Imperial ((Imperial) Web of Hearts and Souls) (3 page)

Seven emotions, and eight of us. I was the youngest original, so clearly I had no say. Vade, the soul that emanated the aroma of mint—the soul that was my fever, at one time my rush, divided his reign with me. His emotion was anger. And with anger, there is a mass of other emotions. Wrath and rage, to name a few. Those were emotions that I knew all too well, emotions that any abused child knows very well. Wouldn’t my mother be proud of me now? Not.

A power struggle began. The sovereign Escorts began to invoke the emotion in their charge, each trying to grow their lines to the point where they could claim supremacy over all emotions. Some even took human roles so they could not only consume the emotion the moment it was created, but also ensure that the emotion had reason to be manifested. It was quite horrible, actually.

That war was the catalyst that landed me and my First here. Mazing was lured in by lust. Because she was captured, the only act that could be played was war between my line and Xavier’s. But my line was young. Our numbers could not even begin to match Xavier’s. Beyond that, I’d taken a stand against Vade, my rush. I told him that together we held the majority and we should sway all originals back to the life our Creator had envisioned for us. He vehemently disagreed. Therefore, I could not count on his line for any defense.

Vade had zero sympathy for Mazing. He often stated her birth into my line had divided us.

That was foolish. He was just jealous. Her birth proved I was a sovereign, not a chosen fever for him, the oldest and said to be the favorite of our Creator. Vade, the great stoic King of Anger. Vade, the boy that I had met at my deathbed, the boy that I thought was everything at one time.

I took the only course of action I could live—or rather die—with. I went to Xavier’s throne and offered a compromise. Offered that the line of war would not be drawn—that we could end this misunderstanding without any loss. I proposed a dual, one that only Xavier and I would fight in. Dying fighting seemed to be honorable enough for me. And if I did so, Xavier would not have to worry about any backlash from my line, or others for that matter. He could easily state he was defending himself if he were ever challenged.

Xavier despised Vade, so I knew the odds were in my favor. The divide between Vade and me had not been broadcast to anyone at that time. It was too new. In fact, I remember still having Vade’s scent all over me as I approached Xavier’s throne with my challenge.

Of course, Xavier wanted to bargain with me. He asked me to become his fever, at least to portray that for one millennium. He knew that would weaken Vade to the point where he could be overtaken. Sovereigns were highly territorial. I refused to be bartered as property to Vade—or anyone else for that matter. I declined.

Instead, I left the challenge of the dual on the table and added that I would disburse my line, meaning that no one, not even Vade, could control the souls I left behind. They would not be able to control them simply because upon my release, they would forget my existence, their heritage.

This was a win for both Xavier and me. He would not worry about my Escorts returning to Vade—a sovereign’s energy that had my essence laced within his—and I would know that the fate my line blindly chose would not be their end, that they were set free to live out human lives as they wished.

Xavier’s only counter was that both Mazing and I take our own lives as we bowed at his feet. No dual. Just a simple submission.

Everything and everyone can pass through the cycle of death. It is just harder to kill some. There were only a select number of ways to kill any sovereign, and suicide was one of them.

My line came to mind as I knelt down. Souls in my care. Souls that were divine to me. They deserved their freedom, and I would be damned if Mazing, my First, faced death alone.

At least Xavier was a gentleman about it. A poison glass of red wine was given to each of us. A swift, painless death. One that should have released us in the same manner that we had released our line.

I should be at a slumber party right now, braiding hair and painting nails, not taking up residence within the Veil with the Reaper as one of my closest confidants. But who has any say in this universe? Not this sovereign, that’s for sure.

The fact that Vade’s scent and Xavier’s were one and the same in the Escort I’d just ended meant one thing: they were working together now.

Vade had crossed the mark. He’d ignored every plea in our final argument and joined ranks with the other sovereigns, which meant my death was in vain, that the one line—mine—that could have restored the sovereigns to their purpose had been disbursed and their sovereign was imprisoned within the Veil.

I’d always thought that because my line had fallen, that great King of Anger would have come to his senses and taken a stand. But I suppose I was not there to influence his thoughts any longer.

My being ached for the souls of the universe. Grieved for the demise that was surely aimed at them. Soon, that darkness I’d just pulled from that infected vessel would consume their reality.

I stared into the dark forest, still feeling the sensation of Vade’s energy within my soul. Wrath. Yeah, I owned that emotion. It was vibrating my very being at the moment.

I couldn’t even tell you how long we had been here. How long or how many chances Vade had to find me.

At first, I assumed he was enraged and busy killing off Xavier’s line, then I assumed he was searching each and every dimension for my human form, that finally he would search the Veil, ask for a conference with the Reaper. Find me.

When the time for each of those acts to transpire had come and passed, only one conclusion could be made: he had another one bringing him fever. I was nothing but a lost memory of a forgotten world our Creator had borne me into.

That made killing Escorts that tried to invade this Fall all the more pleasurable. I may not be alive, but I would be damned if I let them reach their ultimate goal: to rule both realities, to create a feast of darkness. Too much of a good thing
was
bad. I didn’t care what they said.

Vade’s line had never reached this point. Knowing that his was the strongest, the one line that could reach this Fall with little effort, always led me to believe that meant he was in some way fighting or forming fruitful alliances with the others.

That hope was dead now. Surely as dead as I was.

I caught the sway of the distant trees and tensed as I breathed deeply.

“This one is all yours, Glory,” Mazing bit out as the aroma of crisp mint penetrated the air.

She vanished, not to leave me alone, but to spread the aroma of warm honey that we were known for in every direction, confusing the prey that was now in my sights.

I vanished and appeared again behind numerous trees, finally settling on a branch just above my next kill. The core of my soul was at war within itself. Half of me screaming
No, this is wrong
. The other demanding that justice was due. Seeing Vade’s image in my mind, feeling his tantalizing touch race across my skin was not helping matters. One side yearned for loyalty to that memory. The other saw a new girl under his flesh.

This was business. I finally forced myself to believe that. The Fall could not be penetrated—by anyone. I didn’t make this choice. Vade did, apparently long ago.

As the moonlight touched the Escort’s face, a sharp pain tore through me. It was Rasp, Vade’s First. Might as well have been Vade himself. When I killed Rasp, it would take Vade down for some time. The loss of energy would not easily be reversed.
Well deserved
, the dark part of me thought.
Not Rasp’s fault,
the kinder side of me argued back.

Rasp was always kind to me. Not warm, just kind. He had served as a guard of mine before my status was clearly acknowledged. Knowing that you were about to end a soul that had vowed to protect yours was not an easy sensation to swallow.

In my mind’s mid-argument, I jumped down, landing just before all six-foot-five of Rasp. His shoulders were as wide as my body was long. Well, maybe not as wide, but close enough. His body was toned, sleek, lean muscles over every inch of his perfectly sculpted warrior vessel. His eyes were like deep ice, not as intense as Vade’s, but damn near close. The dark hair and mesmerizing image was apparent not only within him, but everyone in Vade's prodigious line. Walking heartbreakers, that’s what they were.

Before he could utter a word, my hand pierced through his gut, grasping his soul. He didn’t moan, flinch, or fall to his knees as the others had done instantly. No surprise there. Strong line. Strong sire. My intent was not to kill. Not this time.

I peered up at him. “Long time.”

He smirked, glancing down at my arm, then to my eyes. “Sovereign.”

“I see that time has not stolen your memory,” I said as I gripped his soul tighter. “This is the part where I kill you.”

He offered no fight whatsoever. He knew me all too well. “Remember that if you ever come near my Fall again.” I squeezed him tighter. “Give Vade my best.” And with that, I thrust him upward with every ounce of my power. Instantly, he was out of sight.

It would be decades before he or Vade were even close to out of my mind.

The lingering scent of mint encased my skin. Before I could stop myself, I brought my hands to my face and breathed in deeply, feeling rage-filled tears threatening to spill from the edges of my eyes.

Mazing manifested at my side and let her hand rest on my shoulder. I could not bear for her to see me fall apart, not now or ever. I vanished and appeared in my quarters, the highest floor of the Cathedral.

I leaned forward on the banister of my stone balcony and breathed in and out heavily, mentally screaming at myself every time a moment from my past fought to surface. Vade was not going to get to me again. I would be
damned.

Just as I caught my breath and settled my thoughts, I saw a warm light ease across the room behind me. I should have known this was coming.

Chapter Three

I straightened my stance as I held my gaze on The Fall before me. All these years, all this time, time that was endless, had now been marked. I thought I was over my past. Over the childish war that was fought. That I had my own little corner of this vast universe. One job and one soul beyond my own to protect. But I was a fool. The war was fated to find me here. My one little job had now become the last line of defense for The Fall and the twin reality behind its powerful wall of energy.

I could not singlehandedly stop Vade’s line. If I did, eventually I would stop myself. Too much of his essence was within mine. I wonder where one goes when they die when they are already dead? Was that even possible? I suppose I should offer that musing to the Reaper, glean his thoughts on the matter.

I glanced over my shoulder to see him ever so graciously approaching me. His robe was dark, highlighting the glow of his flesh which was filling the elegant room that I spent most of my time within. If you didn’t intently focus your eyes on him, he could easily be seen as light itself.

“Reaper,” I stated heavily with no emotion to be heard.

“Child,” he said as he drifted to my side. After a moment, he spoke again. “You’re troubled.”

Those two words had often launched us into discussions that would seem to last centuries. He was a gifted listener and often offered complex, yet simple answers. Complex because at first they made no sense. Simple because once you did understand them, you felt like a fool for not seeing them as what they were from the beginning.

“I’d tell you that death was beckoning me, but I doubt that statement would make much sense whilst speaking to the likes of you.”

That made him grin ever so wisely.

“The Fall is in jeopardy. Apparently, Vade has no loyalty to you either.” I shifted my weight as I flexed every lean muscle in my body. “His line dared to cross tonight,” I offered, feeling ashamed by pure association.

“Are you telling me that the mere brush with his essence has reunited your thoughts with his?”

When energy was divinely connected, on a level that supposedly could not be broken, thoughts could be heard between rushes. For most Escorts, that only happened for the course of uniting, but for Sovereigns and those near the top of the line the effects lasted much longer, so long that the insight never had the chance to wear off before the next union was commenced between the two souls. The Reaper doubted my words. Doubted that Vade would cross him. Fool.

“No. I’m telling you that Rasp was in the forest tonight.”

The Reaper nodded once. “And you asked him to leave ever so politely.”

I clenched my teeth and looked away. “If he returns...” I swallowed hard before my stare returned to the light of his. “Tell me. Did Vade ever seek me and you have not made me aware?”

No answer, which might as well have been a
no
as far as I was concerned. “The next time Rasp or anyone from Vade’s line—or any line—passes through this forest, they will be fed into The Realm—slowly. Very
slowly
. But let me warn you, Reaper. You may want to look into finding yourself another army. There will come a point where I will destroy myself, which will in turn destroy Mazing.” I moved my stare forward to The Fall. “That is, unless you have a ‘get out of deader’ card in that robe of yours.”