Soul(s) (14 page)

Keep a cool head. Turning
on the Aura would make them view you as a threat.
Ajani thought to me.

My body tensed at his thoughts, but I didn’t
turn around.

A threat, like the Banguri? How different
can we really be?

Calm yourself, Sariah.
They’ll let you go. They have to because we need to know how they
made Keegan vanish.
Ajani
reasoned.

You should have let me go!
I could have saved him,
my thoughts cried
out.

You’ll still save
him,
Ajani thought back earnestly.
There’s still time.

“
Sariah,” said the
High-Elder, “Our numbers are dwindling and we cannot afford to lose
any more of our forces. Our most prudent responsibility is to
safeguard Light City and Paramount at all costs. Still, any
additional information on the Banguri is invaluable, and will
undoubtedly save souls. The counsel has agreed to let you
go.”

“
I will go with her,” said
Ajani.

I sighed. I knew he wasn’t going because of
Keegan, but I had no idea what it would be like over there. I
couldn’t risk going alone.

“
We’re to let
two
telekinetic Aura
leave the city?”

“
We’ll leave whether you
sanction it or not,” said Ajani.

There was an awkward silence for a moment
like a show down between the council and us and then they began
murmuring to each other. I studied them, desperate to figure out
which way they were leaning. Iris was vigorously talking to the
High-Elder. I prayed she was pleading for us and not against us.
They grew quiet and then addressed us.

“
Very well, you and Ajani
may go, but you’re to use the communicator to send as much
information back to Paramount as you can. Camp locations, weapons,
numbers, anything that’s going to help our
cause,
you will relay to us when you
return. You’ll have to heal and serious injuries by creating sexual
energy, otherwise you risk ascension.”

I tapped my foot impatiently. I already knew
all of this.

Iris mistook my impatience for distaste and
launched into a surprisingly parental-like lecture on what it meant
to be an Aura.

“
The idea of sex with
someone other than Keegan might be distasteful to you,” said Iris
“but Sariah, we cannot afford for you to die. Your energy would
disperse to God knows where and we need you
here.
We need Keegan too, which is
why we’re letting you go.”

“
Dually noted,” I
snarled.

I left the hall in a huff. I was so
irritated, I couldn’t think straight. My adrenaline was pumping. I
had to get to Keegan. We’d seen him fall into what looked like some
type of portal. There was no way of knowing where it had taking
him, or how much time we had before they’d kill him.

Ajani and I had gotten back to Paramount as
quickly as we good, but even with a portal semi near us, it had
been over three hours now. Iris was waiting in the teleportation
room when we got back and I’d demanded an emergency council meeting
with the elders, and we were closing in on another hour of time
passing. My heart clenched at how long that was and who knew how
much longer it would take to find more Banguri and jump in with
them when they use their portal and pray it got us close to where
Keegan was. The whole scenario was becoming more problematic by the
millisecond, yet I had to cling to hope that I wasn’t too late;
that somehow this would all work out.

“
You don’t have to go with
me,” I shot over my shoulder at Ajani. He’d been following silently
behind me.

“
Of course I do,” Ajani
said softly. “I can’t let you go by yourself.”

I stopped, turning on my heel, glaring
wildly at him. I was nearing a breaking point and Ajani was the
closest outlet for all my emotions.

“
You didn’t care about
Bem, you don’t care about Keegan, and you don’t give a damn about
me either. You just want to fuck me and you’re only
helping me
so soften me
towards the idea of
us
being meant to be together.”

I wasn’t really mad at him, but I wanted him
to know just how cruel I could be. I was trying to hurt him. I was
feeling jaded and I was going to make him feel just as empty inside
as I did without Keegan. I’d expected my snapping and snarling
words to push him away but my insults just bounced off him. If he
felt anything from that lashing, he didn’t show it. He just looked
at me for a long hard moment and then walked on ahead of me.

Go drink some water and
calm the fuck down. I’ll meet you at the teleportation dock in ten
minutes
.

I met him at the dock inside Paramount, in
under five minutes. I slung the bag-canteen over my shoulder and it
snapped to the little hump bean on suit. Water and my weapon were
all I needed.

“
He’s still alive,” Ajani
said to me. We were standing side by side on the dock. Lanni was
getting ready to send us to closest outpost to Banguri
territory.

I said nothing and Ajani asked, “Have you
felt a surge of energy hit you?”

“
No,” I answered back
looking curiously at him. I hadn’t thought that if Keegan was
actually dead I’d physically feel a change.

“
Then Keegan is still
alive. You’ll know when he’s dead.”

“
How do you
know?”

“
I’m widowed. I’ve already
been through the loss of my soul mate. I know what it feels
like.”

Right; I knew that. Bem
had alluded to Jet; Ajani’s venku who’d died. I’d forgotten. I
soften a little towards him, realizing he probably
did
know how I
felt.

“
I’m sorry for what I said
earlier,” I offered as an apology.

“
Don’t be, most of what
you said was true.”

“
Most?” I asked. I looked
over at him and he grinned back at me.

“
You were wrong about my
feelings for Bem but you are right about Keegan. I don’t care for
him, never have. He’s a first class twat half the time.” His eyes
turned back from mischievous to serious.
I
care about you. We’re friends, Sariah. If never anything else we’re
friends, and I can’t let you do this on your own; so I won’t. But
we both know what I feel for you is more than just wanting to fuck
you.
Just because they told you Keegan was
your venku doesn’t mean he is.
I’m just as
worthy of you as he is, but you never let me close enough to show
you.

The intensity in his eyes
was so strong. I knew he was being honest. I looked away and
thought back to him,
No one made me love
Keegan.

You need Keegan but you
don’t want him.
Ajani pushed back.
I want you and I need you. Even though you deny
it, you want and need me too. That’s why I won’t let you go
alone.

“
Alright, we’re all set.
Ready?” asked Lanni eerily giddy. “Go bring your hunk of venku-meat
back!”

I stared at Lanni in bewilderment. How could
she be so flippant?

As soon as we reached the out point I used
my telepathy to hunt down the nearest Banguri. There was no time to
waste.

There was a nearby stream and I sat in the
middle of it.

“
What are you doing?”
Ajani asked me.

“
Finding those portals,” I
answered back. As soon as I sat in the water, the pours of my suit
opened up and I felt a rush of energy flow through me.
Instinctively, I was going to try to use the water to amplify my
own powers. I took a deep breath and let my mind flow away from my
body out into the woods. I felt like I was in a trance. I could see
everything like an airplane in the sky. I focused harder, straining
myself. We’d already wasted so much time we couldn’t afford any
more delays.

I found a middle-grade Banguri. I didn’t
want to enter the mind of a higher one, b/c they might detect my
presence. I zipped into their head and their mind snapped into
focus. I felt a touch on my shoulder and my eyes shot open. Ajani
was squatted next to me in the water. I had fallen over in the
little shallow stream.

“
Are you alright,” Ajani
asked.

I went to speak but couldn’t. I had found
what we needed to know but it had drained everything out of me. I
was naïve. I wasn’t strong enough without Keegan here. I felt my
body sway forward and I fell face first down into the water.

“
Sariah,” Ajani said
emotion raking his voice. I felt him pull me on to his side holding
me close to him. He wrapped his hand around my neck and back into
my hair. I felt some of the energy from the contact of his body
flow into mine. He was transferring his strength to me.

Instantly I felt less weak.

“
How were you able to just
do that non-sexually?” I asked.

“
Guess your theory about
saving Bem was right,” he said looking down at me. I caught just a
wisp of emotion in his eyes before he swept it back under
control.

“
I’m not as strong as I
thought,” I told him.

“
No, you’re stronger. You
just stretched yourself miles out. No other Aura can do
that.”

“
But I’m too weak now to
make sense of what I saw,” I said hopelessly. I felt so defeated. I
had to save Keegan but I just couldn’t on my own.

“
Let me help you,” Ajani
said caressing my face. His hand warmed my cheek and something
stirred in me with. It felt good. It felt natural. It felt like
something I would have liked on First-Plane. It felt easy. Was he
right? Had I had feelings for him all along and I just wouldn’t
admit it?

“
It’ll mean nothing to
me,” I told him, aware that I was partially lying, but desperate to
not give in to him. Even though I need it, I fought back against
the lull of his energy.

He ignored me leaning forward. Our lips
touched and I felt a surge rush through my body; our energy mixing.
But it was more than that. I realized it was me who’d deepened the
kiss not him, it was me who pulled him closer, not him, and it
wasn’t me who pulled back first.

“
There,” he said. I
couldn’t read the expression on his face but his voice was husky
and deep, “now we’re even for when you saved me in the
woods.”

I was feeling completely back to normal. I
realized I hadn’t moved away from him yet and awkwardly stood up.
With my strength back the images I’d stolen from that middle-grade
Banguri burst into coherency. They were just a few hours jog north
of us. Something told me we had to hurry; the Banguri wouldn’t stay
in the same spot long.

“
They’re north of us. A
few middle Banguri, but no leader that I can sense. They’re grunts
being sent in as reinforcement. They have a portal opened up. We
can take them out and run through. They’ll try to close the portal
but if we’re close and fast before they see us, we’ll have a chance
of getting through.”

“
Alright then,” Ajani
muttered more to himself than to me as he helped me back up to my
feet, “let’s go get that one true love of yours.”

PART TWO:
FIRST-PLANE

20: KEEGAN

DAY
ONE

My eyelids fluttered and white light pierced
through my pupils. My head crashed like a cymbal and my hand
reflexed over my eyes like a protective shield.

“
Are you alright?” the
voice repeated. This time I understood her words.

“
My head…” I mumbled back
in response.

“
Lean forward; let me see.
We should sell the diner,” she muttered to herself, “weird things
are always happening in this alleyway.”

The light touch of her fingers combing
through my hair made my senses flare to life. I opened my eyes
again and after blinking rapidly, the smooth cloth of her shirt and
the cream skin beneath it became visible. There was a tag clipped
to her shirt that read: ELIZA. I caught a faint sniff of a honey
scented perfume before the pulled back away from me. Her eyes
peered at me worriedly.

“
I thought you were dead
at first the way you were slumped over. I came out with the
trash—hoping the new bus boy will do it is a pipe-dream, Peter is
many things but at least he’s dependable—and there you were right
by the dumpster. Can you get up? The diner’s not open for another
hour but I can get you some food and coffee.”

“
Who’s Peter?” I
asked.

“
My brother,” she answered
quickly as if she didn’t want me—a completely stranger—to get the
wrong idea.

I felt her arm around my waist and felt her
help lift me up. I was surprised that someone her size could be
that strong.

“
You must workout,” I
joked meekly.

“
You’re not some sexist
smuck are you? Because I hate to break it too you I always wear
socks and I’m never in the kitchen making pies.”

“
What?” I had no idea what
she was talking about.

“
Oh, please! I know you’ve
heard that joke,” she said as we walked into the back of the
dinner.