Body and Soul (The Chronicles of Light and Darkness Book 1)

by Jamie Loeak

next to where you sat. Do you remember drawing something in the sand, Kate?”

  Kate’s heart pounded. She wasn’t ready to tell Rico. She wasn’t ready for him to see the darkness that lurked within her own soul. She had just barely gotten a hold on him, and she wasn’t going to let him go. Who cared about what she said earlier? It would never be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. In the end, she still cared too much about what he thought. In the end, she was still too afraid to tell him everything. What a hypocrite.

  Kate pulled in a deep breath in an attempt to steady her erratic heartbeat. “No, I don’t remember drawing anything,” she said firmly. She needed to sound as honest as possible and hoped that Rico couldn’t feel her pulse skip a few beats.

  Instead of calling her out, Rico nodded. “I thought so,” he said.

  “What did I draw?” Kate asked, even though she knew the answer.

  “You drew the Earth, Kate. It was ablaze. Are you certain that these dreams are the only ones you’ve had so far? You haven’t had any about the Earth?”

  “Not yet,” she said.

  Rico nodded at Kate’s response and stood up. “You were right,” he said as he walked to the door. “We need to go check this out. I’ll call Adriana and ask her to meet us there. Hopefully she’s not too tangled up in Donovan to come.”

  They met on the beach behind the house across from Erik’s. Adriana, for once, was wearing a pair of black jean shorts, her feet shoved into a pair of Vans. Her raven hair was tossed into a bun that sat on top of her head, and she wore minimal makeup. Kate had scampered around her room that morning and was now standing in a plain tank top and linen shorts, her wild curls pulled back in a half-hearted attempt at a ponytail.

  Rico and Kate quickly filled Adriana in on what they were doing. Adriana kept gasping and shaking her head the whole time, and when Rico mentioned dark magic, Adriana almost stumbled backward. Kate was getting the idea that dark magic was very, very bad.

  “What are we going to do, Rico?” Adriana asked when they finished telling her. She followed them as they snuck up the side of the house.

  “I don’t know,” Rico hissed as he looked back at her. “Does Donovan have any knowledge of dark magic? Was he able to tell you anything about Erik last night?”

  “I’ll ask him about the dark magic when I go back home. And I’ll tell you and Kate what he said about Erik when we’re done sneaking around.” Adriana pushed Kate forward gently, making sure to pull away quickly. For a moment, Kate almost forgot that her best friend was a demon and sighed inwardly at the notion that she couldn’t have any human friends. Humans were just too trivial for her, she guessed. Demons were concerned about more important things, like life and death.

  The group fell silent then, and Rico hopped over the banister and onto the front porch silently. He pulled Kate over, with Adriana pushing her up as though Kate weighed ten pounds. Kate reached her hand out so that Adriana could take it, but Adriana was already standing next to her. Kate looked at her curiously, and Adriana flashed a gorgeous smile. “Demons are stronger than we look,” she stated before turning around and crouching.

  Kate, Rico, and Adriana ducked down and practically crawled across the wooden floor. Kate’s heart beat with excitement mixed with a hint of fear. This was the first time that they had actually done something worthwhile. She felt like a detective of sorts, like Sherlock going in for the biggest clue.

  When the three of them reached the center of the porch, they poked their heads up over the edge and looked across the street. The log cabin was there, and even more grand than Kate had imagined it. They gasped in unison, finally grasping at the tiniest piece of the truth.

  “Well, well. Who shall I charge for breaking and entering?”

  Surprised, Kate looked back to see Erik. He was standing behind the three of them on the porch; the front door was wide open behind him. “You live over here too?” Kate asked him, her brows knit in confusion.

  “Of course I had to purchase this house, Kate. The weakest point of an illusion is always right in front of it. I couldn’t risk anyone seeing what I had done to the place.” Erik gestured to the large home once more. His smile was triumphant, menacing, like he had already won.

  Rico and Adriana stood up, pulling Kate up between them. They each stood in front of her, flanking her, she realized. They were protecting her as if they were fearful of an attack. Kate stepped back involuntarily and hit her back against the railing.

  “Be careful, little Kate.” Erik’s voice was deep and condescending. Kate could tell that he hated her, and probably hated humans, by the tone of his voice. “I would hate to see you get hurt. We need you as strong as possible.”

  “What do you need her for?” Adriana asked him.

  Erik chuckled. “Do you honestly think I would let you in on the secret, Adriana? I’ve heard all about you. You’re the demon who pretends that she is a human. You save miserable human lives. Why do you even try when you haven’t been successful?”

  “Just because we’re demons doesn’t mean we have to be monsters,” Adriana spat in response. “Humans belonged here first. We’re lucky that we’ve been invited to stay this long.”

  Erik laughed once more. It was a slow, methodical sound. “You are absolutely crazy,” he said, his voice deep and rough. “Humans are worthless. Even Rico here knows that it’s true. Don’t you Rico?”

  “I’ve made mistakes,” Rico started.

  “Yes,” Erik interrupted. “You’ve made millions of mistakes. Tell me, does Kate know about your millions of mistakes? Does she know that you were on our side once? Does she know how much power flows through your veins?”

  “Kate knows everything about me, Erik. There’s nothing to hide from her. There’s nothing that you can reveal that she doesn’t already know.”

  “But do you know that she still hides things from you?” Erik asked Rico.

  Rico glanced sideways at Kate. Kate blushed furiously but spoke up. “I’ve told him everything that was important,” she said.

  “You dare lie to me, Kate?” Erik challenged. “What’s worse, lying to someone you barely know or someone that you’re falling in love with? Let’s decide this together, okay?”

  “Shut up,” Adriana spat, butting in. “Kate tells us everything we need to hear. You can’t tear us apart. We’re going to protect her no matter what. We don’t care if it means life or death, Erik. As long as we get rid of your shadow of a boss.”

  Erik laughed even louder this time. He turned to Kate once more. “They don’t care about you, Kate. They only care about destroying Kern. They will sacrifice you if it means that they are one step closer to killing him.”

  Suddenly, Rico sprung forward and knocked into Erik. Erik’s body hit the wall behind him with a sickening crunch. Rico pulled his arm back and released a fury of punches that Kate could tell hurt. Adriana moved in front of Kate protectively. She crouched, waiting.

  It looked like Rico would win, like the fight would be too easy, but just as Kate was beginning to feel a sense of relief, Erik caught one of Rico’s punches and twisted his arm. Rico fell to one knee, and Kate watched in horror as Erik began kicking Rico’s stomach.

  “Stop!” she screamed. “Stop, please! You’re hurting him!”

  Erik paused. He looked at Kate and flashed a dangerous smile. He let go of Rico, and Kate watched as Rico fell to the floor. A sudden gust of wind swirled around Kate, and she watched as a strange fog began to roll in. Kate’s knees buckled, suddenly too weak to hold her up. The fog began to close in and Kate could feel it caressing her skin. It was cold and Kate watched as icicles clung to her hair. She looked into Erik’s eyes, at his almost all-white eyes, and felt true fear. He was using dark magic to harm Kate, to kill her. This was going to be it; this was going to be the end of living.

  Somewhere in front of Kate, Adriana sprung up and pounced toward Erik. She crashed into him, knocking him back into the wall. The fog dissipated and Kate was left gaspin
g. Rico, who had come back sometime during the attack from the fog, rushed to her side but wouldn’t touch her. He kept asking her to look at him, but for some reason Kate couldn’t process the information. She sat there, holding herself, not seeing or hearing anything.

  “Rico,” Adriana warned. “Kate needs help.” She was still working toward disarming Erik, her small arms choking him until he passed out completely. His limp body slammed against the wooden planks.

  Kate focused on Rico, who just sat there, shaking his head back and forth, muttering something about being too cold to touch Kate. In another moment, she felt Adriana’s arms encircle her. Adriana lifted her up and jumped off the porch. She began running for her house, the wind rushing over Kate with the force of a hurricane.

  Minutes later, Kate was tumbled onto Adriana’s bathroom floor. Adriana was barking orders to Rico and Donovan, telling them to draw a hot bath. Kate watched, without really seeing, as Donovan began to pour salts and drop herbs into the tub while Rico turned the water on and checked the temperature.

  Adriana began tearing Kate’s clothes off of her body, leaving Kate in her bra and underwear. When the bath was ready, she gently set Kate into the steaming water. She held Kate’s head back and poured the water over her hair. She began to hum a slow melody, calming everyone down in the room.

  Slowly, Kate’s eyes began to focus.