Soul Eater

by Lindsey Sparks

  I heard a faint whisper behind me and spun around, raising my phone. But, again, the light revealed nothing but the benches and lockers that were supposed to be there. My pulse pounded, my breaths coming faster.

  “Come on,” I said, grabbing Nik’s hand. I pulled him over to the far corner, where two rows of lockers met, and sat on the bench. I wanted a view of the whole place; that way I could make sure none of the shadows snuck up on me from behind. I’d be no good to anyone screaming and running away.

  Nik stood beside the bench for a moment longer, scanning everything around us with his phone, then lowered himself to sit. He set his phone down on the short stretch of bench between us and leaned forward, planting his elbows on his knees. “Will I be able to see them, or do you think that’s just a you thing?”

  “I don’t know,” I admitted.

  “They were here, just then, weren’t they?” His eyes never stopped moving, never stopped searching the darkness surrounding us.

  I nodded. “I think so.” In such extreme darkness, the movement could’ve been a trick of the eye, but the whispering—that was unmistakable.

  I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and called out to the soul-energy. If I was going to be Isfet’s weapon—if I had to be—I figured I didn’t need to worry so much about bolstering the presence of the At and anti-At in my ba. Maybe the stronger and more powerful I was, the more likely it was that I might survive all this.

  Almost as soon as I reached out, the multitude of voices fluttered through my mind, and even before I opened my eyes, I knew my skin had started to glow with a faint rainbow luminescence. It was reassuring to know I could still forge a connection with the soul-energy, even in its sickly state. I was pretty sure I would need the collective’s help to cleanse the shadows and free their souls, just as I’d needed their help to eradicate the Cascade Virus from the millions infected.

  Or maybe I had the process entirely wrong. It was pure speculation until I actually got my hot little hands on one of the shadows. And to do that, I needed to draw one in, to set my trap.

  “Say something mean to me,” I told Nik.

  His endless search of every nook and cranny surrounding us stopped, and his attention turned to me. “I’m sorry?”

  “You know . . .” I turned to face him, drawing one knee up in front of me on the bench. “Hurt my feelings. Make me angry.”

  His face was a mask of confusion, until his eyes lit with understanding. “You want to use your emotions as bait.”

  I flashed him a tight grin. “Exactly.”

  “Well, does it have to be negative emotions?”

  I frowned. “I don’t know. I don’t see why it would . . .”

  “Well, then . . .” Nik placed his hand on my calf, the worn fabric of my jeans doing little to dilute the zing of pleasure caused by his touch. “Why don’t we try a different approach?” he asked.

  I looked down at his hand, then gazed at his face through my lashes. Was he really talking about what I thought he was talking about? My pulse spiked with anticipation. Despite everything I’d thought about during the car ride, despite my bone-deep resolve not to consummate our bond, potentially sealing it, I wanted to let this play out. It was dangerous and stupid and reckless. But then, reckless was my specialty. I’d always been fond of playing with fire.

  Nik stood partway, lifting his right leg over the bench to straddle it, and when he sat back down, he reached out, curving the fingers of one hand around the back of my neck.

  “But, what about—” I said, expressing what little resistance remained within me.

  Nik leaned in until his lips were barely an inch from mine. “I’m not scared.” His grip on my neck tightened, a gentle reminder that Nik’s tastes were far from vanilla. My pulse throbbed in my groin. “Are you?”

  I licked my lips and swallowed roughly. Yeah, I was afraid—of so many things. Of Isfet. Of the danger on the horizon. Of my connection to the universe and these powers that seemed to be taking me over. Of the scene on The Devil card, and on Judgment. Of the shadows and the chance that I would fail to stop them from killing hundreds of people. Of never getting my life back.

  But most of all, I was afraid of Nik and this thing between us that would become all-consuming if we let it. I was afraid that if we started something here, now, we might never stop. That terrified me down to my soul. And for some reason, that extreme fear excited me all the more.

  My heart stumbled as it raced. Nik pulled me closer, and I closed my eyes.

  A chill settled over me, making the hairs all over my body stand on end. Whispers surrounded us, a maligned choir of need. Of hunger.

  I opened my eyes, lips a hair’s breadth from Nik’s. He was watching me, curiosity overtaking the overt desire shimmering in his pale gaze. It was clear that he couldn’t hear the shadow’s eerie whispers but knew that I could.

  “They’re here,” I whispered, breath coming out in a white cloud. “Can’t you feel it—the cold?”

  Nik’s eyes widened, and he started to pull back, fingers trailing down my neck. “That’s them?”

  I nodded.

  Icy fingers brushed the back of my neck.

  Sucking in a breath, I jumped to my feet. I spun around, coming face-to-face with a shadow.

  Before I had the chance to call on the soul-energy for help, the shadow’s hand shot out, frigid fingers gripping my neck. Its touch seared my skin with cold.

  I grabbed the shadow’s freezing wrist and pulled, trying to make it let go of me. I knew there was something else I should be doing. I’d been trying to get my hands on one of them, and I had.

  Except panic set in, triggering a fight-or-flight response within me. All I could think about was getting away from this thing. This frightful abomination. The need to get away was all-encompassing, leaving no room for rational thought. At that moment, fleeing was rational.

  I kicked at the shadow, landing a solid knee to the groin, but the blow had little effect. I could feel myself weakening, like the shadow was draining my energy. Like it was stealing my life-force. I felt increasingly light-headed and dizzy.

  “Holy shit,” Nik said from behind me. “I can see it.”

  Another frigid hand grabbed my forearm, pulling my hand away from the first shadow’s wrist. Another’s icy fingers wrapped around my knee, burning cold seeping through my jeans in an instant. Another grabbed my ponytail, yanking my head back, and I was too weak to break free.

  I was supposed to be doing something, I knew that much. I was supposed to be fighting them in some way that didn’t involve actually fighting. But all I seemed capable of was struggling to get free.

  The face of the shadow gripping my neck grew more distinct, a yawning void appearing where its mouth would be and endless black holes sinking into the places where eyes should’ve been. I could see shimmering golden streams siphoning off of me and into its mouth. I was watching it feed on my immortal soul, and as I weakened, it grew stronger.

  A new wave of panic washed over me, making my heart flap around in my chest like a trapped bird. My vision darkened around the edges, and spots shimmered in front of my eyes.

  Out of nowhere, something gleaming with an otherworldly light sliced through the shadow’s arm, and its grip on my neck loosened. A moment later, the hand fell away.

  Nik was a blur moving around me, hacking at the arms of the shadows attempting to drag me down and consume the energy from my soul. I was so weak I could barely follow his movements. He seemed to be moving in fits and starts, going from one spot to another in a blink.

  I felt the icy grip on my arm drop away, then the one on my hair, then my leg.

  Nik’s very real, warm hand clasped my arm, and he dragged me away from the huddle of wounded, semi-corporeal shadows. His arm snaked around my back, and he hoisted one of my arms over his shoulders as we stumble-ran to the door. Once outside, we didn’t stop until we’d reached the car.

  Nik opened the passenger side door and sort of shoved me in, then r
an around the front of the car to the driver’s side. We were racing away from the school in seconds.

  I leaned forward, elbows on my knees and head hanging, gulping in breaths of air. I heard the windows roll down, letting in cool, fresh night air.

  “Thanks,” I said, the word barely audible between panting breaths.

  After a minute or two, riding in the car while bent over like that started to make me feel nauseated, so I pushed myself up to a sitting position. I groaned, head spinning. The world was moving too quickly outside for my dizzy brain. I flopped back in the seat and closed my eyes.

  “What happened back there?” Nik asked.

  Embarrassed at how I’d reacted—or failed to react—I shook my head, ponytail rubbing against the headrest. “I panicked.”

  “You had every right to,” Nik said. “That was some freaky-ass shit.”

  I laughed weakly, letting my head flop to the side and opening my eyes so I could see his profile. His jaw was tensed, and he had a white-knuckle grip on the steering wheel. “Thank you,” I whispered. Then, sucking up my pride, I said, “I’m glad you were there.”

  Nik glanced at me sidelong, letting out a low, tense laugh. “Me too, Kitty Kat. Me too.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  “This isn’t the way to the ferry,” I said, the side of my head resting against the passenger window as I watched the familiar Seattle condos and apartment buildings fly by. I’d put the windows up on the bridge, my dizzy brain unable to stand the thump-thump-thump of the evening air breaking across the open window as we sped along.

  Nik had exited I-90 and was heading north on I-5. Away from the ferry. I was back on my home turf, and that knowledge comforted me. Other than my quick trip through the city yesterday, I hadn’t been back in Seattle since before I died . . . the first time. It had been nearly a month, and I missed my city, desperately.

  “I thought we could use a little vacation from the compound,” Nik said, and I looked at him. “We have some things to work out . . .”

  I narrowed my eyes, my cheeks heating. “I’m not sleeping with you,” I said, though my body, possibly even my soul, desired that exact thing. And sleep—actual, glorious sleep. My body desired a shit-ton of sleep.

  Nik chuckled. “I was actually talking about talking.”

  “Oh, right.” My cheeks burned hotter, the blush spreading down to my neck and chest. I cleared my throat and returned to staring out the window. “So, where are you taking me?”

  “Home,” he said, and I actually teared up at the prospect.

  I sat up straighter in my seat, fingers gripping the handle on the door. “But what about the gawkers?”

  It had become a well-known fact that Ninth Life Ink belonged to me, and the crowd that seemed to have taken up residence around my shop made the one surrounding my bike at the Factoria Mall parking lot look like child’s play. The police actually had to shut down that block of Broadway to traffic last weekend because of all the tourists, and so far as I knew, they hadn’t reopened it. At least business at the shop had been booming. During our last check-in, Kimi reported that we had a wait list over seven years long now. Unprecedented and absolutely insane. And this was just to get tattoos at the place that I owned, not by my actual hand.

  Nik took the Olive Way exit and started the steep trek up to Capitol Hill. “I’ll distract the crowd, and you can sneak in through the back door,” he said.

  I pursed my lips, thinking it might work. Since the big reveal, Nik had become a well-known and beloved Nejeret—he even had several online fan clubs devoted to him. Oh yeah, Nekure.com was a thing now. He was nearly as recognizable as me, though people didn’t quite have the same obsessive reaction when they saw him, since he hadn’t magically saved the majority of the human population’s lives. He was the bad-boy Nejeret, the James Dean of immortality, and the world loved him for it. If people spotted him heading into my shop, they’d go bonkers.

  “You better put on a good show and keep them away from me,” I told him, “because I’m way too wiped to be able to control what comes out of my mouth right now . . .” More bad publicity was about the last thing I needed. What I needed was for the world to get off my ass so I could save the damn thing. Again.

  When we reached the intersection of Olive and Broadway at the peak of the hill, Nik turned right instead of left, heading away from my place.

  I looked at him, eyebrows raised. Now where was he taking me?

  “Food,” he said and nodded to the orange sign just ahead. Dick’s Drive-In.

  My mouth started watering immediately. I could smell the grease from the fryer before Nik even parked, and when he opened the door and the delicious smell of my favorite delicacy wafted in—a Dick’s deluxe burger, with its perfect ratio of bun, beef, and melty cheese—I actually groaned.

  He pulled into a spot between two silver sedans, and I tugged my hood up and scooted lower in my seat. The Tesla’s windows were ultra-tinted, so somebody would have to put their face right up to the passenger side window to even know that another person was in the car, but still—couldn’t be too cautious. See, I wasn’t always reckless. In your face, Heru.

  “Wait here,” Nik said, grabbing his wallet from one of the cup holders in the center console and easing out of the car. He was moving carefully, conserving his energy. Looked like his short time spent grappling with the shadows hadn’t left him unaffected. I felt like an ass for not thinking of his well-being sooner; after all, now, his well-being was almost the same thing as my own.

  I watched him walk up to the line of patrons waiting to order, offering little nods or waves at each and every person who looked his way, recognition lighting their eyes. The cell phones came out as quickly as the whispers and nudges began, but Nik didn’t look the least bit bothered by all of the attention. He’d spent so many years hiding who and what he really was—not only from humanity, but also from our own people—that I thought he might even be enjoying all of the attention.

  Deep down, I yearned to be more like him, but I feared it just wasn’t in my nature. I was too used to being bitter about the things that set me apart from everyone else in the world to let people admire me for them.

  Nik only stood in line for maybe fifteen seconds before the young hipster couple at the front offered to let him cut in front of them in exchange for posing for a picture with them. He did so readily, arms lazily draped over their shoulders, just the hint of a smile touching his lips and pale gaze as intense as always, but somehow open and friendly, too.

  I watched Nik order through the window, envious of the easy way he chatted with the girl serving him. He leaned down, resting his elbows on the counter, and flashed the girl a devilish half smile. I couldn’t pick up whatever he said to her, but it made her blush prettily as she averted her eyes, gazing at him through her lashes.

  My admiration turned to white-hot jealousy in a heartbeat. My hand was tugging on the door handle before I even realized what I was doing, and I pushed the car door open a couple inches. I barely regained my senses in time to pull it shut again.

  Nik’s head tilted to the side, and he glanced my way, alarm flashing across his features. It disappeared as soon as he saw that I hadn’t actually stepped out of the car, but his gaze lingered, and I could’ve sworn the corner of his mouth lifted in the faintest of smirks.

  I gritted my teeth together and hugged my middle, fingers itching for the door handle. The fucking bond was messing with my head, making me feel way stronger things toward Nik than I ever had before—with him or with anyone else.

  I remembered, years ago, Lex telling me her bond with Heru made her feel like a crazy person at times, especially at first. She’d said the spikes of jealousy were the worst; when they struck, she’d almost completely lost control of her actions. And apparently it was the same on Heru’s side.

  Looked like it wasn’t any different for Nik and me. Oh, joy of joys.

  Clearly, Nik knew what was up, because he straightened and visibly toned down hi
s charm during the rest of his interaction with the girl taking his food order. But I’d have sworn that hint of a smirk remained. Like he was enjoying this.

  He returned to the car maybe six minutes later, juggling three paper bags stuffed with food and a drink carrier holding four cups. He opened the driver’s side door and handed me the bags of food, then the drink tray, then got in. “I wasn’t sure what you’d want, so I got some of everything,” he said, slicking back the locks of hair that had fallen forward when he’d ducked down to get into the car.

  “I can tell,” I said, stomach rumbling.

  I set the bags of food on the floor under my legs. I was barely able to resist tearing into one, but the knowledge that we would be able to eat in peace, safely tucked away in the apartment over the shop, in a few minutes gave me just enough strength of will. With that heavenly smell wafting around inside the car, gods knew I needed all the strength I could get.

  I didn’t hold back on the drinks, however. I was thirsty as all hell, and I could see through the opaque lids that two of the cups were filled with a fizzing liquid the most perfect artificially colored shade of deep red. I shoved a straw through the X puncturing the center of one of the lids and took a deep draw. Moaning, I closed my eyes, savoring the sickly-sweet taste of Cherry Coke.

  When I realized the car had yet to move, I raised my eyelids and turned my head to look at Nik.

  He was watching me, pale eyes dancing with amusement.

  “What?”

  He pressed his lips together and shook his head once. “Nothing.”

  “Mm-hmm . . .” I took another drink of liquid heaven. “Why don’t you get a hair product with a little more hold? Keep it from falling into your face all the time.”

  Don’t get me wrong, the classic 1920s undercut looked hot as hell on Nik, fitting his tattooed, leather-coat-wearing, cigarette-smoking persona perfectly. I narrowed my eyes, just a little. In fact, it fit him so perfectly that I wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d started the trend, way back when.