The Lost Soul Trilogy (Primani Book 5) (30 page)

Shaking his head in denial, Sean sat down. “That’s impossible! What day is it?”

Concerned, Killian answered him with narrowed eyes, “She’s right, Sean. It’s been nearly a year. Where have you been?”

“I don’t know…everywhere? Maybe nowhere?” His mouth was set and his eyes reflected his pain. He looked out the window and reined in his emotions.

My heart squeezed in sympathy. “What happened to you?”

He hesitated. “I don’t really know. One minute I was in the basement of the farmhouse and the next I was…scattered.”

Dec blanched. “Scattered?” He shuddered and shut his eyes in sympathetic pain.

Killian inhaled sharply and said, “No!”

I looked uncertainly from one to the other, but none of them would meet my eyes. They were all in their own private hell as they absorbed Sean’s words.

“I don’t understand. Someone tell me what you’re talking about.” My voice trembled as I tried to resist the strong emotions swirling around me.

Sean shrugged off the shock and started his story. “Being
scattered
is bad, Mica. We can only die if our
saol
core is vaporized. We call it being ‘scattered’ because all of the particles are scattered into the winds. A lucky demon can kill us this way…and apparently other things can cause it too.”

I interrupted him, “You can’t heal yourself?”

“No, we don’t survive it because we can’t usually find all of the scattered particles. Our core is unique to each of us, Mica…like your DNA is. Without all of it, we’re missing essential parts. It would be like you losing a chunk of your brain or an organ. You’d have a hole there. You might be able to function like that. But what if you lost vital strands of DNA suddenly? You would have serious problems. It’s the same thing with us. As far as healing ourselves goes, well, when the
saol
is gone, we have no way…no energy source…to heal ourselves. It’s just too overwhelming for us to do.”

I paled and swung around to Killian for confirmation. He grunted his agreement. “Oh my God! It’s a miracle we got you back then,” I said through fresh tears. It
was
a miracle.

Dec got up and hugged Sean hard and sniffed back tears. Hesitantly, he asked, “What was it like?”

“At first there was nothing and I just floated. I didn’t even know what had happened. My thoughts were scattered too and I couldn’t remember anything. There was nothing…just mist. But then after a while, I felt Mica out there, somewhere. I didn’t realize it was her though. I just felt a connection…an anchor…to a place.” He paused, thinking of something more. “Did you cry for me?” He cupped my face in his hands searching for the answer.

I was crying now. “Yes! I cried and I prayed and I pleaded and I begged for you to come back to me…It was a…dark time.”

“I felt you…your sadness.”

Killian scowled at the memory and got up to pace. “It was…difficult…especially for Mica. She saw everything that happened inside the house that night. She watched you explode and disappear. She relived the nightmare every night.”

And he had been beside me for most of this, but he didn’t need to mention that now.

“And we couldn’t find you. We searched for you everywhere, but no one knew what happened or where you went,” Dec added. “Killian and I took turns looking but you were gone.” His voice broke and he coughed to cover it.

They had been gaunt with fatigue and lack of food. They hadn’t slept or eaten for days at a time while traveling all over the world trying to sense Sean. I finally convinced them to slow down and eat; to take care of themselves too. When Dec collapsed one night, I put my foot down and demanded they eat. After that, they still went out looking but they ate and slept in between trips. Traveling, as they call teleporting, takes a huge toll on their energy stores and it was only a matter of time before one of them burned out.

Sean turned to Killian and said in a voice swelling with emotion, “I
felt
her, Killian. Like a chain holding me to this plane, I felt Mica’s hold on me even when I floated. I wanted to let go and drift away but Mica, I heard you. I felt your pain. I don’t know how, but it’s true. Your voice anchored me and I couldn’t let go. Then I heard you call my name and it was irresistible. Every part of me was drawn to you--I guess you really are my other half.”

I fingered my locket and considered Killian’s plan, his magic. He was a genius; there was no other explanation for him. He always knew what to do and how to use our powers. We would be lost without him here. To his intense surprise, I grabbed Killian and kissed him on the mouth before he could say a word of protest.

“I love you! You’re amazing!”

Dec explained to Sean, “It was his plan that brought you back to us. We’re all grateful that it worked.” He grinned at Killian’s scowl.

Killian just grunted and said, “It wasn’t just me. It took all of us to bring you back. I’ll fill you in later. For now, why don’t you two go do something outside of the bedroom? I don’t need any more of Mica’s porno memories in my head!”

“Killian!”

He laughed at my outrage and pointed to the back door.

An hour later, we left the house and wandered off into the woods. There was a pretty creek nearby and we used to hike to it all the time. We headed towards it now. Shyly, I peered up at him from under my lashes. It was no use. I was going to cry again. Damn it! I was really trying to get a grip on my emotions, but they were all over the place since he came home.

Sean gently tugged me to him and wrapped his arms around me. I sank against him and took a deep breath. He rubbed my back and rested his chin on my head.

“You’re scared of me,” he observed quietly.

“No, I…” I started to protest but stopped. He was right. I was afraid. I didn’t know how to act after all of the pain I’d been through this year. I didn’t really believe he was actually here. Surely this was another dream.

“Why don’t we just take things slowly? We can get to know each other again.”

“Slow is good.” I pulled back and gazed into his eyes. I could feel the imprint of his hands against my back. He was definitely real and he was here. “Kiss me?”

He hesitated for a split second and lowered his mouth to mine. I wrapped my hands around his neck and kissed him back until I ran out of oxygen and had to gasp for air. I pressed against him like a cat and he groaned against my neck. Every thought in my head disappeared until there was only him.

Later, I commented, “I’m so glad we’re getting to know each other again. I feel better already.”

A cross between a laugh and a groan greeted me. Sean stretched and said, “You’re going to need to work on your shyness, Mica.”

I laughed and flopped down across his stomach just to hear the air whooshing out. He rolled me over and pinned me on my back with his nose pressed to mine. “I love you.” He kissed me with a smile. “Near or far.”

“Don’t leave me again. I couldn’t breathe without you. My heart was broken.”

“At least it wasn’t every molecule in your body.”

DINNER WITH FRIENDS should be fun. Unless your boyfriend was a supernatural being who had been in limbo for a year. My friends weren’t too happy with him at the moment. After the, uh, accident, I couldn’t bring myself to tell them he had died. For one thing, I didn’t know that for sure; and for another, I didn’t want to jinx him. So I had to say he left me. If I had been cheerful about it, there might not have been a problem. As it was, the past year sucked; and I was by turns, depressed, militant, and secretive. Once in a very great while, Dec or Killian made me socialize in public. Dec nagged at me and bribed me with pizza. Hanging out with Killian was fine for me, but he tended to clear entire rooms with just a glance. Besides, he didn’t really like people. He thought humans were annoying. We didn’t go out too often.

Our little group of friends had shrunk to a couple. Ricki and Kevin were in college in Ohio as was Tyler. Dani and Aric still lived in town and went to the Plattsburgh campus of New York State University. Dani helped out in her mom’s little shop Zen. Aric worked on his dad’s farm and at Peabody’s as a bartender. Everyone was very busy these days. Dani was still mostly my best friend but I didn’t see her too often. What with my new career as super-secret special agent for the Forces of Good…I was a little busy training to kill bad guys and learning to use really cool gadgets like night vision binoculars or NVBs. These were not activities I could share with Dani.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” I asked for the third time. We were sitting in the car waiting for the others to show.

Sean chuckled at me and said, “Sweetheart, you love Dani and want to see her. I’m back for good now. You’ll need to tell her eventually. Don’t you think?”

“Yes, but let’s put it off--”

“Chicken!” He pulled me up for a kiss and I gladly joined in.

He set me away from him and scanned my face with curious eyes.

“What’s wrong?”

“You’re not glowing anymore. Remember when you used to glow every time I touched you?”

“Oh, yeah, that was awesome. So glad that’s stopped. Don’t worry, I still
feel
like I’m on fire!” I smiled seductively and fanned my cleavage.

Killian joined us in the car. “She’s really mastered her powers this year. You’ll be amazed when you see what she can do now.”

I blushed at the compliment. “Wow, that’s so sweet. Thanks, Killian. I didn’t think you’d noticed.”

Dec snorted from the back seat. “You’ll never get another compliment, darlin’. Are you recording this?”

Killian added, “Well, she’s worked hard and she doesn’t complain. I’d say this compliment is earned.”

We pulled into the parking lot and I immediately spotted Aric’s car. Damn, they were here. I was hoping they’d forget. I fidgeted with my locket chain until Sean’s fingers closed over my hand.

“She loves you, remember? She’s not going to be upset with you about this.”

“No, she’ll be upset with you!”

“I’ve been through a lot this year. I think I can handle one pissed off female. Give me some credit, okay?”

“Okay, okay. Let’s get this over with.”

As usual, Killian went in first and Sean and I went in next. Dec brought up the rear. Old habits die hard and none of us went anywhere without practicing security measures. Scanning the room for bad guys and exits was second nature to me now. Correction: usually I did it too. Tonight I only had eyes for Dani. I sought her out from across the room and held my breath as she discovered Sean. Dani’s face went through a series of expressions when she spotted me and then saw Sean with me. Her eyebrows went straight up and her clear grey eyes narrowed. Aric flinched as she dug her nails into his arm. Mouth set and eyes hard, Dani marched over to me and hauled me off to the patio for a little chat. I looked helplessly behind me at Sean who just shrugged and waved me out the door.

“What is
he
doing here?” she demanded as soon as we were alone.

I unhooked her fingers from my arm and answered, “Uh, he’s back.”

“Back?”

“For good.” I smiled really big to show this made me happy.

She scowled. “You didn’t tell me you were seeing him again. When did this happen?”

“Recently. Very recently…like a couple of days ago. It was a surprise for all of us.” I took her hands in mine and pleaded, “Dani, I love you. You’re my best friend…my sister. But you have to trust me on this. Sean and I are okay now.”

She started to respond but then paused and glanced down at my locket. “What on earth…?” Distracted, she reached out and picked up my locket. She dropped it like it burned her and shook her fingers.

“Ouch! What’s with the locket? It’s glowing.”

Her fingertips were red.

“Uh, magic?” I laughed it off with a joke and a shrug.

“Uh-huh.”

She narrowed her eyes doubtfully and added, “You know I’m not stupid. Don’t bullshit me.”

“It’s no big deal. It’s just a locket.”

“Yeah, sure it is. I don’t believe you, but go ahead and keep your secrets. One day you’ll regret it. Let’s go back to the others. I’m sure Aric is ready to be rescued,” Dani said.

“Oh, you bitches don’t need to leave so soon. We just got here.” A familiar cold voice froze me in my tracks and I rolled my eyes. Again?

I turned to see Scott Flynn and three others spread out across the back entrance to the patio. Scott’s eyes were hard as he pushed off from the wall and stalked towards us. His thick dark hair and deep-set brown eyes were still the same. The expression on his face was new though. Psychopath? Newborn vampire? Demon?

Pick one; they all fit.

I hadn’t seen him for a long time. He looked even more unstable than he did last year. I hadn’t been in town much and he’d been in and out of jail. Unfortunately he’d survived his latest stint in jail. Damn, his timing sucked. I swiveled to the other exit and it was blocked too. Not a surprise. We were trapped on the enclosed patio. Instead of screaming for help, I faced Scott as he made his way towards me. I planted my feet and got ready to hand his head to him. I was more than ready and it showed in my face. He took a good look at my expression and lost a little of his swagger. He slowed down and moved with more caution. I cracked my knuckles and stretched.

Purring obscenely, he said, “I’ve missed you. You and me have some catching up to do. You’re looking good.” His eyes raked my body and settled insolently on my crotch. He spread his hands in a gesture of goodwill and warned, “You might want to play nice.”

One of his thuggy friends barked a mean laugh at that. “Yeah or we all get a crack at you when he’s done!”

I looked at that one and said, “Shut the hell up, moron.” Dani gasped and dug her nails into my arm. Out of the side of my mouth, I said, “Let go of me and stay back. I’ve got this. Yell for Aric.”

Dani opened her mouth to scream, but one of them grabbed her around the waist and clapped a hand over her mouth. She struggled and kicked at him, but he pressed his arm against her throat and she froze. I watched out of the corner of my eye as he held her against him and groped her with his free hand. Her eyes were spitting fire but her face was turning red as she lost oxygen. I wanted to yell for Dec but didn’t want Dani to learn their secret so I sent an SOS to Killian instead. Oh, please be paying attention!

Killian! It’s Flynn. Hurry!

Scott took advantage of my hesitation and lunged at me. I stepped to the side and he lumbered forward missing me completely. I swung around to face him and kicked him squarely in the jaw. His head snapped back and he staggered. I sensed another guy coming from behind me and dove forward to take Scott’s legs out from under him. He landed hard on his back with a whoosh. Before he could react, I kicked him in the face, hopefully breaking his nose. Blood splattered everywhere. The sound of screaming broke through my adrenaline rush. Dani’s captor had pinned her against the ground and was trying to shove his hand down her shorts. She was screaming bloody murder so he punched her in the face.

In seconds, the patio was crowded. Sean, Killian, Dec, and Aric all burst through the doors at the same time. Aric took one look at Dani and went berserk. He threw himself into the guy and knocked him sideways onto the ground. Dec had to drag Aric off the guy to keep him from killing him. Once the guy was out cold, Dec and Aric led a sobbing Dani out to Aric’s car. Two of the smarter criminals melted into the darkness while I held Scott Flynn in place with a boot against his throat and Sean stood behind his head. Blood was pouring out of his nose and his eyes looked up at me furiously. He wasn’t afraid. He was waiting me out.

I put a little pressure on his throat and he grunted in pain. “Not so tough now?” I mimicked Killian’s feral smile and dug my heel in a little harder. His eyes showed fear then.

“That’s what I thought!” I smirked and put a smidgeon more weight on my heel.

“Mica! No killing!” Killian ordered, amused.

Sean squatted down and snarled, “Yeah, don’t kill him. I have a promise to keep.” He leaned into Scott’s face and said something too low for me to hear. Whatever it was, it had the desired effect; Scott frantically turned his face away.

I laughed out loud. Scott was getting a very close up view of the unusual eyes that announced, without a doubt, that Sean wasn’t wholly human. His eyes burned in their sockets when he was in killing-mode, or soldier-mode, as I called it. It was a Primani thing. It happened when they were fighting demons, teleporting, or just really mad. It was an involuntary reaction to the
saol
that they used. It still scared the hell out of me even though I was perfectly safe with them. Apparently Scott didn’t feel safe if the kitten sounds he was making were any indication. I laughed harder.

“Get the fuck up.” Sean hauled Scott to his feet with one hand. He shoved him into Killian who pulled both arms behind his back. Before I could say another word, Sean pulled me to him and kissed me with such intensity that my whole body glowed and threw off waves of searing heat. My eyes burned like fire and everything seemed oddly bright like I was wearing sunglasses. He’d turned me into a road flare…Scott’s eyes went huge and he started shaking violently. He tried to turn his head away but Killian forced him to look.

Understanding the game now, I leisurely turned to face Scott again. “Touch me again and I’ll light you on fire.”

He blanched and fell to his knees.

“Oh, you’ll burn.”

Killian laughed at Sean’s horrified expression. “Dude, you’ve got no idea!”