No one moved. They were a breathless mass of testosterone with a beautiful woman in their midst.
Chris found his voice first and broke the spell. “Traitor,” he screamed jumping to his feet. “He brought her here. Kill her!”
“No,” Samuel calmly stated.
“Kill her!” Chris shouted.
The men came out of the shock they’d found themselves in, all stood up, knocking chairs over in their haste to pull their weapons out and face this new danger on the home turf.
Samuel read all of their intent with horror. “Hold!” A one word command. For the first time in a long time, Samuel used his full power of persuasion against the hunters to stop them from making another mistake. His position within the hunters as well as the power running through his veins had everyone frozen in mid-motion, even Chris.
Thalya sashayed to his side.
No one stopped her. United, they moved forward and stood before the table. Chris reluctantly sat down, but Samuel read him correctly. The fires of hatred and fear burned like a flame in his gaze.
“Samuel didn’t bring me here,” she addressed the three men in front of her first. Then turned around to face the rest of the group of hunters. All of them still stood hostile at her back. “I was never good at taking orders. I followed him. And yes, in answer to the question, I have no soul.”
“Put the weapons away,” Samuel ordered, turning around too and watched as the men, some albeit reluctantly, did as he commanded. He waited until they were all seated again, before returning his attention to the men at the table.
“Bloodsucker,” Ray hissed, and Samuel heard the answering agreement from a few voices behind him.
She didn’t even bother to glance in Ray’s direction. “No.” Her curls bounced as she shook her head. “That I am not. Though some of my kind do take blood.”
“What do you mean, some of your kind?” Ray asked smirking. “You need blood to survive. The more violently gotten, the better.”
She sighed as if she had to explain something simple to a stubborn child and turning, directed her answer to Ray. “Not true. We survive off human emotions. Some just prefer to draw out emotion through blood. But it is not necessary.”
“What bullshit is this!” Chris hissed. “You bring this abomination amongst us…”
“You have no rights here, Chris,” Samuel said. “I’ve let this go on long enough.” He turned to look at the woman who stood beside him proudly, staring at a room full of armed hunters who would take her down with one word from him. He almost smiled because he knew she would not go down quietly, not his Thalya. Whoa! Not the time or the place. Not that there ever will be. He turned back to the trio at the table and leaning forward, placed his palms on the desk and looked at each man. “Thalya is under my protection. If any harm comes to her, you answer to me.”
“I can damn well protect myself,” she argued. “I’ve been doing so ever since your ancestors were still busy sitting around in caves and thumping on their chests. Oh, wait.” She tilted her head slightly to stare at him. “You still do that.”
Samuel would have laughed at the shocked expression on Chris’ face over Thalya’s audacity. Ray simply looked stunned, while Devlin seemed mildly surprised. Samuel directed his attention to him. “You and I have met once briefly. Devlin, right?”
Devlin nodded. “Yes, we have. Good to see you again, though I wish under different circumstances. I think I may have been misinformed.”
“We all have been,” Samuel replied.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Chris shouted.
Samuel straightened and stepped away from the table, so he could address everyone. From the corner of his eye, he saw Thalya sit down on the edge of the table nearest Chris. She’d done it on purpose. Daring Chris to do something about it.
The man settled for staring at her back. A good thing looking could do no harm otherwise, Thalya’s immortality would have been in danger.
He shook his head before he realized what he was doing. “The truth is Thalya is soulless, but it’s also true she doesn’t take blood from her providers. She does not kill,” he continued before the murmuring at that bit of news got out of hand. “It’s true. There are some soulless who do not take blood. My father for one, a soulless who didn’t require it.” He thought it best not to mention his father had killed at least on one occasion, which would just complicate things more. “Thalya is another. And they are not alone.”
Ray stood, shaking his head. “Even if this was true, how the hell are we supposed to tell the difference? Look, whether they take blood or not, as far as we know the vast majority of them still kill humans—us. Or maybe that’s just not something you can really understand.”
Before he could speak, Devlin surprisingly came to his defense, “I think we need to hear Samuel out on this. He’s earned that much. He’s proven himself time and time again. Your grandfather certainly thought so.”
Ray looked over at Samuel, a stricken look on his face. But he maintained eye contact when he apologized. “Samuel, I—I’m sorry. Devlin’s right.” He sat down. “That was uncalled for and unfair to you. Whether soulless take blood or not, they’ve proved time and time again, they can’t be trusted. All they’ve ever done, all history shows us is that they prey on humans. Your father might have been an exception.” He glanced at Thalya. “And maybe you are too, but you are not the norm.”
“That’s not quite true,” Thalya said. “That’s like saying since mankind prey on each other, then the entire race should be destroyed. Not all of my kind kill humans or roam the world with nothing better to do than cause chaos and discord. Some of us actually help. We thrive on negative emotions. We take away pain and suffering, leaving our providers whole and better for the encounter. Like what I did for Karl.”
Samuel had seen Karl enter the room a few minutes ago and take a seat in the back. He looked directly at him now. “Karl is here. Perhaps we should ask him.”
People began turning around to see Karl looking whole and healthy behind them. The young man glanced around the room and sat up straighter in his seat. Samuel knew Karl could sense the unease in the air. Ever since he’d been a child he’d shown sensitivity to the emotions of others and had become a sensitive man. Destroying the soulless had not been easy for him. More empath than a hunter, death never sat easy with him. So, when Karl had decided to get married and leave the hunt, Samuel let him go. To protect him he kept the other hunters and the things they had to do away from the last of his family. But Eric must have told him about the meeting tonight.
Karl stood and faced the table. “She didn’t harm me.” His voice rang clear and strong in his conviction. He walked toward the center of the room. The men eyed him as he passed by them before stopping in front of Samuel, briefly glancing at Thalya before he continued, “She—she just kissed me. After leaving the gym, I had been feeling relieved over some problems I’d been having, but I still had a lot of things on my mind. So, it was easy to play up those things to raise my level of depression. But I don’t quite know or understand what she did or how she did it.” He glanced quickly at Thalya. “But she eased even those lingering concerns. It was like a light went off in my head. I knew everything would be okay. I truly believed that and still do. And I think it’s thanks to her.”
“What shit is this you’re trying to shovel here?” Chris said. “She’s obviously done something to you, mesmerized you or some such nonsense.”
“No, not at all,” Karl argued. “It happened last night and I still feel the same way, even though I’ve been away from her for hours.” After he said his piece, Karl took a seat in the front near Eric.
“So, you see.” Thalya folded her arms in front of her. “As I’ve been trying to tell you, I am no bloodsucker. I don’t need blood to survive, nor do I need to kill.”
“Have you ever killed a human?” Ray asked.
She lifted a hand and glanced at her long nails, then looked at Ray. “Only the ones who’ve tri
ed to take my head.”
Chris slammed his palm down on the table. “There, ya see. She admitted it. She’s a killer, just like the rest of them.”
“That’s not what she said,” Devlin replied.
There were other murmurs now, agreeing with Devlin.
“There’s something else you all need to know about,” Samuel said getting everyone’s attention. “Something that will need further investigating and might change how we continue to hunt soulless.”
“Now, what the hell are you talking about?” Chris said. “Just ‘cause she says not all soulless need blood doesn’t mean they still don’t need killing!”
Samuel chose to ignore Chris for now. The man seriously pissed him off with his blind prejudices and hatred. Chris would never forget or forgive Samuel’s role in the death of his wife and always fought his dictates for the hunters. It didn’t matter. “There is another group out there aware of us as well as the soulless,” Samuel stated.
All attention ramped up; the fine hairs on his nape hurt from the spike in the tension around him.
“What do you mean?” Ray asked.
“Thalya helped me track a soulless man who attacked us.”
“What the hell do you mean she helped you? She probably led him to you,” Chris interrupted.
Samuel shook his head. “No, he attacked us both. He ran into a store where we met a woman who claims she’s a ‘chronicler.’”
“A ‘chronicler’? What the hell is that?” Chris asked.
“She and apparently, her sisters have been aware of our existence for quite some time. They record both sides of this conflict. Her ancestors kept records almost back to the beginning and she had some very interesting things to say.”
“Well, I’ve never heard of anything like that,” Chris scoffed. “ ‘Cause it sure would have made it to the six o’ clock news.”
“What did she have to say?” Devlin asked, ignoring Chris’ dismissiveness.
Samuel took a deep breath, understanding the bomb about to drop. “The soulless are banished angels.”
“Whatdafuck!” Eric exclaimed. He wasn’t the only one.
Chris laughed. “You can’t be serious. This is absurd. Do you expect us to believe this crap?”
Ignoring h is outrage, Samuel continued, gaining strength as he spoke, “According to Wilhelmina, the chronicler we met, they were angels who were banished from heaven. Some were condemned to hell and others were sent to walk the earth without a soul until such time as they redeem themselves.”
“Well, they’ve been doing a hell of a job, starting wars and killing people,” Ray said.
“Not all my kind commit such acts,” Thalya interjected. “Besides, this is all news to me. I’m not aware any of my kind knew we had souls to begin with, much less that we could get them back. I’ve always thought I was created this way. I think all my kind do.”
“How could you not know you were an angel banished from heaven?” Karl asked the question Samuel could sense on most of the men’s minds.
“Listen, when you’ve lived for as long as some of us have, you forget a lot.”
Ray snorted. “It’s not something anyone is likely to forget.”
Thalya shrugged, crossing one long shapely leg over the other, drawing every eye in the room to the seductive movement. “But we have, we did.”
It took Ray a little too long to switch his eyes from her legs to her face.
Samuel stepped in front of him and glared to get his attention.
Ray cleared his throat and said, “Well, what happened to your wings?” He seemed more curious now as opposed to skeptical. Progress.
“That’s it!” Chris slammed his fist on the wood. “I’m not listening to any more lies. I don’t give a flying fuck who this Wilhelmina claims she is or isn’t. This—this thing,” he stuttered, pointing at Thalya. “She’s no more an angel banished or otherwise, than I’m the King of England!” He stood up and came around the table, massaging his neck. He looked out at the men seated in the room, then back at Ray. “Are you coming with me and leaving these nut jobs to their delusions?”
Ray glanced at Samuel.
Samuel simply stared back at him, knowing the younger man’s rush to judgment some of the time, but Ray had to make his own decision.
Ray then glanced at Thalya before turning his gaze back to Chris. He slowly shook his head no.
Chris stared angrily at him. There were low murmurings around the room. Chris turned around glancing at the seated men. “Anyone here who thinks this is bullshit and wants to leave with me?” A few shook their heads in the negative. No one got up or voiced support for Chris. Finally, he looked at Samuel, his gaze narrowed and hatred dwelled within their depths for Samuel to see it, but so did the other men seated at the table.
“Well, let me tell you all what I think is going on,” Chris said to Samuel then faced the room of hunters again. “I think this soulless creature,” he sneered at Thalya. “Has done something to their heads. To all of you. They’re bloodsuckers, evil, each and every one.” His gaze bore into Samuel again, standing near Thalya. “Ray’s right. Where do your loyalties lie? The soulless have been on the move for the last few months. The reason I first came here was to ask you all for help. We’ve had quite a few disturbances in the past few days. Something’s going on. There’ve been more killings among family members and supposed suicides than ever before. Robberies turned into murders have also been on the rise. More soulless seem to be traveling in twos and threes.” He raised his hand as through he swatted the air. “So, don’t give me some bullshit about these bloodsuckers who play on our emotions just trying to make us feel good. Screw that!”
“As much as I hate to agree, Chris is right,” Devlin said, folding his arms on the table. “In so far as something is indeed going on. There appears to be a larger number of soulless in certain areas lately and escalating violent crimes. The same things had been on the rise in Quebec too. As a matter of fact, I tracked a group of soulless in this direction. I was already on my way here when I got Chris’ call. Something is going on.”
“Thalya, can you tell us anything?” Samuel asked.
“Me?” She pointed one slender index finger at her chest. “I haven’t seen any of my kind in decades, so I have no idea what you all are talking about,” she paused. “But, I will admit the couple times I’ve glanced at the news there does seem more than the usual number of violent occurrences in the last few months. But still doesn’t mean it’s the soulless causing it. Humans can cause conflict all on their own too, you know.”
“True.” Samuel frowned. “I don’t know why I didn’t recognize this before. Now that I think about it over the years, I’ve seen similar killing patterns occur before a soulless strike on a wider scale. Will you help us? Can you find out anything for us?”
“I don’t usually associate with the type of soulless you all tend to hunt, for obvious reasons…” Her voice trailed off.
“Not to me. You’re all one and the same.” Chris sneered.
Like everyone else, she ignored him. “When the killing starts, I tend to get out of the crossfire. But I do know someone who might be able to help.”
“Well, if you all ever decide to go hunting let me know,” Chris said to no one in particular, then headed toward the elevator. “Since I’m not getting anywhere here, I’ll go over to some of the other groups to see if they have a mind to hunt the soulless before they can do any more damage to humanity.”
Samuel turned to Thalya, putting Chris from his mind. “Who is this soulless you think can help us?”
“He keeps a pretty low profile,” she responded and waved her hand in the air. “You wouldn’t know him.”
“Is he a blood drinker?” Samuel asked frowning.
“Ah…that’s his business.”
After he stared at her for a minute and she just stared back, he said, “You want us to trust you, it goes both ways.”
She shook her head slowly. “Look as far as I know, no.
”
“Does he take in depression, like you?” Ray asked.
“Ah, again no. But whatever he does or doesn’t do, that’s his business.”
“No, it’s our business,” Samuel insisted. “If he’s a bloodsucker I need to know.”
“No, he doesn’t drink blood, that’s all you need to know,” Thalya said placing one hand on her hip.
“Okay, can you call him?”
“’Fraid not. He doesn’t like to talk on the phone. Most of us don’t. Aversion to technology. I’m going to have to go see him.”
The muscles in Samuel’s gut tightened at the thought of her going to see another man. Be alone with another man, soulless or not. An irrational response perhaps, but there. “I’ll go with you.”
Chapter Eight
Thalya considered this might not be a good idea. This soulless was a recluse, a legend among her own kind. Forget about spending anytime among humans, even a half-bred like Samuel. But like he said, they’d have to trust each other and she did trust Samuel. “All right, but only if you promise you won’t try to kill him. And you’ll let me do all the talking. All of it.”
“As long as he’s not a blood drinker or killer, he’s got nothing to fear from me.”
“What if it’s true and the soulless really are angels?” Ray asked.
Samuel shrugged. “Either way, for now we do as we’ve always done and be a hundred percent certain before we make any kills.”
“And what about these chroniclers?” Devlin asked.
“I’ll be paying the one we met another visit in a day or two to get more answers. Meanwhile…” He turned to look at his men watching and listening to the discussion with rapt interest. “…This meeting is over.”
Angel Rising Page 8
