Soul Snatcher (20 page)

She turned to
him and, though there was a whole room between them, she could tell
that he needed her to stay. She mazed her way through the now
dishevelled room and towards him. He stood watching her make her
way and he almost lost his efforts against his tears from the
kindness and forgiveness she was showing by coming to
him.

When she
finally made it around the desk and to him she didn’t hesitate to
embrace him. He rested his face into her neck and wrapped his arms
around her waist.

“
Sorry,” he whispered again.

“
Do not be sorry,” she whispered back.

Garrick came
to the open door but stopped when he saw them. He turned silently
and left them to their moment. He couldn’t help but hope that Eli
would smarten up and pursue that girl before she was lost to
someone else.

After a long,
comfortably silent embrace, Eli pulled his head back and looked at
Annie.

“
Thank you,” he said gratefully. She smiled at him in
hopes to cheer him.

When his gaze
started becoming more intense her smile dropped a little. He moved
his head towards her and she panicked. She wasn’t the kind of girl
that told a man she loved him the night before and then kissed
another the next morning. She subtly moved her head away then
pretended something had bitten her.

“
Ouch!” She yelled and he pulled his head back, looking
at her in question. She bent down and grabbed the lower part of her
leg and he released her from his hold. “There was a sudden pain in
my leg,” she lied. She hobbled over to the closest chair and sat,
rubbing her leg. Eli followed her and knelt at her feet. He lifted
her leg into his lap and looked to her.

“
May I?” He asked. She nodded, not being able to think
of anything to stop him. He lifted her dress to just below her knee
and inspected the part of her leg that she had been holding. He ran
his hand along the back of her leg and took his time with the
inspection. It sent a shiver down her spine but she covered it
before he noticed.

“
Anything?” She asked trying to maintain her act. He
carefully placed her foot back on the floor and covered her leg
before answering.

“
Everything looks fine,” he diagnosed.

“
Must have been one of those things,” she said hoping
Eli hadn’t already cottoned on to what was happening. He leaned his
arm on one of the chair’s armrests and smiled at her.

“
Annie, it is not a crime to not kiss me,” he said. She
smiled shyly at being caught out. “Just know that if you change
your mind, I will be an option.” He said it so sweetly that she
almost wanted to kiss him.

She looked at
his soft lips and thought about what they might feel like against
hers, wondering if he had a special taste like Baden did. Before
she could go any further with the thought, she snapped herself out
of it and looked around the room.

“
This is quite a mess!” She sounded a little flustered,
even to her own ears. She hoped with everything in her that she
wasn’t blushing. “We must get to cleaning,” she suggested trying to
change the intense subject. He nodded with a smile, taking her
hint.

“
Do not bother yourself with my mess, I will clean it.”
He stood and moved back to his desk to start straightening his
things.

“
Nonsense, you are my friend and friends help one
another,” she said merrily. She stood as she spoke, as if to affirm
the words. He couldn’t help but smile at her
thoughtfulness.

“
Very well, if you insist then I cannot say no,” he
conceded.

It took an
hour to clean the entire library but soon enough the library was
restored to its former self and their friendship was looking more
improved by the moment.

CHAPTER
17

Annie was
walking to the kitchen one day when Garrick came back from town,
bringing
some letters in with
him.

“
Here, Garrick. Let me take them to Eli for you,” she
offered to spare him from taking it. He smiled kindly and handed
the letters to her. He hadn’t even had a chance to look through
them yet.

“
You are too thoughtful, Annie,” he complimented,
impressed by her benevolence. With a smile she was off to deliver
the letters.

As she took
the letters with her to the library she flicked through them just
to see how many there were. One in particular had lovely writing
and it caught her eye, she placed it at the top of the pile so she
could see it better. The writing addressing the recipient was
elegant and classic. She couldn’t help but admire the swooping
curves and the noticeable effort the writer had put in. She walked
into the library and found Eli at his desk. He looked up and gave
her a ready smile.

“
Eli, I have the letters from Garrick for you. I must
say that the person who wrote on this one has the loveliest hand,”
she commented as she held it up for his inspection. As soon as he
saw the writing his smile dropped and he stood up immediately. She
stopped before she reached the desk and he hurried over to
her.

“
It is from my brother,” he said as he took the letter
from her. She held the others as he broke the wax seal. He read it
quickly then looked up at her.

“
What does he want?” She asked feeling desperate with
anticipation.

“
He said he is coming here.” Eli looked horrified. He
moved over to his desk and started ruffling through the papers. He
found a blank piece and started writing.

“
Why is that not good news?” She asked curiously, she
was unsure of why he was so panicked.

“
Annie, we must arrange temporary accommodation for
you. I cannot explain why but for the period of his stay you will
be residing at a property I own, it is a few minutes ride from
here. I will provide you with a horse in case of an emergency but
no one must know you are there. Do you understand?” Eli spoke as he
wrote. After he had signed his letter he blew on the ink then
folded the paper. He left it on the desk as he rushed towards the
door.

“
Eli, do not be silly,” Annie said as she followed him.
He ignored her and stopped at the door, poking his head around the
corner.

“
Garrick,” he called down the hall then walked back to
his desk. Annie followed him around, feeling completely lost in it
all. Garrick walked into the room and stopped when he reached the
desk.

“
Yes, Mr. Brighton?” Garrick looked at the letter that
Eli had received from his brother sitting open on the
desk.

“
As you can see I have had more correspondence from my
brother. I have written a letter that will need to be sealed then
sent away immediately. Annie will be staying at the Westwood estate
until the matter is dealt with,” Eli advised. He handed Garrick the
letter that needed to be sent.

“
Would you like me to stay with her?” Garrick
asked.

“
No. No one can stay with her and no one is to know
where she is. She will be safe as long as she does not invite
anyone in and we will provide her with sufficient supplies. It
needs to be as if she does not exist,” he explained.

“
Excuse me!” Annie interrupted. The men looked at her
as if they only just realised she was there. “What on earth is
happening?” Eli blinked a few times before he looked back to
Garrick without answering her.

“
That will be all for now,” Eli said and Garrick
left.

“
Do not just ignore me, Eli!” Annie demanded. He didn’t
seem shocked or hurt by her tone. He simply walked over to her and
took both of her hands in his.

“
Do you trust me, Annie?” He asked looking into her
eyes. The question pushed the steam right out of her and she wasn’t
sure what to do. After a moment she finally spoke.

“
Yes,” she answered honestly.

“
Good. Now in life we sometimes need to ask our friends
to just trust us, without the questions,” he said
pleadingly.

She thought
about what he said and a million other questions swam to mind. This
mysterious brother, would he not be a tracker also? Unless his
father had a son to another woman, in which case he might prefer to
keep that private. Eli deserved his privacy. And if she really
thought about it, though she hadn’t known him for very long, she
found that she did trust him. He had earned her trust and being his
friend she decided to give it to him.

“
Fine,” she conceded as she rolled her eyes. He smiled
and kissed her hands.

“
You are too good, Annie.” This earned him another eye
roll and an exaggerated nod from her. “Now I thought we could have
a lesson today,” he said hopefully. He was acting as if the past
few minutes never happened, which was contrary to how he had acted
just days ago because of his brother.

Seeing no use
for it she gave up her curiosity, just as he had given up his
urgency, and let the mood lighten.
One thing she had learned about Eli was that he was in
control of when he revealed anything to her. In fact, he was in
control of just about everything in his life really, including
parts of her life. Before the thought could become disconcerting
she became distracted with other thoughts.

“
That would be excellent but I would like to clarify a
few things first.” She was adamant to clear up some of her
questions whilst she had the opportunity. “Before you left the
other day, you were going to tell me about snatchers and what they
were designed to do,” she reminded. It had been gnawing at her
interest for days now.

“
Yes. We were interrupted.” Eli let go of her hands and
gestured for her to take a seat. He sat in a chair closest to the
one she chose. After they were settled he started. “Do you remember
in the myth, the woman was granted eternal youth in exchange for
her soul?” Annie nodded to show her understanding. “And it had to
be her own soul because no one else would love her more than she
loved herself?”

“
Yes, it is strange really because I think she was
someone obsessed with herself rather than someone who truly loved
herself but continue,” Annie offered.

“
And she sacrificed only those who truly loved her?” He
waited to see that they were on the same page before he continued.
“If a soul snatcher can make someone fall in love with them then
they can steal their soul with just a kiss,” Eli
explained.

“
Because hers was taken with a kiss,” she said as she
put it together.

“
That is correct,” he commended her. “If they steal a
soul then the bane goes into a form of hibernation, keeping them
preserved without needing anything to stop the bane from burning
them. This is what they were truly designed for, the blood is only
a method used to preserve them until they can do what they were
truly made for.”

“
So how long can a soul snatcher go between souls?” She
wondered feeling disturbed by the notion. This seemed more
frightening than the other things she had heard.

“
However long the soul would have lasted in the
original body. So if it was taken from a young woman or man it
could last decades, unless they were someone who was going to meet
their demise early in life. That is the trick with snatching, it is
a gamble,” he explained.

“
What happens when the soul…expires, for lack of a
better term,” she asked feeling rather eerie about it
all.

“We are not certain what
happens to the stolen soul when it departs but
the snatcher must drink blood or steal another
soul within moments of losing the last one, otherwise they perish.
Now it is not until a human is genuinely in love that they can lose
their soul,” Eli stressed the point.

“
That seems even more horrible than drinking blood,”
Annie said feeling sick about it. She went a little pale from the
very thought of having her own soul stolen by someone she trusted.
To be so betrayed by someone you thought loved you.

“
It is all rather terrible and it is happening too
often. Obviously the ones who were turned by poorly kept snatchers
or drank tainted blood have very little chance of finding someone
to love them. So that leaves the unblemished, enticing snatchers
that humans would probably never suspect.” His tone sounded as if
he was warning her.

“
Well, I will be on the lookout for attractive men who
want to declare their love for me. If you were not a tracker you
would be at the top of my list.” She had no idea why she said it,
maybe to try and take away the fear she felt. It worked because now
she just felt stupid and awkward but Eli being Eli rescued her from
herself.