Soul(s) (15 page)

“
I don’t remember it,” I
told her. We walked through the back kitchen and to the front of
the diner. She sat me down in one of the bar seats and began
bustling around on the other side of the counter.

“
What do you want to eat?
I’ll have the cook—my other brother—make something for
you.”

“
How many brothers do you
have?” I asked amused by the way she casually added in personal
information to the middle of sentences when she spoke.

“
Just two, what did you
want to eat again?”

“
Nothing, just water,
please.”

“
Just water it is,” she
echoed back.

“
So what’s your name?” She
asked as she bent down and retrieved a clean glass from behind the
breakfast bar.

“
Keegan, I remember that,
but that’s about all. Eliza, where are we?”

She froze—the glass of water still in her
hand. “How do you know my name?”

I smiled and pointed mutely to her
name-tag.

“
Oh, right,” Eliza said
laughing. Her face visibly relaxed. “I forget I have this on all
the time. We’re in New York City our little neighborhood is on the
border of Upper Manhattan and the Bronx.

Images of city life—subways; parks; taxis;
corner coffee houses—flashed in my head but before I could really
remember more than just the concepts, it evaporated.

“
Seems like I’ve been here
before, but I can’t be sure.

“
Do you remember
anything?”

I closed my eyes searching in the dark for
anything, but there was nothing. Opening my eyes back up, I
shrugged. I my mind past awakening in the alleyway behind the diner
was blank.

“
Maybe it’ll eventually
come back to you. Here’s your water,” she added finally placing the
glass down in front of me.

“
Thank you.” Our eyes met,
when our finger tips brushed as I took the cup from her. It was
just for a moment, but I recognized that look in her eyes. She
wanted something from me.

I gulped down the water and it careened
refreshingly through my body. The ache in my head lessened and I
felt a little stronger, but I was still so tired.

“
Is there some place I can
lay down?”

“
Sure, my family owns this
diner and we also own the apartment building above us too. You can
rest there.”

“
Do you even know his
name?” asked a male voice from the kitchen. “Or are you just really
that much of a red-blooded harlot?”

I quickly deduced the voice probably
belonged to the older of her brothers.

“
What’s your name?”
Whispered Eliza.

“
Keegan,” I said back
smiling.

“
Yes to both of those
questions, Luke.”

“
I’ll be sure to let dad
know,” her brother shot back. His voice growing louder as he got
closer to us.

“
I don’t care if you do,
you little narc. I don’t pay rent to not be able to bring home whom
I please.”

“
Well,” Luke said as he
held one of the swinging doors back, “if he murders you and you’re
late for your shift, it’s coming out of your pay.”

“
Fuck-off,” Eliza shot
back, but neither of them seemed truly mad.

“
You don’t have to help
me. I can take care of myself. It was too much for me to ask of you
anyway,” I said getting up from the table. My legs were still
wobbly but somehow I knew with more water it’d be strong enough to
at least walk by myself.

“
No,” Eliza said coming
around the counter to steady me. “He’s only teasing. My parents are
very religious and never turn someone away that they can help. You
never know when an angel might knock on your door disguised as—“she
stepped back surveying me, “a man dressed up in some weird
futuristic scuba diving suit. What the hell are you wearing? You
must be from out of state and came to New York for one of those
weekend comic-con cos-play festivals. Do you remember who you’re
supposed to be?”

“
I have no idea what
you’re talking about,” I answered back.

“
Right; no memory, it
doesn’t matter anyway. I have some clothes and ex left behind that
you can have. Let’s go.”

There was a joining hallway that connected
the dining area of the restaurant to the lobby of the apartment
building. We took the elevator up to the top floor and walked down
the hallway stopping at the end at room “841”.

“
Eight floors, forty one
apartments. Most of the apartments are closet size small. Since my
parents own the place, I get the pleasure of having an apartment
that is as big as two closets.”

“
You’re easy to like,” I
said turning my head to smile at her as we walked into the
room.

She tossed the keys down on the kitchen
table and leaned against the wall by the door.

“
Flattery after I’ve
already invited you in is futile,” she replied back grinning. “It’s
a pretty basic layout. This is the kitchen-living-dining-room and
then that door, that misleading looks like a coatroom, is the
bathroom. My bedroom is just off to the left and you are welcome to
my couch.”

I studied her as she kept talking, telling
me some story about the antics of her neighbor. Her hair fell just
below her shoulder in soft waves. Her waist narrowed in and then
flushed back out curving at her hips. Even in her uniform she was
beautiful. She noticed my unyielding gazing at her and her lashes
fluttered down shyly. She pushed herself off the wall she’d been
leaning on and brushed past me into the room.

“
I’ll grab those clothes
for you, and then I have to go back down to the diner for my shift.
I should be off at one o’clock if you want to see the town or try
to figure out who you are,” her voice trailed off as she went into
her bedroom.

She reappeared with sweat pants and a
t-shirt, handing them to me before retaking her post against the
wall.

“
What I mean is. We could
hang out, if you want,” she said finishing her sentence.

“
Sure,” I said. Without
thinking I began peeling the suit. I got down to shoulders before I
something reminded me that this wasn’t customary. I stopped,
realizing that I was supposed to do that in private. Looking up
over at her apologetically.

“
I should have waited
until you were gone,” I said.

“
No, by all means,” she
muttered to herself, her eyes scanning over me. Her hips shifted
against the wall unconsciously. She was attracted to me, I realized
instantly. I could have her if I wanted and I did
want.
A need for her
body pulsated within me. Somehow I knew I would feel better if I
had her. I would
be
better. I decided to trust what my body was telling my mind
to do.

I walked to her, letting my instincts take
over. Her eyes jolted up to mine but she didn’t move away. She let
me come to her. I left a few inches between us as I dipped my
fingers into her hair and trailed my thumbs up her jaw line. She
inhaled sharply, her skin prickling beneath my hands as her pupils
dilated.

“
I’m not usually
this
girl,” she
whispered.

“
I know,” I purred, before
tugging on her bottom lip with my teeth. I wanted her to kiss me
first.

She moaned, melting into my mouth; kissing
me with a neediness that I hadn’t expected and also found
surprisingly repugnant. I dropped one hand from her face and
steadied her waist against the wall. Her lips broke from mine and
she leaned her head on my shoulder.

“
I’ll come back after my
shift,” she said. Her was breath hot against my skin.

“
Come back after your
shift,” I agreed. I stepped back from her. She turned quickly,
closing the door behind her before I could get a glimpse of her
face.

I stretched before heading to the bathroom
to shower. I wanted her but somewhere in the back of my mind I knew
that having her would only temporarily satiate me and it would do
nothing for my soul. There was something more that she didn’t have.
She wasn’t the one.

But then, again, how could I know that. I’d
just met her.

21: SARIAH

HOUR
SIX

Ajani and I were lying flat on our stomachs
on a hill above the Banguri camp. We had finally made it here, now
we just had to wait for a portal to open up.

How do you want to
attack
? Ajani thought to me.

There isn’t a lot of them.

I noticed that too,

It was dark and I could only see shadows of
a few patrolling the area, and some sitting down by a fire.
Suddenly there was movement in the far part of the camp. Were more
coming back from a hunt?

I wish I had Keegan’s vision. He can see
souls.

We can read minds,
Ajani reminded me.

We can’t risk them knowing
we’re here,
I reasoned back.

The next twenty minutes that felt like
purgatory. I hated doing nothing, but we couldn’t move in until the
right moment.

There are some things we
haven’t talked about yet,
Ajani
said.

Unbelievable,
I snarled.

Everything’s not about
you, Princess.
He thought back
chidingly.
What’s our plan if we get in
the portal and some of them follow us?

I exhaled—probably too loudly, but I was
relieved he wasn’t trying to pitch his case for why we should be
together. Although my answer to his question ironically made me
just as uncomfortable.

We’ll kill them,
I thought.
We can’t risk
them letting anyone know we’ve arrived.

Can you do it?

What—are you suddenly
anti-killing?
I asked nervously, thinking
he was going to expect me to do the majority of it.

No, I can kill without a second thought, but
you can’t.

I didn’t have a response for that. It was
true, I didn’t want to kill anyone, I never had, but I had save
Keegan. He was more important than anything or anyone. I couldn’t
lose him. I couldn’t give up. I couldn’t hold back.

Let’s worry about that
when we have to worry about it.
Ajani
reasoned.

There was a flash down below us, a portal
had been opened.

Let’s go,
I thought.

Wait—what are they
doing?
Ajani asked, looking straight
ahead.

I squinted trying to see what he was talking
about but from my angle, I couldn’t quite make out fully what was
moving. I closed my eyes, letting my sense stretch out.

Hungry. Hungry. Hungry. Hungry. Hungry.
Hungry.

My eyes shot open and I turned to Ajani in
the dark. It wasn’t people they were sending animals through the
portal.

They’re sending low-banguri.

We’ve got to move, Ajani thought. We have to
get to that portal. Wait until the last possible moment to strike.
Once they see us, they’ll try to close the portal and we might
never get through. Ready?

He reached wordlessly
behind armed his deku, turning it into a long sword as he got up
from the ground. He squatted down low in apposition that made it
easy for him to sprint off. I followed suit, mimicking his
movements. My weapon felt heavy in my hand but I was determined.
There was no other way
.

Ready?
Ajani asked again.

Ready.

We took off down the hill in a fury.

Keegan would have been faster, I thought to
myself, but I pushed him out of my mind as I ran. I kept my weapon
low. We were behind them and they were all focused on the animals
heading through the portal.

Fan out—take the
right.
Ajani instructed.

I followed his orders, swiftly gliding to
right. They couldn’t see us approaching through the trees but as
soon as we hit the clearing we’d be easily spotted.

Ajani reached a Banguri first and he swept
passed them his deku cutting through them at the knees. His victim
screamed alerting another nearby male Banguri others. Ajani over
turned him easily attacking him dead on, snapping their neck with
skilled preciseness.

The orbs of each soul
float up and I had to look away.
Dead.
It had been only minutes since
we started are decent down onto their camp and we’d already killed
two of their kind. Emotion began to bubble up in my stomach but I
pushed it down. I shook my head, clearing it. I couldn’t moralize
what was happening right now. I had to focus.

I was started moving again, I was nearing
another high-banguri but I snuck passed without having to hurt
them. Everyone was focused on Ajani. They hadn’t even noticed me
yet and I was beginning to think I could make it to the portal
without killing anyone or anything—then I tripped, hurtling
forward.

SARIAH! Ajani’s voice screamed in my
head.

I scrambled back up to me feet, but by then,
I was already surrounded by beasts. The jumped first and I defended
myself, catching the first easily on the tip of my sword as it
lunged at me. Two more attacked at once from both sides. I threw my
hands out and they stopped mid motion. I held them in the air,
studying them for a few seconds. They were the same type of banguri
that I’d first seen. I began to tighten and I could see the panic,
the fear in their eyes. I gritted my teeth, blocking out their
thoughts and emotions. Shutting my open hands into a fist, I ended
it. Crunching: the sounds mangling of bones and guts; even when it
stopped it echoed in my mind’s ears.