Soultrade

by Arizona Tape

  “So it needs more,” she reasoned.

  “That’s not how it works and you know it.”

  “What are you on about, Ayra?”

  “You don’t know?” My mouth dropped open. I thought Sian knew pretty much all there was about being a vampire. She was the one who’d told me I’d die if I didn’t drink regularly after I turned twenty-five. It wasn’t unreasonable to think she knew what she was on about.

  “Obviously not. Care to enlighten me?” She was half-joking, but the worried look in her eyes told me all I really needed to know.

  “It can cause blood addiction,” I whispered, not really wanting to admit what could be happening to my body.

  “That’s a real thing?”

  Safe to say Sian wasn’t faking it. She genuinely hadn’t known.

  “It happened to Uncle Bert. He drank too much too quickly and…” A lump formed in my throat, and as much as I didn’t want to go on, I had to. “It wasn’t long after I turned twelve. It was an accident. I think. His wife had been mixing blood into his food because that’s what her parents had always done, but my Uncle had been drinking too, because that’s what he’d always done. He doubled his blood intake, until they discovered they were doing it.”

  “Oh no,” Sian whispered, and I nodded in response. She could see where this was going. She was too smart not to.

  “They went too far the other way. Uncle Bert stopped drinking, and his wife stopped putting it into his food. It took a few days, but…”

  “Withdrawal started?”

  I nodded. “Except that it’s much worse for vampires. Or worse than it sounds like it gets for humans. There’s the shakes and other stuff, naturally. But if it goes on for too long, or the addiction happens too fast…”

  “Then it ends badly?”

  “He killed three people before dad found him.” I was almost choking on the lump in my throat. I could remember it well. Before that, Uncle Bert had always been kind tempered. He’d entertained me as a child, and told me so many stories of his travels around the world and the things he’d seen.

  Seeing him dragged in by my father, teeth bared and blood running down his chin, staining his clothes, had been horrifying. If I hadn’t already been put off blood by that point, then I was sure I would have been after seeing that.

  “What happened to him?” Sian asked.

  “Thankfully, nothing. Dad managed to hide it all. The people he’d killed were all homeless, so no one really noticed they were missing, never mind dead.” A tear began to roll down my cheek. It always did when I thought about all the people out there without a home. And really, as much as I loved Uncle Bert, should he really have gotten away with what he did without being punished? Part of me thought he should, because it really hadn’t been his fault. But another part…we could be monsters. I knew most vampires weren’t, but we had the capacity for such.

  “Oh.”

  “He’s not forgotten though. It haunts him.” I saw it in his eyes every time I saw Uncle Bert. While the world might never find out what he did. He remembered, and I doubted that anything would ever scrub it from his mind.

  “Shit.”

  She looked worried. Far more worried than she should be over two bags of blood. I was only trying to warn her to not let Tate get too carried away. Unless…

  “Just how much has she been drinking?” I asked, nerves fluttering in my belly. This could be bad. Really bad.

  “I don’t really know…”

  “Sian.” I kept my voice stern, hoping it would get the seriousness of the situation through to her.

  “A fair bit. We’ve been having it in food, like I normally do…”

  “And she’s been drinking it too. Shit.” I rose from the bed and began to pace back and forth, not really all that sure what I was going to do, beyond pace anyway.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”

  “I know, it’s not your fault. It’s none of our faults. It wasn’t like any of us expected me to over drink.”

  “That’s true.” Sian laughed, and I had to crack a smile.

  “So, one of us does too little, and the other too much.”

  “The pair of you really are like chalk and cheese,” Sian said, affection shining through her words. I smiled at my ex-girlfriend.

  This really was an odd situation to be in. I was in my ex’s bedroom, wearing not very much, and talking about the habits of her current girlfriend, who was spending her time with my husband.

  Not weird. At all.

  “You love it,” I pointed out.

  “Yeah, I do.”

  “Are you happy, Sian?” I asked suddenly, changing the direction of the conversation.

  “Right now, no, I have a pesky dragon asking me random questions.” Even though her words should sting, the smile on her face took the edge well and truly off. There was no reason for me to be annoyed by that. I was in exactly the same position.

  “Well, this pesky dragon needs a shower, or when its pesky dragon mate shows up, he’s going to be disgusted.”

  Sian laughed lightly at my attempt at faux grumpiness. And even though I knew it would be a good few hours before Tate and Devon arrived, I was already eager to get ready for them to. Devon had never seen me in this body, and I had no idea how he’d actually react, but I had to look good when he did.

  I’d tried just about everything in the wait for the two of them to arrive. Reading the book I’d abandoned the day before, watching TV, looking up soul swapping on the internet. If anyone had ever thought about it, I’d tried it.

  “Will you sit still?” Sian scolded in her teacher voice. Funny how that used to turn me on, and now, nada. Not a lick. But Devon’s doctor voice…well that could have me revved up in minutes.

  Okay. Maybe not appropriate thoughts to be having in your ex-girlfriend’s new girlfriend’s body. That was a mouthful. I hoped I’d never have to say that to anyone. They’d think I was crazy.

  The doorbell rang, and I was on my feet in seconds, bounding towards the door, butterflies making themselves known. I was nervous. I knew Devon loved me in my other body. But would he in this one? Or would I switch with Tate the moment I saw her.

  Oh no. I was about to meet Tate. What if we didn’t like each other? What if there was something fundamental about us that didn’t mix. I ended up frozen outside the front door, Sian’s eyes burning into my back.

  “You have to actually open it,” she pointed out, only after I’d been standing there far longer than should have been necessary.

  Slowly, I opened the door, and gasped in shock.

  I mean, I knew what it was like to see Tate’s body. I’d seen it in the mirror. But this was different. This was touchable. From the shocked look on Tate’s face, she was feeling the same.

  Not that it was her face I was interested in. Without thinking, I leaned forward and touched her stomach, feeling the egg beneath her.

  Bad move.

  My vision began to swim, and the next thing I knew, I was looking at me touching Tate’s pregnant stomach.

  No. Wait, I was looking at Tate touch my pregnant stomach. We’d switched. Without pain as well, and just by touching. I looked up, meeting Tate’s eyes and grinned widely. It took her a moment or two, but soon, she was grinning back, like the pair of crazy fools we were.

  “Hi, I’m Ayra,” I said, holding out my hand.

  “Tate.” She removed hers from my stomach and grasped it.

  Bad move.

  The blurriness returned, and I found myself looking at pregnant me. No, pregnant Tate. Damn, this was confusing in my own mind.

  “Okay, so no touching,” I said.

  “Well, one more touch,” Tate replied, smirking at me. Wow, that was odd. Seeing my own body smirk.

  We let go of each others’ hands, and I wondered how we should go about this. Next to her, Devon looked confused, probably because we hadn’t given him any clues as to what was going on.

  Oh well. He was a smart man. Hopefully he’d catch on q
uick.

  Tate offered her other hand to me, and I took it.

  Except this time, nothing happened. Or nothing happened at first.

  Then, pain began to build. Not unlike the pain of the previous switch. The last thing I remembered as my body fell to the floor, was Devon shouting my name.

  I hoped he helped Tate first. Our baby needed protecting.

  Chapter 5

  A pounding headache blurred my vision. What was going on? Why was it so dark in here? Hadn’t I opened my eyes?

  As if made from lead, I managed to peel my eyelids open. Wood. Dark wood. Sian’s floor. Right, we fell. Because I was so stupid to assume we would painlessly swap by just touching each other.

  Shit, the egg.

  My hands flew to my stomach and bounced upon muscle. I was in my own body again. Well, my own new body. My other body was lying right next to me on the floor.

  “You okay?”

  I glanced up in Devon’s dark eyes, mesmerised by the concern swirling in his eyes. He must think I was Ayra, since I came with him in the pregnant body.

  “Yes, I’m alright. I’m Tate, by the way. Your wife is in the other one.”

  A little taken aback, Devon moved to make room for Sian who was standing over Ayra. She must’ve thought it was me.

  “Ayra?” Devon crouched down next to her, one hand resting on her egg bump. I could tell from his voice how worried he was, how much he cared for her. I’d always known, it shone through whenever he talked about her. But this was the first time I actually watched him talk to her.

  “Is she okay?” I asked, turning my head to check me. Her. Ayra. Damn, this was becoming even more confusing.

  “Ayra?” Devon gently tapped her cheek, hoping to bring her back to consciousness.

  “Tate?” Sian caught my attention and I nodded, signalling that I was okay. She breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to Ayra. I found worry on her face too, but I could tell it was different than Devon’s. Not that I expected anything else.

  “Devon? Is Ayra alright?” I asked again, watching my former body lying immovably on the ground.

  “She’s not responding.” He gently shook her by the shoulders, hoping to jolt her awake.

  “I’ll get some water,” Sian suggested, hasting into the kitchen. The scent of coral passed me by as she ran through the living room. I pushed myself up in a seating position and leant against the wall.

  “Ayra?” I spoke, reaching out to touch her. Right before we made contact, I held still and hovered my hand above her arm. Was it really wise to touch her again?

  “Tate, she’s not moving,” Devon said, his voice unusually high. The whites of his eyes were showing as he shook her shoulders again. “Ayra? Ayra? Wake up, please.”

  Instead of touching Ayra, I placed a hand on Devon. “She’ll be okay, that body is just weaker because of the pregnancy,” I reasoned, taking a guess. I had no idea if that was true, but it made sense. Ayra’s vampire body had always been healthier than mine. And my dragon body was weakened from all the cramps and pain I’d been in.

  “She’s not coming to. It usually doesn’t take this long, Tate. Why isn’t she waking up again?”

  “How long does it usually take?”

  “A couple of seconds?” he muttered, glancing at his watch. “Never this long.”

  “I got some water and a damp cloth,” Sian added, giving him a towel. He pressed it on her forehead and placed his fingers down on her throat.

  “Her pulse is weak,” he worried, splashing some more water on her.

  Sian crouched down next to him and patted Ayra’s cheeks too. This was a really weird scenario. Having my ex-fiancé and my current girlfriend hovering over a body that used to be mine. But now there was another person inside of it. A person they both cared deeply for, albeit in different ways.

  “Ayra? Ayra?” Devon brought his ear down to listen for her breathing. The panic emitting from him surprised me. Devon was always so good in emergencies, but when it came to Ayra, he seemed to have lost all rational thought. Was he crying?

  I’d never seen him cry in all the years we knew each other. Damn, he really must love Ayra an insane amount. If only I could help her, but I knew even less about the swaps than Sian and Devon did. They were the ones who dealt with us coming by after a change. I had no clue. And I couldn’t even safely touch my dragon body without triggering another bout of pain or an involuntary swap.

  I hugged my knees and shot a prayer up. I wasn’t exactly sure to who I was praying. I doubted the dragon ancestors would listen to me in a vampire body and I didn’t even know if vampires had a religious deity. All I knew was that I wanted Ayra to be okay. I did not come all the way here to make her pass out.

  “Come on, Ayra… Wake up, please. I need you to wake up. I need you,” Devon mumbled, falling over his own words. The worry was consuming him and it was awful to watch. I closed my eyes and focused on my breathing. What did I do wrong this time that Ayra wasn’t waking up? Could I force a swap back without touching her, just like in the beginning?

  But who did I need to focus on? Sian? Devon? Ayra? Me?

  “Wait.”

  I fluttered my eyes open just in time to see Sian pat Devon on his back. “Look, she’s waking up.”

  Relief stretched on his face as he pulled Ayra into his arms. This time I was sure I saw tears roll down his face. The floor shrieked as Ayra pushed herself up. The dazed look in her eyes reminded me of how I always felt when I returned to my former body.

  “Devon?” she croaked, one of her hands immediately finding her stomach. She really loved that egg to pieces.

  “I’m here, I’m here,” he sniffed, pulling her so close to him it made me a little sad. In all the years we were together, I’d never seen him this emotional. I really made him miss out on a lot and I never even realised I was depriving him.

  “That one was painful,” she muttered, gingerly patting her stomach.

  “Sorry,” I apologised, waving at her from a safe distance. I didn’t want to put us through this again, not without good reason.

  “Not your fault,” Ayra winced, getting up with the help of Devon. He guided her to the blue couch and sat her down. It was so weird to watch them together, almost like watching an alternative version of me. In a way, it was. When she inhabited my old body around the dragons, she had to pretend to be me. I was sure she was a better dragon than I ever was.

  “You okay?” Sian wrapped an arm around me and I fell into her soft body. Concern flickered through her dark eyes, but I quickly waved it away. It was good to be in this body again. It was even better to be near her.

  “I’m fine,” I smiled, moving over to the opposite couch. I pulled on a loose blue thread and studied the two dragons sitting across of me. “So… What now?”

  A silent tension shifted between all of us and I stared from Sian to Devon to Ayra. The way things tied together was just so weird. Sian and Ayra. Sian and I. Ayra and Devon. Devon and I. Ayra and I. What a mess. How did things get so tangled up?

  I fell into the soft pillows and swung one leg over the other. Oh yikes, I was wearing a dress again. Did I show off my panties?

  Did I care? It wasn’t like Sian never saw my panties and Devon wasn’t exactly a stranger either. And Ayra… Well, I just met her, but this was her body. Surely, I shouldn’t be self-conscious about this body to her.

  “This is weird, right?” I broke the tension, addressing the elephant in the room. Well, elephants. It took two to tango, and apparently, two to swap.

  “Very weird,” Ayra agreed, plucking at my sweatpants. From what I heard from Sian, this was so not her style. She must be feeling just as uncomfortable as I was. Actually…

  “Hey, Ayra. Want to change clothes?”

  She chuckled and pushed herself up from the couch, one hand permanently resting on her stomach. “Yes, please. My dress looks weird on you.”

  I tugged on the fabric. “To be fair, this dress looks weird on anyone. What’s with the weir
d tassels?”

  Ayra laughed. “It’s fashion.”

  “It’s uncomfortable.”

  “You’re one to speak, with your massive watch. It’s like dragging a clock around.”

  I gasped in fake-offence. But nothing about it was even slightly offending. The banter with Ayra was actually quite nice. “That’s just practical,” I argued, pushing the bedroom door open. The closet was mostly still Ayra’s clothes, so she’d have no trouble finding something to her liking. Although with her protruding stomach, it was a little different.

  “It’s strange being in my bedroom and not feeling like it’s mine anymore,” Ayra muttered, looking around. I let my hand glide over the wallpaper and nodded. I felt the same way about my old place.

  “Did you pick the blue colours?”

  Ayra chuckled. Her eyes softened as she studied the walls. “No, Sian picked it. Her favourite colour was always blue.”

  “It’s ghastly.”

  “It sure is. But Sian liked it.”

  “She has a weird taste in furniture,” I added, the blue monstrosities of couches in the living room confirming my point.

  “She really does,” Ayra laughed, sliding open the closet. “But this blue isn’t so bad compared to all the white back home.” She faltered for a moment, catching herself on her choice of words. Not that I blamed her, Devon’s place was much more her home than it’d ever been for me.

  “Blame it on Devon,” I smiled, recalling a conversation I had with him as we got the place. “He finds the white soothing. But then again, he finds the hospital corridors soothing too.”

  “He’s a strange man, that’s for sure,” Ayra smiled, holding a black shirt in front of her. “I don’t think I’ll fit in this.”

  “Devon is very strange, but he’s a good person. He’s a great person, he just…”

  “Wasn’t for you,” Ayra finished my sentence, tossing the shirt back into the closet. The wooden panels shrieked softly as she rummaged through the wall of closets. Why anyone would need this many drawers was beyond me, but I never actually questioned it. I didn’t care enough to waste time on that.