by LS Anders
Copyright © 2018 by LS Anders
Vex: Mythical Ink Series (book 1)
All rights reserved
Please respect the work of this author. No part of this eBook/book publication may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotation embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.
Use your own judgement to determine if the content of this novel is appropriate for you.
This romance is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locals are entirely coincidental.
Acknowledgements
Font: Apostrophic Labs and WolfbainX
Proofreading and Edits: Jenny Wootton and Judy Halloran.
Photograph copyrights: chromaco, blackday, rabbit75_fot, and Vilogsign @ www.Fotolia.com
Dedication
Sandra R. Neeley, author of Avaleigh’s Boys Series, for giving me that little extra push into the world of the paranormal.
Special Thanks
My ladies, Jenny and Judy, for all your hard work to help me make my naughty novels as flawless as possible.
To my readers for making my dreams of writing worthwhile.
Table of Contents:
Copyright © 2018 by LS Anders
Acknowledgements
Reading Order
About the book
Note From the Author
Follow Me Links
Reading Order
About the book
Realm of the Dead
Vex roamed the dimly lit passageways, navigating through the complex maze that the multitude of enclosures created. Set side by side and stacked one atop the other, the small cubes formed a labyrinth of interconnected, narrow corridors that all led to a single point, serving as exit and entrance into the elaborate prison. He could have wandered these halls with his eyes closed, having walked this route thousands of times before.
Occasionally, he would spare a glance at one of the souls that inhabited the tiny, transparent cubes, his lip curling back in disgust from the ugliness of their bruised auras. Some moaned and writhed in pain, reaching out to him as he passed. Others shrank back from him in fear, cowering into the farthest corner of their cells.
He had been told he possessed a menacing presence. Good. Anything to make their eternal stay more horrific was fine with him.
Vex held not a single ounce of pity for the specters housed within. In life, they had unknowingly been constructing their own cells, prisons of their own design. Every misdeed that caused harm to another living soul, be it animal or man, were transformed into the crystal-clear building blocks that made up each structure. All the evil, nasty deeds were accumulative to where they found themselves now.
He'd bet if they knew that the old saying, “you reap what you sow” was going to come to pass after death, these folks would have lived quite different lives.
People had their own various beliefs for what happens to the soul after death. The most common destinations were either Heaven or Hell, which was close to the mark. However, the reality of it was nearly inconceivable in its simplicity. The afterlife was what you made of it depending upon what kind of life you led in the Realm of the Living.
Once a person departs their Earthly body, they are transported to the Realm of the Dead. If the soul remained free of any serious transgressions, the spirit is assigned to a leisurely existence, sent to Utopia, a place of the person’s own imagination. Their own personal nirvana.
If the soul was tainted in some way, the spirit was sent to Vex for processing into Netherworld, then ushered to an eternal prison with no hope of escape. The more blackened the aura, the more horrific the confinement. No one knew what went on inside the cube of another, only that each one had its own brand of torture depending on the soul that had created it.
He was on his way to usher in another influx of the newly departed. To categorize each damaged soul and ensure they were assigned to their proper sectors. Netherworld was not for the weak willed. Reading auras was nauseating work, deciphering between the varying shades of gray, a talent that took a great deal of practice and being first sentry was a position Vex took very seriously.
Working his way up from custodian to head of his own sector and finally as lead warden, had taken him a great deal of time. How long, he didn't know. There was no way to mark the passage of time in the Realm of the Dead. Only Earthly beings were familiar with that custom, as the sun and moon traded places in the heavens on a regular schedule. Here there were no blue skies filled with cottony clouds or twinkling stars.
In Netherworld, where he spent the majority of his time, the only illumination came from the glow of oblong shaped orbs embedded in the impenetrable walls at regular intervals.
Here there was only solid rock, hollowed out by some unseen force. A forever expanding cave that made room for the ever-growing cells that would eventually house their evil creators once their essence departed from their Earthly bodies.
Reaching the entry point of Netherworld, he paused to observe the fresh souls already being ushered into the holding arena. The large, circular room that separated Netherworld from Utopia, awash with soft, white light, was the first and only stop before reaching whatever end was a soul’s destiny.
The transporters were already separating the brilliantly colored souls of the good from the gray of the damned. Angels were what the living commonly called them. Angels indeed. By definition, they were anything but. Some were the most proficient of pranksters. Always fucking with the sentries for sport, but he supposed it kept them on their toes.
Transporters were given beautiful features and glorious wings. It was said the more appealing their appearance, the less likely the spirit was to run away once the essence left the body. The transporters only had a few seconds to capture the life-force and take them on to the next plane of existence, where they were now. They had to be proficient at the capturing, because retrieving a rogue soul was no easy task. Once they were loose, they quickly learned the tricks of ghosting, and the next haunting tale for the living was born.
Demons. That was what his kind were known as. Their appearance terrifying. Huge in body and cruel of face, they had horns set wide atop their heads. The bigger the horns, the higher their rank.
He’d earned every inch of his horns, lengthening as he moved his way up through the ranks. Long and thick, with deadly points on the ends, he was most proud of the rack he'd grown.
Despite the beliefs about demons, sentries weren’t evil, merely specially trained guards. They were custodians that kept what was too evil to exist from reentering the world of the living.
Slipping easily through the tightly woven bars of the gate, Vex lifted a hand in greeting to Lucian. That particular transporter had become a friend of sorts.
“How goes it in the Realm of the Living?” Vex stepped farther into the arena.
“Oh, you know. Fly down, visit the dying, collect their souls and deposit them here. Same ole’, same ole’,” Lucian answered in a bored tone.
“At least you get a change of scenery,” Vex said waving his hand through the air. “All we get to see are rough cut walls and this place.”
His irritation with his surroundings was a sham. Actually, he couldn't have cared less. All he needed was right here, and his purpose for being had been set. He was utterly content with his lot. But, he did envy the transporters one thing, at least they got to bask in the splendorous beauty of the go
od souls instead of the stomach churning dismal grays.
“Is it my imagination, or is the number of bad souls growing?” Vex questioned, scanning the cluster of newcomers.
“Numbers are definitely growing,” Lucian answered, dropping his head. “Looks like you’ve got some nasty new inhabitants, but at least they can’t hurt anybody else if they’re here.”
“True, but there always seems to be another to take their place.”
Lucian chuckled. “So, you’re the glass is half-full kind of male? I never pegged you for a pessimist.”
“Well, maybe if I were as pretty as you, I would be in a better frame of mind,” Vex jested.
“Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful, Sentry,” Lucian poked back. “Besides, you’ve got those kick ass horns.”
“I do, don’t I?” Vex smirked, running his hands the length of the cylindrical projections adorning his skull.
“Cocky bastard.” Lucian winked before taking flight in the direction of the entrance to Utopia.
Vex proceeded forward, taking in the translucent remnants of the newly deceased, measuring the nimbus of each spectral being. Retaining the likeness of the flesh and bone body they once inhabited, the ones being sent his way ranged from the palest gray to a ghastly black of the most demented. He already knew which sector each apparition belonged, having watched the cubes being constructed by unseen hands as the people lived out their wicked lives.
Taking charge, Vex didn’t waste time ordering the other sentries about. Separating the herd of damaged souls that were now under his charge; Vex began sifting through the crowd, sorting through the varying shades and assigning each to the appropriate sentry that would see to their confinements.
Thoroughly engrossed in his work, he flinched as Lucian began to speak.
“Hey Vex, I think I have one of yours by mistake.” Lucian flew over and dropped the soul he’d been carrying in front of the male.
“Are you sure?” Vex leaned in closer to get a better look at the rare hue. “The aura is completely white.”
“Pretty sure. There seems to be a vague outline of gray just beneath the surface,” Lucian pointed out.
“Yeah, I see what you mean, the—”
The spectral cut him off, speaking frantically, the words jumbling together. “I’m not bad. I’m supposed to go with him,” she swore, pointing to Lucian. “I don’t belong in Hell. I belong in Heaven. I’m a good soul, pure…”
As the spirit continued to ramble, her aura began to glow a brighter white until it was as unspoiled as the artificial light in the holding arena. Her words were spoken with such conviction as she proclaimed her innocence that any doubts were pushed aside.
In adults, white auras were almost unheard of. Only the purest of heart possessed them which sadly meant most belonged to infants or children. It had been a great while since Vex had seen an adult in possession of one. Maybe his eyes had played a trick on him, making him see what Lucian had suggested.
Rolling back his muscled shoulders, the heavy material of his uniform stretched with him, displaying the corded muscles beneath. He wasn't liking his first experience with uncertainty, having never wavered from his first impression.
“... please, you must believe me,” the spectral finished, sharing a look between the two males.
Lucian looked to Vex for an answer.
Calling forth the closest sentry, Vex tasked him with watching over the soul as he and Lucian stepped away to speak in private.
“What are you thinking?” Lucian’s brow scrunched together with worry.
“I swear I saw the hint of gray, too. But, now? There is only white. I have never witnessed one that void of color unless it belonged to a child.” Vex shook his head in disbelief.
“Neither have I. So where does this leave us?”
Vex scrubbed a hand across his buzzcut. “I think we should set that one aside. Process her last. If she is as pure as she seems now, she should stay that way until we’ve finished with the others. If not, we should see the hint of gray return. If she is a trickster, she won’t be able to hold the pure white for a long period of time.”
“I agree.”
Moving off in opposite directions, the two males finished their work, reconvening where the soul in question stood wringing her translucent hands.
Vex walked a lazy circle around the spectral, closely examining every aspect of the pristine glow. There was nothing of the gray he had seen earlier.
Lucian flew above, getting a bird’s-eye view before landing next to Vex. “I don’t see it anymore. Not a single trace of what I’d seen earlier. Must be a fluke.”
Considering Lucian’s words, Vex took another turn around the translucent being. He had to have been mistaken, there was no sign of anything malevolent and none of the unoccupied cube-like prisons were calling out to him as belonging to this soul.
Stretching his arms above his head, Vex cracked his neck attempting to loosen the hesitation that was clinging tightly to him.
Giving Lucian a hard nod, his decision finalized, Vex declared, “She goes with you, Lucian.”
“Agreed.” The transporter nodded in return and escorted the audibly relieved soul towards the entrance to Utopia.
Without warning the spectral broke away from Lucian and darted to the portal where another transporter was just arriving from the Realm of the Living, knocking the transporter and the soul being carried aside.
“Hey!”
Vex’s head whipped around at Lucian’s alarming shout.
“What the…” Breaking out into a run, Vex made it to the portal too late to catch the spectral before she leaped up and dove through the circular void just before it closed with a snap.
Disbelief distorted the flawless features of the transporter.
Shocked to his core, Vex turned to Lucian—
A searing pain in his skull dropped him to his knees. Bone popped and crunched, a tremendous force twisted his head at a bad angle. Every molecule of air was suddenly sucked from his lungs as if he’d been slammed with a boulder.
He was vaguely aware of Lucian’s screams as the floor gave way, his body falling into nothingness as his vision dimmed into blackness. Flapping his arms about did nothing to slow his spiraling descent. His mouth stretched wide making no sound. The absence of air making it impossible to force sound through his vocal cords.
Solid ground rushed up to meet flesh and bone, hitting with such force he bounced once, twice, before coming to rest on the rough surface. Something was brushing against his legs, groaning with the same agony he was feeling.
Afraid to move, every bone in his body felt fractured, the worst pain pulsing throughout his skull. When his name was spoken by a familiar voice, he cracked open his eyes. Finding his head cranked hard to the side, his mouth was smashed flat against unfamiliar ground. As his eyes began to take in his surroundings, he found he was looking down the side of his body, his legs splayed and tangled with Lucian’s.
“Vex, you alright?” Lucian croaked.
His lips twitched to no avail.
Starting with his arm that wasn't crushed beneath his weight, he planted a palm on the dewy, black surface and pushed. The giant muscles in his arms had never had trouble holding up his girth. Now they shook with such violence as he lifted his upper body a mere few inches only to collapse back to where he was.
Lucian proved to be in way better shape, crawling up to Vex’s head. “Let's get you turned over. See what kind of damage you've got going on.”
Screams stung his ears. His body was in such agony, he wished whoever it was would cease their howling.
Dragging in a ragged breath, his eardrums got a break, realizing it was him making all the noise. Blasting out the air, he took another deep pull from a gust of wintry wind that whipped across his face. His throat burned from his blood pooling in his mouth, his stomach flipping over from the tinny flavor.
“Wh…” Vex began, choking on the fluid before Lucian turned his head to the side so h
e could spit. “What happened to us?”
Lucian eyes were filled with fear as he looked around. “I think we were banished to the Realm of the Living. That soul that escaped must have been what we first thought. And, she definitely wasn't supposed to have returned.”
Denying his friend’s logic, there had to be another explanation. Banishments were so few and far between, he could count on one hand the rare occurrences.
Once Lucian determined neither one of them had broken anything on their epic fall from grace, he helped Vex to sit up. His head swam feeling too light.
Reaching up with hands that shook, he laid his aching skull into his palms. Smoothing over his head, he jerked back, astonished at what he'd found...or didn't find in his case. The finality to his disgrace.
Dehorned!
Staring at his hands in disbelief, he rubbed the strangeness of his now rounded skull. He'd heard of this happening when those few had been cast out and sent to live eternity in the Realm of the Living.
Lucian’s words sank to the pit of his stomach, filling him with an awful dread as they rang true. They were doomed to tarry here for eternity.
Realm of the Living
Vex jerked awake. The nightmare always ended with him hitting the pavement. He’d relived that life altering moment in his sub-conscience thousands of times since he and Lucian were unceremoniously relieved of their duties.
Landing smack in the middle of Manhattan during the height of the Great Depression had been one hell of a shock, more to his brain than the bone jarring fall. It was a wonder they hadn’t broken every bone in their bodies. He suspected the hard landing was meant more to punctuate their dismissal from the afterlife than it had been to actually cause them physical harm. But, the physical fall had taken Vex a while to get over. Lucian, on the other hand, had been able to make use of his wings to slow his descent not hitting the ground as brutally as Vex had.