by Wendy Knight
The Soul's Agent
by Wendy Knight
Smashwords Edition
Copyright © 2015 WENDY KNIGHT
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and events are fictitious in every regard. Any similarities to actual events and persons, living or dead, are purely coincidental. Any trademarks, service marks, product names, or named features are assumed to be the property of their respective owners, and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement if any of these terms are used. Except for review purposes, the reproduction of this book in whole or part, electronically or mechanically, constitutes a copyright violation.
THE SOUL'S AGENT
Copyright © 2015 WENDY KNIGHT
ISBN: 978-1-942246-60-2
ISBN 10: 1942246609
Cover Art by P.S. Cover Design
CHAPTER ONE
Navi
No ghosts. No attacks. Nothing at all. So what was up with my heart?
"Bad heart." I blotted my sweaty hands on my jeans. "Don't explode out of my chest and I'll buy you Cheerios for lunch. Deal?"
This was a regular thing—having conversations with my heart.
Did that make me crazy?
Probably.
But it was necessary. For one thing, I have important work to do, work that requires a strong heart, so I have to tell it to keep beating and keep fighting because I kind of need it. For another, I'm still in love with a guy that I haven't seen or talked to in years. I spend half my time telling my heart to forget about him, and the other half trying to convince my heart that we are in love with whatever guy we're dating at the time.
My heart doesn't listen. If it pounded any harder, it would break a rib. That would be hard to explain.
It had been four years. Four years since we broke up. "Seriously, heart? Pounding just because his truck is in the parking lot across from ours is ridiculous. I would like it to stop. Yes. He's close." I pressed a hand to my chest. "Now quit, already!"
Realizing my potentially fatal mistake, I quickly corrected myself. "Calm down. Please don't quit." Good grief, that was a close one.
I sat in the parking lot of the veterinary office, waiting for my roommate to get off work so we could go home. I could just see Alec's truck parked in front of the electrical company he'd worked for since we'd been together. Right there. So close, yet unreachable. "Why oh why did you have to work in the same business center as he does, Konstanz?"
She tapped on my window just then and I jumped guiltily, almost throwing myself through the roof. "Hey Navi." I could see the smirk she tried to hide, but she politely refrained from commenting. Instead she slid into the car. "Did you have to wait long?"
"Nope. Just a minute or so. How was work?" I turned the car on, backed up, and drove slowly through the parking lot, trying really hard not to look toward the electrical company's building.
I should have tried really hard to watch who I was about to cut off.
I saw the big truck out of my peripheral vision and slammed on my brakes, squealing nearly as loud as my tires. "Sorry! Sorry!" I squeaked, waving my hands around like that would convey my message better.
"Um, Navi?" Konstanz asked quietly.
I blinked at her and looked at the truck. Alec's truck. He stared at me with his mouth hanging open, probably wondering how the girl he'd taught to drive had nearly killed him in a parking lot. Karma, buddy.
Ever so grateful that he couldn't see my fierce blush through the glare of the windshield, I forced a cheerful wave and slammed my foot down on the gas pedal. My jeep rocketed forward and we escaped onto the road.
"Well. That was awkward," Konstanz said with no trace of hysterical laughter at all. I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye. Clearly, it was a fight for her to keep that solemn look on her face.
Konstanz and I shared a room in our two-bedroom apartment. There were two other girls who shared with us, which seemed to be the life of a college student. I hadn't been there long, since I'd only returned to Oregon a few months ago.
Her phone buzzed, and already frazzled I nearly drove us off the road. This time she lost her battle and started giggling. I glanced in the rearview mirror, wondering if whoever was behind me might report me for drunk driving.
Alec's truck followed several car lengths behind. "Holy Hannah. Could this get any less fun?" I moaned as Konstanz answered her phone.
"Reese wants to know if we want to go to open mic night tonight. You up to singing?"
Why was he following me? What if he followed me home? What would I say? We hadn't parted on the best of terms. In fact, we had been bitter enemies for the rest of high school. Ironic, wasn't it, that I was still in love with him?
Yes. Yes it was.
It took me several seconds to realize she was talking, and several more to figure out what she was saying. "Umm. Yeah." I shook my head, trying to get Alec out of it. "Yeah, I can sing. I have homework but I'll work really hard so I can go." I flashed her an apologetic smile, because she'd known me long enough to know why she only had half my attention. And she loved me anyway.
I turned at the light, flying through the yellow when I realized that he would pull right up next to me in the outside lane if I didn't. Crisis averted.
"You should just talk to him. Realize he isn't the Greek god you remember him to be and he'll be out of your system." Konstanz watched him in her side mirror as I sped away.
"I don't want to talk to him. Or see him every time I turn around, or anything. I just want to forget him completely. Why don't they make a potion for that?"
"Did you think about him when you were in Alaska or is it just because he's so close now?"
Every day. "Sometimes," I lied.
"Okay ladies! Let's see what you're wearing. If you're gonna dress like grandmas, you don't get to go," Reese yelled from the living room, clapping her hands like some twisted, diabolical gym coach.
"Your grandma dresses better than I do," I muttered, twisting my scarf around my neck. I grabbed my stiletto boots – five inch heels and all black, and scuttled out to the living room, plopping myself on the couch to tug my boots over my jeans.
"Navi passes, no surprise there. You gonna pull that long hair of yours up or leave it down?"
I had planned on leaving my dark hair down, so I could hide behind it if I did something embarrassing—which was entirely possible. Apparently, though, that wasn't what Reese had in mind. With a sigh, I pulled it up into a ponytail.
"Konstanz! Where are you?" One day, Reese would be the highly successful CEO of a huge company, of that I was sure. Right now, she put her organizational skills to use keeping us in line. "Terrie! Konstanz! You girls in or out?" Reese bellowed like an infuriated gorilla.
Konstanz brushed by her. "Seriously Reese, we're two steps away. Could you not scream like a banshee?"
Reese opened and closed her mouth but no matter how long she'd known Konstanz, she never got used to the back talk. It was an endless source of entertainment for me.
Terrie didn't even make it all the way into the living room before Reese caught her. "No, Terrie. Go change." Reese spun away from Konstanz, facing the hall, and pointed sternly. I tried not to giggle, zipping up my boots. To be fair, getting four girls ready to go in a reasonable amount of time was a daunting task for anyone. Reese had my respect.
Terrie came in, glaring at Reese. "Will this do, your highness?"
Reese eyed her outfit, all bright colors and clashing prints. "At least it leaves something to the imagination." She whirled on the rest of us. "Let's move it."
We obediently filed out. Terrie had the big SUV, but Reese drove it. Konstanz and I piled in the back. "How come you got to leave your hair down?" I whispered.
Her brown waves fel
l around her face, and her light brown eyes crinkled when she winked at me. "Reese has given up telling me what to do." With a grin, she reached up and pulled my elastic out, fluffing my dark hair around my face. "That's better."
I quirked an eyebrow at her but said nothing.
The karaoke club was on the coast, about ten minutes from home. By the time we got there, Konstanz was bouncing nervously in her seat, and I was grateful the seat belt kept her securely fastened or there was a chance she'd bounce herself right out the window. I'd grown up on stages, singing since I was little. This was no big deal to me, but Konstanz had stage fright big time. Which explained why she was so determined to do it every chance she got. My best friend was big on facing her fears.
"We'll be fine, girl. Don't stress," I murmured as we climbed out of the back seat. I didn't want the others to hear. Terrie would make fun of her, because Terrie fed off other people's fears, and Reese would just order her to get over it and that would be that.
"I'm not feeling particularly brave tonight. Maybe you guys should go on without me." Konstanz's face was pale except for the two bright pink spots on her cheeks.
I put my arm around her shoulder and led her inside. "You got this. Ain't no thing!"
She rolled her eyes but couldn't help but chuckle. I'm adorable that way. "Tell you what. I'll make you a deal."
I paused, frowning suspiciously. "What is this deal you speak of?"
Sliding out from under my arm so I wasn't as aware of her shaking like a small dog in a hurricane, she said, "I'll go on stage tonight with the rest of you, if––"
"If. There's always an if with you," I muttered, crossing my arms over my chest and waiting. I thought about tapping my foot but it's hard to do in stilettos.
A wicked smile broke across her pretty features. "If you give your number to at least three guys tonight."
I heaved a monumental sigh. "Seriously, K? Haven't we realized how bad guys are for me? I don't get over them, remember?"
Since we were standing outside in the parking lot by ourselves and it was dark and cold, Konstanz grabbed my wrist and led (or dragged, depending on who you asked) me inside. I let her, but I did lean back just a bit, so she'd know I wasn't cooperating completely.
"I signed us up to sing the next set," Reese yelled over the music. She'd found us a table, and I wasn't surprised that it happened to be right next to a group of hot guys. Nice. Maybe my new boots would finally get the attention they deserved. I walked past them, slowly. I wasn't Konstanz. Or Reese. I didn't turn heads or stop guys in their tracks. But the boots?
They did.
Konstanz snickered as I settled next to her, letting my feet dangle because even with five inch stilettos, I couldn't reach the floor. What exactly was the point of these raised tables that bars and clubs seemed to be so fond of? I'm not a drinker, but I've hung out with enough of them to know that tall chairs and alcohol do not mix. Although it is pretty good entertainment for those of us not intoxicated.
"Whatcha thinking, beautiful?" a cool male voice said next to my ear.
"I'm thinking it's pretty blasted creepy when someone whispers into my hair and I've never even been introduced," I snapped as I spun on him, nearly knocking him over.
He had a nice smile. His eyes were pretty —sort of an ice blue. If I weren't still head over heels in love with my stupid ex, I might be interested. But… eh. I wasn't. Dang heart.
Apparently he couldn't read my thoughts. His grin widened and he held out a hand. "Bryson."
I frowned, considering him. Konstanz nudged me, none to gently, in the back. "You want me on stage tonight?" she hissed through what I could only imagine were clenched teeth.
I shook his hand. "Navi."
He glanced down at my off-the-shoulder blouse. "Fitting."
"My name is fitting because I wore a navy blue shirt? I don't dress to coordinate with my name."
Instead of being insulted like I'd attempted, he leaned back and laughed, holding up his hands in surrender. "Can I buy you a drink?"
"She doesn't drink. But I do. Hendricks Ellison." Terrie somehow managed to fit herself between us, and I leaned back, watching in amusement.
Bryson handled it easily, nodding at a passing waiter like it'd been his intent all along. "Hendricks Ellison for the blonde, and…" he paused, raising an eyebrow at me.
"Pepsi. No ice," I finished. "And my gorgeous friend Konstanz will have water with ice, please."
Bryson leaned around me. "Just water? Not even caffeine?" he teased.
"Trust me, I'm jittery enough without the added sugar."
On cue, Reese bellowed from the stage.
"That's our fearless leader." I stood up, grabbing Konstanz' hand. "Watch our table for us?" I batted my eyelashes. It was a good table. I didn't want to lose it.
"Of course." He settled into my seat, leaning back and planting a foot on the one next to him. There were low cheers from his friends at the next table; like we were playing football and he'd just had a good run. Trust me boys, he doesn't have a snowball's chance. Cocky and arrogant were definitely not my type.
I marched up the stage steps, holding tight to Konstanz so she wouldn't attempt to flee. I prayed, quickly and fervently, that Reese had picked anything other than songs spelling out words about demanding high regard from one's mate. Because that hadn't been overdone at all. Luckily, she hadn't. It was a popular, new song that I knew the words to. It was suddenly clear to me why Reese had been blasting this song non-stop all week long. She'd been practicing and subliminally implanting the words into our brains so we'd be ready for tonight.
I'd grown up singing in front of people. I felt safe on stage; confident. Here, I knew what I was doing. The music started and I closed my eyes, feeling the song pour into my blood and swirl through my veins, waking me from the inside. The first note was my favorite. I was small. Pretty ordinary. People didn't fall in love with me and never get over me for years and years. But my voice, it was something people didn't forget.
And when I opened my mouth, it shocked the crowd into silence. That was why I agreed to come to karaoke nights.
The song ended and the crowd applauded. They yelled for more and Konstanz fled the stage, cheeks red but proud of herself for facing her fears. Reese yelled that we were done for a while and we followed Konstanz.
"That was… incredible. I've never heard someone sing like that before." Ah, Bryson. He'd guarded our table so well.
"Thank you." I smiled, pulling him to his feet so I could steal his chair—which was rightfully mine. His hand held onto mine until I untangled my fingers, and I gritted my teeth. Definitely not my type. My type was tall, lanky. Gorgeous. Bryson had blue eyes but they were too light. And his face was too open, too friendly. He looked like he worked in an office. I liked… electricians. Sighing, I realized what I was doing. I was comparing him to Alec. I compared everyone to Alec. Was Alec here, wanting to talk to me? No. Had Alec wanted anything to do with me in the last four years? No. Angry at myself, I turned the force of my smile on Bryson. "Thanks for saving our table. You guys should come on over." I waved at his friends. Bryson's face lit up like I'd just given him a pony, and he spun away, dragging their table over to ours.
"Good girl," Konstanz whispered with a wink.
I pulled a face.
Bryson slid his chair right up next to mine and introduced me to his four friends, whose names I would never remember because I'm completely awful with names unless they're stapled to someone's forehead. I was pondering whether or not anyone would let me do just that when Bryson leaned closer. "You're the most gorgeous girl in this entire place. You know that, right?"
I raised an eyebrow. "How much have you had to drink tonight?"
He laughed, leaning back. "Nothing. I'm driving tonight."
I twitched my lips to the side, considering him. "Are you sure?"
"Positive." His grin widened. "So. Pretty thing like you must have a boyfriend, right?" He watched me with those ice-blue eyes and I look
ed, panicked, to Konstanz for help. She was talking to one of Bryson's friends and completely missing my drama. I swallowed hard, looking back into the light blue eyes and easy, too-white smile.
"I work a lot. That's my focus right now. Not finding male attention."
"Oh yeah?" He smiled but his eyes said he didn't believe me. "What do you do?" He reached for his drink, which apparently contained no alcohol but sure looked like it did, and raised it to his lips.
Hmmm. How to answer that one. "It's… complicated. I'm sort of in the probation officer line of work."
His eyebrows shot up as he sputtered and coughed. "You? You're…"
More powerful than you'll ever know, buddy. Yeah, okay I was five foot two and barely weighed a hundred pounds. I didn't look tough at all. But all I needed was my voice and some very desperate souls to do my bidding. Trust me on this one.
"What do you do?" I asked sweetly, steering the conversation away from his assumption that small girls were helpless, and back toward him.
He coughed once more, for effect mostly, I'm sure. "I'm a loan officer."
"Sounds fascinating." I tried to look interested. "Do you like it?"
"Yeah. I get to help a lot of people achieve their dreams and I don't have to be out in the elements. One of my roommates is in construction and he's outside, rain or shine or snow or wind. He comes home either freezing or sunburned."
Yeah. That was the kind of guy I liked. Stupid Alec, finding his way into my thoughts again. "That must… suck."
"Hey, do you wanna dance? I happen to be an amazing dancer." He grinned again. He did have a nice smile. I could see that Terrie was swooning from across the table. I'm sure there were lots of girls who thought he was hot. But I just… didn't. Stupid Alec. Again.
"I'm sorry. I can't dance."
"C'mon. I'll lead. All you have to do is follow me and move your hips." He winked and I felt my cheeks go bright pink. Holy snowballs was I an adult or a giggling teenager?
He raised an eyebrow suggestively and I'm sure my cheeks went pinker. Clearly, I was still a teenager despite my birth certificate saying I was twenty-two. I cleared my throat. "No, seriously. I dance like a wounded goose. But Terrie!" I grabbed my roommate and practically shoved her in Bryson's lap. "Terrie would love to dance with you!" Clearly unsure what to do with this startling new predicament, Bryson led Terrie out to the dance floor. I sat back in my chair with a sigh of relief.