Winning Souls (4 page)

“Sir, you had no problem with my kiss.”

He looked at her with laser focus. “I did not, but you kissed my cheek.”

She blinked. “You are correct. He did not?”

Enher shook her head. “He did not aim for the cheek. It is fine, Ulises. We will simply go inside and see what luck has been given.”

She grabbed Ulises’s arm and shoved him bodily away from the greeters.

He looked down at her with surprise. “You are extremely strong.”

She snorted. “It comes with the genes.”

“What are the other effects?”

She chuckled. “If you are still speaking to me at the end of the day, I will let you know.”

“Why would I not be?”

“Some men don’t like to be outstripped when it comes to making money.” She winked and headed for the dim interior with its bright lights. She went to the token kiosk and got a few thousand credits to play with. Ulises did the same, and he took his chit to the machines that sang happily to all around them.

She followed him for a moment and said, “I will meet you back here in three hours. Enjoy.”

She headed for the card, dice and other games of chance. By the time she was ready to stop, she had accumulated four hundred thousand credits and had been asked to leave all the tables she had played at.

Enher looked around for Ulises and found him surrounded by a group of females who were admiring the win that was still accumulating on the machine.

He must have noticed her, because he extended one wing and cleared a path for her. To her surprise, he pulled her in and settled her across his lap.

She watched the numbers ticking over and laughed. “I think you have me beat.”

“Did you play any of the games?”

She shook her head. “I prefer to play against people. It adds to the fun for me.”

He inclined his head.

She looked over his shoulder, and the crowd of admirers was thinning out. Only those who were interested in the final payout remained.

She spotted a game behind him and to the left that glowed with promise of paying out. She cleared her throat. “Excuse me for a moment.”

He looked surprised. “Where are you going?”

“To test a theory. I will be right behind you.”

Enher eased from his lap and looked at the machines. They all glowed with different intensities, but the one she was focused on flared and flickered like it was about to blow.

She sat at the machine, put her card in, set it to maximum bet and watched the images of half-naked Oefric scrolling around and around until they settled and an alarm went off.

Enher’s vision had been right. She won the progressive, the full jackpot, and all funds were loaded into her credit chit. As fun as it would have been to watch the accumulation, she hit the buttons and ejected her slip. The machine’s aura was now a subdued glow.

She returned to Ulises’s side and watched as he continued to play. She chuckled. “Well, I am done. Shall I meet you on the tour tomorrow?”

He ejected his credit slip and turned to her. “I think we have earned a well-deserved lunch.”

She laughed, and they went to the kiosk, uploading their winnings to their personal accounts.

Enher walked with him, back toward her hotel. “I think we will skip noodles today. I found one fused to my pillow this morning.”

He grinned. “You started it.”

“My sticks slipped. You didn’t have to fight back.” She gave him a dark look.

Ulises laughed. “My instincts kicked in.”

She snorted.

“I promise that today’s lunch will be much more sedate. The shop specializes in finger sandwiches.”

They entered the shop, and the women waited on them, bringing tea, tall trays of sandwiches and a matching tray of desserts.

Enher gave Ulises a sober look. “Where did you learn about this place?”

“I asked at my hotel. The concierge is very helpful when it comes to finding places for ladies to lunch.”

It was a suitable answer, but the energy that was embedded in him was pulsing in a way it had not been doing the day before. Enher could see the change, but she didn’t know what had brought it on.

It was time to focus on her tea party. The alteration in energy could be dealt with later. Tomorrow, they had trips to the craters planned, and she could investigate the changes then.

Desserts were waiting.

After lunch, they walked through the commercial sector, and she did some shopping for friends and family.

“How much did you end up winning?” Ulises asked her as she bought an expensive piece of jewelry for her dispatcher.

“Just over a million credits. The games are not nearly as fun as people, but I do win a lot faster.”

He blinked. “I thought you said I had won more than you had.”

“Oh, you had, but I saw a machine ready to pay out, so I played it and won.”

He stared at her. “You can see them?”

She shrugged. “Energy patterns are energy patterns. I can see them in living beings and in the world around me. It is the blessing of my kind, if you can consider it a blessing. I think the strength came to defend those who tell people about what they see. Not everyone needs to know that you can see their spouse is cheating on them or that they are cheating on their spouse.”

He cocked his head. “Does your species break bonds with its mates?”

“My species does, my genetic grouping doesn’t. False information makes us sick to the stomach. It isn’t sexy to be puking on our mates because we know they have lied to us.”

“So, when you said your kind only go into season rarely...”

“It is when we feel completely secure with our mate. Until then, there is only manipulation and uncertainty.” She lifted a l’nal silk scarf and smiled. “This is pretty.”

Ulises nodded in dawning understanding. “So, your chromatic display is to give your mate a chance at understanding what you are thinking.”

Enher laughed. “I suppose that is accurate.”

“Does your species ever find a mate in their own kind?”

She was holding the scarf against her skin and trying to imagine how it would look on her cousin. She glanced at him. “No. Our Reedamani parent is the only one with any interest in us. We are wired too differently to maintain actual relationships. We are born, given to our gene parent and they raise us, explaining our mental makeup as it develops.”

“Isn’t that a solitary way to live?”

“I spent time with my cousins, my mother and my grandparents. I just knew that the only person who truly understood how my mind worked was back at home.” She didn’t add that she had skills far beyond the average person with her bloodline. If he knew where she had come from, he knew that she saw more than the average member of her kind.

“It does seem unusual.”

“It is the way things are done.” She smiled and nodded at the shop assistant who was waiting respectfully nearby.

The woman came forward and folded the scarf into a soft rectangle, slipping it into packaging and waiting for Enher to finish her shopping.

She did a final tour of the silks in the shop, and she could not imagine any of it for herself. She concluded her shopping and paid for the purchase. It would be sent to her hotel.

Enher looked at her companion. “So, I suppose we have run all the options for today.”

“Would you care to see a show this evening?” He offered his arm as they walked out of the shop.

“I think I would like a quiet night in. I am here to relax after all.”

Ulises nodded. “Understandable. Would you like company?”

“Sure, we can order room service and watch a comedy vid. That is all I am really in the mood for.”

He grinned. “It sounds wonderful.”

“Well, then, let’s go. I have had an urge to get room service. It is a private vice of mine.” She smiled and her skin glowed hot orange in anticipation.

Arm in arm, they headed back to her place, and it was to her surprise that she found a message on her com.

A familiar voice said, “Whatever you are doing, keep it up. One hundred and ninety-three are free and two hundred more are stirring.”

The call ended there.

Enher nodded, and she had a slight smile as she turned toward Ulises. “So, that just begs the question, why are you letting them go?”

He looked at her with astonishment that lasted three seconds. He grimaced and crossed his arms. “How long have you known?”

“I suspected at the beginning of the tour, but it was the museum when it was confirmed for me. Your eyes glowed when we read about the meteor drop. Enjel eyes can’t glow.”

Enher moved sideways and settled in the conversation area. She gestured for him to sit. “Please.”

He made himself comfortable and propped his head on his fist while resting his elbow on the back of the couch. “How long have you known that I was not Ulises?”

“Since I had never met him, I had no idea what to expect, but I have read about Enjel protocols, and you definitely missed a few steps.”

He cocked his head. “How so?”

“They court their mates with gifts. All interactions take place under strict rules. If he felt I was safe to touch, he would have pursued sex. He didn’t, well, you didn’t. Who are you?”

The lavender eyes glowed. “I am what remains of the planet Kiot. I was not expecting that so much of me would end up on a world inhabited by sentient beings.”

“Honoured to meet you, Kiot. I do have a question for you.”

“You wish to know about those who sleep.”

“Yes, and when did you grab Ulises?”

“I asked him if I may walk in his skin, and he understood what I needed. He agreed as a Guardian and a protector of the Imperium.”

“What did you offer him?”

“A cessation to my acquiring of new minds to assist in my survival. He gives me full access to his power and his mind and that is enough for me.” Kiot smiled.

“Why have you been around me then?”

“Your mind is wonderful. I put myself into every man, woman and beast on this world, and they are all attracted to the strength of your thoughts. I want you to join with me, with us.”

She swallowed. “Why did you free the ones that you did?”

“Your touch gave energy and joy to the animals. That feeds me, and it enabled me to cut off the draw from the souls of those who have shared my joy before.”

“So, it is enjoyment that you seek.”

He shrugged. “Pleasure, laughter, joy, excitement. They all make me stronger and keep me alive. My power scattered across Nurmegar. I had to find a way to bind myself back into a sentient being. Lives were sacrificed, but I made sure that the families of those who gave their souls to me were compensated. They had the best harvests, the best profits and the brightest children. I gave what I could to honour the sacrifice.”

“So, you have bought their population.” She frowned.

He shrugged. “When your survival is at stake, you would be amazed at what you can and will do to ensure it.”

“May I speak with Ulises?”

He frowned. “No. Not yet. I want to make sure that you know I did not intend harm, but time passes for you much more rapidly than I anticipated, and before I could return the borrowed souls to their bodies, the bodies were gone.”

Enher closed her eyes. She had met two Avatars in her life, and each of them had expressed their marvelling at how quickly time passed for the children of their soil.

“You seem upset.”

She opened her eyes to see his concerned face close to hers. “Not upset, just resigned. Let the off-worlders go. Their families don’t know what is going on, and they have lives to lead, children, parents and siblings who need them.”

“I have released as many as I could. When you go on that tour tomorrow, if you give more of yourself, I will release what I able to then.”

She made a face. “Have you released the woman from Lurutek?”

He cocked his head. “Is that what brought you here?”

She sighed. “Yes, as you well know if Ulises is a Guardian.”

“He is not speaking to me. He feels his offer was made under duress.”

She snickered. “That sounds more like the Enjel I have heard of. A little bit arrogant and rather pompous.”

As she watched, the eyes flickered from lavender to deep amber. She inclined her head. “Hello, Guardian.”

He nodded his head before the eyes snapped back to lavender. “Amazing. One insult and he rose.”

“I did tell you. The Enjel are ruled by ego. They are attracted to beauty and possession. He must have been outraged that you were paying attention to me. My greatest asset is simply power.”

“You do glow.” He smiled.

She sighed at the handsome image he presented. She could almost imagine that it was an actual male sitting with her, one that had an interest in her personally.

“I think that we have taken this conversation as far as we can today. Pardon me, but if we are still going through with the charade and visiting the meteor sites tomorrow, I need my sleep.”

“You have not yet eaten.” There was concern on his features.

“I can manage to order something, but I believe that our interaction is done for the day. Please leave.” She inclined her head, and he got to his feet.

“Thank you for hearing me out.” He bowed and left her in her suite.

She followed him to the door, locked it behind him and sprinted to the com unit. She needed to get a second opinion, fast.

Relay answered immediately. “This isn’t a secure call.”

“It is no longer an information-gathering situation. The being absorbing the souls is a remnant of a dead world, and my contact has already been compromised. He has offered the consciousness his body but is apparently trying to rescind the offer.”

Relay whistled. “Right. Are you in danger?”

Enher cocked her head. “No. Kiot seems relieved to have someone to talk with, and I have seen that Ulises’s mind is intact within the body.”

“Is he in danger?”

“No. If Kiot finds a more amenable host, he will surrender the Enjel.”

Relay drummed her fingers against the table. “What does he want from you?”

Enher twisted her lips before saying, “I think he wants me for my mind. If I had to guess, I am in line to get the job offer to be his Avatar.”