The Pure Soul (Book 3) Read online

  “Rick… I never thought… I never knew you’d be like this,” she panted. “If I had I might have pushed to do this sooner.”

  I stared down at her, part of me reveling in what we had just done and feeling triumphant, while another part of me, oddly, felt ashamed. Whatever had just happened between me and Nina shouldn’t have. I wondered at that moment about Dave. Would he find out? Would he know just looking at me? Should I just tell him? What about Kat? Should she know? Had I just cheated on her? We weren’t technically in a relationship, were we? She was with Darien, wasn’t she?

  I moved away from Nina to find my clothes, then sighed. The shirt I had been wearing was ruined, and for some reason the thought of putting them on again anyway seemed… dirty somehow. Nina sat up and watched me as I pulled a spare set of clothing from the bottom drawer of my desk and got dressed. I’d put them there in case I need to sleep in the office from working late, and now I was glad of the change of clothes.

  “Rick, you have no idea how good that was. I don’t think I’m going to be able to walk out of here anytime soon. My legs are shaking. We are so going to have to do that again,” she said in a low, husky voice that I was very unaccustomed to hearing from her.

  “I’m thinking… no. That will never happen again. Ever. We shouldn’t have done that in first place,” I said guiltily. What the hell has come over me lately? First Lily, now Nina.

  She still sat there naked on my desk, moistness from perspiration glistening on her skin. I wanted her again for a moment before it passed. Something was weird here; I could feel the flow of Aetheric energy shifting.

  “You’re right. That should never have happened. Are you in the habit of taking advantage of all shifters during or near their first change?” a familiar voice spoke from behind me.

  I turned quickly. Kat leaned against the wall in one corner of the office. “K-kat?! H-how long have you…?” I asked, stuttering in surprise.

  “Long enough. Long enough to know how badly you’ve obviously wanted her. It showed, believe me,” she said. Hurt flashed through her sea-blue eyes and her mouth turned down in disgust.

  “I don’t know… I…” I was at a loss. I had no idea what had happened, only that it had and it shouldn’t have, and my feelings about it were mixed and confusing. I had enjoyed it, no doubt there, but I felt remorse, shame over it. Yet, deep down within me, there was also a sense of pride and accomplishment as though there was some primal victory in what I had done. I had no idea where this feeling stemmed from, and I shook my head, trying to dispel the effects of whatever it was that had taken hold of me. It felt vaguely familiar, similar to when….

  “Yeah, that’s right. You sense it now, don’t you? That same feeling?” Kat asked me, nodding.

  It was, and I recognized it now. Kat had shown me once what it was that cat shifters could do, and then had promised never to use it on me again unless I asked. I just hadn’t expected it from Nina.

  “Listen, don’t feel bad about giving in. If you were around her long enough, it would have happened eventually,” Kat told me as she walked slowly up to me. “It’s partially my fault. I shouldn’t have let her out of my sight. She must have come to you thinking that you could help her. I won’t hold it against you; you obviously didn’t know what had come over you. Hell. Maybe we can continue this… all three of us. Huh?”

  She was right up against me now, and I could feel the same Aetheric energies that had been flowing around the office starting up again. I put up a mental barrier that Merlin had taught me. It wasn’t strong, but it should be enough to hold the effects of whatever she was doing at bay.

  “No. Kat, back off. This isn’t right,” I said, stepping back from her. “Not like this.”

  “So, you can fight it. She’s powerful, I’ll give her that, and why, I don’t know. Still, what you did with Nina wasn’t right either, yet somehow you not only gave in, but you exulted in it. I felt it coming off of you like a scent. You enjoyed that in ways that you never enjoyed what you had with me,” Kat said, her voice full of hurt, moving past me to where Nina stood pulling her dress back on.

  “Can we go, Kat?” Nina asked, glancing at me before giving Kat a haughty look, like she had just won first prize in some competition.

  “Yeah, let’s get out of here. After today, I’m pretty sure you’re gonna be changing soon,” Kat said, putting her arm hesitantly around Nina’s shoulders. She walked slowly, guiding Nina out of the office. “You have a lot to learn, Nina, but we’ll get through this.”

  “Kat,” I said in a quiet voice. She turned to look at me, tears in her eyes. “What we had… have… whatever…. It is special to me. I didn’t know what was going on when Nina hit me with whatever it is you two can do. Maybe I didn’t want to… I don’t know.”

  “It’s lust, Rick. A type of… enhanced seduction, I guess. We can focus on the animal instinct to mate and pull it to the fore. It’s even more effective if you are actually attracted to the person using the ability, and devastating on those who have a deep seated love or lust for the user,” she explained, glancing at Nina. “Nina’s going to be a cat shifter, like me.”

  “Then she pulled at the lust. Because that’s all that was, Kat, it was just lust that I felt for her during that,” I said, looking at the floor in shame.

  “Either way, you still gave in and reveled in it instead of fighting it. I’d expect that of someone else, a human, and… I don’t know, maybe there’s just something about Nina. But I figured better of you. You should have been able to shake that off with ease. You didn’t even try.” With that she turned her back on me and headed for the exit.

  As she got to the door and opened it, I called out to her again. “Wait. Kat… that pack. Henry’s pack, they aren’t…” I started to say before she just glared at me over her shoulder.

  “I don’t want to hear it, Aerick. I don’t give a damn what you think of shifters right now. Stay out of my life,” she said before slamming the door behind her.

  Yep. My life was still in a perpetual state of suck.

  THREE

  I walked home that evening, wanting to be alone and to enjoy the rare cool breeze that wafted down from the mountains sometimes on clear summer evenings like this one. I took in the sights of the city as I walked, feeling the energy of the Aether as it flowed through everything including myself.

  It was times like this when I could listen to the Aether and glean extra information from it. Dave was at home, resting like he said he would be. Raven was still working out the final paperwork for our security detail. I didn’t bother to check on Kat and Nina; I assumed they were far probably from here. They had probably met with Darien and his pack-mate Alex, and left town as soon as they could.

  I thought about what had happened in the office. I shouldn’t have given in as easily as I had, but I couldn’t explain it. I resolved myself to tell Dave, it was just for the best. If he hated me afterwards, so be it. I wouldn’t have a friendship based on lies.

  My feelings were still mixed, still puzzling. I knew why I felt guilty and ashamed about what had happened with Nina, despite how much I enjoyed it. But why had I felt that bit of triumph? Like some victory had been won in the possibility of throwing several lives into chaos from that single act.

  I turned my thoughts away from my confused feelings, and to the future job with the Vixens of Drakkan. It would be odd to have vampires in the city. Not that I couldn’t take out some vamps if they wanted to start some trouble; I had before. I’d just be surprised to see one. Sure, there had been that vampire lich I’d fought, but he’d been a single vampire who had done a pretty good job to keep himself hidden, and even so, the fae had been after him.

  The fae of the city were aspects of day, sunlight, and flame. Vampires were encouraged to stay out of the city, so there was no great gathering of them like other cities had, where a particular family might have the city under their iron heel. If a vamp showed up, rest assured that emissaries from the fae courts would show up sh
ortly after, wanting to know his business and how long he’d be in town. He’d then be told to follow certain rules and to leave as soon as they could. If they didn’t follow what the fae ‘suggested’, that vampire would never be seen alive, or whatever they were, again.

  I got to the apartment a little sooner than I would have liked. I was enjoying my evening walk, but I had to face Dave at some point. I went up the stairs slowly, not liking myself much at the moment. I opened the door and found Dave stretched out on the couch, remote in hand, watching TV. He looked up as I entered the apartment, and he smiled weakly at me.

  “Hey, bro. Damn, I feel like I got hit by a truckload of sledgehammers,” he said, wincing as he moved to sit up.

  I walked over to stand in front of him, then sat on the coffee table. “I… need to tell you something,” I said slowly.

  “Okaaay. Why do I have the feeling I’m not going to like this? You’re never like this, man.”

  “Well, I went back to the office… and….”

  “I know that look. Nina?”

  “Yeah, she was there.”

  “What’d she do this time? How much is it gonna cost me to bail her out?”

  “She…. I…. We…. I fucked her, Dave, that’s the only way to describe what happened,” I confessed, head down, expecting a tirade. I glanced up and saw him giving me a wide-eyed look like I had just told him his dog had gotten run over. Twice. That look quickly became one of anger.

  “Fucking cunt whore!” Dave shouted. I took several steps back as he sprang up from the couch, injuries apparently forgotten. “Not only does she cheat on me, not only does she go around and slut it up having fucking gang bangs, letting everyone fuck whatever hole they want, but now she has to go and fuck my best friend! What the fuck is she thinking?! Why the fuck does she have to fuck up my life all the time?! I fucking hate her! I’m going to fucking rip that twat’s piercings out the next time I see her! What is it about being a shifter that makes them turn into complete hobag slutty little cunts? Huh? Can you tell me? You’re the expert!” He was pacing and punching various things, nothing that would break though.

  “Well, Kat isn’t all that bad. She’s never done anything like that, and she’s a shifter,” I said calmly, trying to placate him.

  “Like hell she isn’t! What you don’t know is that the fucking bitch decided to have a fucking threesome while you were gone and then of course she ditches out of the country with that werewolf she was fucking! What the hell man, she’s just as bad as Nina!”

  “She what? A threesome? What the…?” I shook my head, trying to quash the hatred I was beginning to feel for Kat again. “We weren’t together after I left, Dave. I broke it off with her so she wouldn’t have to fight her natural urges as a cat shifter.”

  “Still. So why did you give in to Nina? I mean I know you always kind of wanted to, but don’t you have some girlfriend rule? And Lily too, whenever that happened. What’s with you these days?”

  “I… I don’t know, man. I really don’t. Lily was… a mistake. That’s all I can say. I was drunk and feeling sorry for myself. I guess she, I don’t know, I don’t want to say she took advantage, but she kind of did. Anyway, I plan to still follow that rule. For the most part. I’m only human after all. I don’t know. Think I can just pretend it never happened? It’s what I’d prefer to do ultimately. As for Nina getting to me, she had some Aetheric powers from being a werecat I guess. Some pheromone thing or something. Not sure. I really wasn’t myself during the whole thing.”

  “Oh yeah, that’s all Nina needs. Some power to make everyone want to fuck her, like she wasn’t bad enough as it. Whatever. I’m done.”

  “I understand. I’ll go pack.”

  “Oh, dude, no. I’m done with her, not you. We’re cool. Don’t worry about it. As for Lily, maybe you can pretend nothing happened. If that’s what you want, I’ll support you a hundred percent. As far as I’m concerned you were here sleeping that night.”

  “You sure? About Nina I mean. We’re cool?” I asked, hoping he wouldn’t change his mind.

  “Yeah, man. No dirty skankbag is gonna come between us, bro. Even if we have known her all our lives. I just want to know what happened to her.”

  “I don’t know. Something changed somewhere, some switch got flipped. Something. I don’t know. I really think she only cares about herself anymore. The shifters have her now.”

  “Yeah. You know… I’m beginning to hate shifters. They think they have unique problems and that they’re better than everyone else,” Dave muttered.

  “You don’t know the fucking half of it. Their leader thought he was just going to take me. He thought this city was his fucking territory. This place is mine!” I sat on the table again as Dave sat back on the couch.

  “Dude, calm down. It’s cool. I think they’ll leave us alone now, after what you did. I’ve never seen you like this. What’s eating at you, man?

  “The shifters. They’re nothing but trouble makers. MAGE warns their agents constantly that shifters can’t be trusted because they are no more than savage beasts that can’t control their emotions. Yeah, looks like they’re right about that. How is anyone supposed to have a relationship with someone that can just fuck who they want when they want because they feel like it and can’t control themselves?! And they’ve been taking everything from us… and Kat wonders why I can just easily—”

  “Dude… the table’s smoking.”

  “Oh. Sorry. Still have to work on that.” I stood and put out the small fire I had started. There were now going to be permanent hand shaped burn marks on the table top. My powers still had freak manifestations when I got emotional, though Merlin had never said anything about this.

  “Seriously, you have to let this drop. If you don’t, it’s gonna eat you up, and I really don’t want to be in this solar system if you meltdown.”

  “Sorry. I just… I don’t know. I don’t want to whine, but fuck. First Serena dies. Then Kat comes into the picture, and gives me hope that maybe, just maybe I can love again, and I have to leave for Colorado. Then she does what you told me she did, then leaves town. Then she’s back in town, doesn’t bother to tell me, or even tell me that Nina’s gonna be a shifter. Nothing. Now she’s on some high and mighty kick with me. Like she has the right, and she’s probably going to pick Darien over me anyway. I mean what the fuck does she think that over possessive wolf is going to do for her outside of beat her ass silly anytime she steps out of line?! What the fuck did I do in a previous life to deserve this shit?”

  “You’re asking me that, man?” Dave raised an eyebrow at me.

  “Okay, granted.” I laughed.

  “Besides, there’s always Raven.”

  “Don’t even fucking go there. That’s just dangerous grounds there.”

  “I kid.”

  “Anyway, I think I’m going to go meditate, get some practice in, and then turn in early. I’ve got a long five days ahead of me.”

  “Remember my autographs.”

  “Don’t worry, I won’t forget,” I said, moving towards my room. Raven had added extra space to our apartment, much the way she had in her own house. I had a training area off my bedroom that didn’t exist in real space, but in an extra-dimensional pocket.

  I walked to the middle of the training space and took up my training pose, which was cross-legged, and in mid-air. I meditated for about an hour to clear my mind, so nothing would be clouding my brain as I tried to manipulate the Aether in new ways.

  Afterwards I went through a series of exercises I had learned from the book on Sentinels Lucien had given me, then through another routine I had set up myself. After that I tried different things, just to see what I was capable of.

  Usually I ended up bruising myself in various and… interesting ways, but never found out anything new. When I did stumble upon a new ability, I immediately tried it again, and again, until I could duplicate it flawlessly. It was grueling work, but well worth it to master my Aetheric powers.

&n
bsp; Generally by the time I was done I was exhausted, but not tonight. I was restless. I didn’t know what was going on with me, but it was like I had an endless supply of energy to draw from. I sat with my back to a wall and pondered what was going on.

  That’s when I sensed it; demonic energy from somewhere. I knew it was demonic by the feel of it. It felt… wrong somehow. Like it didn’t belong in our world. It felt like the energies that Azryel had used against me a year ago.

  I stood and went to the balcony that was off my bedroom. I leaned on the railing, trying to discern the direction the energy was coming from. Then, it was gone, and I was left feeling drained, and strung out. I shook my head, confused and tired, and went to bed.

  The next morning came too soon, and I got dressed quickly in a black tank top, loose black jeans and my comfortable boots. I gulped down coffee as I waited for Pop-tarts to heat up in the toaster, trying not to scald my throat. As soon as the pastries popped up, I grabbed them, then decided to skip the city transit so I teleported to right outside my office door.

  My desk was still a mess from yesterday’s… incident, so I began to straighten it out. I found a noted sitting on the top that hadn’t been there before.

  Get some business casual clothing for this weekend’s security detail.

  ~Raven

  Great, now I had to go shopping. I needed a decent dress shirt and slacks. My last pair had been messed up during the Barrier Crisis, as it was being called now. I’d had no need to get another set until now.