Obsidian Souls (Soul Series) (10 page)

             
“Lex.” I barely heard him with all the screaming I was doing. “Lex!”

             
That got my attention.

             
“Is it actually hurting?”

             
I looked down at my hand sitting in the middle of the flame and realized it felt a little warm but didn’t actually hurt at all. He let go of me, and I pulled it out, still expecting to find some melting and blistering skin, but it was perfect. Even my nails were okay, although the nail polish hadn’t faired so well.

             
“Holy shit,” I said staring at my hand still in disbelief.

             
“Holy might not be the best word, but yes, you are a demon. Or part demon anyway. Even the tiniest trace of demon blood in your system will make you immune to burns. Whatever else you are, I don’t know.”

             
“What else do you think I might be?”

             
“Not sure. Some pieces to this just aren’t making any sense. First, you are female. Drauths only affect male fetuses. The other issue is I’m picking up on something that is demon but not the way it usually comes across.”

             
“What is it?”

             
“I have no idea. I can just sense it. This is probably not the best analogy, but it’s sort of like walking into a restaurant and being able to smell the food. You can pick out certain scents like bacon, but not others, even though you know there food. I know a part of you isn’t human, but I don’t think your all demon. There is something else at play.”

             
“Does that mean my mother slept with a demon while she was pregnant with me?” the idea of my mother having sex was distasteful enough but to think she was having sex with a demon was just too freaky. Before I could even stop myself, an image popped into my head. UUUghhhh.

             
“She might have but she probably didn’t know. Usually the women think they dreamed it, that’s only if they remember it at all.”

             
“So they are normal? My parents?”

             
“Yes. If they were different, we would have found them by now and just on the slim chance that they had fallen through the cracks, I had one of my guys go out and check. Look, the bottom line is, I’m not even sure what you are. All I do know is that you aren’t one hundred percent human, you are at least part demon.”

             
I was on information overload. Leaning forward, resting my head in my hands hoping somehow, I could forget some of the horrible things I had just learned, or better yet, never even have ever learned them. What kind of monster was I? Where did I go from here? Could I go on with my life and be a normal part of society? What about family? I hadn’t exactly been running down the aisle, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t in my long term plans. I always figured it would happen when I met the right guy. We would get married and have a couple of kids. The sort of life most people expected to have. Maybe even took for granted as your due in life. How naïve I’d been.

             
“So what happens now?” I asked completely at a loss.

             
“This isn’t the end of the world. It’s just a different world.”

             
It felt like it to me. I didn’t want to be in a world where I was a monster and I said so.

             
“I’m not sure why you look like you are on the brink of a breakdown. It’s not like I just handed you a life sentence. You’re the exact same person you were last week. Just a little less clueless is all. ”

             
“Can’t I get a minute? I’m supposed to find out I’m some sort of crazy demon and who knows what else and I should just smile and be happy? Oh great! Everything I had wanted for my life just got flushed, life’s great!”

             
“What you need to do is take it in and deal with it. Not wallow. If you sit there like a victim, you’ll become one. You no longer have the luxury of feeling bad for yourself. You need to toughen up and do it quickly or they will chew you up alive. I’m not being mean to you. I’m trying to kick your ass into someone who’s a survivor.”
             

             
“Go screw! I’ve survived years on my own just fine!”

             
“Survived what? Because you couldn’t get the new shoes you wanted? Your life’s been a cake walk up until now. Your parents probably held your hand all the way through college. You think your tough, but you don’t have a clue. Your world was butterflies and rainbows. You’ve never had a clarifying moment, the kind that tests the very core of who you are.”

             
“How do you know what I’ve been through? You don’t know me!”

             
“Because moments like that change who you are. They strip you down. It hones you or it breaks you. Anybody that has ever really lived can spot it within minutes.”

             
What did he know? He was one of them! I was tough. I had steel at my core…. didn’t I? Why did I even doubt it? Of course I did. A person, or whatever it is I am, was allowed a few moments to adjust. It didn’t mean I was sulking.

             
I might need him now but I wouldn’t always. I would take every ounce of knowledge and skill he had and then get away from him. I would find a way out of this on my own terms.
             

Chapter Eleven

             
“I need you to teach me to fight.” He wasn’t paying me any attention and I had to follow him as he walked to his room the next afternoon. “I’m strong and I have good reflexes!” He wasn’t even paying attention to me let alone taking me seriously. “You think I’m soft? Then help me to be tougher.”

             
He stopped suddenly, and I literally bounced off him. He grabbed my arm to steady me before I fell backward. Finding my footing, I quickly pulled my arm away. I always felt slightly out sorts when he was touching me.

             
“Okay. You haven’t developed yet but it’ll be good to start. It certainly won’t hurt.” Thinking we were finished, he went toward his desk where he started to sort through papers.

             
That was something no one had ever said to me. “I think I’m developed.”

             
He glanced over at me and actually smiled. “That’s not what I meant. You’re going to get stronger, but it hasn’t started yet.”

             
“How much stronger will I get?”

             
“It’s different for everyone and you’ve got other things going on that I have no knowledge of. First being that you’re also a female. I’ve never seen a female Drauth, ever, so I’m not sure if you’ll get as strong as a male. I don’t know when either. It’s different for everyone. Most of the time it starts in the late twenties, but it’s far from an exact science.”

             
“When can we start?”

             
“Tomorrow.”

             
As far as I was concerned, I was in this alone. Yes, he was giving me a roof and protection but for how long? Could I really depend on him? He had been right last night. I needed to toughen up, but I would do it my way.

             
I stood staring at him debating on how to brooch the next topic.

             
“Yes?” he asked. I guess I was pretty transparent.

             
“I need to go by my apartment.”

             
“No.”

             
“Wasn’t asking. Just telling.” I’d never had a temper in my life, but he had a way of dictating that made me go from zero to sixty.

             
“Fine. But not alone.”

             
“I didn’t want to go alone.”

             
“I’ll be back tonight. Be ready.”

Chapter Twelve

             
I put together my best stealth outfit out of the supply of clothes I had. One more reason I needed to get into my apartment. Everything they had picked out was skintight. I looked like a hooker. I guess it’s what you can expect from a young man shopping for you. There was a washer dryer closet off the hallway that I had already used several times. I’d already washed the only non hooker outfit I had. It didn’t make sense why he even had it because it seemed he got everything professionally cleaned. 

             
I took one last look in the long mirror that hung on the closet door of my new bedroom. My hair looked better down and flowing I decided. Even though I had picked my outfit for utilitarian purposes, it really did do nice things for my shape.

             
“Ready?” Caden yelled from the other side of the door. I looked at the clock and it was five after eleven at night.

             
I didn’t bother to answer, I just opened the door and smiled.

             
“Leave your cell phone here.”

             
“Why?”

             
“Because they are going to be watching for you. I wouldn’t be surprised if they have someone tracking your location on your phone, just waiting for you to leave here.” He paused looking down at me. “You know this is stupid, right?” It was a rhetorical question but I answered anyway.

             
“I need my stuff.”

             
“I’ll have whatever you need ordered and delivered for you.”

             
“It won’t be mine. I can’t make you understand this if you don’t get it. I feel like they’ve robbed me of my entire life and I just want some of it back.”

             
He looked at me with his deep-set grey eyes and I could see an understanding there. Maybe he did have a soul after all. He didn’t want to do this, but he would. You could see the resignation as he turned and headed out. I of course followed.

             
The cold wind bit at my skin as I stepped outside. He climbed on the back of the meanest looking motorcycle I’d ever seen. It was a different one from the other night. This one looked more fitting for someone who had demon blood with flames licking across the gas tank.

             
“Put this on.” He handed me a black leather jacket.

             
“There are gloves in the pockets. The leather will break the wind a lot better than wool will. If we get cornered this is the best mode of escape.”

             
“I thought you could take them?”

             
“I can but if they are alone. Just stay close. It will be easier to slip in and out without anyone noticing. Now get on.”

             
“Where am I going to put my stuff?”

             
“Here.” He shoved a backpack into my hand.

             
He was a typical guy if he thought that I’d be able to get all my things into a backpack, but I didn’t want to argue about it right now. I just wanted to see my apartment. I still wasn’t sure if he really understood exactly why I wanted to go back. The look on his face when he handed it to me made me think he didn‘t quite understand how many things I needed to take. I couldn’t squeeze my life into a backpack!

             
We pulled into the alley near my building. He put his finger to his lips to signal me to be quiet and hid his bike behind the dumpster. We quietly made our way into the building and nothing seemed amiss.  My apartment door was locked, and I went to use my key. So far so good, that was until I opened the door and flick on the light.

It was in shambles, not like it had been searched, but as if to make a point. Whoever had done it had been real angery. My pictures had all been torn off the wall, and the smell of urine permeated the air. I rushed into my bedroom to see if anything had survived. My clothes were strewn about the floor and my dresser looked like an axe had been taken to it. Shards of glass from my dresser mirror were scattered everywhere.

             
I was still trying to get a handle on the destruction of my belongings when something burst from the closet door and I saw a fist coming toward me. I was quickly pushed back as Caden intercepted it. Stumbling, I landed in broken glass and looked up to see what had almost hit me. It had been one of Carl’s men, who was now lying on the floor with Caden standing over him.