by Candy Crum
It felt as though the cloak was trying to swallow me in. It seemed to reach for me, and drawn to it as I was before, I couldn’t look away from it right then. Whatever passive powers I had helped me understand what I was seeing. The shroud was not simply energy, and certainly not made of cloth. It was made from dark souls that even hell itself turned away. Evil. He wore evil. The dark souls of the immortal creatures of the shadow world. I would imagine he wore them as a trophy. Those he can almost never collect on, but took great pride in possessing once he could.
Looking into the black abyss that was his cloak, I saw Immortal souls, Demonic souls, and Vampiric souls. There were many others, too, but those were the only ones that made themselves known to me. They were all evil in nature, and I could tell nothing pure resided in any of them. Even hell rejected them. Chills ran through me again.
He placed the long, jagged tips of his fingers against his chest. The moment he did, tiny orbs of light being held in his chest were visible to me. They were cocooned inside his chest and carefully tucked under the dark cloak. Some of the orbs were light in color—almost white. Others were almost as dark and sinister as he was. Even as dark as some of the orbs were, they were nothing like what was in his cloak. I recognized these as human souls, possibly those collected that day alone and carried for transport.
An area deep inside of him seemed to glow brighter than the rest as he reached in to pull it free from his chest. He extended his hand out to me, and I froze, unable to imagine what he possibly wanted from me, or what he wanted me to do with the soul he’d freed.
He narrowed his eyes, and as terrified as I was, I still managed to will myself to move and touch the smoky, white orb. The familiar face of a woman flashed through my mind: the owner of the lost soul. I began to panic due to the fact that the owner of said essence was the patient here for infection following her surgery.
Deep guttural sounds clawed through him before he actually formed words.
“Still… time,” was all he said as he pointed to the clock on the wall: the hands still frozen in time.
With the same implosion that I’d seen earlier, he disappeared and the clock on the wall began moving again. The loud pop of the exploding Sprite can as it hit the tile floor caught my attention. As I looked down, I watched the soul absorb into my hand as the surrounding skin started to glow with a light blue hue. I didn’t know what the hell I was about to do, but I didn’t waste any time getting out of the pantry as I blew through the door and past the RN on duty. I had no way of knowing if she’d been frozen, too, or if it was just that tiny room.
“Can you get that light, Kerri?” she asked without even looking up from her phone.
I was so livid that I didn’t even dignify that woman with a response to her ridiculous words. Instead, I just barked orders at her. “I need help!” I shouted as I started down the hall.
“Why? What’s wrong?” she calmly asked.
When I entered the room, the patient was slightly blue and completely still. I quickly made my way over to the bedside, dropping it down so she laid flat, and immediately began CPR. Once again, I yelled for the nurse. She walked in and saw what I was doing and all but froze up.
She was brand new and had only received her license, so I didn’t expect much any other time, but now wasn’t the time. Something told me that I could handle it on my own, and it would be better if I did, given I obviously had more knowledge than her—even with my lack of a degree.
“Go find a doc if you’re just gonna stand there!” I snapped.
She shook out of her daze and took off running. I continued CPR as best as I could. I hadn’t noticed before that she was on a heart monitor. That just pissed me off even more considering that Calli should have been up front charting and watching the monitors instead of sitting at the computer in the hall doing it and playing on her phone. We weren’t even allowed to have our phones on us. She was the only nurse on the floor at the time, and those monitors are always to be watched exactly for that reason.
“Come on! You aren’t supposed to die on me!” I said.
Over and over, I checked for a pulse and breathing, but nothing was taking. I couldn’t understand why Death would give me the chance to save someone who I was incapable of saving. The glow in my hand began to disappear, and I became even more worried. I continued CPR, but my body was wearing out. Due to how physically taxing it was, as well as the mental stress of knowing that I was supposed to have the power to save her, but couldn’t figure it out, I began to cry. The tears flowed, and I couldn’t stop them.
“Please… Don’t die,” I said through chest compressions. “You’re only—thirty—years old—and have twin—five-year-old boys.” I paused when my arms started to give out and gave her two breaths before starting again. “They need you. Help me—help you.”
I felt that deathly chill again, and I turned my head to see Death standing at the foot of her bed. He shook his head at me, and I wondered if he was disappointed in me, or if he knew this would happen. His long fingers began to snake around her ankle as he collected her soul once more.
“No! Don’t you fucking touch her, you bastard! You gave me the chance to save her. Now, let me do it!”
Rage coursed through me at the sight of him. Though he had no face to display any kind of emotion, it didn’t matter. He was a creature of neutrality. He fights for neither good nor evil, but his demeanor still angered me deeply. His attitude radiated off him. Even without a show of emotion, I knew he was arrogant, and that he didn’t have the least bit of faith in me. He probably only started that little project because he wanted to watch me fail and see what I did as a result.
As the anger flowed through me, so did a familiar heat. It felt like my chest was about to explode as it began flowing down my arms and into my hands. I remembered that feeling from when Rachel was hurt and I’d saved her from becoming a Rogue Vampire. Could I really pull my patient’s soul back from Death’s grasp?
Leaving one hand on her chest, I lifted the other to her forehead. I closed my eyes and focused everything I had into what I was feeling. I didn’t understand it, and I sure as hell didn’t know how to use it, but what I felt seemed right, and I needed to use it if I could.
A sharp intake of air pulled me from my thoughts, and I looked down at the woman lying in the bed. Her eyes were wide open as she stared at me. Her breathing was heavy, and I felt the steady beat of her heart under my hand. I turned to see Death bow his head once before disappearing again. I heart rapid footsteps as the doctor and nurse made their way down the hall.
“Are you an angel?” the patient asked.
“No,” I said softly as I stroked her hair.
“Then what are you? You stood by me and protected me. I felt you cradle me against you while I was lost and couldn’t find my way. And your eyes…” That was not the first time I’d heard someone mention my eyes.
“What about them?” I asked.
“They’re the most beautiful, crystal-clear blue I’ve ever seen. When I first woke up, they were glowing. Your entire body was. It’s why I thought you were an angel.”
“How is she?” I heard a stern voice say as I was all but knocked out of the way. It was Doctor Jacobs, her surgeon of all people.
“She saved me,” the woman said. “She’s an angel.”
“Hey, CNA.” The RN on duty grabbed my arm and pulled me back beside her. She’d been crying. I almost felt bad for her. Almost.
After everything that had just happened, I’d hit my breaking point.
“Did you work in healthcare before you became a nurse? Or did you just go straight through nursing school?” I asked. My voice was a little harder than I meant for it to be, but I needed to make a point, and I really didn’t care what she thought of me. I needed to get a few things off my chest before I exploded.
“I was never an aide. I went straight through nursing school. Being a CNA is what you do when you can’t hack it at the real thing.”
My brows furrow
ed and my nostrils flared. “Actually—being a CNA is what you do to prepare yourself for being a nurse. Loads of amazing nurses go straight through school and were never aides. You, my dear, are not one of them. I am a CNA and have a three-point-nine GPA in school. Clearly, I don’t have a problem doing both.”
“You have no right—” she started, but I cut her off with a raised hand.
“Oh, no. No, sweetheart. You have no right. You listen to me and listen well. Your aides, or techs, or assistants, or whatever you want to call them are your spine. You cannot move without them. They are your eyes and ears, and you are supposed to be their brain and hands when they can’t physically, skillfully, or legally do something that needs to be done. You are absolutely no better than me because you have a degree. In fact, I’ll have the same degree that you do in two months, and I’ve saved or impacted many lives. Judging from how you reacted to what happened here today, I’m betting you’ve nearly killed a few from lack of attention.
“From now on, learn who you are working with. Learn their names and show them some damn respect. And for God’s sake, woman—If they come running out of a room yelling that they need help, then you need to drop whatever it is you’re doing and help. Don’t be a lazy ass and ask questions.”
Her mouth and eyes were wide. It was obvious she’d never been spoken to like that before. Good. I wanted her to know just how badly she screwed up.
“One more thing. My name is Kailah. Not Kerri. Not CNA. Not girl. Not hey you. Kailah. I learned and memorized your name just walking past you as I came in.”
“Spoken like a true nurse,” I heard a feminine voice say.
My jaw nearly dropped. Standing in the door was Wendy Cain, the beautiful Immortal woman with golden blonde hair that almost glowed. She’d saved my life, and I had a feeling that she was there to help me again. She looked even more gorgeous than she had before, and I imagined that was due to the fact that she looked more normal rather than taking on the role of a powerful warrior goddess.
“Can I help you?” Doctor Jacobs asked.
“Not at all,” she said with a cocky smile.
Sydney rounded the corner. I didn’t even feel her, and I wondered if that might have been because I’d just used so much energy to save my patient.
“Hello, I’m Doctor Sydney Austin,” she said as she stepped through the door. “I’m going to need everyone’s attention.”
She gave a bright smile, and the energy in the room changed, causing me to start feeling a little queasy.
“Come, Kailah,” Wendy said. “You don’t want to be here for this.”
My eyes widened. “What do you mean?” I asked. I looked around and saw that the look in the RN’s face went slack, as well as Doctor Jacobs and the patient’s. “What the—”
“Compulsion, dear. It’s a Vampiric gift. Trust me, you don’t want to be here for this. It’ll make you sick,” Wendy said.
“Nice to see you again, Kailah,” Sydney said with a wink.
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to smile and greet her, or hit her for being part of the cause of all this mess. I assumed that random anger was due to my Immortal reaction to the flare of her energy swelling in the room.
“Why is she compelling everyone?” I asked.
“Well, for a few reasons. One is because that woman over there is perfectly sane, and when she tells everyone an angel saved her, people are going to start looking at her funny. You don’t want that. She’ll be looked at as mentally unstable, or people will believe her, and your position here at the hospital might get a little awkward. Two: that was a massive amount of energy you just used, and barrier or not, Khia had to have seen it. So, Sydney here is going to make sure everyone forgets about the angel that saved this woman, and make sure that you’re cleared to leave work early today without getting fired.”
“But I got called up here because we were short,” I said.
“I checked the schedule. It’s covered. I was here long enough to learn how to do that. You should go no, so I can finish up here,” Sydney said.
“Oookay, then,” I replied with a roll of my eyes. I didn’t like any of it.
Wendy smiled again, trying to hold back a laugh at my expense, I was sure of it. I let it go and followed her out. Everything kept getting more and more complicated.
“Where are we headed?” I asked once Wendy and I were outside.
“Back to Sayen.”
God. I hadn’t planned on facing Aeric again for at least another ten to eleven hours. A quick memory of last night’s episode flashed through my mind at the thought of his name. Though, I suppose facing Aeric wasn’t as bad as facing down Death himself. I thought back to the dreams that I had. I still had no idea if Aeric was aware of any of them, but there was one in particular I never wanted known.
“Hmm. Maybe it is just as bad,” I said.
“What dear?” Wendy asked.
“Oh, nothing,” I said. “Nothing at all.”
Chapter Four
On the way back to Louisville, I got a rather unexpected phone call. Sam, the male nurse that works in the ER, called for something even more unexpected. He wanted to ask me out. I couldn’t hide my astonishment, and Wendy couldn’t stop herself from butting in.
“What are you doing? I saw that guy when I came in the hospital. You should go out with him!” she loudly and far too excitedly whispered.
Though I’d pretty much given up dating of any kind, I would make an exception for Sam. He’d always been so good and sweet to me. It only took a second to figure out that I was obviously going to say yes, so I did.
He invited me out to dinner at a restaurant in Clarksville, a town located between Louisville and where I lived. Excitement radiated through me. I’d wanted a date with Sam for a long time, but I never would have dared to ask him out.
Wendy asked me all kinds of questions about Sam, and I was happy to answer. I told her about how he’d helped me with some of my more confusing homework while we were at work. He’d helped me study for the nursing exams I had every week. He’d stuck up for me when I had to miss work because of exhaustion. He always complimented me. I kind of thought he was just being nice, but I suppose he actually meant it. Last year, for my birthday, he threw a party for me at work. It made me feel great to know that he remembered. No one else did except him. He was a good friend.
I could have spent the whole day talking about Sam, but Wendy had important things to tell me, and after she did, I was happy that she’d allowed me my previous moment of happiness. Wendy informed me of a few things that I didn’t know before and really didn't want to know then. I was never told the outcome of Khanae’s search for Jeff and Casi. Honestly, I forgot to ask. I figured Khia was the larger threat, and they never mentioned it, so I ignored it. I felt safe enough with them. Once Wendy told me what was going on, it didn’t take a genius to figure out why they decided to keep the results to Khanae’s search to themselves.
Khia was having a hard time finding me. Partly because of the fact that my powers are so erratic and therefore difficult to track, and—now—because of the mental barrier Sayen had made for me. Khia knew Sayen was cloaking me, and all it did was serve to piss her off.
Unfortunately, when Khanae searched for Jeff and Casi, she couldn’t find them. As old as she is, and the fact that she has a blood tie to every Vampire in existence—regardless of race—she should have been guaranteed to find them. All of those things did guarantee that she should have found them—unless, of course, they were being protected.
When Khanae couldn’t locate them, she asked Sayen to help her try and figure out why they’d been untraceable. They teamed up and were successful, but it had been sketchy. Sayen found their life essences, the fractions of a rotting soul they had left. The vision of them was so hazy, however, that there was no location or any visual at all to the area they may be in. It was nothing but a blur.
Wendy said there are several Immortals older than Sayen who could put up a barrier. Though they are much o
lder, there isn’t an Immortal alive that’s more powerful than Sayen, save for one. The only explanation was that Khia had lowered herself enough to work with them and was even protecting them. Khanae thought they were being used for their tracking abilities, and the fact that Jeff wants me anyway.
When I got back to the house, everything was serious. Brett was furious and ready to run out and try to track them himself. He and Rachel were growing disturbingly close in the short time we’ve known them and, though they still hadn’t admitted it to themselves, it was hard to ignore for everyone else. Regardless of the tension in the room and how worried everyone seemed to be, I wasn’t going to allow what they were suggesting.
“Kailah, you have to. If you don’t do this, you’ll be in danger,” Rachel said. She wanted to cry from being so worried about me. Ever since she’d been attacked, she had either been extremely quiet or worried non-stop. “Please let them do this.”
I shook my head. “No! You are not following me from work to school and everywhere else that I need to go just to keep me out of Jeff’s way. I won’t have it. I’m not going to interrupt your lives any more than I already have.”
“Kailah, dear, we’ve been prepared for this moment for many years,” Khanae countered. “When Sayen initially asked me to help her with a potential threat, I didn’t hesitate. We had a plan then, but now it’s irrelevant because the situation is nowhere near what we expected.”
“A plan? You had a plan? What was it? We’ll do that,” I said excitedly.
I felt my entire face lighting up at the idea that there was an elusive plan that could save me without holding them back. I could tell they were growing frustrated, except Khanae, but I still didn’t want the world to stop for me.
Khanae was the one to speak again. As always, her voice was soft and patient. “Things have changed. When we originally planned, we had no idea that you would have even a fraction of the abilities that you do. Also, we didn’t plan on a few Rogue Vampires being after you. And we didn’t plan on them working with Khia to capture you. The original plan was to train you in physical combat since the boys are both very good with that, and we also wanted to train you in spiritual areas also. Unfortunately, we don’t have the time. Things are moving very rapidly and we need to keep you safe while we come up with a plan.”
