Soul Stealer (6 page)

Claudia tried to will sleep to come. The ache was turning into another thought, and she had to fight that one down. Iola had found her soul mate, Iola was in love. And it wasn’t with her.

Chapter Six

Voro found Raphael pacing outside of his room, everything about the guy’s posture giving a pissed-off vibe loud and clear.  He didn’t throw out a greeting, just started walking down the hall. Voro assumed he was to follow.

They passed novices along the way, and by now it seemed every woman in the place was fixed to give him the stink-eye. Damn him if he wasn’t starting to feel guilty about the whole thing.

Raphael stopped in front of a large, ornate iron doorway. It was apparently a training facility. All Voro knew it as was the “stay the fuck out” door. Nothing could move that thing. It had to be as thick as a wooly mammoth.

Raphael gave it a shove with one hand and it swung inward. Voro stopped, looking up in surprise. He had never once seen the thing open. It entered into a concrete room. When they were both inside Raphael shoved the iron door shut and faced Voro. His jaw was set and his words were clipped.

“This isn’t a game … do you get this? I’m not happy about playing
sensei
to Peter’s stupid whims. You may think you’re just messing with him, but you’re screwing with my job now. And I don’t appreciate it.”

Voro had to stop hanging out with angels; his guilt deepened. “Look, I’m sorry -”

“Save it. You’re not sorry. Just stay out of my way and get this right the first time. I know you can do it, just … don’t mess around.”

Voro nodded and Raphael turned around,
faced the opposite wall, and stood there. Voro raised an eyebrow, surveying the scene to make sure he wasn’t missing something. Nope, absolutely nothing was happening.

He opened his mouth to ask what was up, but then stopped. His feet were warm. When he looked down they starting to tingle. They felt light, like he weighed nothing at all, but he wasn’t floating. As he watched, his legs started to disappear.

Voro looked up in panic, but the same thing was happening to Raphael. He was vanishing from the feet upwards, still just staring forward.

It hit his hands; that same weird tingle like his whole body was needles and pins. When it got to his chest he felt real panic, like suddenly walking into deep water, realizing it was going to go over your head and there was nothing to be done –

He squeezed his eyes shut and felt that cold numbness rise all the way out the top of his head, which was pretty trippy. Then he felt solid ground again, and he took a breath. Then another. Something was different …

Everything was different. He could smell car exhaust, the fryer from a diner somewhere nearby. Grime and dust and concrete.

He opened his eyes. He was home, downtown, where it was gritty, grimy, and dirty.

He looked to his left, and Raphael was still there, looking at him now.

“What do you … feel? Tell me what your senses are picking up.”

“The first thing is that smell. It’s amazing. I haven’t been here for so long …” he watched a van drive by with tinted windows, realizing there was no reflection. “Hey – we’re invisible!”

“Concentrate.” Raphael’s voice dripped with annoyance.

“Okay, sorry.” Voro took a deep breath again. “It’s just that … it smells different than before. It smells more … intense than it used to.”

He squinted up at the buildings, trying to place why everything was so weird to him. “The colors seem more … saturated. I’m noticing finer details, like an over-exposed photograph or something. The shadows are sharper. Light and dark are so separate.”

“What about the people?”

He hadn’t even noticed the people yet, but almost like actors hitting their mark he and Raphael were surrounded by humans winding their way along the sidewalk; some on phones, some holding hands, some more hurried than others.

Voro watched a woman walk by, the kind he used to bed on a regular basis. Like a man who’d lost his arm he felt the phantom instinct try to reach out and grasp part of her psyche, the part that would make her get turned on for him, but it wasn’t there.

He frowned. “I can’t … I can’t get in their heads.”

“No, of course not. Free will, remember?” Raphael nodded his head towards the twisting throng of people. “But what do you sense from them?”

He was out of sorts now, but he tried to concentrate. All he could think of was how it felt like his hands were missing somehow; he was unable to do what he used to. He shook his head.

“I’m … I can’t get in. What am I supposed to be looking for?”

“You were a Sin Eater, Voro. Look for their sins.”

He frowned at the angel, but then did as he was told. He narrowed his gaze, watching the humans hustling back and forth. Nothing, they all looked normal, like …

Wait.

He held his breath. They didn’t all look normal, not at all. Like this prick in the suit just like the ones he used to wear. That guy wasn’t right …

His face. Voro couldn’t understand what exactly he was seeing but it wasn’t just another human’s face. The skin was off somehow. His eyes were completely black. And there was a vibe coming off the dude that made even Voro want to run.

Evil.
Completely evil.

“What the hell?”

“What are you seeing?”

He held up a hand, pointing. “In the grey Tom Ford suit. His eyes are black. And … it’s like he’s got a weird shadow all around him. His skin looks rubbery, too. What the fuck is that?”

Raphael smiled. “You see him just like I do.”

“But what is it?”

“You used to smell sin, you said. I
see
it. It takes something beautiful and tarnishes it. That’s what I see.”

Voro looked  back to the group. All those people, only one sinner. Interesting.

And the people were so shiny. He never saw them this way before, and it wasn’t because it was a sunny day. They all had varying levels of glow; it was the only word he could think of. Some shone like their own solar system, and some were only a bit golden. No matter what their skin tone, they had light to them.

“What’s on them? Why do they shine like that?”

“You’re seeing their purity of heart. You can see evil and good now, Voro.”

His heart set off fluttering like a rabbit being chased by something with big, sharp teeth. His chest was tight, and the world got narrow like he was staring down a long hallway.

They fucked me right up. They tricked me in to being saved and now I’m all fucked up.

He didn’t like this. Not one bit. He felt handicapped. When a woman passed by in a sundress that normally he would have followed home, he felt nothing. Just an appreciation for how her skin was shining like a new penny.

He shot an angry look at Raphael. “What the hell did you do to me?”

Raphael seemed surprised. “What do you mean?”

“This isn’t right. I can’t – what’s wrong with me?”

“There’s nothing wrong with you. You’re just … different now. You’re … you’re good, Voro. We’ve purified you.”

Shit.

Patrice flipped over on to her back, sighing in the dark. Restless, she kicked one leg out from under the blankets. Her skin was sticky, the room was too warm. Trying to sleep during the day was getting harder the older she got. The blackout-blinds were doing their best, but sunshine was still peeking around the edges. Not enough to keep her up, just enough to make it impossible to close her eyes.

She tried anyway, almost hearing her heart beat and the sweat pooling in the hollow in the base of her throat. Everything was driving her nuts.

She got up and crossed the darkened bedroom, blinking against the light of the rest of the apartment as she padded wearily to the bathroom. She had to sleep, which meant she had to take something.

The bathroom floor was blissfully cool underfoot, and she ran a glass of cold water to wash down the natural sleep aid she popped in to her mouth. It felt better, but she couldn’t take much more of this damn heat. She really had to get that air conditioner fixed –

At the very thought a cold breeze tickled the back of her neck, stirring the bit of hair that had slid out of her ponytail. Instantly a chill ran down her back, raising goose flesh on her arms.

She frowned and turned to the open bathroom door. The breeze continued, tickling her bare legs, prickling up her body until even her breasts tightened under the T-shirt she wore. The apartment was empty, and she knew there wasn’t an open window anywhere.

Her stomach tightened as there was a scrape from the kitchen.

A scrape? Like a shoe against the lino tile? Or was it something dragging along the hallway wall?

She stood stock-still in that way that deer do in the forest.
If I’m still, I’m invisible.

When there wasn’t a repeat sound she allowed a laugh. What did you think it was – a ghost?

She flicked the bathroom light off, and as Patrice moved through her hallway that cool wave hit her again and she stopped.

This is wrong. I’m not alone here.

The sound came again, and she turned, pissed. She stalked through the hall again to the main living area, glaring at all corners of the open-concept kitchen and living room, then out the bright floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the waterfront.

You’re being stupid.

She turned back to the hall, and as she passed the kitchen the feeling returned and she spun around. Something passed across the window, too fast to be real. Was it inside? Outside? She couldn’t tell. It was just a swirl of black. Plus she was four floors up. People and animals that size didn’t usually pass by her window.

Get to the phone, call for help,
her brain was screaming.
And tell them what exactly?

Something tickled the back of her neck again. She spun around just in time for that same shadow to disappear down the hall.

Patrice had a moment wondering if this was a hallucination brought on by a brain tumor. Then her fight or flight kicked in and she ran for the door.

The shadow was there first, concentrating itself like a hazy cloud right where she wanted to go. It flew at her, and she ducked into a crouch, covering her head with both arms, and waited for it to hurt.

Raphael waited for Voro to respond, but instead a buzzing sounded in his head, annoying and high-pitched like an old tube TV that needed fixing.

His chest constricted and he looked up immediately.

“What is it?” Voro’s voice sounded far away, hollow. Something was close. Something evil. Every safety system he was programmed with went off in unison. It was hard to breathe.

“Stay close. I have to materialize.”

“What?”

He didn’t wait to explain. He ducked in to an alley, willing himself into solid form, then walked out, wincing against the intense sun, seeing it as a human now. Raphael waited, and the feeling of danger came back, more of a prickling in his ears. He turned left, walking through the crowds of people, not looking back to make sure if Voro was following. He could sense the Sin Eater behind him, like that sensation of someone watching you. He was more focused on the sense of evil coming from one of the high-rise buildings, very close. But which one?

A cold breeze moved his hair. He stopped, turning to an apartment complex across the street. There.

He crossed right into traffic, but everyone stopped for him and no one honked rudely. On the opposite side a woman had stopped to watch him, and he felt her desire hit him like rain drops on a windshield. He was indifferent to it but he felt it all the same. She might have even said something but he wasn’t listening.

He pushed the front doors open, making for the stairwell. The elevator would block his receptors: he needed to listen for what was calling to him.

Raphael’s long legs made short work of each flight, the buzzing getting louder with each
story he ascended. Third, fourth floor …

Stop.

He turned to the fire door, throwing it open so hard it hit the wall. As the door opened the buzzing was replaced with a skin-prickling feeling that even got in his nose and irked his neck. At each door he paused then moved on. Halfway down the corridor the buzzing intensified dramatically, nearly bringing him to his knees. He paused, focusing, and the noise stayed concentrated. Raphael checked both directions down the hall, saw only Voro, then he kicked the door down.

Raphael was aware of Voro asking him what the hell he thought he was doing. But he didn’t answer. He stepped into the entryway of the apartment, noting the female on the floor doing the duck and cover in her
pajamas. What he really paid attention to was the huge shadow on the wall, looming impossibly large over the framed artwork and furniture in the living room.

It couldn’t be a shadow. He knew right away that it was something living. He had a moment to frown before the shadow froze and then surged back, like a wave hitting the edge of a swimming pool, coming back towards him, growing larger.

Raphael was stuck to the ground right where he was. His feet stopped moving and his back stiffened up as though he was getting ready for a fight - with what he had no idea.