Soul Of A Woman (The Dark Souls) (11 page)

Chapter 15

Broni quickly realized her family wasn’t coming to her aid when she was backed against the heavy door with Rhys’s hand at her throat.

“Were you there when my family was murdered?”

“I am only called when I am meant to change the outcome. Your family was not meant to be saved. It was their time, Rhys. I am so sorry.” Tears and compassion in her face tightened his grip on her throat.

“I do not want your pity.” Rhys forced himself to release Broni.

Before he could turn away, Broni confessed, knowing he would inevitably find out if he gained powers. “I was there.”

Rhys’s fury returned, but before he could grab her again, Broni moved quickly away from his reach.

“I knew how much you loved your family, and I did not want them to be alone. I was there, but I couldn’t change their fate. I calmed their fears, though. They felt no pain, Rhys. No fear. They just went to sleep.”

“You could do all that, but you wouldn’t save them? You fucking bitch!” Agony distorted his features, bringing back painful memories for Broni of her own death in another lifetime by men who had the same look of vengeance.

“I could not.” Broni put out her hands, pleading for his return to reason. “It would have meant my own death. Mother would have been angry. Even her friendship with my mother would not have allowed such a transgression to have been forgiven.”

“Better you than them!” Rhys yelled, beyond reason, and Broni’s head snapped back as if she’d been slapped. “My wife and children are worth a hundred sluts like you.”

Broni stiffened, facing Rhys proudly. “I am aware of your feelings for me, but what I was going to say, if you’d let me finish, was that even if I had saved them from Shelton, Mother would not have been thwarted. They would still have died within hours, if not a few days. There is no cheating death. They still would have died, just without the comfort I was able to provide.”

Rhys’s hands tore at his hair as he turned away, moving to sit on the bed where he buried his face in his hands. “I cannot live without them.”

Broni hurt for him. She went to him, falling to her knees in front of him and wanting to give comfort without being sure if he would accept it from her. Uncertain, she laid her hands on him.

“It has been five years, and the pain just gets worse. I miss my children’s laughter and hugs. I miss my wife’s voice, even the perfume she wore. I miss lying beside her at night, holding her while she slept.”

“I could help with that,” Broni suggested tentatively. “I know it is not me that you want, but you would at least not be alone.”

Rhys looked at her with disgust. “You could never replace Deena.” He took her hands and removed them from his thighs.

Broni blushed. “I did not mean that I could ever replace her, Rhys. I would merely comfort you so that the nights would not be so unbearable.”

“Why would you care?” His sharp lawyer mind finally started clicking into place. “Why would you be at my home when my family was murdered? If, as you say, it was not meant for you to interfere, what purpose did you have for even being there? Do you often go where it is not for you to change the outcome?”

Broni rose stiffly to her feet, but didn’t move away. “No.”

“Then why the exception? You said you knew how much I loved them. Had you been watching us?”

“Yes.” Broni blushed, not meeting his eyes.

“How closely did you watch us?”

Broni shrugged. “Some. Immortals like me become bored through the centuries; sometimes we watch certain mortals.”

“We were your fucking entertainment?”

“No! It wasn’t like that, Rhys.”

“Then how was it?”

“Your soul is very old. I met you centuries ago when you were a warrior, and I was meant to save you from death. As the centuries passed, I was sent several times for you.” Broni gave a wry smile. “You needed saving a lot, and you were a favorite of the Gods who protected you. It became a habit of mine to check on you periodically, knowing your penchant for trouble. But the last couple of lifetimes you changed; became more educated, more refined. You had never fallen in love before. I was curious about the woman, and how you would adapt to a tamer family life.” This time, Broni told him a half-truth.

“What did you find out from your snooping?”

“That you had no choice other than to fall in love with your wife. She was as beautiful on the inside as her appearance on the outside. She was kind. Deena gentled your restless soul. You loved her and the children she bore you with the same dedication that made you such a fine warrior.”

Rhys sat quietly while she talked, memories flooding his mind of the short time he had been given with his family.

“You didn’t answer my question. How closely did you watch us?”

Broni couldn’t meet his eyes.

“Did you watch us at home, at the dinner table, or when we played with the children before we put them to bed? Did you watch when I took Deena to our bed? Watch while we made love?”

Broni’s silence confirmed her guilt.

Rhys suddenly stood up, grabbing her by the arms and pulling her close. “Did you watch me fuck my wife?” Each of his words were gritted out between clenched teeth.

“Yes.” Broni tried to break from his tight hold but was unable to do so.

In vain, she tried to explain. “Rhys, listen to me. I was surprised at your gentleness it was… it…”

“Is that why you offered to comfort me through the nights because you liked what you saw? Did it get you wet?”

Frantically, Broni shook her head, still wanting to explain, but it was too late. Rhys’s hands were sliding down her thighs until they grasped her gown and tugged it upwards, completely removing it, and then she was standing before him naked.

“I think I will take you up on your offer. You’re not a bad lay, and I could use a few hours sleep after you wear me out,” he said crudely.

“Wait, Rhys. You don’t understand. Let me explain…”

Rhys took a step back. “Shut up. I don’t want to talk about my family any more with you. I just want to fuck you and then get some sleep. Can you help me with that? Have you changed your mind?”

Defeated, Broni gave up trying to explain, knowing he wasn’t ready to listen yet, if he ever would be. “No. I haven’t changed my mind,” Broni admitted. She would take whatever time she could get with him.

Surprise flickered across his face before his expression turned harsh. “Then climb on the bed.” Correctly interpreting her concerned look at his angry expression, he said, “Don’t worry; I won’t hurt you. I am just going to let you comfort me until your tight pussy wears me out.”

Hearing his harsh words, Broni braced herself for Rhys to handle her roughly, yet her stiff body was gentled by a hand tracing her quivering belly and trembling breasts. Broni began to realize that behind his harsh statements, his pain was more than he could handle, forcing him to strike out with hurtful words. Even in his tortured mind and heart, however, he was unable to physically hurt her. Instead, he used crude painful words to keep a distance between them. It allowed him to take her without the guilt eroding.

His hands lifted her thighs, placing them over his shoulders, and his mouth went between her thighs. His tongue wasn’t gentle as he sought to raise her desire as quickly as he could.

Broni’s head turned on the pillow, unable to lose herself to the desire he was trying to raise. His tongue searched through the folds of her pussy, forcing her thoughts away from his hurtful words and to what he was doing to her body. Her hips thrust upwards involuntarily as his tongue surged inside her.

Broni groaned as Rhys feasted on her until her hands buried themselves in his hair as she came. As he rose up, his chest gleaming above her, Broni could see he was determined to remain aloof while they fucked.

His cock thrust inside of her with one smooth stroke, she was so wet.

“This is all I want from you. All I’ll ever want from you. Your greedy, tight pussy.”

Broni stiffened on the bed, his words dampening her desire, and her hands slapped at his shoulders as she tried to slide out from underneath him. Rhys’s cock slid out as he flipped her to her stomach, driving his cock back inside of her. Broni’s hands clenched the sheets.

“You’re angry because you want me,” she said, determined to give him a taste of his own medicine.
Let’s see how his ego likes taking the kind of beating he likes dishing out.

“You like fucking me. You never let yourself go with Deena the way you do with me. Did you ever give it to her the way you give it to me? Or did she cry that you were doing her? Did she suck your cock and let you come in her mouth? Or did she just do it, pretending she liked it?”

“Shut up!” While Rhys was pounding inside of her, Broni managed to get to her knees so she could thrust back at him.

“You two made love twice a week, but you never fucked her, did you?”

His hands went to her hair, pulling her head back as he leaned over her. “She wasn’t a slut like you are.”

“But you wanted her to be, didn’t you? Just once, you wanted to hear her ask to be fucked, but she never did. She was too classy for that, wasn’t she? I don’t mind asking.”

She rose up farther, forcing him to lift up as she leaned back against him. Reaching behind her, she took his hands, bringing them forward until they circled her belly, placing his palms against her there.

“Can you feel your cock going so high inside me?” Sliding his hands downward, she placed his fingers at her opening where he was sliding back and forth. “Can you feel how wet I am? I don’t mind giving you what you need. Fuck me, Rhys,” she begged.

“Damn you.” Rhys took control again, leaning her forward then slamming his cock into her, not trying to be gentle. It was what Broni wanted because she knew, at that moment, his mind wasn’t buried with his wife, it was with her here in this bed. It was all he was capable of giving her, all he would be able to give her.

Her pussy clenched on his cock as her orgasm stormed through her body, and Broni heard his groan in her ear, feeling him reach his own climax.

When he fell to her side breathing hard, Broni reached out to stroke him, her hand jerking back before it made contact. Rhys rolled over, giving her his back, letting her know without words he was temporarily finished with her.

*
  *  *

Broni lived up to her word. Every time he turned to her throughout the night, she opened her arms and body to his demands, giving her generous heart to provide a few hours of release from the nightmares that chased him into his dreams. After several rounds, she lay by his side sensing when he would have been driven awake by his nightmares again, and soothed him until his restless movements quieted and he was able to slip into a deeper sleep.

In the early dawn hours, she rose tiredly from his bed. Moving quietly, she slipped on her gown, leaving him sleeping soundly with the sheet bunched around his hips as he lay on his stomach.

Broni silently left the room. He only needed her during the night. The dawn of a new day with her there as he woke would only fill him with disgust, and she was in no mood to hear his words of scorn.

Broni went next door to her own room, forcing her tired body into the shower. Exhausted, she pulled on a clean gown. She next went to her bed, lying down, and watching the sun climb outside her window.

Her door quietly opened then the mattress sank under another’s weight, causing her body to slide sideways into the warmth of the waiting arms of her mother. Burrowing herself deeper into her comforting embrace, she let the tears fall that she had been holding back.

“Do you want me to destroy him?” Her mother’s words drew a trembling smile to her lips.

“No.” A strangled laugh escaped Broni.

“Send him away?” Fate gave her another option she refused to consider.

Without hesitation, she answered her mother, “No.”

“Can I at least get Mother to fry his ass with a few lightning bolts?”

“That you can do.”

Chapter 16

Jericho was leaving the table when Rhys entered the room. As Rhys hesitated, Jericho spoke, “Sit down. I was about to go work off this breakfast, but I’ll join you for another cup of coffee.”

Rhys sat at the table across from the man. He hadn’t been intimidated in years, but Jericho would give any sane person a pause. His countenance never changed, not letting one get a feel for the mood he was in despite his friendly overture.

Breaking the silence, Rhys asked, “Where do you work out?”

“Fate fixed up a room upstairs with equipment. If I didn’t work out, I would weigh a ton with the food they provide.”

Rhys picked up a biscuit, liberally putting butter and jam on it before stacking his plate with bacon and eggs. “Mind if I join you, working out?”

Jericho laughed. “After the nap you’re going to need when you finish what’s on that plate?”

“No, after I finish the second one I’m going to make after this one.”

They dropped into a casual discussion on the work each did on Earth, discovering several interests they shared in common.

Going upstairs when Rhys finished eating, they worked out several hours together, each trying to one-up the other before coming to the conclusion that Rhys was sadly out of shape. He felt a stirring in his chest he hadn’t felt in a long time to actually care about his body.

When Rhys left Jericho to grab a shower, he found clothes in the closet that fit him, which was again, Fate’s work, Rhys was sure. He had just finished dressing when a knock sounded on his door.

Broni timidly knocked on Rhys’s door, not anxious to see Rhys while still feeling bruised by his words the night before. His expression let Broni know he wanted to see her even less.

“I have to go out again, and Mother has requested that you accompany me.”

“Tell Fate I’m not—” Rhys broke off his words at Broni’s negative shake.

“Not Fate, Mother. You can’t refuse her requests. Believe me, you don’t want to
make her angry,” Broni warned.

“Very well, it’s not like I have anything better to occupy my time.” Broni winced at his sarcastic words.

She held out her hand and Rhys took it after a brief hesitation. With a blurring movement of time that took mere seconds, Broni and Rhys found themselves in the middle of a deadly battle. Instinctively, Rhys dodged an arrow headed for him.

“What the fuck!”

Broni burst out laughing. “Don’t worry; their weapons cannot harm us. They don’t even know we are here.”

After they watched the battle to the conclusion, Rhys felt the pull within him to join the losing side as they began to retreat. Rhys wanted to yell at them to hold. Inexplicably, he could see if they’d held their ground they would have won the bloody fight. Instead, they had lost because their leader wasn’t courageous enough to move his men forward. He was concerned more for the casualties than the battle, an error that had cost them the victory.

Rhys was disappointed when he found himself back in his room.

“That’s it?”

Broni nodded. “Sometimes it is. The battle ended the way it was supposed to, or I would have known what to do. A lot of the times I’m just a spectator. They are given free will and many times they do make the right decisions.”

“And when they don’t?”

“If I am allowed to intervene, I lead the person to the correct path,” Broni explained.

“When you’re not allowed to intervene, you just leave them to their misery even knowing you could have changed it?” His voice was filled with derision.

“It’s not that simple, Rhys. A person’s life is made of layers of whom and what affects them. If I change something without knowing the eventual outcome, I could cause irreparable damage, not only to the one I want to help but others,” Broni stated softly. “Foresight of the future is not my gift.”

“How convenient for you.”
Rhys went to the closet to get fresh clothes. He needed a shower, even though they had just stood as spectators. He still felt hot and sweaty from the blazing sun and flying dust the horses had stirred up.

Broni watched him closely. His remarks had been snide, yet she sensed he was finally listening to her explanations.

“Each of my sisters and I have struggled with this aspect of our gifts. Cara feels the pain of taking souls before their time or whenever they’re not ready to leave their earthly bodies. I constantly battle with the desire to intervene sometimes because I become so caught up in what is happening I want to help.

“One time, I was watching a football player at a bar. My goal was to keep a fight from occurring with another. However, the football player was so obnoxious I seriously wanted someone to knock him on his spoiled ass. If I had let the fight occur, he would have lost his contract for professional football. The son of a bitch didn’t deserve to become as famous and rich as he did either.” Broni shrugged. “I almost intervened, but my mother stopped me.” Shuddering, she turned away from Rhys, sitting down on the chair beside his bed. “The fight would have made him lose his temper, leaving the bar drunk and killing a college student.”

“You couldn’t have known.” Rhys was beginning to see the difficulties of her duties, Broni hoped.

“It wasn’t my place to know, only to do as I was told. I almost failed. Only Destiny and Fate know Mother’s plans. It’s not my place to intercede. It took me a long time to learn that lesson. The consequences could destroy someone’s life, despite my well-meant intentions.”

“Are you saying Mother is responsible for my family’s deaths?” Rhys’s jaw was clenched, waiting for her answer.

Broni sighed and explained as best as she could.
“No, Rhys. What I am trying to say is their deaths were a result of a chain of events. You being a lawyer, Daniel altering the evidence, Shelton not being able to cope with his wife’s death, and deciding to take justice into his own hands.”

“So who is to blame?”

Broni gave him the best answer she could. “Your profession is blinding you to the true answer, Rhys. Your lawyer mind is telling you to place blame and give the appropriate punishment. To you that is justice, but to us it is not so simple. Humans see death differently. It is much more complex than that. Each human has unique DNA, yes?”

Rhys nodded.

“Humans are born with a finite amount of time that Mother grants them. When they have served their purpose, they are taken; many times to another realm, sometimes they return to her to be gifted with another lifetime. On the other hand, if a soul does evil while on Earth, they are delivered to Hades where he keeps their soul imprisoned for eternity. My mother, Destiny, my sisters and I are used to drawing the picture Mother wants, but ultimately, Mother is the only one who knows the whole picture because she is the artist.”

Broni stood up, shrugging. “There is a time when it is all dealt with according to how Mother chooses. Sometimes, she gives her punishments or rewards immediately. Sometimes, after they die. It’s
always when She chooses because She is the creator.”

Rhys stood, staring at Broni. “You told me about you and your sister’s gifts. Cara’s took my family when they died. Where did she take them?”

This question Broni had been dreading most of all, knowing if she didn’t answer he would just ask her sister himself.

“Their souls were given to Mother. I honestly don’t know where they are now. If they are still with her, or if they’ve been given life again. Only Mother or Zerina would know that answer.”

“Zerina would know where my family is now? Deena might have been reborn?”

When Broni saw the hope in his eyes, she hid the pain his question caused her.

“Zerina is the most important of us all. It is her responsibility to place the soul within the infant child at its first breath. She is the strongest and the weakest of us all.”

Before he could ask, she answered his next question. “Cara and I see our soul but a short time before we move on, however Zerina sees hers for a lifetime, sometimes through several lifetimes. So, yes, she would know if Deena was given another life.”

“Does it happen often?” Broni could see he was seeking any tiny thread of encouragement that he could find his family again.

“To a special few, they are granted another life.” Broni stared into Rhys’s eyes. “Then there are the strong whose soul is so important it is needed over and over through many lifetimes.”

“Are those the only ones?” Rhys wanted hope that his children’s short lives would be given another chance. It wouldn’t be comfort for losing them, but it was something he could cling to during the night when their absence left him in pain at his failure to protect them.

“For those whose lives were ended too soon,” Broni rose to her feet, going toward the door, “a second chance for life is granted.”

Rhys noticed her trembling hand as she opened the door, leaving him alone, and for the first time in a long time, the silence wasn’t welcome.

*
  *  *

Rhys was kept busy the next several weeks. Broni escorted him through different time periods, observing battles he had only read about in college History classes. During his free time, he worked out with Jericho. Surprisingly, he was developing a strong friendship with the demi-God. Neither liked to talk about their pasts, so instead, they would talk about their new experiences. Jericho would go with Cara when she was called, therefore Rhys and he would tell each other where they had been that day.

He was kept busy, but he noticed the heightening tension taking over the household as the whereabouts of Broni’s sister, Zerina, remained unknown. Fate and Destiny spent many hours on the balcony searching the stars for her, and he could see their exhaustion becoming more evident as each day passed.

Rhys was on his way to breakfast when he passed by Jericho and Cara’s room.
Cara often joined them for the meal before they went their own way. Cara leaving to join her sister and mother while Rhys and Jericho sweated and grunted through marathon workout sessions. Neither could explain the need they felt to strengthen their bodies, a compulsion that grew stronger each day.

He was just passing the door when Jericho exited the room, slamming the door behind him. Seeing him wince at the loud noise in the long hallway, it didn’t take
much to deduce there was a problem between the couple.

Jericho fell in step with Rhys as they headed downstairs.

“Problems?” Rhys didn’t want to pry into his new friend’s private life, yet he was willing to lend an ear.

“No… yes.” Jericho let out a sigh. “Not an argument. I am just worried about Cara. She is not feeling well. I want to send for a doctor, but she just tells me to leave her alone. I don’t even know if there are doctors here. She refuses to answer my questions.” Rhys saw the worried look on his face.

“Is there a particular time of the day she is sick?”

Jericho cast him a sideways glance.
“Yeah, morning. That’s why she hasn’t been down to breakfast the last few days.”

“Is her body tenderer? Is she overly grumpy?”

“Yes. Do you think it could be a virus? You would think with them being immortal, they couldn’t get sick.” Rhys didn’t think Cara was the only one being moody.

“I think I may know the problem. Deena suffered from the same illness a couple of times.”

“Really? What do you think it is?”

Arriving at the table, Rhys loaded a plate full of eggs and bacon then finished it off with a heaping helping of biscuits and gravy. The men were immortal, but their stomachs refused to give up the ritual of a hearty breakfast. No longer having to worry about the ramifications of such gluttony on their human bodies, they enjoyed the heavy meals prepared for them.

Rhys handed Jericho the huge plate of food. “I think you should take her breakfast in bed. If she eats it, she’ll be in a better mood. If not and she instead runs for the bathroom, then congratulations.” Rhys grinned at Jericho’s uncomprehending expression.

“Congratulations?”

Rhys sat, filling a plate for himself.

“On becoming a father.” He waited for his words to sink in.

“You think she’s pregnant?” Jericho made the statement, dumbfounded. “She can’t be pregnant. I had a vasectomy.”

“You mean the human body that is no longer on Earth was unable to produce children. I’m willing to bet that a demi-God, which is what you are, would have no
problem fathering children though. From what I remember of my History lessons at University, the Gods are very prolific.”

Jericho’s eyes narrowed. Rhys felt sorry for Cara. From the look on Jericho’s face, he was about to give his fiancée hell.

“You would think that Cara would inform me of that little detail.”

“Maybe she didn’t know. That could be why she hasn’t told you. She could be unsure of your reaction.” Rhys began to feel nervous for the woman. He liked Cara and enjoyed watching the closeness the couple shared.

Jericho turned without another word, holding the plate as he precariously left the room.

“That wasn’t very nice.” Rhys jumped at Fate’s voice behind him.

Fate gracefully took a seat at the table. “She was going to tell him, Cara was just building up her courage. It is so difficult when others interfere.” Fate stared him straight in the eyes, letting him see her displeasure.