The Lost Souls (15 page)

“You are a disgusting whore!”

“What about you?”

“What about me? I was alone for months! Alone while you were busy cheating on me!”

“Listen to me, Trinity,” he growled. “You are my wife. I’m not gonna let you forget that. And we are gonna work this shit out.”

“I don’t want to be your wife anymore,” she hissed.

“Why? So, you can feel better about fucking Gerik?”

“No!” She twisted her body, and he gripped her tighter. “I wish I’d never started up with you! I wish I’d listened to everyone when they told me I belonged with Gerik!”

He closed his eyes and tried to breathe through the pain of that statement, reminding himself that she didn’t mean it. She was trying to hurt him because she was hurting.

“I know you, Trin,” he said quietly. “And I know you don’t fucking mean that.”

“Fuck you,” she hissed. “You don’t know shit about me!”

Frustrated, more than done with this shit, he released her. Shoving her off him, he got to his feet. “When you’re ready to talk, fată, you come find me.”

He started for the door. “It’s not going to happen!” she screamed as he pulled it open.

Xan shut the door softly behind him. His hands were shaking, and his heart was pounding.

His tată had left. His own father hadn’t wanted him. His mamă was a cold, distant bitch who’d loved him, yeah, but she’d had some funny ideas as to how to show it, and now she was dead and gone. He’d forever been a jackass in a clan full of thoroughbreds, magic users who could have ended him with a wave of their fucking hand. But he’d worked hard to make sure he could protect himself from any kind of threat—be it Gaje or Romani or magic.

Fast forward to the end of the fucking world, he’d met the only person who could have ever made him second-guess his lifestyle, his choices,
as well as who and what he’d been.

And he’d betrayed her.

And by doing so, he’d lost her forever.

“Xan!”

“Xan!”

Turning, he found Pesha and Simionce running full speed toward him. Immediately, he reached for his guns, looking past them, seeking a threat.

“Marko!” Pesha said breathlessly as he skidded to a stop in front of him. “Is here!”

Frate pointed toward the fire pit and sure enough, Marko-fucking-Siwak was here.

“What the fuck is he doing here?” he spat, gripping his handgun tighter.

Pushing both Pesha and Simionce out of his way, Xan stalked forward, aiming at Marko.

Noticing him for the first time and seeing the gun in his grip, Marko quickly shoved the blonde Gaje behind him in a protective maneuver.

“Xan!” Mira yelled, hoisting Michaela up over her shoulder. “No killing in front of the baby!”

“Why would you think you could come here?” Xan yelled, ignoring Mira. “What inside that fucked-up brain of yours, frate, would make you think that coming here was a good idea?”

“Xan!” Fifi yelled, stepping in front of Marko. “Let him explain!”

Explain?

Explain why he’d left Trinity in the middle of a world where the only thing certain was death?

Explain why he’d single-handedly destroyed his marriage to Trinity in a fit of jealous rage? Fuck that! Marko couldn’t explain that!

“You have three fucking seconds, frate,” Xan growled, “to get the hell out of my camp before I blow your damn head off.”

“I had to come,” Marko said. “I had to find Trinity, to make sure she was okay, to bring her home to you.”

“Bullshit!” Xan spat.

Marko shook his head. “I swear it, frate.”

“Yeah? If that’s true, then now you know she’s fine, and I’m already with her, so you can turn your ass around.”

“She’s not fine,” Marko said. “Is she acting weird, Xan? Is she acting like Trinity? Or is something wrong?”

“
Is something wrong?” Xan yelled, his patience gone. “Yeah, something is wrong! She spent months trying to survive on her own, only to get tossed aside by you!”

“Something else,” Marko persisted. “Like Gerik turning into a dragon and losing his soul because of it?”

Xan stared at him. “What?”

“Gerik is gone,” Marko said. “He’s a dragon, frate. A dragon, not an animal. He’s a soulless beast
, according to the legends. Gerik lost his soul the moment his transformation was complete, meaning Trinity lost hers, too.”

Xan’s stomach lurched, and panic reared up inside him. “What?” he whispered. “No, you can’t survive without a soul, everyone knows that. If she didn’t have a soul, she would be dead and she’s not dead.”

No, she wasn’t dead, but she wasn’t Trinity anymore either. Remnants of her still remained, glimpses that were becoming few and far between. So, no, she wasn’t dead.

But she was…dying?

No. Oh, hell no.

“No,” Xan repeated, shaking his head wildly. “No fucking way is she dying
, because I’m not losing her again.”

She didn’t need that damn soul, a soul that had always belonged to Gerik. She still had her heart, it was still beating, and that heart belonged to him. And, fuck it, he could not lose her again.

“Xan…” Fifi reached for him, but he quickly sidestepped her.

“No!” he yelled. “I’m not losing her again!”

“I know!” she yelled back. “We’ll figure it out. We’ll get her soul back…or something. I don’t know, Xan, just please, you need to calm down!”

“You can’t get a soul back,” Onyx said matter-of-factly. “Once a soul returns to nature, there is no getting it back. It’s gone.”

Fifi glared at her, and Onyx shrugged. “He needs to hear the truth, only…” Onyx trailed off and pursed her lips together. “It doesn’t make sense. Trinity should have died the moment her soul was taken back. At least, according to what we’ve been taught…that’s what should have happened.”

Xan’s heart began to pound. “So, what does that mean?” he demanded. “Does she still have her soul or what?”

“No, she doesn’t.”

Xan looked to the owner of the voice and found a tiny blonde Gaje peeking out from behind Marko
.

“Who the fuck are you?” he demanded and Marko went stiff.

So, Marko had gone and found himself a fată who, by the looks of it, he cared about quite a bit.

“I’m Carrie,” the girl said, stepping out from behind Marko.

Xan nearly dismissed her, but then he didn’t. There was something…something familiar. He could sense…something. He stared at her, and she stared back at him, and he kept staring, searching for something to confirm what he was feeling.

That was when he saw it
.

A flicker in her eyes, and then it wasn’t Carrie’s eyes he was looking into anymore. It was Trinity’s eyes
—big, green, and beautiful—looking back at him.

He didn’t even realize he was falling until his knees hit the ground.

“How?” he whispered.

Carrie bent down in front of him. “Trinity’s soul,” she whispered. “It’s inside me.”

In the background, he could hear Marko trying to explain to the rest what had happened. He heard the shocked gasps of the others, heard them toss ideas back and forth, trying to rationalize what could have happened.

“I still don’t get it,” Marko said. “The oldest soul…it goes to the most powerful, doesn’t it? Why me? Why Carrie? She’s not even Romani.”

“Did you pay attention to anything when we were kids?” Onyx asked, sounding exasperated. “It isn’t just about power. The oldest soul goes to the most powerful…and the purest of heart.”

Xan didn’t care why Marko and Carrie had gotten the soul, he was just glad they did. Reaching for Carrie, he placed both hands on either side of her face and gently brought her closer to him.

“Does she still love me?” he asked, running the pads of his thumbs under a pair of very familiar, very beautiful green eyes.

A tear slid down Carrie’s cheek. “She does.”

Xan fought back his rising emotions and nodded. “What do I gotta do, fată?” he asked, his voice hoarse. “Just tell me what I gotta do to get her back.”

Instead of Carrie, it was Marko who answered.

“I’d say we have a dragon to find.”

This interactive glossary will return you to the first instance of the word or phrase defined when you click on the underlined term.

baró
.
Romanian for “big man”; used to refer to a leader or king.

b
ună
. Good.

clan
. A g
roup of families or a grouping of households.

c
opil
(singular),
copii
(plural). Baby or child.

Da
. Yes.

d
ark magic
. Unnatural magic, essentially trapped death.
The use of the fifth and forbidden element, spirit, will turn all light magic dark. There are consequences for calling on dark magic; the severity depends on why the darkness was summoned and the purpose it was used for.

Două
vă rog
.
Two, please.

Dupa
moartea
. Until death.

fată
(singular),
fete
(plural). Girl.

f
ată mea
.
My girl.

f
rate
. Brother.

Gaje
.
Anyone who is not of Romani descent.

Gypsies
(plural),
Gypsy
(singular).
Members of a nomadic Caucasoid people of generally swarthy complexion, who migrated originally from India, settling in various parts of Asia, Europe, and most recently, North America.

l
ight magic
.
Natural magic made up of the four natural elements found in nature: earth, air, water, and fire.

mamă
.
Mama or mother.

Mereu
. Always.

n
ature
.
Is equivalent to the natural world, physical world, or material world. “Nature” refers to the phenomena of the physical world and to life in general. It ranges in scale from the subatomic to the cosmic.

p
ack
.
A group of certain animals of the same kind, especially predatory ones.

Până
la moarte
. To the death.

Rom
(singular),
Roma
(plural). One or more Romani people.

Romani
. As a noun, the Gypsy culture or people; as an adjective, pertaining to the Gypsy culture or people.

Skin Eaters
(aka
Skins
)
. A highly advanced predatory species derived from humanity, devoid of a soul, with supernatural abilities and a taste for human flesh.

Skin Eater origins
.
In 1078 AD, the eldest son of a Romani clan baró, gifted with an affinity for all five elements, used Spirit to end the lives of the men who had brutally murdered his entire clan. As punishment for his bloodlust, he was condemned to always hunger for blood. For cutting short the lives of hundreds of innocent people, he was condemned to live out their lives, and the lives of their unborn children and their unborn children, in a never-ending cycle. He would never know peace or life without suffering, and was condemned to a soulless life of eternal pain, shrouded in darkness. He was called Mullo, the first Vampire.

s
oră
. Sister.

soție
. Wife.

surioară
.
Little sister.

tată
.
Papa or father.

t
ată mare
. Grandfather.

Te iubesc
. I love you.

Te iubesc, mereu
. I love you, always.

țuică
.
Plum brandy.

Underline
= Whereabouts unknown

Strikethrough
= Dead

*Asterisks* = No longer human

The Asenov
Family

Mihai
m. Kizzy

*
Shandor*

Simionce

The Bálan Family

Nic
m.
Jaelle

Indiana

Becki

Michaela

The Čonka Family

Djordji
m. Madeleana

Nico

Nicu

The Deleanu
Family

Drina
(never married) &
Daniel Whitehawk

Xan

The Hjemsäter
Family

Cai
m.
Sanna

*
Gerik*

The Horváth
Family

Gunari Sr.
m.
Mirela

Gunari Jr.

Gunnar

Triplets: Fifi
(Fi), Tsuritsa (Ritsa), and Magdolna (Mags)

The Jankovic
Family

Lajos

Marcell

The Moldoveanu
Family

Punka
m.
Lala

Pitti

Pesha

Twins:
Pali
&
Mala

The Petros
Family

Angelos
m.
Chloris

Teodora

Angelos
m.
Shannon

*
Trinity*

*
Tahyra*

The Popa
Family

Jericho
m. Maisera

Florica

Tobar

Nadya

Michaela

The Sava
Family

Stefan Sr. m. Aishe

Stefan Jr. (Hockey)

Stevo

Simza

The Siwak Family

Harman m. Lyuba

Loiza

Marko

Adriana

The Vãdura Family

Benyamin Sr.
m.
Alana

Adi

Daniella

Benyamin Jr.

The Vãduva Family

Merikano
m.
Christine

Onyx