Striking Souls

by Erin R Flynn

  The look the anchors shared was hysterical, as they clearly didn’t know what to say that wouldn’t get them in trouble but probably had a lot they wanted to say.

  “Unconfirmed reports are coming in that the whole thing was a huge prank,” another anchor from a US news show caught my attention. I frowned when I saw which one as I had issue with their reports as they sullied the name of journalism with their tendency to be ‘state news’ and pushing propaganda from the current administration instead of actually reporting. “Sources are saying this was a hack from the liberal left on the conservative enchanter elders.

  “We’re getting word it might have been one of the enchanters thrown out of their community for not following their rules and ways. While enchanters are secretive as to what those rules and ways are, laws are laws and breaking them have to come with harsh punishments. Hopefully whoever was at the center of all of this will be caught and punished for trying to discredit their leadership and smear good men who work hard for their people.”

  “Not bloody likely,” I drawled, rolling my eyes. I went back to smiling as the news showed the pictures I sent to the media of what I had done… And most of what I didn’t. The elders did have a huge selection of torture devices in the basement of the estate along with their cells for those arrested. It was the pride and joy of my father that the collection was vast and all authentic and he was adept at using all of them.

  Fucked in the head was what I thought it was. If people wanted to play that way, good for them, but preening and bragging about your torture knowledge and experience was what psychopaths did… Which was an accurate label for my father as well.

  “I don’t understand why they haven’t cleaned it all up,” Helen muttered as the news showed the elder estate live.

  “They can’t,” I purred, smirking as people tried to get into the “club” and were rudely rebuffed by the estate guards. “I altered the spell they put on the handcuffs and put it on the estate. Instead of being dampening, it’s draining. Any enchanter in the estate will slowly be drained and that power will fuel the spell. It’s their own magic making the spell work. So they won’t have the juice to take the spell off the estate.”

  “Oh shit, that’s awesome,” Keegan giggled. “I mean, so, so awesome, boss.”

  I shrugged. “Eventually it will stop. They’re too stubborn to just give up, but they’ll have to leave and eventually they’ll stay away long enough for the spell to fade, but their bullheadedness will be what keeps it going longer than it needs to.”

  “Welcome back, boss,” Helen muttered, handing me a protein shake.

  “I’m working on it,” I admitted, not wanting to act like everything was okay when it wasn’t. No, there was still too much crap, and while my response would keep the elders busy for a while, it was just a bandage on a wound that wouldn’t stop bleeding. Sure, it was probably now at a trickle… But that was still not good.

  After eating way more than most women my size could handle, I headed to what was next on my list, glad the mood of the coven was recovering. I was the coven leader, so as much as I tried to shield them from my dark moods, it was impossible for it not to affect them.

  Once on the roof, I brought my heavy jacket to me and slid it on. The end of March in Chicago was not the time to be standing on top of a high rise without even a coat.

  I walked over to the banishing circle Kate—the psychic I was giving sanctuary to—had drawn out in paint, feeling the energy of it. From what I could tell, it was exactly as she said. It would send souls who were called here from the other side back to where they should be. And only them. To know for sure, I would have to take off my charms, and I didn’t want to do that until I checked it out as best as I could.

  “If you alter those two symbols, you wouldn’t need your revolving door barrier but would limit how many could enter the circle to be sent back,” a deep, deep voice said from behind me.

  I swallowed a flinch, as not many could ever get the drop on me. I glanced over my shoulder and met gold eyes. Actually golden like bright, deep, sparkling golden. Wow. I focused on what he said and looked at where he was pointing.

  “You’re right,” I muttered, moving closer and feeling the energy of the symbols. “Thank you, that’s helpful.” I glanced around the area, realizing I could make one long barrier around the roof of the building and it would allow souls to file in so I wasn’t overwhelmed or I could only allow in certain ones.

  A deep chuckle pulled me out from my musings. I almost forgot about him and turned to face him, blinded by his brilliant smile and bright aura. “You are as talented and quirky as people say, Soraya—” He frowned, unable to say what he wanted, and I was careful of my reaction, knowing only one reason that would happen.

  “Devil. I think you mean to say Soraya Devil.”

  He raised an eyebrow at me as he closed the twenty foot or more distance. “You are known by many names. Savior of enchanters. Friend to all non-humans and humans alike. Chicago’s guardian angel.”

  I went to reply with something quippy, but the way he said that last one gave me pause. It wasn’t so much an inflection but drawing it out. My heart raced as I blinked at him a moment. “No shit?”

  He smirked at me, large wings with gorgeous white feathers appearing behind him and unfolding. “No shit.”

  “Wow,” I whispered, moving closer. It was his turn to blink at me in shock as I invaded his personal space and checked out the wings. “Wow. It makes sense as there’s demons and someplace dark that evil goes and comes from, but there’s also evidence of the gods, so the Christian version of angels never seem to fit as well, but in all honesty, I assumed we never knew the real answers.”

  “You are a very, very strange woman,” he murmured, studying me carefully when I looked up at him.

  “You have no idea, darling,” I chuckled, looking back at the feathers and structure of the wings. “You’re not here to harm me if you’re offering suggestions on how to improve the banishing circle. There’s no reason to fear you then, as you probably also want something. I’ve not touched, only looked, and while most wouldn’t think to do that, I’m not most people and there isn’t much I haven’t seen in my thousand years.”

  “You are special as I cannot read your mind even,” he grumbled. “Thank you for explaining.”

  “You’re welcome…” I raised an eyebrow, clearly saying he should introduce himself.

  “Brax.”

  “Brax the angel?” I checked, frowning. “That sounds a bit popular baby name for an angel.”

  He rolled his eyes as he crossed his arms over his impressive and very toned chest. “Yes, and Soraya is the perfect enchantress name? A British one no less? It’s a Persian name meaning—”

  “Princess, yes, I know,” I muttered, turning away from him as it was a sensitive topic. “My mother was excited her first child was a little girl and there would be a princess born to the bloodline after too many generations of only men. The joke was on all of us, and if you know who I am, I bet you know how that turned out.”

  “I do. I’m sorry.”

  “What can I do for you, Brax?”

  “The situation with the veil and the barrier between the planes is worse than your psychic knows.”

  “I figured,” I sighed, scrubbing my hand over the back of my neck. “She’s powerful for a human, but she is only human. I mean that not as a judgement, as we all have limitations.”

  He snorted. “You don’t seem to. You erased a greater demon. That’s never been done before, not in the thousands of years there have been demons. I as an angel cannot do what you did.”

  I shrugged as I checked out the next circle, the one she said would give the soul the feeling of peace as if their last request was granted even when it wasn’t. I knelt down and felt the energy of the symbols and checked her work. “I can’t fly, so you got me there.”

  “Oh, I bet you could figure out something if you wanted to.”

  Again, I shrugged. “Maybe,
but that doesn’t answer why you’re here. A thousand years alive and I’ve never met an angel. Why is one here now talking about the veil and my taking out a demon?”

  “Because the demons also know what you’ve done, and they are not happy,” he warned.

  “I figured that might happen,” I grumbled as I kept working. “So you’re my angel protector?”

  He sighed, probably not appreciating my snarky tone. “Demons—for all their many faults—don’t make a move lightly. Our side is the same. From the moment you took out a named greater demon that one non-magic human was able to easily summon—even by using magical blood—there has been debate on what to do. Some of it is not nice.”

  I glanced over my shoulder at him, not hiding my shock. “Are you saying some angels want me dead because I took out a demon when you guys can’t? Talk about petty jealousy.”

  “No, they want to force you to do it again and again no matter the cost to you.”

  “Oh, well, that’s not really any better,” I drawled, shaking my head. “No good deed goes unpunished, I swear.”

  “Unfortunately. So yes, I am here to watch over you, and because while everyone is debating themselves to death, the veil is in trouble, the barrier’s thinning and at an alarming rate. There are areas that are paper thin, and we both know how people look for such spots. Balance needs to be restored and souls returned to where they should or the debate might be moot.”

  “So send them back,” I replied as I stood and faced him. His beautiful face gave away a bit too much. “You can’t, can you?”

  “I’m not allowed,” he clarified. “They can’t pull souls here to upset the balance, and we can’t bring them back or help them move on.” He shrugged. “Rules can’t be broken but can be worked around a bit too much.”

  I read between the lines. “Demons helping humans or psychics to learn how to call souls as it’s all the rage to summon them.”

  He nodded, his almost white hair catching the sunlight as he did. “That or with the veil in such a state a few whispers to fan the flames of grief can keep a soul of a loved one here, pull them back even.”

  “That’s quite the loophole they’re walking through.”

  He shrugged again. “Just as I’m standing here offering to help you as our loophole. I can’t do it, but I can help you do it, protect you even.”

  “I appreciate it, but I do have excellent security, and they’re very protective of me.”

  He snorted but then blinked as lasers appeared on his chest. He glanced around and then looked back at me. “You are very, very talented. I couldn’t even feel them. How long have they been there?”

  “Knowing Tommy, he sent a few to come up here and watch my back the moment I appeared on the roof to work on the circles. The building has protection, magical and technology like bulletproof glass, but the roof is always a gray area.” I huffed. “Or even magic can push the limits like a caster’s bloody spells that had flaming bottles of booze break our bulletproof lobby glass.”

  “I could help with that. I could be a lot of help to you,” he murmured, moving closer and kneeling next to me. “Change these two symbols and it would summon only as many as you could send at once and push the rest back for miles.”

  I looked where he pointed, bobbing my head. “Right, so like Black Friday sales the first fifty could get through the door and that’s all for the day. Interesting. That’s the magic that binds certain demons to only kill so many a day, isn’t it?”

  “Yes,” he breathed, his eyes flashing shock. Oh boy, so he wasn’t used to dealing with smart people or just non-angelic smart people.

  I sat back on my feet and turned towards him. “Why aren’t you pushing me to send demons back or erase them? It would behoove your side, yes?”

  “Yes,” he admitted, studying me as he licked his lips. “But most of us believe balance needs to be restored first or the demons could push harder to escape while the barriers are thinning. They are so the best offense is a good defense and getting those barriers shored up would be smarter in the long run.”

  It made sense. I gave a slow nod as I mulled it over. “And after?”

  “The war against evil will never be won,” he answered instead after a few moments. “That’s not the war we fight.”

  “It’s to keep good and evil balanced as the world needs evil just as much as it does good, but one cannot surpass the other in such extremes as it has at times.”

  “Correct,” he agreed. “If I’m honest, evil has always had a bigger chunk, or at least visually. Most don’t truly think of the goodness of a baby or the trees or puppies and kittens when they think of the balance, only what they see in the news of all the bad and evil drowning people.”

  “Makes sense, but you didn’t answer my question.”

  His lips twitched. “No, I did not. I think there are better ways to help the balance. Going after demons, especially greater demons, risks certain moves from their side as well.”

  I tried to school my reaction, but I was sure I did a bad job from the way he sighed. “Like going after angels. That’s what you’re afraid of. Now that someone you see as on the side of good has killed a greater demon, you worry those on their side will start trying to erase angels.”

  “Are you on our side?” he challenged, but I didn’t rise to the bait.

  “Don’t throw stones at glass houses, angel, as your Bible is full of you smiting people and judging harsher than the current laws in most countries.”

  He shook his head. “Not what I meant. I meant will you join our side? You tend to be neutral and the only side you fight for is your own.”

  That was fair. My side included enchanters and my coven, but I didn’t get involved in much else. I preferred to be neutral and stay out of warring nests or power grabs of elves or anything of the like. “I think I will reserve answering for when I know more. Picking a side is just that, picking a side, and I find it safer to stand off to the side and do what I feel is best.”

  “Wise, but then forgive me for what I must do,” he murmured as he closed his wings around us and moved closer. I was so distracted by how large they were and how I was instantly warm when he enclosed us that I didn’t see what he was doing.

  Until his lips were on mine. The eight foot plus angel with the magical eyes and brightest aura I’d ever seen was kissing me. He pushed his tongue over my lips and into my mouth, cupping my head as he did. We pulled apart after a few moments, breathing heavy.

  “Fuck it,” he growled and kissed me again, both of his hands on my face this time as he devoured my lips. He flinched, pulling away, and it was only then I heard shouting. “She’s fine.”

  “Stand down,” I ordered, catching up that it was my people freaking out that he was doing something to me.

  He waited until there was calmness outside of our cocoon and opened his wings, tucking them behind his back and then they disappeared. He stood, holding his hand out to me.

  I didn’t take it, leery of the look in his eyes. I stood on my own and squared off with him. “What was that? Why must you have done that?”

  His gaze changed to something nervous as he cleared his throat. “I can track you now. I’ll always know where you are no matter your magic or anyone else’s.”

  “So can I and I didn’t even need to steal a kiss for it,” I purred, popping him away to the middle of the Atlantic. “Brat.” I turned to my security and sighed. “Thanks, guys, really. It’s fine. Can someone find Kate and get her up here? I’d like to try some of this out. Apparently it’s important enough for an angel to show up.”

  “Because that’s not terrifying,” one of them muttered before talking into the radio they all wore on their shoulders.

  I agreed so I didn’t have anything to reply.

  Kate came up and walked over to me hesitantly, looking like a pup who was expecting and bracing to be kicked. There wasn’t anything I could do about that, as I was not the most emotionally healthy person, but I did shoot a quick text to th
e therapists we had in the coven, asking them to speak with her and maybe help her work through her abusive past.

  I explained to her what I’d discussed with Brax, and after a few moments I realized she couldn’t tell the difference. “How the bloody hell did you figure these circles out if you can’t tell by feeling them or able to read the energy of symbols?”

  She blinked up at me. “I read and a lot. I’ve scoured the planet looking for information and pieced it together.”

  “Impressive,” I complimented, glancing at Tommy who had come up when he’d learned there was an uninvited guest forcing kisses on me. “Do we have that information?”

  “Yes,” he promised, nodding. “The first thing we did was collect all of her everything from where her parents held her along with where she stashed other information. She’s been leading us through everything she’s found, and it’s impressive. For one trapped human to have found so much is astounding really. We’ve got our librarians going over where she stumbled upon information for anything else we might want.”

  “Thank you, that’s perfect. I know I was out of the loop, but you handled it exactly as I would, darling.” I gave him a wink, as I found it fun to tease Tommy from time to time as he was always perfect… Except when it came to accepting praise or acknowledging the pat on the back he deserved.

  “How can I help you do this?” Kate asked me, glancing between the circles. “Hold this barrier you spoke of?”

  “No, I have another idea for that, and I think we’re going to tie it into the building security if they’re willing to lend us some power,” I explained, not shocked when they all nodded. “I’m going to use four of them—one for each corner of the roof—and they will hold the barrier protecting us. I would like you to speak to the souls we will send back. Only the ones who were called here by non-family people.”

  “The best way to get a handle on so many being called over is to stop the source,” Tommy agreed, nodding. “And then PI can get into that and finding people, making it stop, or we can.” He gave me a look when I opened my mouth to argue. “We can handle that, boss. Not everything should be left to you.”