The Lost Soul Trilogy (Primani Book 5) (19 page)

Sometime later, I rolled over and looked at my watch. Oh, surely not? It couldn’t be so late! The sun had already set, and the city was sparkling in its nighttime finery. Sliding open a glass door, I slipped out to the rooftop garden and leaned on the wrought iron railing that stood between me and certain death 18 stories below. Wow! So many lights everywhere! They were like stars! The view was breathtaking.

“Oh good, you’re up.” Sean came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

“Not so disgusting now, huh?” I snuggled against him, and he sighed against my hair.

“It’s not all bad, I know that. But there’re a lot of demons in this city. We have a lot of work to do.”

I inhaled his woodsy fragrance and purred with contentment. He was still damp from a shower. I rubbed my palms over his arms, enjoying the feel of his skin against mine. If I moved very slowly I could feel the blood moving under his skin. I was starting to get used to the slight pulsing that was a part of him. The
saol
was always there, just below the surface… just below his human façade. It was hard to remember that he, they, weren’t entirely human. I still wasn’t sure what that really meant, but I didn’t care anymore. They were better people than most real people, and I loved them completely. Right now, all I cared about was this moment with Sean. The feeling of dread was still lingering in the back of my mind. I didn’t know how much time we had left. I thought of the dream and the darkness and shuddered. I turned around and wrapped my arms around his waist. His heart beat reassuringly against my cheek, and I closed my eyes. We might not have forever, but we had today.

All too soon, my little slice of Heaven was gone. Alex called us back to the living room for a meeting. Killian was pacing in front of a wall-sized window while Dec draped himself across a chair. He was staring into space, toying absently with a guitar pick. He frowned at something I couldn’t see. My stomach clenched in response.

Raphael stood to greet me. “How are you feeling tonight?”

I forced a grin and did a bicep curl. “It’s much better now. Thank you again for healing me… again.” I grimaced, and added, “I hope we can meet sometime when I’m not deathly sick, beaten up, or shot.”

A shadow passed over his eyes, and he said, “I hope so too. But we don’t always get what we want, do we?”

Alex got the meeting started. Clearly he was important. An air of command entered the room ahead of him. No one would mess with this angel. He wasn’t physically impressive, like Sean or Killian, but his authority was practically stamped on his forehead. He stood about six feet tall with the solid build of a martial arts instructor. His close-cropped hair was more red than brown and glinted with gold in the light. His face was hard and lean and nowhere near pretty, yet it was strangely compelling. More than one woman probably tossed her morals to the side for a few minutes with him. There was something attractive yet scary about him.

As the Primani’s official mentor or boss, he called all the shots. He was in charge of the special operations on the east coast. After catching everyone up on recent events, he switched the discussion to the injured Primani. His name is James. He had been worked over meticulously by Dagin’s thugs and was still not completely conscious. For some reason, he hadn’t been able to heal himself and was slipping away. Zadkiel was a specialist in healing emotional or mental injuries, and he and Raphael were trying to help him.

“We
need
to talk to James. We’re still not sure why he was held or what Dagin’s doing out in the middle of Vermont. Unfortunately, our efforts to bring him around are not working, and I’m worried he might not survive at all. He’s just not healing. Mica, this’s where you come in.”

All eyes turned to me. “Me? What can I do?” Surprised, I automatically sought Sean, and he gave me an encouraging nod.

Alex replied, “By now, you may have realized you’re an anomaly. Your transformation has been incredible and not to be taken lightly.” He put his hands behind his back and paced as he continued, “Now, when I first heard about Sean’s
indiscretion
with you, I was furious. For him to take such a risk with your life, not to mention exposing us to a human, well, I was ready to recall him and assign Killian to watch over you. But…” He smiled slightly at Raphael. “calmer minds prevailed that day. And after Killian explained your new abilities, we came to believe your transformation was predestined. You should know that Killian was impressed with how you handled yourself and pled your case for you. You can thank him for your continued existence in this group.” He paused for effect.

Killian was mortified by this revelation and scowled at me behind Alex’s back. Dec broke into a violent coughing fit. Sean stiffened next to me. All I could think of was how different my life would be if I was Killian’s charge. That would totally suck! I thought of the day in the snow when he tried to teach me to shoot my new Sig. He was a hard man and pushed me without mercy. I almost lost some toes that day… but in the end, he showed surprising kindness. In fact, he’d shown me a lot of kindness this year. He might act like a jerk and boss everyone around, but in the end, he always took care of us, of me. I looked over at him with love shining in my eyes. You’re not such a tough guy after all, are you, big brother? I sent the thought to him with a watery smile.

To my intense surprise, he actually blushed. “I should’ve let your toes fall off!” he snapped.

Right. There’s the Killian I know and love. “Uh, so back to James… what do you want me to do, exactly?” I asked Alex to break the tension.

“I want you to talk to him. That’s all.”

“That’s it? I can do that, but I don’t know how that could possibly help him--”

“Just spend some time with him, and we’ll see what happens. It certainly can’t hurt him to hear the voice of a pretty girl, now can it?” He smiled a genuine smile then. Just for a moment, it transformed his face like a light switch. Suddenly he wasn’t ordinary at all. His face was fiercely beautiful like the statues of angels I’d seen in church a very long time ago. It was both proud and dangerous. I blinked, and his face was normal again. I edged a little closer to Sean.

So my job was to work a small, minor miracle with James while the guys went out into the city to look for someone. They planned their mission while I was asleep earlier so I had no idea what they were up to. Sean wasn’t talking about it and got a little snippy with me when I tried to pry it out of him. He was edgy and wound up again. He’d been tense since we got here, and it was making me nervous. They were in the foyer strapping on their guns while I nervously twisted my locket back and forth. Something just wasn’t right here. I didn’t know what it was, but I had a bad feeling about this mission of theirs. Seemingly oblivious to my thoughts, Sean tossed Dec a pair of black gloves. I didn’t want them to go.

“Guys, wait! Don’t go! I have a bad feeling about this.” I reached out to Sean, and he wrapped his arms around me and tilted my chin up for a kiss.

“We have to go, love. This is what we do, remember? We’ll be fine; so don’t worry tonight.” His words were supposed to reassure me, but he held me against him like this was goodbye. Then they were gone. I didn’t feel him leave my arms. He was just gone… like he never existed.

Raphael waited in the doorway when I turned around. His eyes were thoughtful as they took in my frown. “Real intuition is nearly always right; it’s the timing that you can’t predict. Come. They’ll be back tonight.”

James was lying on a bed in another of the bedrooms. Someone had washed him and dressed him in a soft blue robe that was loosely covering him. He could have been sleeping except for his eyes. My God. I stopped and stared. What did they do to him? His beautiful blue eyes were staring at horrors only he could see. The rest of his face was composed in sleep, but his eyes! Horrified, I turned my back and squeezed my own eyes together. I took a deep breath. Okay, get it together. It’s not like they’ve been cut out of his face after all… They’re just open and staring… and creepy. I can deal with creepy, can’t I? Everyone’s counting on me… Surely I can do something to comfort him. Maybe he needs a woman’s touch. Well, I’m the only woman around here so I’m going to have to give it a shot. I can’t make things worse for him.

First things first, I bandaged his eyes. There, that was much less drafty for him. Next, I took a quick inventory of his injuries. Dagin’s thugs had worked him over thoroughly enough. Bastards! Every finger on both hands was broken. He had bruises over every inch of his face which was swollen twice its normal size. He had a long gash along his forehead that needed stitches. It still seeped blood that snaked in a little stream down his neck. I peeled back his robe and froze. He had a long ragged burn across his chest. The flesh was blackened and raw. The wound was still seeping blood and an odd-looking golden fluid. It had to be excruciatingly painful. It was a miracle he’d survived this at all. Oh, you poor, poor creature… I didn’t intend to weep, but a few tears leaked out anyway. I sat at his bedside and prayed for him until my throat was hoarse. A feeling of déjà vu swept over me, giving me a small twinge of hope. Sean had survived, so maybe James would too. How had Sean done it?

Killian once told me they could heal themselves, but they had to remain completely focused. It took immense concentration to focus their
saol
on the wounds that needed healing. They were completely vulnerable while they healed. So James should be able to heal himself but obviously wasn’t. What’s the problem?

I paced across the room, muttering to myself. I stared unseeing out the window, wracking my brain. I was missing something. We all were. The feeling of impending disaster was back. The seconds were passing like the ticking of a bomb. Think! The answer has to be here! I pressed my fingers into my temples and rubbed.

I ranted to my invisible adversaries. “What did you
do
to him? Dagin, you disgusting demon! I swear I will hunt you down and kill you myself!” 

Frustrated, I went back to the bed and stared at James while willing an answer to jump up and show itself. Something was slightly different about him now. I stared until my eyes cramped. Was his breathing different? That was it! I put my ear close to his chest and strained to hear. Hours ago, his breathing had been shallow, like a man in pain. He was breathing more deeply now. That seemed like a good sign. I inspected the cuts and burns. They were still seeping blood and fluid. No change there. Hmm, that wasn’t good. I squeezed my eyes against frustrated tears. Oh,
come on
, give me a break here! I blinked back the tears and started talking to James. Maybe he’d respond to my voice. I put on my best cheerful tone and settled down to tell him my life story. This would take a while, and I wouldn’t have to think too hard. It was 3:00 in the morning, and I was too exhausted to be creative.

I fell asleep somewhere around discovering my love for Sean only to wake abruptly when I fell out of my chair. I jerked awake when I was halfway to the floor. I stumbled over to check on my patient. The bandage had slipped below one of his eyes. The creepy thing was still staring into space. Too groggy to be repulsed, I peered into his eye and saw what James was staring at with such horror.

“Alex! Raphael! Get up. Get up!” I ran through the hallway banging on all the bedroom doors like a crazy person. “Get up! I’ve got it!”

Twenty minutes later, Sean and Dec were both shaking their heads. “No way, it’s too dangerous.”

“But it’s the only way! I’ve got to try!” I begged Sean to give in.

Killian, bless him, actually supported me. After hearing me out, he gave me a long appraising look, and said firmly, “I agree with Mica. It makes sense. If anyone can do this, it’s going to be her.” Sean began to sputter, but he held up a hand. “Sean, I know you don’t want to hear this, but the truth is her inner mind is connected with mine. I know how strong she is now. I know it up here.” He tapped his temple. “I can help her with this.”

Sean grabbed Killian, and snarled, “You’d let her destroy her mind?” He flung him away in disgust. “Of course you would. Anything for the greater good, right?” He stalked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

I made a move to follow him, but Raphael put his hand out to stop me. “We’re running out of time. If we’re going to try this, we need to do it now. Sean will be okay, Mica. He’s angry because he’s worried about you. He’ll be all right once he walks it off.”

A few minutes later, we were ready to try my plan. Raphael propped James into a sitting position. Killian and I were sitting on either side of James. Dec, still protesting bitterly, refused to leave my side. He was the only one who could help me afterwards. I was nauseous remembering the last time I’d tried this and nearly lost my mind and one of my eyes. Dec absolutely refused to release my hand. I didn’t have the heart to point out that he was hurting me. Killian was casually holding my other hand in one of his big paws. He said it might strengthen our mental connection, but maybe he’s scared. I was terrified.

He actually smiled a little at that.
Do you ever shut up?

I dug a nail into his hand, smirking when he grimaced. I took a deep breath and got to work. James’ irises were separated into a hundred different shades of blue and green that fit together like an intricate puzzle. Behind those beautiful colors was a wall of flames. The flames were raging out of control so I couldn’t see behind them. I focused harder on the flames and tried to move them out of the way, like pulling up a piece of a puzzle. They wobbled a bit, but didn’t move for me. I gritted my teeth and focused harder. A bead of sweat ran down my face with the effort.