Soul Catcher

by E. L. Todd

  “I assumed you would.”

  They sat together in silence. Accacia looked down at Aleco’s calloused hand as he held her own. His thumb brushed along the blue veins of her wrist. The knowledge that she wasn’t the only survivor of such a marvelous race dulled the ache in her heart, but it couldn’t erase the unbearable pain she felt at the loss of her parents. Her experience with the duke would have been much different if she had known this information beforehand. She wondered if Father Giloth withheld it for that reason alone, but then she realized that was impossible. She would have killed the duke or died trying, probably the latter, if she had known he was the man responsible for their deaths. She couldn’t believe that she had carried his unborn child. Vomit flooded to her mouth as she reflected on the past. Accacia wanted nothing more than to kill him—he deserved to die.

  Aleutian Keep, Letumian Province

  30

  “Is there anything else you need, sire?”

  “No,” the duke answered. “You may go. We leave at sunrise.”

  “Very good, sire.” The chamberlain closed the door behind him. The duke was leaving for Roslyn the next morning, where he expected to be appointed to the throne. Everything was going as planned; nothing could stop him.

  Drake looked around his empty bedchamber. His only company was the smoldering coals in the dying fire. The sofa still held Accacia’s imprint where she sat before the fire, reading a book from his magnificent library. A slight indent lined the cushion where her behind had marked its existence in the cotton, the only evidence that she was ever there. The duke walked over and sat in her usual seat but still felt her absence. He had fulfilled his life’s ambitions and he should feel elated at the accomplishment, except he wasn’t. There was only one thing on his mind.

  Drake spotted a leather bound book lying on the table before him. It was the last book she read. He grabbed the novel and opened it, hoping a piece of her essence was within the pages. When he did, a small book fell from between the parchment sheets and dropped into his lap.

  There was no title to the book. He flipped through the pages and realized it wasn’t a novel, but a journal—Accacia’s diary. He turned to the last page and began to read.

  I have nothing further to add to my tale. Every day is as unremarkable as the previous. The only moments I look forward to are getting a new book from the library and the maid’s visit, where I can ask her about the city and its inhabitants. If I’m lucky, and he is away, she lets me help her clean the room. Dali is wonderful with a beautiful smile. She tells me about her children, and I can’t help but feel envy for her life. She may be a maid, a mere peasant, but she has choices. I don’t, nor will I ever. I have nothing else to say. I fear I never will again.

  Drake flipped the pages to the middle of the journal.

  I had the worst nightmare. I couldn’t recall it completely, it came in flashes and breaks, but I remember his hands around my throat. He squeezed tightly, restricting my windpipe until I couldn’t breathe. The blackness descended, and I knew the end was near. Instead of fear coursing through my body, the fear of my impending death, I felt happiness. I was finally going to die—finally, I would be free of him. I woke from the nightmare drenched in my sweat. I looked over and saw Drake sleeping undisturbed. He wore a smile on his face that almost looked innocent—almost. The happiness I felt disappeared and was replaced by a flood of despair. I wish it wasn’t a dream—I wish it was real.

  Drake closed the journal and returned it to the table. He didn’t want to read any more. He ran his hands through his hair the way Accacia used to, but it didn’t feel the same. Fear gripped his body—he didn’t know if he would ever find her.

  He rose from the couch and approached the dying embers of the hearth. He reached his hand up the chimney and tapped along the bricks until he felt the nook he had inserted in the column. He finally felt the familiar texture of the tablet and withdrew it from its hiding spot—the Aqua Stone. He held the square gem in his hands and appraised the surface. He had searched for the remaining stones, but had been unsuccessful in his attempts. He suspected they were hidden beyond his reach.

  He was thankful he possessed at least one stone, even at the cost of an entire civilization, and he hoped he would come across the remaining four. He knew he would be around long enough to find them eventually. The idea of immortality stung when he thought of Accacia; she didn’t have her own gem. If she died, she would be gone—forever. He had to find her before it was too late.

  Orgoom Forest

  31

  Aleco escorted Accacia to her bedroom. “You know where to find me if you need anything,” he said outside her door. “I understand if you want to be alone.”

  She smiled at him, but he noticed her smile only lifted her lips, and not her eyes. “Will you be moving back then?” she asked as she nodded to the bedchamber across the hall.

  “No,” he said. “I prefer Asylinth Cottage. I can drink my liquor in peace without being scolded by the two of you.” She laughed at his joke, and he was happy to see some color return to her cheeks. Her face had been as pale as a cold morning the entire day. “Good night,” he said.

  “Good night.”

  Aleco left the house and trekked through the snow to his temporary home in the distance. Even though the purpose of the cottage was to accommodate heads of state and certain worthy sovereigns, Aleco enjoyed the luxury of having it to himself. Yes, he would like to be closer to Accacia, a lot closer, but since he couldn’t have her the way he wanted, he knew it was best to keep his distance. Now that he had made love to her, he was worried he wouldn’t stop until he was with her again. He forced the idea out of his mind. After a drink, he crawled into bed and stared into the dancing flames of his bedroom hearth to reflect on the events of the day, most of which he didn’t understand.

  He heard the creak of the floorboards in the parlor at the bottom of the stairs, and it caused him to jump. He was certain he had locked the door. Aleco grabbed his guildsmen sword from the weapons rack in his bedroom and withdrew it from his scabbard. He opened the bedroom door and peeked down the stairs. He saw a hooded figure ascend the staircase, but he couldn’t distinguish any features. He stepped away from the door with his blade held at the ready.

  The figure walked into the room and turned towards Aleco. Aleco recognized Accacia’s frightened face, and he immediately dropped the weapon to the ground, silently berating himself for assuming it would be anyone else.

  Her beautiful features relaxed as he dropped his defensive stance and relaxed his shoulders. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you,” she whispered. He stood practically naked, only wearing his undershorts in the freezing night.

  Aleco laughed. “No, I apologize,” he said. “I shouldn’t have assumed any hostility would enter these words. I’m just used to being on my guard at all times.”

  “I understand,” she said. She dropped her cloak and approached the fire, warming her hands by the heat of the flames. Aleco crawled into bed and leaned his back against the headboard while he stared at her by the fire. He didn’t know why she was there, but he hoped it would require the removal of her clothes.

  “Can I get you anything?” he asked.

  “No, thank you,” she said without turning away from the fire. He laid his head on the pillow and closed his eyes. After a few moments, Aleco discerned the sound of clothes being dropped to the floor, and his heart quickened with excitement. He felt the sag of the mattress as she slid under the sheets and moved closer to him. He could feel her bare skin against his thigh and her rounded breast against his arm, but he forced himself to remain in control. He reached around her waist and squeezed her against his chest. She sighed happily as he embraced her with the warmth of his body. He opened his eyes and saw her stare at him.

  “Accacia, you can’t lay in this bed with me, completely naked, and expect me to treat you like a friend,” he said. He placed his forehead against hers and cupped her face with his large hand. “So I suggest
you put some clothes on.”

  Accacia pulled his face to hers and kissed him. She caressed his lips with her own and parted his lips with her tongue, swirling around his own slowly. He groaned with pleasure, as he always did with her. She knew his pleasure zones, too. She ran her hands through his hair and twisted the short strands within her fingers, then glided her fingers to his back and massaged the large muscles covering his flank.

  She stayed in bed for an hour before she decided to visit Aleco. Accacia reflected on their night together, how gentle and loving it felt, a completely different experience than any she had with Drake. Sex was always an unexciting routine activity she did with him because she was forced to. Sometimes her body would betray her and give in to her biological needs, reaching a state of euphoria, but it was nothing like with Aleco. With him, she wanted more.

  She pulled Aleco on top of her and felt his arousal pressed against her abdomen. She grabbed him firmly and watched Aleco’s breathing grow deep and shallow as she rubbed him the right way. He groaned as her strokes increased in speed. Soon, his body began to shake, and he stopped her hand in mid-stroke before it was too late.

  “I know what you’re doing,” he growled. He inserted himself within her slowly. She grabbed his hips and pulled him deep inside her until she completely sheathed him, and she moaned when she felt him within her. Aleco’s eyes widened in surprise at her enthusiasm, and he forced himself to be gentle rather than moving as fast as he wanted to. She rocked her hips below and quickened his speed from underneath him. Rather than fight his attempt to be gentle, he let himself go and thrust himself inside her repeatedly. He felt her body constrict around him. Her moans grew louder as he continued to make love to her, and she whispered his name as she kissed his lips. She began to shout his name as she reached her climax. After her moment passed, her moans trickled down to quiet sighs as he continued to please her. He wanted to pleasure her again, but he couldn’t hold on any longer. She just looked too beautiful underneath him, loving the feel of him inside her, calling his name in her bliss. He released himself within her and she pulled him deeper inside her. She whispered his name into his ear as he climaxed and moaned with unbridled indulgence.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, as he lay down beside her. The worry always plagued his mind. Aleco never wanted to be responsible for causing her any form of pain.

  “Yes,” she reassured him. “I will tell you if it hurts, Aleco.” She smiled mischievously. “And believe me, it doesn’t.”

  “Good.” He smiled.

  He cradled her into his arms and listened to the pop of the flames from the hearth. Her soft breaths fell upon his chest, and she sighed in comfort. Aleco wanted to know what this meant for their relationship. Was this going to be a regular activity? Was he her lover? Aleco kept his questions to himself, for fear it would ruin the evening. Besides, he knew she had more pressing topics on her mind.

  Accacia looked into his face. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Anything,” he said.

  “Really?” she asked, touched by his openness with her.

  “Of course,” he said. “I trust you more than anyone. Go ahead.”

  Accacia was astounded by Aleco’s behavior. He had changed so much since they first met. In fact, she had loathed the man in their first interaction. He continually annoyed her, hurt her feelings, and even deserted her, but now he was her closest friend. When Accacia rejected his affection, he completely changed to the man she had initially met. However, when they were intimate, he was so tender. The startling differences amazed her. Aleco ran his hands through her hair and kissed her forehead while he waited for her to ask her question; she had many. “Have you ever been with a prostitute?” she asked hesitantly. It wouldn’t change their physical relationship, but she was still interested if he had.

  Aleco avoided her gaze. “Yes,” he admitted.

  “How many?” she asked.

  “How many times did I sleep with a prostitute? Or how many prostitutes?” The edge in his voice betrayed his shame. He was very uncomfortable with the conversation. The fact he answered her questions at all displayed his trust in her.

  “How many prostitutes?” she asked.

  “Six,” he answered. He finally looked at her. “Does that change anything?”

  “No, of course it doesn’t,” she said. Aleco breathed a sigh of relief at her words. He was terrified of her possible reaction. “I was just curious. You are very experienced.”

  “So are you,” he noted, though he knew the circumstances were very different.

  “Can I ask you something else?” she said as she held him tighter.

  “Yes, ask away,” he encouraged.

  “Have you ever been with a woman who wasn’t a prostitute?”

  “None, besides you,” he answered.

  She nodded. She considered herself to be in the same situation, not that Drake was a prostitute, but she wasn’t able to find her own relationships to engage in. She assumed Aleco was in the same predicament.

  “Did you feel anything for these women?”

  “What do you mean? Like love?”

  “Yes,” she replied.

  “No.” He sighed. “I was fond of some of them. I was comfortable and compatible with a few. I didn’t abuse them like the other men did, so they preferred me as a customer.” Aleco looked at her. “Can I ask you something?”

  She thought about his request for a moment. She certainly trusted him, and didn’t want to hurt his feelings by not reciprocating his confidence, but she was nervous about what he wanted to know. He saw the apprehension in her eyes.

  “Forget I asked,” he said.

  “No,” she said. “You can ask me.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes,” she assured him.

  “Did you enjoy—being with Drake?”

  It was exactly the question she didn’t want him to ask, but maybe it was best if she talked about it with someone. Before then, she never had. “No,” she said. “Most of the time it was violent, painful, and meaningless. Sometimes my body would behave naturally to his movements, but the experience was never pleasant. Making love with you is nothing like the sex I had with him.”

  Aleco nodded. He knew how hard that was for her to answer. “Thank you for answering my question.”

  Her mind drifted back to the conversation earlier that evening, and she asked what she couldn’t at the time. “Why didn’t you accept the Chief’s offer? There was no way you could have known we would escape.”

  Aleco released his hold on Accacia’s waist and rubbed his temple. He wanted to answer this question even less than the others. “The Chief promised me I would be reinstated within the guild and my life would be spared. Yes, he offered me the chance of immortality, but when I asked if you would be released if I agreed, he said you wouldn’t. I couldn’t rejoin the guild and support the monsters who returned you to your living nightmare,” he said. “So I chose death. Besides, I have no desire to live forever, or live period, for that matter.”

  Accacia stared at him. “Would you have accepted it if I didn’t exist?” she asked.

  “If you didn’t exist, I wouldn’t have been stuck there to begin with.”

  “Aleco?” she pressured him.

  “Yes,” he said. “I probably would have.”

  She stared at him for a few moments. He turned down the certainty of life in favor of returning to her, along with the uncertainty of escape. His choice baffled her. Aleco was a man she considered innately selfish, but he had risked his life to save her—again. She felt even worse for rejecting his love after what he had sacrificed for her.

  Aleco returned her stare and prepared for the worst. The story was basically a confession of his undying love for her, and he was certain the knowledge would push her away. He hoped she was too stupid or ignorant to figure it out.

  She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him gently, cupping his cheek with her fingers. The loving gesture tugged at his heart, and
he was delighted the revelation hadn’t scared her away, but that she loved him in the same way. He ended their embrace and pulled her to his chest.

  She buried her face in the crook of his neck and ran her fingers gently down his arm. Aleco had never felt so happy, so alive, as he did when he was lying next to her, sitting in silence, and listening to the sound of her steady breaths.

  “Your mother was beautiful,” she whispered.

  Aleco flinched slightly at her words. This was the first time they had discussed what she saw in the Soul Catcher on that horrific afternoon. The involuntary spasm caused her heartbeat to quicken in fear, anticipating the same wrath he displayed that day. That she even mentioned it demonstrated her trust for him, leaving herself so vulnerable in his possible wake.

  He thought back to the day his parents were killed. It was the worst day of his life by far. He remembered the event so vividly, the way his mother smiled at him as death crept into her veins, and the stiff paralysis of his father’s corpse on the far side of the bed. He could feel death hanging in the room. Tears crept into his eyes at the memory. Even after all this time, he had done nothing to avenge their deaths. He had led the life of a criminal, stealing from those who are less fortunate, forcing slaves into servitude, killing innocents—all acts his parents would be ashamed of. He was worthless.

  Aleco steadied his breathing and controlled the stinging burn behind his eyes, the accumulation of tears waiting to be released. Accacia noticed the subtle change in his body; the change in the rise of his chest at the expansion of his lungs, and the quiet gasps escaping his voice. She pulled away and looked at him, the red tint of his eyes betrayed his hidden suffering, and the sight tugged at her heart. She kissed the corner of his eyes and felt the moisture on her lips.

  “Thank you,” he said. Aleco blinked back the tears and his emotions returned to a state of calm. Having Accacia in his life numbed the pain substantially. The nightmares disappeared completely and allowed him to sleep for more than a few hours at a time, without the supplemental use of a plant remedy. With Accacia alongside him, day or night, the pain wasn’t so unbearable, and he found a reason to continue living. She had no idea how much she meant to him.