Soul(s) (29 page)

I shook my head pushing it into his chest my
body shaking with a devastating emotion that I couldn’t let
out.

“
What you did today saved
lives on both sides. Listen to me, baby” he said pulling me close,
“I know it hurts you to kill. None of us like it and you have
surely done it way more than any of us—but—you have given back much
more than you’ve taken.”

“
I didn’t want kill
anyone!” I whispered.

“
I know, Wats, but what
you did was a necessary evil. I’m so sorry you had to be the one. I
can’t change the past, but I can heal your soul now. You have to
let me,” he insisted feverishly, “I love you. I can’t lose
you.”

I gave in and it felt like
coming home after the most fucked up day you could ever have. He
held me to him and his energy surged, flowing all around me,
dulling my guilt until it was bearable and understandable. I’d
never be
okay
with killing and I vowed to continue to avoid it as much as
possible, but saving Keegan, loving him, having him would always be
worth it. I would do it again and again. Death was unavoidable, but
so was love and I finally knew which one was kinder.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I'd like to take a brief moment to
just thank the following people who have always been so encouraging
and supportive of my work. Thank you for the beta reading, free
advice, kind words and the faith that I can create something worth
reading.

Nicholas Wilson

Patricia Saenz

T.D. Brickey

Andrea Schulte

Shannon Lewis

Jenika Townsel

Kendyl Bryant

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
:

Soul(s)
is Vera West's debut contemporary novel with elements of
science fiction, dystopian themes and romance, inspired by personal
feelings on love, death, and the afterlife. Vera West resides in
the Mid-West where she is passionately scribbling out her next
novel. Connect with her on Facebook for updates and news on
upcoming releases and book signings.

FUTURE
WORKS
:

Soul(s)
will have a sequel coming out sometime in 2015
entitled,
Venku(s)
begins before the Banguri-Aura and will be told entirely from
the perspective of Ajani and will cover events prior to
Soul(s)
, during and
after. Enclosed in this ebook is a special preview of
Venku(s)
,
enjoy!

V
E
N
K
U
(
s
)

a novel by

VERA WEST

HELLCAT

With growing impatience, I hungrily gulped
down my glass of water as I watched the trees tick past the window.
I was on a train, heading to the Midwest.

There had been an increase in sightings of
all folklore monsters, particularly the Hodag hyena like beast, and
the Loveland frog. Since we knew that low and middle banguri had
been sent here from Second-Plane, it was logical that these
creatures were probably them.

Taking the train had made the most sense.
None of us could drive, it was low profile and faster than a bus.
Luke and I had mapped out a route we’d take by train from New York
through Ohio and then we’d travel on over to Wisconsin before going
back home. If this trip went well, then we’d head back out to take
care of the rouge beasts in the south. With time and a little luck,
we'd have First-Plane secure again and no human would be the wiser.
There was just one problem for me, feeding. Since Bem had ascended,
I hadn’t taken a new partner and my body was starting to suffer. I
wasn’t as strong as I knew I should be. Water would only get me so
far, eventually I'd have to feed.

From his seat across from mine, Luke eyed me
above the paper he was reading.

“
Just go do it,” he
insisted. “You’ll have to see us hunt eventually too.

I ran a hand through my hair. He was right,
this was just a part of who we were.

“
You can’t be serious?”
Eliza asked, slamming her book shut. She glared at me furiously.
She was still testy about Keegan leaving with Sariah. Now that she
wasn’t getting any, the sexual needs of Auras were
distasteful
to her. She
was like a giant pout fest, party of one and extremely irritating.
Eliza reminded me of everything I didn’t want to be and it
disgusted me. She'd come with us because her ability to create
small portals was invaluable, but I couldn't stand her. I'd hated
her when I'd first met her and that feeling wasn't
dissipating.

“
He has to eat,” Otto
said, stretching his legs out and propping them in the empty seat
beside Eliza.

“
Just do it already!” Luke
repeated. “You’re starting to look sickly.”

“
I guess you’re right.” I
set my cup down in the built in holder and got up.

“
Disgusting,” Eliza
muttered, reopening her book.

“
Necessary,” I shot back
as I moved towards the exit and Otto moved his legs down letting me
by.

“
Just ignore her, we all
know what her problem is,” Luke said.

“
Why? What happened?” Otto
asked curiously.

“
None of your business,”
Eliza spat at back, shooting him a blazing glare of his
own.

Otto studied her carefully for a moment
before turning away.

“
You can use our room.
Just let us known when you’re done,” Luke added as I closed the
door behind me. I could hear Eliza annoyed voice rising as she
exclaimed how vulgar Auras were. I laughed in spite of myself. God,
she was pathetic. At least after Sariah’s rejection I wasn’t
that bitter.

The train was nice, surprisingly so. I
couldn’t remember them being this way, but then that was a common
occurrence with people from Second-Plane. Even with four of us
traveling there was a good amount of space. We had a sitting box,
with six seats, and then across the small hallway was our four
person sleeper. The bunks were stacked in twos of course. I passed
through easily making my way upwards towards the front of the
train. My plan consisted of just scoping out what my options were.
I’m sure I’d find someone compatible.

I heard the feathery sounds of female
laughter and my adrenaline picked up. Just a few feet ahead, were
two young women telling stories and laughing jubilantly. They were
both average looking, their features not hitting either end of the
beautiful or grotesque spectrums. I honestly didn’t care, this
beggar wasn't choosey.

As I got closer, they
looked up. Both seemed attracted to me, but the brunette sucked in
a little breath of surprise when she saw me.
Her.
She’d be the one. I kept
walking and heard them whisper as I moved by. I stopped and moved
back to where they were sitting.

“
Ladies,” I greeted, “I’m
looking for the bathroom do you know where it is?”

The brunette spoke up first.

“
I’ll show
you!”

“
Bethany!” her friend
exclaimed. “You don’t even know him,” she added in a lower
voice.

Bethany ignored her and accepted my offered
hand.

“
I’ll find out his
favorite color and let you know,” she told her friend with a
wink.

As soon as our finger tips touched I felt
her sexual energy seep into my skin. Her pupils dilated in
surprise. I grasped her hand firmly.

“
Which way?” I
asked.

“
Back the way you came,”
Bethany said.

I moved back so she could stand in front of
me, drumming up more arousal in Bethany with every stroke of my
middle finger across her palm. I eyed her hungrily as she walked
ahead of me. She was wearing a sundress with a little cropped
jacket over it and flat strappy leather sandals.

“
I don’t remember seeing a
bathroom back here,” I said innocently. “My room is back this way,
right here actually.”

“
You might be off the
hook—Bethany was it?—I might have a map in here.” I released her
hand and turned away from her sliding back the door to the
train-sleeper.

There was in fact a little map sitting on
one of the beds and I scooped it up.

“
I was almost there,” I
said tapping a finger on the map where the bathrooms were labeled.
“Just a one more car it looks like, and I would have been in the
right spot.”

“
Were you really that
interested in finding a bathroom?” Bethany asked.

“
Not after I saw you,” I
answered back.

That was all the encouragement she needed.
She stepped into the room and slid the door shut.

“
I’ve never done anything
like this before,” she said quietly but her eyes were filled with
excitement.

I’d affected her so easily. Was it because I
was so hungry? Or was it because I was even more sexually potent
since I’d awakened on Second-Plane? I decided quickly I’d have to
be careful with her body. I didn’t want to hurt her.

“
Come here,” I told
her.

She came straight to me aiming for a kiss,
that I almost let her have, but something I didn’t want intimacy. I
wanted fuckage. Pure, carnal, fuckage. I wiped her around pressing
her body flush against mine.

Grab the handle
bars,
I suggested to her telepathically
and she unknowingly gripped them. I begun an assault on her neck,
her pulse quicken beneath my lips.

I was just a little taller than her and I
had to bend lightly as I gather up her dress around her waist. I
immediately began a caressing her over underwear. Firm repetitive
strokes. A deep moan ripped from her throat, followed by an intense
gasp. Her sex quivered in my hand. Her head rolled back on to my
shoulder.

“
Oh my god,” she moaned,
breathing heavily. “I’ve never come so fast or hard in my
life.”

Fuck
,
I thought frustrated, if that was
all it took to get her off she wasn’t going to be able to last long
enough to create enough sexual energy to satisfy me. I stayed
behind her caressing her stomach as I soaked up the energy her
orgasm has produced and tried to decide if I should keep going. How
many orgasms would a human take before it became…too
much?

The door slammed open and Bethany and I both
jumped.

Eliza was glaring at me and her angrily.

“
Am I
interrupting?”

“
Who is that?” Bethany
asked, starting to pull away from my hold.

“
No one,” I muttered
before sucking on her ear. Pulling her back towards me, I began
caressing her again. Eliza had better just exit out the same door
she'd come in to. I'd have to talk to Luke about this
later.

“
Make her go then,”
Bethany purred back her hips teasing against my
erection.

“
Leave,” I ordered to
Eliza.

Eliza came towards us, grabbed Bethany by
the arm and threw her out of the room. Bethany scrambled, almost
losing her balance, but righted herself before falling.

“
Bethany—“ I started, but
the damage had already been done. The sexual haze I’d had her in
was gone.

“
Is she your girlfriend?”
Bethany asked me.

“
Not in the
least.”

“
Why are you still here?”
Eliza questioned cruelly. “Did he forget to pay you?”

“
Eliza!” I
roared.

I saw Bethany’s lip quiver before she
briskly ran off.

“
You didn’t have to go
that far. You know why I have to do this.”

Without offering me a
response, she turned to leave. Enraged, I grabbed her arm and spun
her around and she slingshotted towards me, trying to kiss me;
assuming that was what I wanted from her. Until that moment, I
hadn’t realized that was what
she
had wanted from me. My hand shot to her throat
holding her just inches from me. She gasped in surprise and I
loosened my hold immediately.

“
You stopped her from
fucking me because
you
want to fuck me?” I asked.

She closed her eyes with her confession.
“Yes.”

“
Why?”

“
I don’t know,” she
answered reopening her eyes.

“
I’m good friends with you
brother I wouldn’t want to—

“
I’ll think of
him
,” she said
interrupting me.

That did it.
Keegan.
She wanted to
fuck me and think of Kegan.

I pushed her down on to the small bed and
undid my pants. She watched me excitedly as I sprung free and I
realized I’d just played right into what she’d wanted, but I didn’t
care. I was going to turn her out so good she wouldn’t be thinking
of anything—period. She was still shimming out of her pants when I
got on top of her. I bit her nipple through her bra aggressively
and she fisted her hand in my hair. I pushed into hard, not
bothering with foreplay. We were past that shit; I begun moving,
drilling into her relentlessly. Her legs clenched around my
waist.