The Lost Soul Trilogy (Primani Book 5)

by Laurie Olerich

  Sean was sitting up, but his color was green again and beads of sweat ran down the side of his face. “Didn’t I put a blade in you? Why aren’t you dead, demon?”

  I sidled closer to him and helped him stand up and lean against the wall. I knew without any doubt that he wouldn’t want to die lying on the basement floor. There were two other things I was positive about. One, Balin would try to kill Sean before leaving our house and two, I would die protecting him. This night wasn’t going to end well for any of us. Where were Raphael and Dec? A little backup would be great right now.

  Balin’s handsome face twisted with humor at Sean’s question. He purred in that creepy silky demon voice, “Oh, but I was dead. And don’t think I don’t owe you for that. That’s why I’m here. First, I’ll kill you, and then I’ll take her. My boss has a soft spot for her and wants her back.”

  He was about 10 feet away from me now. Mentally, I groaned at my predicament. I had no gun, no knife; no weapons handy at all. Sean was struggling to rally his killing powers, but I could see he didn’t have the energy. His body had been drawing the saol to his broken leg, and there was precious little extra to rally into his hands. The bones in his face were white with the strain of keeping upright.

  “You don’t look too bad for a dead demon, Balin. Why don’t you tell us how you got a new lease on life?” I was stalling and furiously thinking.

  Could I vaporize him, on purpose? We hadn’t practiced that yet. I wasn’t sure I could do it without blind panic. Plus, he was too close to Sean…

  What if I missed?

  “Let’s just say I have your friend to thank for that. I’m sure he’ll be glad to know we’ve worked out a few kinks. Now, let’s go.” He reached for me intending to grab my arm and I let him.

  As soon as he grabbed my arm, I flipped him onto his back and kicked him in the head. Jumping back out of his reach, I looked around for something to use as a weapon. There wasn’t anything sharp. I was on my own. He got up and in a heartbeat was standing next to Sean. He wrapped his hand around his throat and squeezed. Sean dug his fingers into Balin’s hands trying to pry them off, but Balin had the advantage. Sean’s face turned red and then purple as they struggled. My vision went completely white when Balin started laughing and let Sean drop to the ground. His laughter pushed me over the edge, and I sent all of my power towards him expecting to vaporize him in a cloud of smoke. Instead, a beam of white light shot out of my hand and cut him in half where it landed. The half that was cut away slid off to the side. The other half looked at me incredulously. His mouth was working to form words, but nothing came out. With one last burst of energy, I vaporized him into smoke.

  Only half of him was gone though. The smaller half was still lying across Sean’s feet. He was sucking in oxygen and trying to slide away from the stinking remains, but his knee gave out and he sagged against the wall with a moan of pain.

  “Wait! I’m coming.” I stumbled over to him and pulled him away from Balin and we collapsed in a pile together. My breath was coming in gasps, and my eyes burned like they were literally on fire. I squeezed them closed and lay my head on his shoulder. He was drenched in sweat, but I didn’t care. I was exhausted and fell asleep on him.

  Someone shaking my shoulder woke me up a few minutes later. My eyes flew open, and I pushed myself up to stand in front of Sean again.

  “Get away from him!” There was a crazy edge to my voice that caused him to take a step back. My eyes started to burn again, and this time I embraced the fire and let it grow. Glaring at him, I flexed my fingers in warning.

  “Whoa! Relax! I was looking for Killian. Have you seen him?” James sounded less sure of himself than usual. But then he realized how hurt Sean was and a slow smile spread over his face.

  “Looks like your boy took one for the team. He’s not dead, I hope.”

  “Are you enjoying his pain?”

  He rolled his shoulders and smirked, “It’s about time the big man feels some pain. He’s overdue.”

  “Overdue?”

  My blood actually started to boil like effervescent bubbles floating through my veins; my fingers pulsed with new life, with new power. I looked down at my hand and noticed without surprise that my hands were glowing and the light was spreading up my arms. I let it take over and relished the pleasure of the saol coursing through my blood, giving me strength and the will to use it. My vision turned white again, and I met James’ arrogant stare with one of my own.

  The smirk vanished and he began backing towards the stairs. Relentless, I stalked after him without breaking eye contact. Every detail of his face was clear. Every pore, every line was magnified, as were his thoughts which were running around in circles inside his head. He was panicking and trying to get out of here. He was afraid of me now; it was the eyes. The white light was freaking him out. He didn’t understand how it was possible. So he backed away…

  “I don't like you, James. If you even think about coming near Sean I will blow you to pieces.” To emphasize my words, I raised my hand and blew a hole in the wall just off to his left. Concrete splinters flew like shrapnel sticking in the arm that he raised to protect his face. Confused and afraid, he stared at the blood running down his arm.

  “That’s right, James. Be afraid. Be very afraid.” I didn’t recognize my own voice.

  He left without another word.

  A sound from the other side of the room surprised me, and I whirled around ready to do battle. It was Raphael and Dec. They’d finally showed up and were staring with open mouths and raised hands.

  Raphael raised an eyebrow and frowned at Dec accusingly. “Did you know about this?”

  Dec shoved his hair back and answered, “Uh, not this exactly. She’s been gaining power for a long time now. Just a little at a time though. Nothing like this!” He looked at me with appreciation and added, “Wow, you were amazing. Can you be my partner again?”

  “Anything you want, Dec. Just make it stop! It hurts-a lot!” I was still glowing and it was getting really painful. My skin was too thin to hold it all inside, and I felt like I was about to burst at the seams.

  “Go to her, Declan. I’ll see to Sean.” Raphael sighed and said, “It’s a good thing you found me when you did.”

  “Dec, I'm melting!” I was getting frantic.

  He scooped me up and dropped me into the shower. Stepping back out, he turned on the cold water, and I squealed with shock. “What are you doing? Drowning me won’t help!” I tried to climb out, and he blocked the exit.

  Laughing hard, he wheezed, “It’ll bring your temperature down faster. Just stay there for five minutes, and we’ll do the rest out here.”

  So I stood in the shower and watched in amazement as the white light faded and my skin returned to normal. My eyes felt better too. Without the supernatural fire heating me up, the water was too cold and I was shivering. Shutting off the faucet, I begged for a towel.

  “All right, come here then.” He wrapped a blanket over my shoulders and led me to the living room. “Sit down and stay covered.”

  “What possessed you to turn yourself into a road flare?” he asked.

  “I don’t know. I was so furious…It just happened, kind of. I’ve been getting more powers and more strength. I don’t know why. I don’t know where it’s coming from either. It’s really freaking me out.”

  “Okay, we’ll talk about it in a minute. But for now, breathe evenly and deeply. Tell your body to cool off, control your temperature--use your mind. If you allow your anger to rule you, darlin’, you’ll burn yourself up.” He reached out and touched my cheek. I leaned my chin into his palm, and he rubbed it with a small grin.

  “You know you can tell me anything, right?” he asked with a worried look.

  I fidgeted and said, “Yes, but some things are too stupid to talk about.”

  “If they’re so stupid, why do you let them make you mad?” Chafing some color, human color, back into my hand, he said, “Tell me what’s got you so upset, Mica. Plea
se.”

  I stalled and stared at the lamp on the table. He’s right. I needed to talk to someone about this, and I couldn’t share any of my life with Dani or anyone else for that matter. How would I explain these things to them? They’d never understand. Dec would though. I clung to his big warm hand and told him about everything that was bothering me. I was jealous over Sean’s girlfriends and the receptionist. He’d hurt my feelings when he let her touch him like he was available. I was confused and afraid of my new powers. Where were they coming from? What if I hurt someone innocent? I was getting more and more afraid of James and what he was doing. I was terrified that Scott Flynn and his bloody knife would kill some innocent girl just because she looked like me. I had so many things to worry about and no control over anything anymore.

  He listened intently throughout my rambling and only asked a few questions to help me clarify my worries. He tried not to laugh when I ranted about the slutty receptionist.

  “Oh, Lara? Everyone’s had sex with her. It’s like a rite of passage or something.” He tapped a finger on the side of his face, thinking. “Except for Killian, I think; no one ever knows who he sleeps with.” Seeing my narrowed eyes, he chided, “But Mica, Sean wouldn’t do that now. I can’t believe you’d let her make you jealous. You should know better.”

  “Yeah, I’m so awesome. I just broke his leg in a temper tantrum, and then he was almost killed by a zombie demon that I let into our lives,” I snorted. “Yeah, I’m a prize worth keeping.”

  He didn’t laugh; instead he pulled me down to the couch and said, “What’s really bothering you? All of these worries are valid, don’t get me wrong, but you’re dancing around something else. I can feel it.”

  The problem was I didn’t know what was bothering me. I was just angry. In any event, I was saved from trying to explain that by Raphael.

  “Declan, come and help me put our young Sean into his bed. The worst of it’s done now, but he’ll feel better in a bed and off the basement floor.” Turning back to me, he said, “Oh, and Mica?”

  “Yes?”

  “Would you mind fixing this old man a cup of tea? Earl Gray, if you have it.”

  Earl Gray tea? Raphael was a surprise every time we met. Always elegant and charming, he treated me with great respect. His impeccable old-fashioned manners masked an old and tremendous power within him. I’d only seen him use this power for healing, but I suspected it hadn’t always been that way. He was still lean and tough as a warrior though not quite as muscular as Sean and Killian. He was older than them though. I thought he was in his late 40s. I was just guessing about that since I wasn’t sure how old he was. For all I knew, he was 5,000 years old…

  “How is he?” I asked as I handed him the tea cup and saucer.

  He spooned a bit of sugar into his cup and stirred before answering me. “He’ll certainly live; however, he was in considerable pain.” Setting down his spoon with a clink, he asked, “Might I ask why you felt he deserved to have his leg crushed?” His eyes were cool as he looked deeply into my own.

  I resisted the urge to gulp; instead, I frowned into my own cup. “I didn’t mean to break his leg, I swear. I just wanted to…”

  “Hurt him?” he finished for me.

  “No! Yes…but not like that! I was so mad I just wanted to blow off steam and have a good sparring match. He’s always been stronger than me so I thought he could handle anything I threw at him.” I was miserable again.

  He was quiet for a moment and then said, “Sean feels that you’re stronger than a human girl of your size should be. Do you think that’s true?”

  I glanced at him in surprise. “I don’t really know. But lately, I feel as if I’m changing on the inside.” I smiled awkwardly and chewed on my lip.

  “Did he tell you I’ve been able to translocate people? Usually when I try to do that to demons, they end up vaporized. Today though, I was afraid to blow up Sean by accident. So I tried to focus the saol towards the demon by channeling it through my hand, and a white light shot out of my hand and hit him. It cut him in half! It was like a laser! I was shocked. I have no idea how that happened.”

  Raphael seemed shocked too. He looked steadily at me as if looking for holes in my story. Suddenly my rune began to tingle, and I idly rubbed it with my thumb.

  “May I?” He indicated my hand. I nodded and he picked it up and examined the rune carefully. “Hmm.” He lifted a finger to touch it and I flinched.

  “Don’t do that!” But I was too late. As he touched his fingertip to it, my blood rose to meet it in an outline of pure golden light. He nearly dropped my hand in surprise.

  Closing his eyes, he traced the rune murmuring, “Fascinating.” Setting my hand back on the kitchen table, he asked levelly, “Who’s got the twin?”

  “I do,” Killian answered from the doorway. “Am I interrupting?” He nodded respectfully to Raphael. “I can come back later.”

  “May I?” Raphael gestured at his hand.

  Shrugging, Killian offered it and watched quietly while Raphael examined the rune. Raphael seemed strangely interested in the connection between the two runes. Killian’s rune had been glowing when he walked into the kitchen. The sight of it unleashed butterflies in my stomach. Did I want to be connected to Killian in such a physical way? The twin runes felt too…intimate? Yes, intimate. An odd feeling of history snuck up on me, and I had the strangest feeling that I knew him in ways I couldn’t define. Déjà vu? I gave myself a mental shake. I had no idea, but I had more important things to do than to wonder about Killian. I excused myself to go and check on Sean.

  Killian asked, “Will you let him know I’m back, and I’ll check on him in a little while?” He idly toyed with the gold ring on his finger while meeting my eyes across the room. His were worried.

  Politely, I said, “I’ll let him know. Just don’t come too late; we’re going to bed early. I’m really tired tonight.”

  Sean was lying on the bed staring at the ceiling when I walked in. The curtains were closed, and the nightlight was off. It seemed unusually dark to me, and I resisted the urge to turn on the light. Instead, I washed up and changed into a clean t-shirt and perched on the edge of the bed. He smoothed my hair back with a half a smile.

  “You’re beautiful when you’ve gone psychotic. You know that, right?”

  “Nice. Thanks for reminding me.” I felt badly enough without reminders. “It wasn’t one of my shining moments. I’m so sorry about your leg.”

  He gave me an amused look that promised payback but just leaned back. “I wasn’t talking about my leg, though you were a little crazy when you broke it,” he laughed softly. “I was talking about the way you handled Balin and James.” He looked impressed with me and turned on his elbow to watch me.

  I smiled hesitantly and worried, “Did I do the right thing though? I don’t know the rules yet. I wanted to kill James on sight, just in case he deserved it, but then I thought that was probably bad form.” I looked hopefully at him.

  There was always the next time.

  That got a real laugh out of him. “Good thinking. You really shouldn’t go around killing angels…it can lead to some really atrocious karma problems later. Leave James to us.”

  I sat up and hovered over him in agitation. “But Sean, you didn’t see the look on his face when he saw you laying there helpless. I swear he wanted to kick your leg or something. He was so…smug. He said you had it coming. I wanted to slap the crap out of him. What is wrong with him?”

  He face hardened into an angry scowl. “It’s worse than I thought then. We’ll deal with him in any case.” Pulling me closer, he nuzzled my neck. “Now before we go to sleep, do you want to tell me why you wanted to beat the hell out of me today? Is this about my ex’s from 2,000 years ago?”

  Well, when he put it like that, it did seem a little dumb. It’s not like he’s getting back together with them…

  “Dec told me about Lara tonight. How many times did you sleep with her?”

  Turnin
g his head away in frustration, he pushed up to sit against the headboard. Running his hand over his jaw, he groaned and rolled his eyes. “Are you serious right now? I don’t know! Once, maybe? It’s been a really long time. I don’t even remember the year.”

  “It’s not that so much as what happened today. How could you let her touch you like that? Right in front of me? That’s so disrespectful to me!” Huffing a bit, I made a point of tamping down my anger and said more evenly, “You deserved getting kicked in the ribs but not getting your leg broken. For that, I’m sorry. But I’m not sorry for being mad at you in the first place.”

  Ignoring my apology, he touched the locket resting against my chest. At his touch, it picked up the rhythm of his heart and the tiny vibrations made my pulse quicken. His eyes softened and he slowly wrapped his fingers around the back of my neck and pulled me down for a kiss. He kissed me with a tenderness and softness that spoke of love and caring and amends. I let go of my anger and let it drift away into the night. There was nothing as important as the two of us together.

  He cupped my chin and said, “I have no real excuse for today. I was trying to annoy you. I’m sorry though. I didn’t realize how much it would hurt you. I’m an idiot.” He stroked a trail around my jawline, following it with his mouth. “You are the most important person in my world, Mica. I need you to believe that.”

  I shifted so I was curled on top of him with my head on his shoulder. He hugged me closer and asked, “Do you?” His voice was soft but demanding nonetheless. He wasn’t going to drop this until I answered him.

  Leaning back on my elbow, I said seriously, “I do. My heart almost stopped today. I came so close to losing you again.” My emotions overwhelmed me, and I kissed him with all the pent up fear and frustration of the day. Rolling me onto my back, he was kissing me into oblivion when Killian’s voice penetrated the door.

  He yelled, “Is this a bad time?”