A Soul Divided (The Blood Fire Trilogy Book 1) (16 page)

Chapter 24: Angela
 

“So...” Angela said as she looked up at Al’s large wolfish face. “Does Drake bring a lot of girls to meet your crew?”

The two of them had been sitting in the cargo hold of a ship for the last several hours while they waited for Drake to return with Olivia. Angela wanted to wait inside the ship where there were actual chairs and interesting things to look at, but Al had insisted that having a ‘lovely young lady’ on board with the rest of the crew while Drake wasn’t there to help control them would be like ‘dangling a cow carcass in front of a pack of starving jackals and asking them not to eat.’

The cargo hold with Al seemed favourable to that.

“Drake?” Al snorted. “Honestly, Drake is the single most awkward young man I have ever met. The crew has only met one of the women Drake has dated, and we were technically kidnapping her at the time. They didn’t start dating until later.”

“Oh,” Angela said. “Well at least he didn’t kidnap me to get me here.”

“A fact we’re all still in shock over.” Al replied.

“So... Is he still dating that other girl?” Angela asked.

“No.” Al said. “They ended things more than a year ago. Drake and I both almost died the day he broke up with her.”

“She must have been special to you if you both felt like her leaving almost killed you.”

Al made a sound Angela assumed was a laugh. It started as an uneven growling sound and eventually evolved into a howl.

“Perhaps I phrased my response poorly.” He said. “I meant literally. She actually tried to kill us and almost succeeded too. She’s a terrifying woman.”

“Oh... So would you say Drake has kind of poor tastes in women?”

“To be honest,” Al said. “I don’t care to comment on that. If you have a romantic interest in Drake you ought to discuss this with him yourself.”

There was a long, awkward pause.

“So your name is Al, huh?” Angela asked, trying to change the subject. “Is it short for Allen, Alexander maybe?”

“My full name is Al Jhurus Khardrasyn Lyersial Othyriodias Ikhardrias yt Hyras. It means ‘healer of souls and defender of heaven’.”

“I think I’ll stick to calling you Al.” Angela said.

“Most people do.” Al replied.

There was another awkward pause.

“So you’re like Drake’s best friend or something?” Angela said, breaking the silence.

“I travel with him and do as he asks me because I owe him a life debt.” Al said, “However, despite the circumstances we’re quite friendly when the occasion calls for it.”

“Don’t listen to him. He practically worships me; he just doesn’t like to admit it.” Angela heard Drake’s voice coming from the boarding platform.

Angela stood and ran down toward him.

She moved in to hug him, but she stopped short as she noticed the burns covering his arms.

“Are you ok!?” She exclaimed.

“I’ve been better.” Drake said, “I need Al to patch me up a little.”

Al stood and walked to Drake.

“Hold out your arms.” He said.

Drake extended his arms and held them there as Al ran his huge paw-like hand over the burns.

A soft, blue light came from the wounds as Al passed his hand over them.

When the light faded Drake’s skin looked as if it was new.

Angela gasped as she looked at Drake’s fresh, new, pink skin.

“What did you do?” She asked.

“I commanded it to heal.” He said.

“Al is the best Vhy’ Rai healer I’ve ever seen.” Drake said.

“That’s a good quality in a best friend.” Angela said.

“I’m his best friend because I’m his only friend.” Al said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

“I don’t like to get hung up on details.” Drake said. “You two want to find how the princess enjoyed her ride home with Titus? Because I can’t wait.”

Angela followed as Drake ran down to open the back of the carriage they’d arrived in. Olivia and Titus both stepped out.

“Did you two become friends?” Drake said sarcastically.

“Unlike you.” Olivia replied, “Captain Titus was a perfect gentleman.”

“Really?” Drake asked. “That doesn’t sound like you at all, Titus.”

“Maybe if you were a little kinder like Miss Olivia, then I would treat you kindly in turn.” Titus replied as he handed a small card to Olivia.

“This is my number.” He said. “I’m planning on retiring soon, but should you ever require my services I would be more than happy to get back into the game for you.”

“Ok seriously.” Drake said. “What happened in there?”

“We bonded over the fact that we’re both bothered by you.” Olivia said.

“It’s like you don’t even care about my feelings.” Drake said.

“If we’re through with the small talk.” Titus said. “There is the small matter of my payment.”

“Right.” Drake said. “It’s in a storage unit on Jhilt Yutri. The coordinates are 12, 87, 43, 76. The password is ‘Suck it Titus I stole it first.’ You need me to write any of that down?”

“I’ll remember it.” Titus growled. “And I hope you remember what will happen to you if I don’t find the euphodine in that storage locker.”

“Yeah, mutilation, death, and all your other usual threats.” Drake said. “I remember.”

“Well then,” Titus said as he climbed into the driver’s seat of the carriage. “I hope I never see you again.”

“Likewise.” Drake responded.

“Don’t forget to call me Miss Olivia.” Titus said as the carriage rolled forward.

“I won’t!” Olivia yelled to him as he drove out of sight.

“Alright.” Drake said as they walked back into the ship. “Let’s get to Mora before something else stalls us.”

Angela followed Drake and Olivia into the ship, and a few minutes later they were flying off into space for the second time in her life.

Chapter 25: Vahn

They were here.

Vahn stepped onto the landing platform where an older model ship was making a landing.

“It’s about time you got here.” Vahn said as Drake stepped out of the ship.

“Well, I would’ve been here sooner, but you refused to pick me up.” Drake replied.

“Where’s Olivia?” Vahn asked.

He wasn’t in the mood for another meaningless quarrel with Drake. So it was best to cut straight to the point.

“Aren’t you soldier types supposed to refer to her by her title?” Drake asked.

“Where is she, Drake?” Vahn asked.

“Princess!” Drake yelled into the ship. “Vahn wants to make sure you’re not dead and stuff.”

Olivia descended from the exit ramp of the docked ship.

She was filthy, with rips in her clothing, dirt matted in her blonde hair, and a few small cuts on her face.

The makeup she usually wore had rubbed off long ago, and she appeared not to have showered since being kidnapped.

“There she is.” Drake said. “Now let’s go back to New Earth, she’s homesick, and I want my money.”

“Are you ok, princess?” Vahn asked, ignoring Drake.

“Yes,” Olivia replied, “I’m fine. I’m very anxious to return home. Shall we go?”

“Of course.” Vahn said, walking toward his ship. Olivia followed behind him without question.

“Come with me, Al.” Drake said.

“Who would lead the crew?” Al replied.

“Hey you!” Drake said pointing to a member of his crew. “What’s your name?”

“My name’s Tyrone.” The man said.

“I like you Tyrone.” Drake said. “You’re in charge while Al and I are gone.”

“Yes sir!” Tyrone said excitedly, saluting for a moment before walking away to join his other crewmates.

“Are you sure this is a good decision?” Al asked.

“I didn’t kill the Anti-Luck.” Drake replied, “I need you with me until he’s dead. Besides, Tyrone seems capable, I’m sure he’ll be an excellent captain.”

“Tyrone is fifteen years old, Drake.” Al said, “We hired him to clean our toilets, and he doesn’t even do that.”

“I noticed our bathrooms were getting pretty messy.” Drake said. “But maybe being captain will teach him some responsibility, and he’ll actually clean the toilets for us when we get back. Isn’t this risk worth it if we get clean toilets out of it?”

“Your logic is undeniable.” Al said sarcastically.

“It’s settled then.” Drake said as he began walking toward Vahn with Al and Angela following behind him, “Let's go with Vahn to get our money.”

*************************************

Angela held on to the handles next to her seat as Vahn’s ship lifted off from Mora and headed toward New Earth.

She was excited to see New Earth for the first time.

Her brother might be there. The last time they heard from him, he’d just become a member of the Palace Guard. It’d been years since then.

It would take them a few hours to get there. A ship this small didn’t have a Tachyon drive, so it could only travel at sub light speeds. Vahn had called ahead to the military on New Earth. They were sending a larger ship to rendezvous with them on the edge of Human space. From there they could make a Tachyon jump and it would only be a matter of seconds before they arrived at New Earth.

The ship stabilized as it left the atmosphere and began its flight through space.

Angela glanced around the cabin looking for Drake, but she didn’t see him anywhere.

“Where did Drake go?” She asked Al, who was sitting next to her.

“He’s in the other room.” Al replied, pointing toward a door at the end of a small hallway. “He probably needs a few minutes alone.”

“Oh,” Angela said. “Why do you think that?”

“Because he’s planning to kill the Anti-Luck.” Al said, “He has to take time to come to terms with taking another person’s life. Also, he hasn’t showered in days. He might be taking care of that.”

“That makes sense.” Angela said, blushing. “Does he do that a lot?”

“Shower?” Al asked, “Not often enough for my tastes.”

“No,” Angela said, “Kill people.”

“Despite his childish behavior.” Al said, “Drake has some of the best self control I have ever seen when he decides to use it. He only kills when it’s unavoidable. But killing the Anti-Luck will be different.”

“How is it different?” Angela asked. “I know he’s killed before. He killed a lot of people to save me and Olivia.”

“He wasn’t really himself when he did that.” Al said. “He’s never killed a person on purpose before.”

“You lost me, Al.” Angela said. “He killed hundreds of Mystic soldiers. I saw the dead bodies. How could that have been an accident?”

“Not really an accident.” Al said. “He just wasn’t himself.”

“I’m not understanding at all.” Angela said.

“I’m sorry.” Al said. “That’s all I can say. If you want to know more, ask Drake.”

“I’ll go find him then.” Angela said, standing up and walking out the door toward the room Al had indicated earlier.

“Drake?” She said as she knocked on the door.

“Come in.” She heard Drake’s voice through the door.

Angela’s face turned a bright shade of red as she walked through the door. Drake was standing in the middle of the room without his shirt.

“I’m sorry!” She said as she turned away from him.

“For what?” Drake asked.

“You’re still changing.” Angela said, “I can wait until you're done.”

“Is it really a big deal? You’ve already seen me without a shirt.”

“That doesn’t mean I should do it often.”

“Why not?” Drake asked teasingly. “You think I’m ugly? It’s the tattoo isn’t it?”

“No,” Angela said. “You don’t look ugly. I just... I don’t know. But you should put your shirt on.”

Drake laughed as he pulled the shirt over his head.

“So what brings you in here?” He asked.

“Um...” Angela said suddenly feeling nervous. “I wanted to ask you something.”

“Ok,” Drake said. “What do you want to know?”

“Well... It’s about those Mystics in the desert. You killed them all, but Al said you’ve never killed somebody on purpose. How could you have done all that on accident? Should I be afraid to be near you?”

Drake sighed and looked down.

“I wondered when you’d ask me something like that. It’s hard to explain what happened back there since you don’t know much about Vhy’ Rai, but do you remember how I told you it was because I broke a rule?”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“Well, that rule is a really important one, so the consequences of breaking it are pretty extreme. My revolver is kind of like a cheat. It doesn’t just let me use Vhy’ Rai, it keeps me from feeling the penalty I have to pay for the broken rule.”

“What’s the penalty?”

“That’s a very personal question Angela.”

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.”

“It’ll take awhile to explain it to you in a way that won’t freak you out. Probably longer than we have on this flight. But the king is going to pardon me of all my crimes here in the Human Empire, so I could take you wherever you want to go after this. If you’ll go with me, I promise I’ll explain everything to you.”

“Why are you always trying to convince me to stay with you?”

“Because I like having you around. I think that should be obvious.”

“But why? Since we met, I’ve done nothing but inconvenience you. I’ve been useless in every situation we’ve encountered. The only thing I seem to be good at is insulting you when you deserve to be thanked. Do you really want somebody like me to stay with you?”

"Angela," Drake said slowly. "I know these last few days have been pretty crazy for you, but my whole life has been like that. Fighting, running, being in danger. I've never wanted any of it. I've always wanted a life like yours. You remind me that a life like that exists. I promised you I would help you find your family, and I will. But after that, I want to be done with this life. I want to settle down in a peaceful place and be happy. Angela, I don't want you to come along with me. I want to go with you."

Angela pressed her lips hard up against Drake’s.

What was she doing? She’d acted without thinking. Was it alright to kiss him?  Did he even want her to?

Drake pressed his lips back against hers.

They felt warm and soft. It felt like everything a kiss should be. And then it was over.

“Um...” Angela said. “That was to say thank you for saving me so many times. Since you’re always hitting on me, I thought you would enjoy it.”

“You thought right.” Drake said. “But is that all there was behind it?”

“Don’t let your ego get to big.” Angela said. “It was just a thank you.”

Drake just looked at her.

“Well I’m going back out with the others.” She said, turning and walking out the door.

She couldn’t stop herself from smiling the whole rest of the ride to New Earth.

She’d kissed him, and he’d kissed her back.