Read Power (Soul Savers) Online
Authors: Kristie Cook
Power (Soul Savers)
Soul Savers Series
Book Four
Kristie Cook
Ang’dora Productions, LLC
Naples, Florida
Books by Kristie Cook
— Soul Savers Series —
Promise
Purpose
Devotion
Power
Genesis: A Soul
Savers Novella
Find the author at
www.KristieCook.com
Copyright ©
2012 by Kristie Cook
All rights reserved.
Published by
Ang’dora Productions, LLC
15275 Collier Blvd
#201-300
Naples, FL 34119
Ang’dora Productions and associated logos are trademarks
and/or registered trademarks of Ang’dora Productions, LLC
Cover design by Brenda Pandos
Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976,
no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the copyright owner.
Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of
copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only
authorized editions.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters and
events are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously
and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely
coincidental.
First Edition August 2012
Printed in the United States of America
For
Brenda Pandos
Acknowledgements
First and foremost, my thanks go to God for the many
blessings He has showered on me, and most of all, for the gift of His Son.
Shawn, Zakary, Austin and Nathan, thank you for sharing
your lives with me, for your continued support and love, for understanding when
Mom can’t make dinner every night, and for being you. I love you.
Chrissi, I don’t even know where to begin. Without you,
where would I be? Thank you for all you’ve done that made this
happen—again. And thank you to Tom for sharing your wife with me for
sometimes unreasonable amounts of time. Here’s to the Afterlife!
Brenda, thank you for being a true friend who not only
takes a beating from me but dishes it right back (yes, “it”!). Without your
nit-picky, old school marm self, this book would be a mess. And without your
encouragement, your understanding like only another writer can provide, and
your shoulder to cry on, I would be a complete disaster. Last but not least, I
can never thank you enough for my beautiful covers, and even more for your
patience through the many changes, especially when they’ve caused us both to
sport a few bald spots.
Lisa, thank you (again) for taking on all that you do.
You’ve been a true blessing. Jessica, I’m so grateful you emailed me over a
little book no one had ever heard of to review on a little blog that was only a
baby at the time. Look what we’ve grown, girl. Thank you for all of your help.
Mindy and Jennifer, thank you for coming through at the last minute and helping
out a crazed author.
Thank you also to Heather and the Indie Elite, and to the
many bloggers who have helped spread the word about the Soul Savers, especially
to Jessica, Lisa, Mindy, Michele, Stacey, Inga, Jennifer, Brittany, Damaris,
Stella, Tanya, Angela, Savannah, Katelyn, Jessica, Colleen, Lisa, Cynthia and
Christina. And as always, my deepest love and gratitude to the readers for
taking a little time out of your life to spend with me. You have no idea what
your posts, comments, reviews and recommendations to friends mean to an author.
You’re the best fans in the world. I dare anyone to deny it.
Table of Contents
Genesis: A Soul Savers Novella—An
Excerpt
Chapter 1
Just breathe
.
Something I shouldn’t have to remind myself to do, but at the moment, the task was
easier said than done. Pushing the air out of my tight lungs proved simple
enough, but in through the nose was a different story, as each inhale brought
with it an eye-watering fetor of body odor, liquor, cigarette smoke, and vomit pooled
somewhere in the dark corners. I could handle the stench, as well as the flashing
lights, the pulsating music, and a sea of Norman bodies dry-humping to the beat,
but making it all exponentially worse were the drunken mind signatures,
swirling and gyrating and pinging all over the place.
A nightclub in the middle of a seaside tourist village was
probably the last place a relatively new telepath should be hanging out. Yet
here I was.
I hadn’t been off the Amadis Island for eight months, since
the trial last September, and didn’t particularly want to be here either. I
preferred to be in one of my usual spots, next to either Rina or Lilith, both
still comatose from the dark magic inflicted by Kali the sorceress. But my Amadis
power seemed to be doing neither of them much good, and Vanessa had recently
been seen in this small town, which meant something was going on.
The Daemoni simply didn’t hang out here—not anywhere
on this little key in the Aegean Sea that was the Amadis Island’s closest
neighbor. Too many Amadis passed through here on their way to and from our
Island, and many came for a day or weekend of mainstreaming without wandering
too far away from the safety of our haven. So Vanessa being here was
perplexing—as well as bold and stupid on her part. Except the vampire
wasn’t stupid, which meant she wouldn’t be here alone for long. The Daemoni
seemed to be planning an ambush, and our current strategy was for me to hear
her thoughts and learn their plan. She’d also stolen something precious from
me, and I needed it back.
Unfortunately, I hadn’t been able to find her mind signature
tonight, so here I was, hoping to pick up a thought of someone who’d seen her
today or knew where she stayed. The sensory overload made my head pound and set
my teeth on edge. The packs of women not so discreetly waiting their turns to
hit on my husband certainly didn’t help my mood.
Tristan’s long and hard body leaned against the bar on the
other side of the room from me, blue and green lights from the dance floor flashing
over his perfect features. An American girl in a sundress and stilettos twirled
her red hair around her fingers as she and a similarly dressed brunette talked
to him. More small groups of women stood nearby at the bar and tables, stealing
glances his way to see if he’d dismissed these two yet. After all, he’d been
dismissing foolish women practically falling at his feet all night, but for
some reason, each newcomer thought she’d be the exception.
His eyes slid over to me, and he smirked. I fought the
ridiculously immature but overwhelming urge to stick my tongue out. Instead, I
turned away from him and gave my full attention to the intoxicated Greek god
offering to buy me a drink. Well, I tried my best to give it to him, but I
could barely provide more than a forced smile while my mind scanned the
thoughts of the women talking to Tristan. If they knew anything about the
vampire-bitch, they weren’t thinking about her. In fact, their minds were
pretty focused on how they’d be willing to give Tristan a threesome if that’s
what it took to get him into bed. No wonder he was smirking.
Just breathe
, I
reminded myself again.
It was your idea
to separate. This is your own doing.
Right. I needed to focus. Even if I
didn’t find Vanessa, scanning mind signatures and thoughts in this kind of
environment provided good practice, which I needed.
I’d acquired the telepathy during my
Ang’dora
over a year ago, but hadn’t really
embraced it until last September to
protect Tristan from being banished for betrayal and to save the Amadis by exposing
the real traitor. But since then, the only people I could practice my gift on
were the people in the Amadis village, and they were nothing compared to this.
Especially since the Amadis knew I could hear their thoughts and kept them
subdued, while here, thoughts exploded from inebriated minds like fireworks,
some bright and cheery and others simply loud and obnoxious.
I could hardly fathom how all these people could be here
partying it up with everything else going on in the world. Of course, they
didn’t know what I did—the increased homicide rates, animal attacks, and
missing persons reports weren’t solely a result of depressive economies and
political unrest, but rather, the workings of the Daemoni. Normans only joked
about the world going to Hell, not realizing how right they were. They hadn’t
attended funeral after funeral as I had in the last few months.
Or, perhaps, they had. Perhaps they sought to forget it all
in the alcohol, drugs, dancing, and sex. Perhaps if I delved deeper into their
thoughts, beneath the blanket of intoxication, I’d find they were on vacation
here to escape their own terrible realities. Escapism was a part of human
nature, after all, and the people here had apparently found what they needed.
Skimming along the surfaces of their minds, listening for the smallest hint of Vanessa’s
whereabouts, I concluded no one else was suffering a near anxiety attack like I
was. Everyone else seemed to be enjoying the loud music, the strobe lights, and
the press of the crowd around them.
I accepted the drink from the beautiful man with the dark
but glassed-over eyes, and threw it back, grimacing at the ouzo’s burn as it
slid down my throat, wishing this would be the shot that would dull the senses.
But, of course, it wouldn’t. I couldn’t get drunk. Unlike the Normans, I
couldn’t find my own escape.
“
You okay?
”
Tristan silently asked me.
I clenched my jaw, not wanting to lie, but not wanting to
give in, either.
Don’t worry about me.
“
As if I could stop. I
always worry about you.
”
I stared directly at him and all the girls surrounding him,
particularly the one he smiled at even as he thought his concern toward me.
Well, don’t
, I
thought to him as I drew in a steadying breath
. I can take care of myself.
“
Are you sure?
” he
asked precisely when the guy in front of me asked me to dance. I nodded,
although I truly just wanted to get out of here. “
Alexis, don’t think
—”
I never heard the rest of his sentence—what he didn’t
want me to think. The handsome stranger thought I’d nodded to him and had me by
the hand, stumbling over his own feet as he dragged me to the dance area. As
soon as we stepped onto the sunken floor, his hands were on my hips, pulling me
close to him. For a brief moment, I forgot about all the mind signatures, the
twirling lights, and the pounding music, and could only think about how strange
it was to be that close to a man other than Tristan.
