Soul to Shepherd (40 page)

“No need to apologize,” I replied. “Ruben was very
informative.”

“Yes, I’ll bet.” He shook his head disapprovingly. “He has the tact and compassion of a cantankerous rhinoceros.”

“He wasn’t too bad, actually,” I offered.

“Really.” Ronald sounded surprised. “Well, then, you must have made quite an impression on him. Speaking of which, I cannot help but notice the way you both are glowing.”

“Our souls fused,” Quinn proudly announced.

“Well, so they have,” Ronald took a step back and examined our auras more scrupulously. “Amazing. Another first for me—to witness the effects of the bond between true soul mates, who have risked opening themselves up to each other unconditionally, free of doubt or reservation. This is a once in a lifetime event—even for an immortal like myself.” Ronald extended his hand, passed it slowly between Quinn and me and then smiled. “The energy between you is simply electrifying.” He then leaned in and inhaled deeply, as if trying to ingest some of whatever he’d just felt.

“Congratulations!” Ronald exclaimed, holding out his hand for Quinn to shake. “I must admit I had my doubts about you, but I am truly impressed, and more than a little intrigued, by how you captured her soul and made her fall so deeply in love with you.”

“Thanks, I think,” Quinn said hesitantly as he shook Ronald’s hand.

“Some day you must explain to me how you managed to do it, but right now I suppose there are more pressing matters at hand, and unfortunately, I am on borrowed time.” Ronald glanced around at the passersby, who soon would be within earshot of our conversation.

“Let’s take a walk.” Ronald slung his bag over his shoulder, picked up his crate and headed down the street. Quinn and I followed him around the corner and into an alley where Ronald stashed his “props.” He emerged clean-shaven and wearing a white linen button-down shirt and khaki linen pants, both impeccably tailored, and brown leather loafers.

“Whoa! Nice,” Quinn remarked, taken aback by Ronald’s appearance. I’d forgotten he’d never seen Ronald dressed this way before.

“Armani,” Ronald said, sighing. “Such a guilty pleasure.” He motioned for us to follow as he began walking towards a small park a couple of blocks away, stopping once we’d reached a lone bench at the nearest edge of the playground.

“Ronald, we have a few questions.” I paused and glanced over my shoulder. “But I’m not sure this is a secure place to talk.”

“The only other ears I sense are those belonging to your two friends.”

“Dylan and Minerva?” Quinn inquired.

“Yes,” Ronald confirmed. “They are the only supernatural auras I sense—the only others within earshot of our conversation.”

“Okay, then.” I took a deep breath and sighed heavily. “Ronald we need you to be straight with us—no more riddles or morals of the story, no more ambiguous answers.” I waited for Ronald to respond, but he said nothing. “And no more silent non-answers either,” I added.

Ronald chuckled. “I will answer your questions to the best of my ability.”

“Here goes,” I said tentatively and looked at Quinn, who gave me a quick encouraging nod. “At first, all the information I’d heard pointed to the Servants attacking Quinn during the full moon on the eighteenth of July. So we took whatever precautions we could to prevent the attack—”

“You sought to retrieve the blood stolen from Quinn.”

“Yes,” I replied in surprise.

“And then you two hid until after the full moon had passed,” Ronald stated matter-of-factly. “I am curious, where did you go?”

“Somewhere they couldn’t find us,” Quinn chimed in, letting me off the hook.

Ronald smiled, realizing neither Quinn nor I had any intention of filling in the blanks.

“How do you know all of this?” I asked.

“Angel, there is very little I do not know.” He raised his eyebrows, as if daring us to challenge the depth of his knowledge.

“Well, that’s good because right now we have no idea what’s going on or what’s going to happen next,” Quinn stated.

“After we prevented the ritual, I just assumed the Servants would try to go after Quinn again—to try to get more of his blood,” I said. “But they attacked
me
instead. It was like they weren’t even concerned about Quinn—almost like he wasn’t even on their radar.”

“Oh, trust me, he’s still on their radar,” Ronald cautioned. “But those two demons were on assignment to target you—or, more specifically, your
blood
.”

“But why?” Quinn asked. “Why destroy Evie before trying to convert me?”

“I don’t think they planned on destroying Evie that particular evening—if that still is their plan at all.”

“What do you mean ‘if that is still their plan’?” Quinn asked.

“The future seems strangely undecided on that point—like two different forces are pulling in opposite directions.”

“So was Minerva right?” I asked. “Mathius thinks I’ll fall from grace and sacrifice my soul if they convert Quinn?”

“It is one possible future,” Ronald replied. A shiver ran down my spine, and I looked at Quinn; he looked equally unsettled.

“But not the only possible future,” Quinn half-stated, half-asked.

“No, not the only possible one.”

“Have you seen a future where they destroy her?” Quinn practically demanded.

“I think the better question is: ‘How do we find a way to deny them that opportunity in the first place?’ Eve,” Ronald continued without waiting for our answer. “Do you two still have the blood the Moon Mercenaries retrieved?”

“No, we got rid of it. We didn’t want to take any chances.”

“Hmm.” Ronald furrowed his brow.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Everything has been in a state of flux for some time now, making my job …
tricky
. Examining the blood you retrieved could have allowed us to rule out a few things.”

“Like what?” Quinn inquired.

“Like whether or not it was actually yours.”

“What are you talking about?” I exclaimed. “Of course it was Quinn’s! The Moon Mercenaries tested it. It was nearly identical to the blood running through his veins right now.”

“‘
Nearly
identical’?” Ronald asked.

“Well, yeah,” I replied, flustered. “Jaegar and Chase blamed the variation in the samples on the blood they retrieved already having had been contaminated—that it’d already begun to mutate.”

“That is one theory.” Ronald sighed, retrieving a handkerchief from his pants pocket and brushing off the seat of the bench before sitting down. “Allow me to throw out an alternative explanation: Suppose the Servants were able to get their hands on the blood of someone so genetically close to Quinn the two could easily be confused as twins—”

“But they weren’t twins,” Quinn whispered as his eyes grew wide and the color began to drain from his face.

“No, but they were brothers,” Ronald added, nodding knowingly at Quinn.

“It was Brady’s blood we got back, wasn’t it? It was all a setup.” Quinn now looked as pale as a ghost.

“Yes, that is what we believe.”

“So those two Mercenary bastards were in on it right from the beginning,” Quinn declared.

“I doubt Jaegar and Chase were in bed with the Servants. As cunning and self-serving as those two can be, they are not ones to renege on their deals. They were most likely fooled as well. After all, the blood was nearly identical to yours.”

“Still, they didn’t hold up their end of the bargain,” Quinn pointed out angrily.

“It doesn’t matter,” I said dejectedly. “The damage is already done. We can’t get your blood back at this point because the Servants will know we’re coming for it. And besides, I’ve already paid the Moon Mercenaries in full.” I felt anger welling up inside me. “Why would the Servants go through all that trouble if they weren’t even planning on doing anything during the last full moon?”

“Who said they didn’t do anything?” Ronald remarked. “The way I see it, the Servants set off a very interesting chain of events. For instance, I am fairly certain they knew the sacrifice you would have to make to get Quinn’s blood back, and I am sure you now have discovered firsthand just how hefty a price it was now that your debt has been paid.” I immediately blushed in humiliation. “The attack the other night might have been nothing more than a test to determine if you had regained your strength.”

I flashed back to the Servants’ attack on me at the club. I was still shocked by how incredibly strong they’d become the instant they ingested my blood.

“You mean it was a test to confirm that our souls had bonded to the point where she would’ve regained her strength by now,” Quinn rephrased. Ronald responded with a quick nod.

“And to get another taste of my blood—blood that’s probably already in the Servants’ hands thanks to my deal with Jaegar and Chase. Blood they can use to their advantage the next time they fight us.” I shook my head in disgust, realizing I’d played right into the Servants’ hands.

“Don’t throw in the towel yet, angel. The way I see it, you still have the element of surprise on your side. Even if the Servants know your souls have fused, I doubt they understand the full extent of what that means.”

“
We
don’t even know the extent of what it means,” Quinn admitted in frustration.

“I am not sure any of us has achieved the clarity we seek when it comes to the two of you,” Ronald also conceded.

“Well, can you at least fill in some of the blanks for us?” I asked.

Ronald sighed and nodded. “Your pairing was not completely a result of chance. The Order of the Realms requested a pair of true soul mates be created. Aside from a short criteria list, the Order gave the Three Sisters the freedom to choose which souls to mark and, for whatever reason, they chose the two of you.” Ronald smiled.

“Why did the Order want a pair of true soul mates in the first place?” Quinn asked.

“For centuries now, the Servants have been hoping to start a rebellion and end the reign of the Order, but the Servants hadn’t taken any definitive steps. They were ‘all talk,’ as they say, at least until a couple of centuries ago when the Order got wind of some of the Servants’ underground mobilization efforts. Apparently, Mathius convinced a few other demonic clans in the Underworld that it would be to their benefit to join the Servants in a plot to take over the Realms.”

“Convinced or threatened?” Quinn asked.

“You can use the term interchangeably in this case,” Ronald said. “The Servants also began to strengthen their forces from within the clan. Nevertheless, only during the last few decades did Mathius’s scheming begin to pique the Order’s concern. In response, it was decided to create two true soul mates.”

“Why? What changed?” I inquired.

“Nothing and everything,” Ronald responded. “Mathius’s thirst for power, which resulted in him being stripped of his role as a Founder, has not diminished over time. If anything, it’s only grown.”

“Mathius broke the rules by handpicking souls and returning them to Earth,” I reminded Quinn. “He masterminded his own private mortal army behind the Founders’ backs and manipulated humanity’s fate to serve his own purposes until he got caught.”

“And his greed and desire to conquer still drive him,” Ronald added. “What has changed, however, is the accuracy and breadth of our intelligence on Mathius and his clan. Over the past century, we have not only discovered the
means
by which he plans to defeat all the Realms, but when he plans to make his move.”

“And that’s where Evie and I come into all of this? Is that why Mathius wants to recruit me?” Quinn asked.

“Yes, and yes. Mathius believes you have something he desperately wants, something that will give him the victory he seeks in his battle against the Order.” Ronald stopped to take a look around the park. “I fear it might be getting a little too crowded for comfort,” he muttered under his breath. “Why don’t we have your colleague, Dylan, take us somewhere a little more
remote,
hmm?” Ronald looked in the direction of where, I presumed, Dylan and Minerva were standing invisibly.
“Somewhere tucked away? A little piece of Heaven on Earth, perhaps?”
he continued telepathically.

“How do you feel about swank Manhattan penthouses?” Dylan asked, stepping out from behind a tree for all to see.

“I feel quite partial towards them, actually,” Ronald replied, grinning from ear to ear.

Once Ronald toured the penthouse in the sky, marveling at every turn, he settled into the plush black couch along with Dylan, Minerva, Quinn, and myself.

“Shortly after Mathius was cast out,” Ronald began, “the Order realized they needed to have more than one of its members watching over unbound souls. Thus, the Order created Heaven and Purgatory to safeguard the souls behind locked doors of the respective chambers. The Order then appointed two members, called Keepers, to watch over the souls, entrusting each Keeper with one of two Consecrated Keys, used to access both Heaven and Purgatory. To this day, the Keepers are the only ones who know the location of their own Key.

“Nevertheless, history is nothing if not a wise teacher. There was concern the new Keepers eventually might succumb to the same greed that infected Mathius, so the Order instituted a system of checks and balances. The two Keepers were to work in tandem, recycling souls within the confines of established guidelines and procedures. As another precaution, it was decided that two additional Consecrated Keys be created and their locations kept a secret from the Keepers in case either Keeper ever became corrupt and the Order to have to intervene. These keys can only be accessed by a majority vote of the Order and with the assistance of the Three Sisters of Fate. Until that time, however, both keys remain hidden.”

“Hidden where?” I asked, completely enthralled by the story.

“In two human souls.” Ronald looked at Quinn.

“Excuse me?” Dylan asked.

“Of course, the Keys get recycled over time. The head of the Order, Othniel, works with Harmonia, one of the Three Sisters, to select the souls to be tagged. Harmonia then weaves a unique homing device of sorts into the Key, tags the soul, and together Othniel and Harmonia implant that soul into a new human life. When that human being expires, the Key is immediately removed, re-implanted into another mortal, and tracked by the Sisters.”