Broken Souls (Primani Book 4)

by Laurie Olerich

  “Uncle Dec! Why are you sad?” Rafe’s piping voice snagged his attention away from the blond-haired angel that was invading his thoughts. Her stormy grey eyes glittered with anger and accusation. She was always angry these days, even before the Abby incident. Why she was mad was a mystery he couldn’t figure out. Truth? He was sick to death of trying. He was just done.

  Could he walk away from her? No. He couldn’t.

  He was about to sprint.

  Sighing with regret, again, he turned to the toddler and forced a smile. “I’m not sad, Rafe, just feeling a little off today. That’s all.” Standing and sweeping the boy onto his shoulders in one move, he loped down the steps and headed for the boys’ playhouse at the bottom of the porch. It was a stroke of genius, if he did say so himself. He and Sean had surprised their godsons with it a few months ago, and it turned out to be the perfect gift. Like a treehouse on the ground, it was fully enclosed with a couple of cool windows and an escape hatch in the back. They’d insulated it so it would be warm, and Mica’d lined it with soft carpet and some heavy curtains for winter. With three cozy chairs and a bunch of their favorite toys, it was a perfect place to hang out. Even if you were only three...

  “Come on, buddy. Let’s see what Michael’s done with your racetrack.” As he ducked inside, he glanced at the forest. A trickle of warning slid over his shoulder blades and he froze. Setting Rafe down, he shooed him inside, closing the door with a click.

  There it was again. A feeling of eyes watching him... Straightening to his full height, he let his Primani senses take control and felt the hum of his saol revving him up. The energy readied him for battle, giving him strength and power that no human could ever hope to have. His eyes burned with a low blue flame as he used telepathy to search the woods. Come on, come on... show yourself... Where are you hiding? A chill swept over him like a shadow blocking the sun. He swiveled to the right, scanning the woods again. Nothing. No humans, no demons, not even a bear. The creepy feeling was still there though, and he tensed for a fight. What the hell is out there?

  Switching his gaze towards the road, he studied the dense line of pine trees that loomed like sentinels across the front of the property. The dim afternoon light barely penetrated the canopy of branches, leaving the ground murky with shadows. A gust of wind bent the trees sideways, sending shadows flying in all directions. One shadow remained still... separate from the tall pines and larger than any tree trunk. Red eyes glittered within the darkness, the acrid stench of burnt earth drifted on the breeze. Gotcha.

  Without a sound, he let his molecules scatter and dematerialized. Rematerializing directly behind the shadow, he pulled his silver Primani blade and skewered the darkness in front of him.

  What the hell?

  It was gone. His blade hit nothing but air. Impossible! Looking left and right, he was shocked to find himself alone. The air still reeked of evil though... something wasn’t right... a shrill scream brought his head up and the blade out. The boys!

  Acting on sheer instinct, he launched himself into the playhouse. If it wasn’t so serious, he might’ve laughed at the sight that greeted him when he rematerialized inside. Most of the small space was filled with the bulky frame of a demon who’d been trying to grab the boys. He held Michael with one hand, leaning as far away as possible. The little boy was kicking and swinging his tiny fists at the demon’s stomach while Rafe clung to his back screaming like a rabid howler monkey. Rafe had jammed his fingers into the demon’s eye sockets and was practically ripping them out of his head. Black demon blood spattered the new carpet. It was hard to tell who was yelling the loudest... the demon or the boys.

  The demon cursed, “You little bastards! Let go of me before I skin you alive and eat you!” Twisting this way and that, he finally flung Michael off. Dec caught him easily and set him down by the door. “Michael, run to your father. Now.”

  Michael shook his head. “No! He’s got Rafe!”

  He shoved him out the door. “Don’t argue. Just go!”

  He turned to the demon who was desperately trying to shimmer, his form wavering in and out of the plane. The human facade shifted back and forth to his real scaly self. Rafe was still screaming at the top of his lungs, the sound deafening in the tiny cabin. Clearly he took after his mother. All right, as amusing as this was... it was time to wrap it up. He was getting a headache.

  “Rafe! Buddy, stop! For God’s sake, stop.” His sharp tone broke through the noise and Rafe immediately stopped yelling. His bright blue eyes snapped open and he broke into tears of relief.

  “Good work, little dude. I’ll take it from here.” To the demon, he said, “So, demon, you seem to be stuck here.” He circled closer, blade at the ready. “Looks like your intel sucks.”

  “I’m going to rip your scales off one at a time. Then I’m going to carve out chunks of your flesh and send each piece back to Hell in a special package for your boss to open.” Mica’s eyes burned with a white-hot flame as her anger threatened to turn her into a torch. You just didn’t touch a woman’s kids and expect to keep your naughty bits.

  Since he wasn’t needed for anything, Dec leaned against the railing and watched her work. As she circled the demon, her tone sent a shiver of fear through him, and he had a twinge of pity for the stupid demon. Said demon was tied to a chair, blood still covering his face, eyes blinded by a berserk three year old, and furiously trying to shimmer out. Sadly for him, this place had a new security system. No way was this demon getting out of the chair. Killian made it shimmer proof. Sometimes magic was a good thing.

  The sound of heavy boots on the stairs distracted him. He glanced up at Killian as he ducked his head to enter the basement. “Well?”

  “Dani’s on her way. Do you want to meet her and fill her in?”

  He shrugged. “Not particularly, no.”

  Killian shot a meaningful look in Mica’s direction and said, “You two have to get past this. It’s not helpful.” To Mica, he said, “Babe, I’ve got this. Would you go upstairs and wait for Dani?”

  The sound of her teeth grinding together was loud and clear as she stomped over to them. Glaring up, she snapped, “Dani doesn’t need help. I’m going to carve this asshole into dog food, and then I’m going to finish dinner. We still need to eat.”

  He choked on a laugh and turned his back before she caught him. This was exactly the reason he loved Mica so much. Ruthless and practical.

  Later that night, they sat around the dining room table bullshitting about this and that. He waited for the right time to bring up his plans. Fidgeting in his chair, he drummed his fingers against the side of his thigh and tried to find the words. Leaving wouldn’t be easy. He’d miss them. He rested his gaze on the two little boys giggling together at the end of the table, and he sighed again. How could he do it? How could he leave them? He was their godfather. They needed him. As he sank deeper into thought, Domino’s warm nose prodded his hand demanding his attention. The pretty little Dalmatian seemed to look right inside his mind.

  You’re leaving again?

  Gently fondling her silky ears, he cringed. Was he so obvious? She rubbed her head on his leg and snorted a blob of dog snot all over his knee. Nice.

  Duh!

  Best get it over with. Straightening a bit, he blurted, “I’m moving out. Tomorrow.”

  Mica choked on her wine. “What? Why?”

  He hated the shock on her face. But surely she suspected? She was psychic, after all. “I... I need some space. It’s not you guys!” He tried to avoid looking at Dani, but his eyes slid that way on their own. She clamped her lips together and glared daggers.

  “This isn’t my fault!” she hissed.

  Purposely ignoring her, he spoke to Mica and Killian instead. “It’s not a big deal, Mica. I’ve been on my own for a long time. I’m used to more solitude than I’ve had here. I just need some space to do my own thing for a while.” He gestured with his hands and added with half a smile, “Don’t try to tell me you haven’t suspected
anything.”

  Sighing into her wine glass, she took a sip and set it down before saying, “It’s okay, Dec. I can feel your unhappiness.” Her eyes cut to Dani, and she hastily turned back to Dec. “You have a right to your own life, your own happiness. We don’t expect you to live here until the apocalypse begins. God only knows how many years that will be!”

  Feeling the first spark of excitement he’d had in weeks, he shot up and went around the table to hug her. He should’ve known she’d understand. She knew him better than anyone else; anyone in this lifetime, anyhow. “Thanks for understanding, darlin’. I didn’t want to let you down. I swear I’ll be here whenever you need me. I’m still on the team for ops, and I’m still the best godfather the triplets have. I’ll be here for them too.”

  She squeezed him back with a cheeky wink. “Don’t be a dork, dork. We totally get it. You want your space. You got it. You can come back any time you want.”

  “Can I help you pack, Dec?” Dani asked.

  He gave her a level stare and said, “You’ve done enough already.”

  Chapter 2: Daydreams and Night Things

  “SHIT, SHIT, SHIT! I AM SO LATE!” Rori balanced on one foot desperately shoving her toes into the strappy sandal that was about to lose her job for her. Stupid shoes weren’t cooperating this morning, and she was way out of time. After jamming two toes through the side straps, ripping her pinky toenail and falling on her ass, she finally threw it into the wall. “Frickin’ shoe!”

  Five minutes, and a lot more cursing later, she slammed the apartment door and flew down the three flights of stairs to the lobby. Damn, damn, damn! She was so late. Again! Her boss would fire her if she was late one more time, and then where would she be? She barely had enough money to pay for the dump she lived in, and forget about eating. There was precious spare change for silly little things like food. These days she was living on noodles and the rare piece of fruit she snagged from the corner store. She was pretty sure Raul knew she was stealing his fruit, but he never said anything. He always turned his back when she came into the store. She was thankful for the small kindness. Those things were rare in her world.

  Glancing at her watch, she picked up her pace. She never had enough time. In her universe, it ran in fast-forward. It didn’t matter how much time she gave herself to get ready, she was always late. And of course, she was out of bus money so she was walking - no, make that running - the ten blocks to the flower shop where she worked. The owner, Angela Donatucci, was a total bi-otch about time. She was opening, so technically Angela wouldn’t know if she was on time or not… but she had a pissy habit of showing up out of the blue. “Spot checks”, she called it. She’d been busted three times in the last month. One more time, and she was jobless. And jobless meant homeless soooo… Crap! Dodging around a kid on a scooter, she hung a fast right and cut through the alley behind the Downward Dog Chinese slop shop. A couple of delivery trucks were pulled up to the back door. No problem. She’d just squeeze through. With her mind on the time, she didn’t see the backup lights until it was too late.

  A starburst exploded and then... nothing but darkness. Excited voices babbled nearby, but they drifted on the wind. Sirens warbled in the distance, the sound fuzzy and faint.

  “Hey! Are you all right?” a man’s voice snapped next to her ear.

  Yes, yes, I’m fine! She tried to speak, but her mouth wasn’t working. No sounds came out. This was so not good. Why couldn’t they hear her?

  “Holy shit, Ramirez, you killed her!”

  What? No way! I can’t be dead! She struggled to move, to show them she wasn’t dead, to sit up, something, anything, but she was frozen inside her uncooperative body. A wave of dizziness rolled in slow motion through her brain, spreading from head to toe. She was too weak to twitch. She strained to lift her hand, but vicious pain stabbed into her belly. Why wasn’t anyone doing anything? Didn’t she moan? She could’ve sworn she’d moaned out loud. If ever there was a time to moan, this was definitely it. No one responded, so maybe she hadn’t. Darkness pressed in, her inner vision tunneling to a single spear of bright light. Seriously? Damn... I am dying. Well, this sucks.

  I should’ve seen this coming.

  “Hang in there, darlin’. You’re going to be all right.” In contrast to the muted sounds around her, the soft words rang clear as a bell inside her head.

  Someone loosened the hoodie’s zipper before lifting the tiny gold cross she wore around her neck. An amused chuckle floated in her head, and the voice came again. “Nice metal. Okay, hang on to your heartbeat; I’m gonna rock your world.”

  Dec studied the woman’s pale face and prepared to work a little miracle ‘cuz that’s what he did. Piece of cake. No way was he letting her die. He was in the right place at the right time and he could fix this. Looks like it was her lucky day! He laid his cheek against her breast to listen for the music of her heartbeat. When it faded to quiet, he got to work. Okay, sweetheart, time for a little preventative kissing. This is the fun part… Carefully parting her lips, he gave her mouth-to-mouth while the ambulance screamed from blocks away. A small crowd had formed, chattering loudly, but he didn’t care. They had no idea he was using his powers to heal her. In between breaths, he ran his hands over her body, searching for injuries. Poor woman had some internal bleeding. He could hear the blood pooling in her abdomen, sloshing against the side of the visceral peritoneum. Where is it? Ah ha, here we go. Celiac artery. Not good. It was damaged enough that blood was flowing at a good clip. She’d never make it to the hospital without bleeding out. Soooo, time for that miracle. He tucked his hand inside her hoodie. With palm flat overtop of the torn artery, he got to work. After a few seconds, the ragged edges were neatly knit back together. Now back to her lovely mouth... she seemed to be breathing, but it wouldn’t hurt to be extra positive.

  Rori’s back arched off the ground. Her arms opened to welcome what her brain didn’t yet understand. Glorious fire warmed her from the inside out. Brilliant light flooded her mind, blocking all memories, all thought, until there was nothing but tranquility. Floating weightlessly, all substance drifting away… she was nothing and everything at last. There was no time, no place; nothing but the light pulling her higher.

  Peaceful, so peaceful…

  Settling like a feather to the earth once again, she gradually came back to herself. The blinding light dimmed to a soft luminescence behind her eyes. She must be dead after all and this was Heaven. The excruciating pain in her abdomen vanished. Her inner vision was still taking a siesta, but she was acutely aware of the strong fingers that held her jaw, the lips that pressed against her own… slightly rough. Male. The loops and whorls of his fingerprints branded the soft skin of her face. Capable hands... A fresh green scent washed over her, sending her mind to a fantasy of forests and waterfalls. As her heartbeat steadied to normal, she could almost see him in her mind’s eye. The images came in fragments... ghostly and unclear. Windblown blond hair... cobalt blue eyes... a lean face was taking shape when the voice came again.

  “Gotta bolt, beautiful. Have a nice life.”

  The half-formed face scattered like dandelion fluff just before she sank into a dream-free sleep.

  Leaning against the stone wall of the penthouse garden, he closed his eyes and thought about the woman he’d rescued. She was a tiny little thing, half starved, too thin. No wonder she’d been hurt so badly; she didn’t have any extra muscle on her bones. Aside from that, she was intriguing, pretty but not perfect. Fresh blood trickling down the side of her face couldn’t hide the fine texture of her skin or the height of her cheekbones. She had a small pearly scar above her left eye. Shaped like a bird’s wing, it lay parallel to the winged arch of her eyebrow. Her eyes had been closed, curly lashes sweeping her cheek. He’d wanted to see the color, but couldn’t exactly pry them open while he was giving her mouth-to-mouth. That would’ve been uncool.

  He rubbed a finger over his lower lip and had a clear flash of her mouth as his lips brushed against h
ers. The image surprised him, and he held his breath waiting for more. He felt the silky texture of her tongue when she held him closer and fell into their kiss. Encouraged, he threaded his fingers through her hair, tilting her head back for better access.

  Jolting awake, he snorted at his own daydreaming. This was getting out of hand. Three years was definitely the max he could deprive himself without going insane. At the rate he was going, he would be ambisextrous in another month. It was bad enough that he had waaaay too much alone time with his immoral compass, Mr. Crowley. As far as penis nicknames went, it was his favorite. Named after one of his favorite Ozzy Osbourne songs, Crowley was not to be trusted. He had absolutely no sense. For example, right now, Crowley was all but yelling to tap that ass. He was even pointing in her direction, like a helpful little compass… little being figurative, not literal.

  Smacking himself in the forehead, he shoved those thoughts to the back of his mind. He wasn’t going to think of her that way. Rori wasn’t an ass to be tapped--At least not by his tapper. She was just a woman he helped--one of, oh, probably 200,000 or so since he’d become Primani more than 1,500 years ago. Saving her was just part of their job description: Hunt and kill demons and save pretty women. Well, technically, they didn’t have to be ‘pretty’ or even ‘women’, for that matter. Saving humans was something they did occasionally. ‘Course, sometimes they hunted the humans and killed them too. Depended on the mission.

  In Rori’s case, she was lucky he’d been on his way to grab a bagel. Right place, right time. Good for both of them. She got to keep living, and his funky mood was gone. Win-win. Forcefully dismissing her from his mind, he let the night sounds of the city wash over him. The hum of traffic blended with the deep vibrations of bass in the apartment building across from this one. In the distance, a baby cried, and he smiled inside.