Soulhunter Academy

by L. J. Swallow

  “Aww, you remember me. Sweet. I’ll wait for you to finish.” He glances at a phone in his long fingers. “Half an hour, until you’re done, right?”

  Not responding, I take his money and address the next customer. I can’t meet his eyes as I pass his cup, but watch as the tall, dark-haired guy slouches across the room to sit at a table—one with a good view of the counter.

  Zach pushes his fringe from his eyes and smiles at me. I frown back at him. Does he have a death wish coming back to where Keir hangs out?

  Shift over, I scrunch my black apron into a ball and sling it behind the counter. Screw this. Zach leans back in his seat as I approach him.

  “Hi, Ava.”

  I cross my arms. “What are you doing here?”

  He runs his tongue along his teeth and appraises me. Slowly, up and down. I straighten and cock a ‘what the hell’ eyebrow.

  “I heard about your fun with Keir last night,” he says.

  “That’s nice. Anything else you want or just the coffee?”

  “You don’t want to talk to me?” Zach makes a mock pout of disappointment.

  “Why? Last time I saw you, I was about to bloody kill you,” I growl. “I still might.”

  Zach laughs loudly, eyes glittering in warning. “I know, sorry about the no-show at the bar, but trying to kill me is a bit of an extreme reaction, don’t you think?”

  “I’ve done worse to people who upset me.”

  “Oh, tough girl, Ava. She’s still in there?”

  “Yes. So fuck off and don’t mess with me.” I wipe a few crumbs from his table, and pick up his cup. “We’re closing.”

  “You caught me at a weak moment, and that won’t happen again. Besides, I heard someone is looking for you so, really, our chat should be a goodbye.”

  “What?” I stuff trembling hands into my pockets.

  “Well, let me just check the facts. Soulhunter sent to capture nephilim soul. Nephilim turns on his charms and seduces soulhunter into helping him do something very naughty. Nephilim wins as he seals said soulhunter’s fate-worse-than-death at the hands of high angels. Correct?”

  I swallow down the anxiety. “No, not correct.”

  “So you weren’t seduced into failure?”

  “No.”

  “Don’t lie to yourself. How long do you think you have left to live, Ava?”

  I narrow my eyes. “Why are you here talking to me about this?”

  “To give you some facts. Keir isn’t on my side anymore, and I’m not too happy about that. He screws with me—I’ll screw with him.”

  “Not on your side? I kind of gathered that when you tried to kill him,” I say sarcastically.

  Zach lowers his voice as a woman passes to leave the café. “Keir’s getting in my way. Now you both are.”

  “In the way of what?”

  Zach sighs, “Ava, oh, Ava. Little foot soldier who’s consorting with the enemy. Do you know why the angels sent you for Keir? And not say… me?”

  “Yeah, Keir’s a bigger danger to the high angel’s plans than you. He’s a loose cannon because he’s not working with either side. Every soul he frees is one less soul for either army.”

  Zach’s mouth twitches into a smile his secrets lie behind—one I’d happily smack off his face. “Okay, think what you like. I just thought I’d give you a friendly warning.”

  “You’re warning me?”

  Zach’s bright blue eyes search mine, and I’m reminded of Keir. “Watch your back, Ava. Keir likes to keep his enemies close. But you already know that, right?”

  “Enemies like you?”

  “I can help you if you need to stay safe from Keir.”

  “I don’t need keeping safe from Keir—and if I did, I’m not likely to turn to you, am I? A nephilim keeping a soulhunter safe? How stupid do you think I am?”

  Zach bites his lip. “I think what you did last night answers that question. Did Keir say he’d keep you safe? So sweet and such a liar.”

  I loosen my ponytail with trembling hands and shake my hair free with an air of nonchalance. Zach’s ability to feed my doubts always bloody works, and from the smug expression on his face, he enjoys doing this.

  “Whatever, Zach.”

  He mouth’s ‘whatever’, mocking me. “Keir’s disappeared. I wonder why?”

  “Just fuck off, Zach. I don’t want to listen to you.”

  Zach regards me long enough to put me off balance, before leaving the empty coffee shop. I slide onto the seat of the table he sat at, hands on the cool top, and absentmindedly rearrange the ceramic bowls full of sugar sachets. How did Zach know Keir left? Or what I did?

  The creeping doubt in my mind grows to a strangling fear by the end of the day. No Dahlia or Keir—every day I see at least one or both of them. Zach’s screwed with my mind and pushed my panic button which doesn’t help.

  I’ve one last choices, so I head to Dahlia’s room and wait. And wait. Bored, I slide to the floor, rest my head against the wall, and doze off.

  “What are you doing, Ava?” Dahlia steps past and unlocks her door.

  I jump awake and pull myself to my feet. At least one of the pair is still around. “Where’s Keir?”

  “He’s gone away. Again.”

  “Where?”

  “No idea where he goes.” Dahlia pushes the door open.

  “He doesn’t tell you?” I brace myself for the same angry confrontation as the last time Keir disappeared.

  “No, he can’t. If I knew, I’d be in danger. Apparently.” Bitterness edges her tone as she stands with her hand on the door, distant and avoiding my eyes.

  “Does Keir disappear much?”

  “You mean did he leave because of you? Not everything is about you, Ava.”

  “I never said it was. I came to tell you I saw Zach and—”

  Dahlia’s eyes widen. “Where? Here? Was he looking for Keir?” She scrabbles in her bag for her phone. “I have to tell him.”

  I point at the phone and smile hopefully. “Do you have Keir’s number?”

  “For emergencies, not for you.”

  “For you?” I arch a brow.

  Dahlia scoffs. “I think he needs to get his priorities right. I’m not jealous of him and his brief infatuation with you. I don’t like you because I don’t want to lose him because he’s my anchor to this world. I will fight to protect him.”

  “And the story’s true? You and Jack?”

  “Yes. And don’t think you can turn Keir against me.”

  “I don’t intend to. I just don’t understand you.”

  “There’s a lot you don’t understand.”

  Keir’s involvement in the Jack affair and Dahlia’s words point to a deeper meaning to his relationship with her, one they hide from me. Dahlia’s love for the human guy is an emotional attachment I couldn’t ever imagine having. That weakened her as a soulhunter.

  She gave up her status and chance to live with the high angels in freedom in return for this shit life, and then lost the reason why.

  Dahlia is free, but she’s trapped. I don’t like Dahlia and her waspish personality, but she has some bloody courage to go through all that and not call it a day. I don’t know Dahlia at all, but I’d lay bets she hasn’t always been this closed off and cold person.

  When people you care about die, it hurts—Daniel still haunts me even though I cannot be sure. Dahlia knows Jack was murdered. She lost her reason for being here; and for some reason, Keir took her under his wing.

  Did he kill Jack? I shake away the thought. No.

  “Do you know when Keir will be back?” I ask.

  “When he’s ready.” Dahlia hesitates. “I can see what’s happening with you both. Don’t fall in love with the wrong guy. Trust me, I’m speaking from experience.”

  She closes the door behind her before I have a chance to ask more questions.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Keir doesn’t return for a week. An achingly long week. I check in with Dahlia every day to as
k if he’s back, and each day Dahlia says no and indicates not so politely I should leave her the hell alone.

  So much for a truce between us.

  Then the realisation hits—Keir hasn’t contacted Dahlia either, and she blames me. Dahlia’s posture sags, her small figure blending further into the background each day. I can’t tell who’s more upset about Keir’s absence—me or Dahlia.

  There’s no sign that anybody connected to Darius follows me, and I grow complacent. Maybe Darius decided to leave me to suffer in the human world as my punishment. Shit. I hope not. I’d never have a chance at freedom. Look at Dahlia’s life of regret—I’d rather face Darius’s wrath than a lifetime of miserable pain.

  But deep down I know this isn’t his plan.

  I sit in the cafeteria, absentmindedly stirring my yoghurt, watching those around. Yeah, I think I’m safe now, but my muscles remain coiled tight, waiting for danger. I jerk into readiness when the chair opposite scrapes across the linoleum floor.

  “Didn’t mean to scare you.” Keir stands over me, smiling. “You look tired. Are you sleeping?”

  My heart rate spikes and, as I stare back. Keir wears his usual dark jeans and T-shirt, brown leather jacket open. His regrowing dark-hair curls dip across his forehead. I itch to stroke the curl from Keir’s face and touch him, to connect with the warmth of him and ask where he’s been in my long week without him around.

  “When did you get back?” I ask.

  “This morning.” He sits opposite, resting his muscled arms on the table.

  “You never told me you were going away.”

  “I don’t tell people.”

  “Dahlia knew.”

  Keir doesn’t reply. Instead, he strokes the back of my hand lightly with his long fingers. The shock and surprise from his touch shoots up my arm. “I visited friends.”

  “I always got the impression Dahlia was your only friend.”

  Keir laughs, eyes crinkling. “I don’t have many friends anymore—that’s what happens when you turn your back on your people. But I do have one or two.”

  I push my spoon into the yoghurt. “I guess we’re in the same position then.”

  “It’s tough turning against everything you’ve been told, to do what you think is right instead. Not many people can do that.” He squeezes my hand, his large fingers encircling mine.

  “Not everyone’s stupid enough to.”

  “Not everyone lets people decide their future.”

  I lace my fingers through his. I’ve never held hands with someone before; my normal physical contact is kicking the crap out of people. Touching Keir triggers a warmth in my chest, a soothing effect I’ll happily take more of.

  “I missed you,” I whisper.

  A shadow crosses Keir’s face and I tense, waiting for him to pull his hand away, tell me he doesn’t want me. Keir looks down and rubs my knuckles, and the expression in his lowered eyes ends the warmth. He can’t answer or even look at me.

  Dumbass Ava.

  I disentangle my hand. “Sorry.”

  “For what?”

  “Presuming.” My cheeks heat and I stand, alarmed as tears well. Did I really believe he’d thought about me while away? The death of one demon won’t exactly seal the gulf of suspicion between us–that’s not enough for him to open up to the girl who wanted to kill him. My week of fantasies about him and me grew in my deluded brain.

  “Ava…”

  “It’s fine, just let me know when you’re free and we can catch up, maybe. I’m glad you’re back safely.”

  I force an air of nonchalance and walk tall from the cafeteria.

  I take a deep, shuddering breath as the cool air soothes my hot cheeks. I need time out to compose myself back to the in control Ava and call Janie, and we swap shifts at the coffee shop. The Saturday afternoon shift is the least popular, and Janie doesn’t take much persuading. Work numbs my mind enough to stop drifting thoughts about Keir. Zach had better not walk in because I’ll lose my shit with him. I’m over nephilim games.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  By the end of the day, I’m numb mentally and physically exhausted. The sky turned white-grey while I was indoors; and as I trudge through campus, a snowflake lands on my gloved hand. I halt and look at the sky, watching the icy stars fall and land on me. Weird. This is new to me.

  My throat hitches and without warning more tears gather. The changing seasons means time is ticking by. The fears I’ve avoided all day tumble in and I scrub my face with a glove as I pick up my pace. Is this my life now?

  The hall’s quiet warmth cocoons me from the snowstorm. Bed. Sleep. Start another day with a new plan.

  Keir stands outside my room.

  I suck in a breath, fighting back the desire surging, and saunter over. He rests against the wall. He’s changed, a checked shirt over a blue T-shirt, the V-neck revealing the smoothness of his expansive chest.

  “Hey.” I push my key into the lock and attempt to maintain my somewhere between nonchalant and pissed off attitude. Not easy, when six foot plus of solid muscle stands inches away from me. My skin lights up as our arms brush.

  “Ava.” I look up at him hesitantly. Mistake. The blue eyes trap me again.

  “Did you want something?”

  A knowing smile creeps to the corners of his mouth and the heat spreads as he glances at my mouth. “To talk to you.” Keir pushes down the handle and opens the door. “Is that okay?”

  “If you can spare me some time, sure.”

  I walk into the room and throw my bag onto the bed. When he follows me inside and shuts the door behind him, my heart jumps into my mouth. I tuck my hands beneath my arms and watch him.

  Keir looks around at my standard issue college furniture, plain bedding, no posters on the walls. I throw a nearby T-shirt over the stack of books and papers on my desk before he catches a glimpse of himself in my research. “Not what I expected.”

  “What did you expect?” I yank the curtains closed.

  “I don’t know—the room isn’t very welcoming—there’re no Ava touches to it.”

  “Ava touches?”

  “Something a girl with pink hair and attitude might have.” Keir grins.

  “I didn’t think I’d be living here for long.” I wince, aware of the connotation of my words.

  Something on the desk catches Keir’s eye at the same moment it catches mine, and I swear under my breath. A clear crystal is only half hidden by my T-shirt; tucked away in the back corner of my desk. Light hits the crystal and projects rainbow colours onto the wall. Shit.

  Keir takes hold of the crystal.

  “Is this what I think it is?” He turns the sphere around in his long fingers. “Is this one for me?” My mouth dries as his expression clouds.

  “Please give it to me, Keir.”

  Keir tightens his hand around the crystal, encompassing the object in his large palm. “You want me to give you the crystal? The thing you were given to store my stolen soul inside?” His focus remains on his curled hand and I edge towards the door.

  “I’m not going to use the crystal. You know that,” I whisper.

  Finally, Keir looks up. “This brings things home to me, Ava. What you came here to do.”

  “Things have changed since then.”

  He steps closer to me. “Have they?”

  The weakness accompanying Keir’s confusion tears at me. I want to reach out, touch his face, and remind Keir of the connection humming between us.

  “Keir, I killed a demon, and freed a soul. Don’t you understand what that means and the danger I’m in? I did that because I trusted you, so don’t accuse me of still wanting your soul.”

  Keir blows air through his cheeks and looks to the ceiling lost in a thought he won’t share. He turns and gently sets the crystal back on the desk. “Why were you upset with me before?”

  “When?”

  “In the cafeteria. I wanted to talk to you then.”

  “I wasn’t upset. I had to leave for work.
”

  Catching my chin in his hand, Keir brushes his fingertips across my mouth, a familiar soft buzz joining his touch. I part my mouth as he lingers a finger on my bottom lip. “I missed you too, Ava. You never gave me a chance to tell you.”

  Keir’s pupils darken as he traces his fingers to my neck, running them across my collarbone to the neck of my work shirt.

  “I thought you’d played me at my own game,” I blurt. “I thought you’d persuaded me to free a soul because you couldn’t kill me. That instead, you knew releasing a soul would bring certain death for me.” I slump onto the bed.

  Keir’s eyes widen. “Why would you think that.” I focus on smoothing my bed covers. “Zach? Did he give you that idea? Dahlia said he spoke to you.”

  “Zach came to see me—he knew everything about the soul. You disappeared and I thought the worst.”

  “I had to go, Ava, I had no choice.” Keir sits next to me and takes my hand. “But the whole time I was away, every time I closed my eyes I saw you. Everything that happened between us—the day we fought and I kissed you, the day you killed the demon and I held you.” He runs his other hand along my hair and cups my cheek. “It’s crazy, but all I’ve wanted is to be with you and touch you again. To remind myself how I feel around you.”

  “I feel the same. This is weird for me.”

  Keir’s mouth twitches as he fights a smile. “Me too. I spoke to them about you, told them what was happening between the two of us. I had to ask what this meant.”

  “Them?”

  “The people I work with. They already knew about us and they weren’t happy…” He pauses. “Everything’s complicated.”

  Us. “Complicated, how? Because I’m a soulhunter?”

  Keir reaches into my jacket pocket and I tense as he takes the dagger from the side pocket. His fingers linger against my side longer than he needs. “You haven’t stolen my soul, but you may as well have.” Keir throws the dagger across the room and it clatters onto the floor beneath the window. He holds my cheeks between his fingers and looks down at me. “I’m bloody confused. You’re walking around with a weapon in your jacket, ready to kill me, and I walk straight back to you.”