The Soulkeepers Box Set

by G. P. Ching

  He eyed the gadget in her hand and shook his head. “It will be better if I use my own.” Pulling his phone from his pocket, he relayed the message, adding something about suspect shrimp dip in the backroom before ending the call.

  “Interesting addendum about the shrimp dip.”

  “The key to telling a great lie is in the details.”

  She cocked her head to the side. “I have a feeling you and I are going to get along well.”

  Ethan nodded. “I need to stop at my apartment to pack.”

  “After you.” Abigail motioned toward the end of the alley. She followed Ethan to his apartment, then ushered him into his new life.

  Chapter 14

  Mara and Henry

  Mara prodded Necromancer forward, hoping that Henry would join her soon. She understood he had responsibilities. Even though he could be in more than one place at a time, sometimes he needed to stop to concentrate. He’d go into a trance-like state and that meant Mara needed to keep herself busy. But the In Between was a strange place to be alone.

  Henry’s castle was a construct of his consciousness. She’d learned it was a replica of an actual castle he’d known of when he grew up in England. As she'd moved beyond the hills surrounding the castle, she'd left Henry’s head and that's when things got strange.

  She’d shared in Gideon’s vision. It was odd to leave a British countryside and end up on an American main street in a matter of steps. Now, she crossed the plush green yard of an Italian villa. This was someone else’s construct and by the looks of it, someone powerful. Considering she wasn’t supposed to be here, she decided not to stop to say hello. She’d taken enough of a risk visiting Gideon.

  Beyond the last rolling green hill, the grass turned to sand and the light from above put off an intense heat to match the desert landscape. Necromancer slowed, her hooves sinking uncomfortably in the sand. Mara tried to change the environment, to form a cloud over them for shade. But this was someone else’s handiwork. She couldn’t change it.

  Necromancer gave a concerned whinny.

  “Just a little farther,” Mara said. “I want to know what’s back here.”

  Over the next dune, a crystal palace rose out of the sand, shining like a diamond in the desert sun. She pulled Necromancer to a halt and took in the sparkling beauty. The circular structure cast bizarre shadows across the sand, transfixing her.

  “Enjoying your ride?” Henry said from behind her.

  “I was wondering when you’d catch up with me.” Mara leaned sideways and accepted a kiss from Henry, who had sidled up to her on Reaper. “It’s so beautiful. Whose place is this?”

  Henry grinned. “You of all people should know who this is.”

  Mara shrugged. “How would I know? I’ve never even been here before.”

  “Because your life as a Soulkeeper would have been remarkably different if it wasn’t for him.”

  Concentrating on the architecture, it dawned on Mara that the palace was acting as a giant sundial and she knew immediately whose it was. “This is Time’s house.”

  “Yes. His name is Aldric.”

  “He controls time the way you control death?”

  Henry chuckled. “Control is a strong word. I don’t control death; I simply facilitate the soul’s journey home. Aldric’s job is much the same. Time passes and he facilitates its order in the universe.”

  Mara frowned. “I don’t get it. What does he do?”

  “I don’t think I would have any more hope of explaining why Aldric exists than I would of explaining why I exist. He is the power that allows me to be in multiple places at one time. And, I am sure, your power came from him, just as Malini’s power came from me.”

  Necromancer tugged the reins and stomped her feet. “I think the horses want to get out of this heat. We should go,” Mara said.

  “Of course.” Henry nudged Reaper around and Necromancer followed, falling into place beside him.

  “Do you think Aldric can feel me here? You know, how you can feel when Malini is near you. You said there was a tug, a sort of thrum, that told you she was close by.”

  “Maybe,” Henry said. “We shouldn’t get too close.” His tone was serious.

  “Do you miss Malini? You guys went to prom together and there's the arm…”

  The sand melded into the Tuscan countryside and the horses picked up the pace, enjoying the breeze that drifted over them the moment they crossed from one territory into the next.

  “No. We have a connection because I gave her my gift and I was excited to experience the human world with her, but I never loved her.” Henry glanced meaningfully at Mara.

  “Oh.” Her heart skipped a beat and she became crucially interested in the way his shoulder muscles pulled against his jacket as he rode.

  “Who lives there?” Mara asked, tipping her head toward the Italian villa.

  “Fate. We call her Fatima.” His gaze drifted toward the forest in the distance. “I’m sure she knows you are here. Nothing gets by Fatima.”

  “Do you think she'll turn us in?”

  The muscles in Henry's cheek tightened and he turned black eyes in Mara's direction. “She has no reason to, but we can't hide forever.”

  When they entered the tree line of Henry's forest, Mara’s shoulders relaxed. She hadn’t realized how being outside Henry’s reality had made her tense up. This was coming home, entering into a world that was theirs. It sounded strange. They’d only been together for a short time but it felt both like a lifetime and a fraction of an hour. Time in the In Between wasn't measured like it was on Earth. She couldn't plot their relationship against a calendar or a clock. But whatever it was, it wasn’t long enough.

  Sighing toward the approaching castle, Mara decided now was not the time to be secretive about her feelings. Who knew how much longer they’d have together?

  “I don’t want to go, Henry,” Mara said. “I know it’s only a matter of time before God or Lucifer comes for me. But I don’t want to go. I’d stay here, with you, if I had the choice.”

  They reached the castle. Tom helped her dismount, then led both horses to the barn, the white wig tilting awkwardly on the bones of his skull. She started up the steps, but paused when she noticed that Henry wasn’t following. She turned to face him.

  “Mara, in six hundred years, I’ve never met anyone like you.” He approached her cautiously, as if she might go up in smoke at any moment. “You fit with my life here. Even surrounded by death, by what I am, you seem as comfortable as if you were made for this place.”

  “I am comfortable here. I’ve never had a real home. This place feels like home.”

  His toes hit the base of the step she was standing on. He ran his hand down the outside of her arm and entangled his fingers in hers. “I’m happy with you here. You don’t make me want something more than this existence. Instead, you make this eternity feel like so much more.”

  She stepped down, her feet falling between his, the front of her jacket pressing into his chest. She slid her hands inside his coat, her palms settling on his hips. An earthy scent of dark spices with a hint of smoke filled her nose. She breathed him in. “What are you saying, Henry?”

  He lowered his forehead to hers, his eyelashes brushing softly against her skin. “I’m saying, Mara, that as impossible as it seems, I’m falling in love with you. I want you. I choose you. And nothing would make me happier than if you could stay.” His voice cracked.

  As much as she knew their situation was hopeless, she couldn't stop herself from pulling him nearer. She tipped her lips up to meet his, her fingers sliding behind his neck. Strong arms wrapped around her and his hands tangled in her hair as his kiss grew deeper, more urgent. He kissed her as if he could breathe her in and hide her away inside himself forever. The way their mouths moved against each other said more than any words possibly could. Desperate, wanting, gripping kisses that tried to master the wind, that begged to hold the river of what was coming back with a shaking hand.

  Sh
e closed her eyes. At nineteen, Mara had some experience with love, but always from the sidelines, on the fringe of what was real. This was different. This was standing in the center of the ocean and burning brighter than the sun.

  When she opened her eyes, they were standing in his bedroom.

  “How did we get in here?” Mara asked into his lips.

  “Well, I didn’t do it.”

  “Are you saying that I zapped us here just by thinking about it?”

  A smile broke out across Henry’s face. “Then you admit you were thinking about kissing me in my bedroom.”

  Heat crawled from her neck to her ears. “Yes.”

  Placing a hand in the arch of her back, he pulled her against him. “Mara, you’ve never felt embarrassed before to kiss me. For as long as you’ve been here, we’ve spent every spare moment in each other’s arms. Why the blush now?”

  “Because I think now it means something … more. I liked you before but the other part was, um, physical. Now, I think it means something. Henry, I think I’ve fallen in love with you, too.”

  “My Mara.” He kissed her again and the room started to spin. There was no more embarrassment. For Mara the planets aligned. Everything she was, everything she would ever be, was meaningful because of Henry. In some ways, knowing her life was over made everything crystal clear. She didn’t have time to take things slow or to analyze her feelings. Every part of her wanted this, wanted him.

  She snaked her hands between their bodies and franticly unbuttoned his shirt.

  He caught her wrist. “Mara, we’ve only known each other a short time—”

  “I don’t care. I don’t care. Who knows how long we’ll have together? I want you. I want to be with you before I die. I want this to be forever.”

  “The right thing to do would be to marry you, Mara. That’s what I’d do if I were alive. I’d marry you in a church with all of our friends and family watching.”

  “I have no family and neither do you. Who is there here to marry us? You’re immortal and I'm undead.”

  He took a step back, his eyes never leaving hers, and held out his hand. A ring formed in his palm, platinum with a skull. He slid it onto her ring finger. “Mara, I give this to you as a sign that I am yours, always. No matter what happens, or where you go, if you have this, a part of me is with you.”

  Mara held out her hand and formed a similar ring, although it took her longer to finish it. It was platinum, too, but instead of a skull, she formed the front into an hourglass, a symbol of her power before she died and the thing she wished she could share with him always, more time. She slid it onto his finger.

  “Henry, I give this to you so you will know that no matter what happens or where I have to go, my heart is here with you, forever.”

  Henry ran his fingers down the side of her face, then brushed his thumb over her lips. “I’ve never been with anyone before,” he whispered.

  “Neither have I, but I think we can figure it out.”

  He nodded, moving in slowly to kiss her again. He swept her up into his arms and carried her to the bed. The room darkened and candles blazed to life on every surface.

  She stretched out underneath him, pushing his riding jacket off his shoulders as his hand found the collar of her blouse. The rest was as easy and magical as falling into each other, as limitless as their imaginations.

  Chapter 15

  Katrina

  Late for class, Katrina rushed across the quad, cursing Mallory for being such a pig. She'd finally found her textbook kicked underneath Mallory’s bed, behind a wadded sweater. She carried it in her arms. No time to add it to her backpack. If she was lucky, she'd get to class in time to avoid a front-row seat. Professor Rahkmid liked to give the front row first crack at every question.

  Yanking open the glass door to the building, she slipped inside. She almost dropped her book when she saw her professor talking to a boy in front of the lecture room door at the end of the hall. Crap! Not wanting to draw attention to her lateness, she ducked to the side of the vending machine in the hallway.

  “Saturday,” the boy said. “It is imperative that you and your team arrive exactly as I’ve directed you.”

  The voice chilled Katrina to the bone. Cord. The Watcher who'd possessed her was only a few steps away. She hugged her book to her chest in an attempt to cover up the bass rhythm of her pounding heart.

  “Of course,” Professor Rahkmid said. “As you wish.”

  “Excellent. Go teach your class, Professor. You’re late.”

  The classroom door whooshed open. She wedged her body tight into the wall, wishing she could fit behind the vending machine. Cord raced right by her and out of the building. Tentatively, Katrina stepped toward the glass door and watched Cord disappear into the nearest tree.

  A shaky breath escaped her lips. The book tumbled out of her arms onto the floor, her hands shaking and sweaty. Looking left then right, she was relieved no one heard the hardcover slap the linoleum.

  She dropped to her knees and fumbled with her backpack, digging for her phone. As she exited the building, she wondered if she’d ever be able to make up what she missed today, but there was no way she could sit in class. Not when she’d just seen Cord influencing her physics professor. She tapped Gideon's number. His greeting was a welcome comfort.

  “Meet me in my dorm room,” she said.

  “Why what’s happened?”

  “I saw Cord. Gideon, they’re here on campus. Something is going down.”

  “I’ll be right there.”

  Katrina quickened her pace. Her stomach twisted and her heart pounded in her ears. Every student walking across the quad was suspect. Every shadow held the potential for evil. She held her breath until there was a locked door between her and the outside world. Gideon was already there, leaning against her desk. She took a seat on her bed and hugged her knees to her chest. Everything she'd seen and heard tumbled from her lips.

  He paced the small patch of carpet between the twin beds. “Why your physics professor, Katrina?”

  “I don’t know. But this school is one of the best in the country. The brightest minds in the world come here to teach. Whatever Lucifer is planning, it must be complex.”

  “You are right. If he was simply planning an attack with Watchers and magic, he wouldn’t need humans.”

  Katrina rested her head against the window. The cold glass on her forehead did nothing to squelch the hot prick of tears that welled in the corners of her eyes. She pressed her eyelids together and tipped her chin up, hoping the waterworks would drain away. This was no time to fall apart. Despite her best efforts, hot, wet trails carved their way down her face.

  “You are upset,” Gideon said. “I have experienced crying once. It is a horrible empty feeling. I can’t cry as an angel, although I feel something, here.” He rubbed his chest where his heart should have been.

  “I thought angels could cry?”

  “Some can. I’m not that kind of angel. I’m a messenger and in order to be useful, I can’t become emotional over the message.”

  “But you said you've cried?”

  “It’s a long story. Tell me, Katrina, what causes you to cry now? Is it fear? I will protect you.”

  She wiped under her eyes but it was a useless effort. More tears took their place. “I'm afraid but that’s not why I’m crying. I have this awful feeling that Lucifer is going to win.” She reached for a tissue from her desk and blew her nose. “Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve always dreamed of having my own family. I thought I would fall in love, get married, have children. The biggest problem I thought I’d ever face was deciding between a career and being a full-time mom. Now, I’m threatened with a lifetime of being some Watcher’s flesh slave.”

  “He will not be successful. Abigail and I, along with the Soulkeepers, will stop him. That’s what we’re here for. That’s what we do.”

  “I know. I know you guys saved me before. But this time feels different. Like something has shift
ed. Can’t you feel it in the air? It’s like, this time, Lucifer is one step ahead of us.”

  “Don’t talk like that,” Gideon said. His eyes darted to the shaggy pink area rug between the two beds.

  “You feel it, too. I can see it on your face,” Katrina said.

  Gideon shook his head. “Dane. Dane may be the key.”

  “Dane Michaels? What about him? I heard he was missing.”

  “Lucifer has him. He's holding him for ransom. He says he wants the list of Soulkeepers.”

  Katrina's hands flew to her mouth.

  Gideon continued, “Lucifer wants us to believe that Dane is the bait to get what he wants, the Soulkeepers. But what if he’s not the bait? What if he’s a distraction? Lucifer wants us to concentrate on Dane and protecting the Soulkeepers so that we won’t notice what he’s doing here with your professor.”

  Pressing her palms together in front of her lips, Katrina tried to absorb everything Gideon said. “That makes sense. But how do you figure it out? How do you find out what he’s planning to do in order to stop him?”

  “I need to talk to Malini.”

  Katrina groaned.

  “Katrina, she’s our Healer. She’ll know what to do.”

  “She’s sixteen.”

  Gideon placed his hands on her shoulders. “I will figure this out. We’ll keep you safe. I promise.”

  Katrina tossed her arms around Gideon’s neck. “Thank you, Gideon. Thank you for being here for me.”

  Chapter 16

  Abigail

  A stagnant ninety-two degrees, the air in Hot Springs, Arkansas, clung to Abigail's skin like a wet blanket. Still, steam rose off the pool at city center. Hot Springs wasn't a misnomer. The water here bubbled from the ground at one hundred forty-seven degrees, dwarfing the June heat. Old women in house dresses and men in worn hats lined up around a spout near the pool with jugs to collect their day’s water. Local wisdom claimed it had medicinal properties.