Soul Snatcher (24 page)

For some
reason she led him to the library. It was a room full of facts, it
had no room for emotions and it felt like that was the best place
to be for both of them. Silently they walked to the settee that
contained the daggers and made themselves comfortable. Micah kept
his distance from Annie which made her feel a little lonely. She
subtly moved over towards him, wanting them to be like they used to
be. Before life got in the way.

“
I am so glad you came back, Micah. I could not live
with myself if I never saw you again.” She pushed the words out
before the tears resumed. He sat there staring with nothing reading
on his face. He looked like a statue, emotionless and cold. It made
her pain even more acute and the tears persisted. Suddenly warmth
crept onto his face and he resembled the old Micah she
knew.

“
Annie, what is going on?” He asked giving up on his
attempts to stay away from her. He put his arm around her shoulders
and she melted into his body. He leaned his head atop hers and she
felt great comfort from his touch.

“
I just…I was…” But when she went to say the words they
died before they came out. What was she meant to say? He didn’t
know anything about soul snatchers and definitely not about
Baden.
“
I need us to be there for one another. Please do not leave
me here alone,” she pleaded.

She felt as
if she was bordering on hysterical. How had her life turned into
such a mess? What happened to the days when Micah would ride with
her to the markets and they would spend all day together in
happiness?
No heartbreak and
no loss.

“
Has someone hurt you?” Micah’s tone was serious and
she felt his body tense.

Was she
hurt?
Physically she had a
few scrapes and bruises but she would heal from that. Her soul was
what she was worried for but not because it would be stolen. No,
Baden wasn’t around to do that anymore. She was worried about her
soul because the pain seemed to be stitching itself into her heart
and making a home for itself there.

She cried
even more at the thought of him. It felt as if she would willingly
give her soul just to have him there with her. Though that was
foolish and she knew it.

“
No, not in any real way.” Annie tried to calm herself
and succeeded to some measure. She sniffed and wiped away the tears
from her face. Her skin felt stiff from the drying tears as she
wiped the salty water from her hands onto her dress. She sat up
straighter and took a deep breath to steady her heavy heart. She
closed her eyes and tried to forget everything but found it almost
impossible.

Micah kept
his arm around her and his eyes on her the whole time. His body
seized in anger when he saw her neck. He clenched his jaw to try
and control himself from bursting out in rage. Annie looked over to
him when she noticed something was wrong and was alarmed by his
anger.

“
Micah, what is the matter?” She asked in panic,
placing her hand over his. His breathing became heavy as he tried
to rein himself in and she started to become a little
scared.

“
What happened to your neck?” He asked through gritted
teeth. Annie took her hand back and covered the side of her neck
that Baden had bitten. She felt lifted skin outlining the shape of
his teeth. It was a clean and neat mark, a scar of him. No matter
what happened he would be with her forever. She thought herself
stupid for feeling relief at the idea. She focused back on Micah
who had done nothing but become angrier in her silence.

“
It was…you see I had to go…” Damn, what could she say?
Micah stood and paced back and forth in front of her, covering his
mouth with his hand to try and control himself. She had never seen
him so upset and he didn’t even know what happened.

Abruptly he
picked up the nearest glass object, which happened to be a lovely,
glass ornament on one of Eli’s tables, and pelted it across the
room. It practically shattered into dust as it collided with the
wood of the shelves. It left a dint in its wake. Annie stood in an
instant, shocked at what he did. She stopped herself from moving to
him for fear he might lose all control.

Micah covered
his face with his hands then dragged them through his hair in an
attempt to calm himself. She had no idea what was going on and she
started to hope with everything in her that Eli would walk through
the door soon.

“
That was not meant to happen,” he said under his
breath but she still managed to hear him.

“
What did you say?” Annie furrowed her brow in
confusion. What did he know of what went on tonight? Micah looked
over to her as if he only just realised she was there. He looked
like a guilty man.

“
Annie, you have to know you were not meant to be
bitten. I sent him to bring you to me because Miss Danes was going
to…” But she interrupted him before he could finish.

“
You sent Baden?” She felt sick from what she was
hearing. Confusion clouded his face then recognition replaced
it.

“
Baden bit you? He was with you tonight?” Micah asked
her pointedly, he was testing to see if she would lie to him. He
already knew Baden had been there though he hadn’t known that Baden
was the one that had bitten her. She started to put it together in
her mind as she picked the clues from his reaction.

“
You sent the stranger?” Annie was horrified from what
she was finding out. Micah moved over to her and took her hands in
his pleadingly. He bent lower so his face was in line with hers and
looked at her until she turned to him.

“
I sent him to bring you to me. When you had not
arrived at the designated time I checked the house where you were
meant to be then I came straight here,” he explained desperately.
She tried to pull her hands free but he had them tightly and she
was stuck.

“
Well, he became preoccupied with torturing me!” Annie
said harshly still trying to regain her hands but
failing.

“
I am sorry, Annie. Please, I would never have sent him
if I knew,” Micah begged holding her hands tighter. Her face
screwed up in pain as his grip became too tight. He didn’t seem to
take notice or he didn’t care that he was hurting her, one or the
other.

“
Micah, release my hands,” she asked, trying to hide
the distress she was feeling.

“
You need to come away with me, Annie. You are not safe
here. Please, I can make everything better. Please,” Micah
beseeched adamantly as his grip tightened even more.

“
Let go!” She screamed as the pain became too much. He
let go unexpectedly and her hands jolted back towards her. She
nursed them against her chest and took a step back until her legs
hit the settee. Micah started pacing the room again. He laughed at
some joke she was left out of.

“
What, you would prefer Baden?” He practically spat his
name at her. How did he even know Baden?

“
Micah, I do not know...” But she was given no time to
finish.

“
I am a soul snatcher, Annie!” He yelled.

She felt
gobsmacked by his confession. She looked at him, mouth agape from
his words and he just stood there watching her. The strange thing
was she didn’t feel afraid. This was Micah, her Micah. Or at least
he was…once.

CHAPTER
22

“
How?” She asked breathlessly. It was the only word
that would come out.

“
I have been a soul snatcher for longer than you have
been alive. I stumbled across you all those years ago. You were
alone and homeless…so I…” he paused and just looked at
her.

“
You what?” She prompted.

“
I could not leave you. Anything could have happened to
you. So I went to Miss Danes…Martha,” he said her name like it was
a disease. “I offered to change her in return for a good life for
you.” He paused for a moment and looked at her standing there being
beautiful without even trying. Of course he would have helped her,
who wouldn’t have?

“
I took up residency in her house to ensure she upheld
her part of the deal. Though that was broken the night she threw
you out,” he informed. Annie couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
All this time she had been surrounded by these…things and she never
knew.

“So her and I are not
distantly related at all?” Annie asked, realising it was all a lie.
Micah just shook his head.

“She only said that so it
would make your decision to stay easier,” he answered
quietly.

“And how
did you come in here uninvited the
first day you visited?” She referred to the day he proposed but she
opted not to bring that part of the story up.

“
I had been invited in here many years ago, no
invitation necessary,” he explained obscurely.

“
Why did you help me at all?” Annie jumped back to his
story suddenly. She remembered back to the day she had met him and
how he had been so quick to help her. She felt like she had lost
something special that she might never get back. She had lost the
truth. Micah measured his next words carefully trying not to hurt
her.

“
I was out one night in a rundown town. In a small
establishment I came across a drunken man who was telling a crowd
of equally drunk men how he had left his family. This man was your
father.” Annie’s face dropped when he said who it was. Micah waited
for a moment before he continued. “After he left the venue that
night I approached him and asked where he had left his daughter. I
do not know why but the way he told his story made me need to find
you, so I did,” Micah admitted shyly. “I found you just after your
mother had died.”

Annie
couldn’t help the tears that fell down her face as she listened to
his words. He had done all of that for her for no reason, he had
sought her out and helped her.

Micah
slowly walked over to her and
stopped when he was close. It was only when he was near that she
realised his eyes were glassy from his own tears. He let out a
shuddering breath and his eyes fluttered for a moment as he tried
to regain himself and blink away the tears. Ever so carefully he
reached his hands out and touched her face, resting his hands on
her cheeks. He leaned his forehead against hers like he always
wanted to. He rested his face into hers a little more and just
before his lips touched hers she pulled away.

“
Micah, I know what you really are…what you do,” she
whispered. She was putting her life on the line by admitting it but
it seemed her life was going to be lived out permanently on the
line anyway. He pulled his face away slightly, a small crease
forming on his brow from his confusion.

“
You are a soul snatcher. You steal souls.” She
confessed her knowledge, hiding the hurt from her voice as she did
so. It aggrieved her to say it but it was true.

All
tho
se years could have been a
lie, just him trying to gain her soul. Though he knew she didn’t
love him and therefore could not take her soul. She thought of
Baden and how easy it would have been for him to take it. Thinking
of him brought back her earlier pain and it spurred her tears to
return.

“
Annie, I would never…” Micah began to say before he
was interrupted.

“
Micah, I believe our agreement was that I would not
kill you so long as you do not bring harm to anyone or steal any
souls?” Annie and Micah both turned their head towards the door to
find Eli standing in the doorway of the library.

Though his
outfit was formal with his heavy fitted coat, Eli casually leaned
against the doorframe as if he was not concerned about anything.
His actions did not match his attire as his concern did not match
his attitude. Micah dropped his hands away from Annie and
straightened to his full height. Annie had forgotten how tall he
was.

“
Then it is a good thing that I am not breaking our
agreement.” He spoke to Eli in a forced but courteous tone. Eli
sauntered towards them looking around the room as if he were
browsing the titles of the books. He stopped when he was a foot
away from Micah. Annie hadn’t seen him move but Micah now stood at
least two steps away from her, to ensure she would not be in harm’s
way. How did these two even know each other?

“
And how can I be sure that what you say is true?” Eli
asked. He matched Micah’s height easily.

“
Eli, what is going on?” Annie interrupted their
conversation. He kept his eyes on Micah as he responded to
her.

“
Annie, I have known Micah for a few years now and have
kept a close eye on him. I have never caught him in the act of
harming another so I have had no need to kill him. I approached him
one day and accused him of what he was. He admitted it easily but
explained he did not hurt others. Thus, we struck our deal,” he
explained as if he was talking about a business venture. She felt
unnerved at how they stood there staring at each other.