made of flames and poison, growled deep i
n his throat.

  And dove into the waves.

  Steam sizzled as his fire—his very life force— was extinguished, but he didn't hesitate. He shoved his muzzle into the water and bounded backward.

  Carrying Navi by the ankle.

  Chapter 20

  Bryson

  The sun's rays hit the interior, chasing away every shadow, and any remaining demons died under its onslaught. The ghosts, the army, those who had just fought so valiantly, were supposed to be sent back to their cells until the moon rose again, but somehow they stayed, gathered reverently around their mighty leader.

  Konstanz raced to Navi's side, sobbing. Navi wasn't moving. She was covered in blood, hers and the sea witch's. Bones were broken and exposed, and water no doubt flooded her lungs. Her throat had been torn.

  Death, silent and hooded, approached.

  If Konstanz happened to even glance in his direction, he would take her soul. To gaze upon Death as a mortal was, well, death.

  "Konstanz, don't look at him! You'll die!" I bellowed, but she ignored me.

  "Death," Navi murmured, blood spilling from her lips, trailing down her chin and across her cheek to soak her hair. "Please don't take her yet. She was trying to help."

  "I think it is you we should be worried about," Death responded. He sounded amused, of all things. Konstanz turned her head and I lunged for her, trying to keep her from his view.

  "No! You can't have her! I need her," Konstanz sobbed.

  "Konstanz, you can't—" Navi murmured.

  "No!" Konstanz bellowed. "I'm a vet. I can stitch her up. She'll be fine! Just—I won't look at you. Please let me help her.!" she cried.

  "Bryson," I heard Navi's weak plea and I hurried to her side. "Tell Alec I love him."

  No. She was giving up. She was going to let Death take her.

  Konstanz sobbed, trying to stop the bleeding, but there was too much, it came from too many places. There were too many injuries. She would never recover from this.

  "Tell him yourself, Navi," I said softly, trying to sound lighter than I felt. "You aren't leaving until you save my soul."

  A hint of a smile turned her lips and Konstanz looked up hopefully.

  "Navi," Death started and I froze.

  Don't take her yet. Please don't take her yet.

  "You are one of my most powerful agents. You have fought the sea witch and drove her back into the ocean. It is your choice — will you come with me now or will you stay to fight another battle?"

  He was giving her a choice.

  I held my breath. Konstanz whimpered, tears soaking her cheeks, dripping onto her blood-stained collar. "If you say you'll go with him I'll be so mad at you!"

  "Navi!" Alec's voice echoed through the chasm and I looked up to see him racing down the side of the wall, heedless of the fact that if he fell, it was a long way to the bottom. One he probably wouldn't survive. But all he saw was Navi. "Navi, please!"

  "Alec! Joanna! She's hurt!" Konstanz could barely speak through her crying.

  Joanna was there. Navi's mom. The one who taught Navi everything she knew. She'd be able to convince her to stay, surely.

  "Alec?" Navi whispered.

  Elizabeth, Navi's second in command, the most powerful ghost anyone had ever met, shimmered next to Navi's side, her icy hand against Navi's cheek. "Please fight beside us."

  Alec hit the ground and ran to us, falling to his knees next to Navi and gathering her into his arms. "Angel, please. Please fight this."

  I held my breath, staying close to Konstanz's side, trying to protect her from a pain I could do nothing about. Who would choose to stay? After a battle like that, with so much pain and so much loss, who would choose to stay?

  Above us, Death said, "That's what I thought. Joanna, nice to see you again."

  I jerked my head toward him but his face was clothed in the darkness of his cloak. Only the red, glowing eyes. That looked faintly amused.

  "Does that mean—" Konstanz breathed, barely daring to hope.

  Joanna nodded, tears spilling down her cheeks.

  Navi was staying. She'd chosen to stay, despite everything.

  Or maybe because of it.

  "Wait," Navi croaked, and for one horrific second I thought she was changing her mind, that she would let Death take her after all, but she raised her hand. "Garmr, come." She groaned, trying to muster strength. "Alec, don't touch—Garmr—"

  Because of the whole made of flames thing, I didn't think Alec had a problem with that.

  The big dog pushed his head against Navi's hand and chuffed. "Thank you, dear friend."

  Konstanz held a shaking hand to her mouth, almost smiling. She always had loved dogs. Probably even the fiery hell-hound kind.

  "Come, Garmr. We'll see her soon. We have our weekly meeting tomorrow night, remember, Navi. Please don't be late." Death gave us one last amused chuckle and was gone.

  Joanna took Death's place next to Navi. "We hurried as quickly as we could. But I wasn't fast enough. I'm sorry Navi." Navi's eyes were closed and she would never see the guilt and the pain that crossed her mother's face, but I did. This would haunt Joanna for the rest of her life.

  "Mom." Navi started. "I fought the sea witch." A grin split her lip but didn't falter. "And I won."

  Her dad, who I hadn't even seen arrive, laughed.

  "At least for today. I won for today. And I freed souls. But not Bryson's." She struggled to sit up and I struggled to conceal the crushing disappointment. She'd freed so many, but mine hadn't been one of them. And I'd been so busy protecting Konstanz, I hadn't even noticed. "I didn't free yours. So I'm not done yet."

  "I don't understand what happened..." Konstanz said. She was in a hospital bed, having been checked for injuries and waiting for the results from x-rays. She'd received many stitches and the poking and prodding and constant questions had hurt her.

  And I hadn't been able to hold her hand.

  Now she lay alone, and I sat silent next to her bed. Or, floated, as it were. "Well, I followed Navi that night—" I started slowly because I'd already told her how I came to be a ghost twice.

  She shook her head. "No. Navi. What is she?"

  We'd thought it would be best if Navi told Konstanz herself, but Navi wouldn't go to a hospital. She said her injuries would be too hard to explain, especially when she healed with the rising moon. Alec fought to keep her alive at our apartment, her mother and father by his side. Apparently, this was a thing.

  A thing Konstanz had been doing for months.

  "She wanted to talk to you about that." I attempted to smooth her hair off her cheek but only succeeded in brushing the strands a little.

  "She's not here," Konstanz said stubbornly.

  I smiled. "What if the doctors hear you talking to yourself?"

  "They think I fell off Devil's Gate. I have head injuries. It's to be expected. Bryson, what is she?"

  "She's a demon hunter. An Agent. She works for Death. She recruits lost souls on their way to hell and gives them one last chance at redemption. Fight by her side or go to hell. Most choose hell. Some, the brave ones, fight for her. They push the demons back every night when they come out of the water."

  "But the ones that escaped? The one that attacked me?"

  "It snuck past her. The sea witch was sending a barrage of demons every night, trying to weaken Navi's forces. She couldn't contain them all."

  The moon was the key to everything. Navi would heal when the sun set. Her swords, her speed, her strength, all came with the moon. Her army was released when the moon rose and imprisoned again when it set. The demons came out at night, as well.

  "She lost many last night, didn't she?" Konstanz asked slowly.

  I nodded. So many. But she'd gained more. Those that she'd freed, those who weren't indebted trying to earn their escape from hell. They fought with her because she'd saved them.

  Nothing would ever be the same. Konstanz would be hunted by the demons for the rest of her life. There were Agents throughou
t the world who fought as Navi did, and Konstanz would never be able to go to a coast without fearing the monsters they fought.

  And who knew how long she would want a ghost for a boyfriend.

  Konstanz nodded, seeming to come to some internal decision. "Then I'll just have to fight with her. She can teach me."

  "Konstanz, I don't think that's the way it works."

  She smiled up at me. So sweet it nearly broke my heart, so soul-crushingly beautiful I couldn't breathe. "I don't care."

  Of course she didn't.

  "Bryson, I should have told you. That day in the grocery store. And then I didn't and I thought I lost you and then I thought I was going to die and never get a chance to tell you—"

  I raised an eyebrow, wondering if she realized she was babbling.

  She blushed adorably. "I love you, Bryson."

  She loved me.

  Konstanz. Loved. Me.

  My father had been wrong. When he'd said no one would ever love me, he'd been wrong. "I love you, too."

  That smile again. The one that drove me to my knees. And then she was all business. "If we're going to be together, things have to change. No more secrets, no more lies, even if you're trying to protect everyone with them. Got it?"

  I sucked in a breath, nodding slowly. "Of course. Then there's something I should tell you."

  She groaned, one shaking, weak hand covering her eyes. "Are you married?"

  I laughed softly. "No."

  "Are you aware that you don't need to breathe and yet you do it anyway?"

  I blinked. "Random, but no. I hadn't noticed. Are you trying to delay the secret you just told me I couldn't have?"

  "Yes."

  "I'm not married. It's not about me, at all, really." Which wasn't entirely true, but I was trying to soften the blow. "Remember I told you my dad sent me out here to find something for him, and I didn't want to?"

  She nodded slowly and I continued. "He — he, uh, he's a hunter, of sorts. I'm not sure exactly what it is he does, but it drove my mom away from him. From both of us. He's kind of a paid contractor, I think. Anyway—"