Soul Betrayed (2 page)

Cooper dipped his head slightly causing his dirty blond hair to sweep across his eyebrows. “He used a special chemical to stop your heart without damaging your body. A Collector removed your soul, bringing it to the After.” He appraised my body in the container, his eyes wide and bright. “The Caeleste have been around for a long time, they are capable of a lot more than we realize.”

I swiped a hand over my face, fully expecting my body to do the same. How could the Caeleste do this? They couldn’t come to this Realm. “But this technology wasn’t available in the Living Realm when I was alive.” I had died in the early 1900s. Even now, humans didn’t have the technology to keep someone’s body that long.

Cooper chuckled softly. “Even when something is staring you in the face you still question it.”

I turned to him. “You can’t tell me that you weren’t a little surprised when Felix told you about this?”

He nodded. “The Caeleste have been able to advance technology for their use on this Realm using the Prognatum.”

I had been a Prognatum. Technically, I still was, minus the whole being dead thing. Prognatum were the generations of half-human half-Caeleste that had started from those who’d escaped the After Realm. I’d ruined my destiny over a century ago after murdering my sister and husband less than a year away from my eighteenth birthday. That birthday would have solidified the rest of my life as Prognatum, instead my father had taken my life, right after I gave birth to my daughter, Leha.

A wave of sadness rolled through my soul. I’d only met Leha a few days ago, but the Shadowed had taken her away from me, hoping that I would unleash the soul-sucking power within me. Felix had informed me that I was a rare breed of Prognatum, a Rodas. The Rodas were a special race of Caeleste able to extract the life force from human souls in an effort to feed themselves. I cringed and thought of Leha. Even though much had happened that day, she was my reason for doing this. I’d experienced my true nature only once before that night after Leha was taken from me. I had “fed” from my grandson, David, unwillingly but whatever I had inside of me had been awakened and I had no idea how to control it. Jackson had been the one to encourage me to learn how to control my nature and now I knew why. He wanted me to join the Shadowed. In a matter of seconds I had lost my daughter and my heart had shattered.

Blinking I broke the vision of Jackson’s beautiful face and dragged my gaze back to my frozen human form. Her face rested peacefully as if she were sleeping. Even though I knew it wouldn’t be possible to reanimate her without a soul, I still expected it to jump out of the container at any moment.

“What purpose would my body have served otherwise?” I asked, my mind reeling.

As far as I knew, my boss, Felix, wasn’t able to see the future. He couldn’t have foreseen this use for my body. He couldn’t have known that someday I’d want to unlock the memories that he’d secreted from me when I arrived at Gate Seven, the bridge between the Living and After Realms. Or could he have seen other uses for it?

“Welcome, Maggie.” A woman’s voice interrupted my thoughts.

I whirled around. One of the Prognatum who’d been guarding the room we occupied stepped through the doorway. Her regulation black uniform fit snugly against the curves of her petite frame. I blinked quickly. She shared similar blue eyes as Leha and I. Her short brown hair was parted severely to one side, making the other appear shaved. The hilt of her broadsword peeked out from behind her shoulder.

“Who are you?” I asked.

The vapor swirled up and around her legs as she neared. Her bright blue eyes glowed in the light from the container behind me.

She nodded her head in greeting. “My name is Sophia.” The five other Prognatum who’d guarded the room with her huddled in the doorway. They were all male and tall. Sophia stuck out like a sore thumb with this group, but I knew if Felix had chosen her for this important assignment then she had to be stronger than she looked.

Sophia continued speaking, recapturing my attention. “We’ve been entrusted by the Caeleste to watch over you.” She waved a hand toward my body.

Since the Prognatum were practically royalty in the After, I knew they were given the most important and top secret assignments, but watching a body for a century?

“Believe it or not,” Sophia started, almost as if reading my thoughts. “There are many who wanted this role, but I suggested keeping it in the family.”

My eyebrows shot up. “Excuse me?”

Sophia smiled, a friendly, warm one. “Myself and Thomas here,” she pointed to one of the Prognatum who smiled broadly and waved, “are from your line.” Thomas’s military-style buzz cut showcased the sharp lines of his face as his turquoise eyes darted between Sophia and me.

Just two months ago I’d been given information about my past. Felix had been less than forthcoming with me about actually meeting my family, more specifically, my father. When I was human, I had been influenced by the Shadowed, souls who followed the banished Caeleste, feeding from the life force of innocent humans for energy to stay alive. Apparently my father wasn’t keen on a reunion with his homicidal daughter, but here I was with two members of my family, who had been waiting for the moment when I would return.

Sophia clasped her hands in front of her. “We will have plenty of time for a reunion later. First, we need to get you into your body.”

I stepped away from the container. “How?” Months ago, Ally’s body had sucked me inside of it when her soul had been stolen by her own father. It hadn’t been a pleasant experience and I really hoped there was a better way.

“Me!” a familiar voice called out enthusiastically.

Moving aside Sophie revealed my last Soul Collecting trainee, Dylan. His wide eyes that had been apprehensive with each soul he procured during training now held a rigid confidence that sparked a swell of pride within me. He stepped forward holding a silky essence and a peaceful warmth raced through my soul.

My True Soul.

My soul leaned toward him. The True Soul called to me just like every other had when I was a Collector, but this one was different. More powerful. The True Soul was an important piece of a soul that aided its return to the After following the human death in the Living Realm. Dylan was able to feel my yearning through his hand and I saw that the True Soul’s light intensified with my presence. I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. All True Souls were captivatingly beautiful but with this connection, I was under its spell as it floated over his tiny hand.

Sophia led me away from Dylan. “All in due time.”

Cooper followed close behind me and I couldn’t help but wonder if it was because of my dangerously uncontrollable impulses.
Where were those impulses when Hannah was taking Leha from me?
I shrank from the thought and buried the uncomfortable regret flowing through me.

Sophia stopped inches from the container and gestured to my frozen body. “When you return to your body, you will continue to age from the moment you stopped but,” she paused, her nose scrunching like Ally’s always did when she was in deep thought, “since your power has been released several times, we don’t know how that part of you will manifest.”

Okay?

Sophia smiled encouragingly. “Your situation is unlike anything we’ve experienced. Even the Caeleste are somewhat befuddled. So in the nicest way possible you are our guinea pig from here on out.”

“That’s comforting,” I mumbled, glancing at Cooper.

He stifled a smile.

Sophia’s eyes narrowed. “Like I was saying. You died in the month of September and your eighteenth birthday would have been the following July. That
should
leave us plenty of time for you to infiltrate the Shadowed, leading us to them. But since you were able to access your Rodas power already we think that it will want to be released sooner rather than later.”

I looked down at my hands. The soul-sucking essence was staying put, for now. “I don’t understand—”

She sighed. I guessed she wasn’t used to being interrupted.

I didn’t care. For once I was going to know everything. I had been blind-sided by surprises long enough. I’d vowed to take down the Shadowed, and Hannah and Jackson were at the top of my list.

Jackson
. He had manipulated my amnesia, making me believe pretty much anything he said. He had done the same to my daughter. Even though she had sought him out many years ago, he made her think that we had been in love. Why had he gone through all the effort? There was so much I didn’t understand. If I had my memories back, I might be able to repay the favor to him.

Sophia continued breaking me out of my thoughts. “A normal Prognatum holds incredible power, but the Rodas gift is unpredictable and a hundred times more formidable. Once it has been released it is hard to cage. And you’ve already released it twice. There’s no calculating how that will affect the timing of your transformation.”

I stepped away from her. “So you have no idea when my transformation will take place?”

She shook her head.

The transformation was an important piece of a Prognatum’s life. At eighteen it brought out the Caeleste half of the person with all the perks; strength included. Even though I had almost experienced it through Ally, the process wasn’t pleasant.

Cooper came up beside me. “But it will be fine.”

I curled my hands into fists. “How will it be fine? Did anyone think this plan over? What if I am with the Shadowed when my transformation happens? The only indicator is a birthday and now you are saying that is irrelevant?”

Sophia touched my arm tentatively. “Once you are able to access your memories, you might be more in tune with your talent than you think. It is, after all, your body.”

“One that I haven’t been inside for a hundred years!” I moved away from the group, unable to concentrate. “And speaking of my memories, I still don’t understand why I need my body when Cooper and Dylan and the rest of the souls still carry their memories in soul form?”

Sophia glanced at Cooper then back to me. “Since you were influenced, Felix wasn’t sure if keeping your memories was a great idea.”

“Keeping me in the dark was a better option?” I could feel the anger rolling inside of me and tried to swallow it back down.

“Yes,” Cooper confirmed. “He suspected you were a Rodas, you could have done a lot of damage.”

“Felix created the barrier for your memories. He was just trying to protect everyone. You included,” Sophia pointed out, sounding perfectly reasonable.

A pressure built in my chest. Did they think I would hurt the After souls?

Just like you wouldn’t hurt your family?
I shoved down my conscience.

“I’m not saying you would have—” Cooper backpedaled.

“No,” I said slowly, understanding Felix’s motivation. “Felix did what he had to.” I took a deep breath and returned to Sophia’s side, turning to Cooper and the other Guard. “Now I am going to do what I have to.”

Sophia grinned and for a flash of a second I saw Leha. With her memory by my side, I wouldn’t fail to destroy the Shadowed. They had taken innocent souls and I would do everything I could to prevent that from happening again.

The five male Prognatum swept into the room, the vapor spreading over their feet. I tucked my arms close to my body, letting them pass. Thomas waggled his eyebrows at me as he went by, as if we shared an inside joke. It was nice to know that other members of my family supported me more than my father did. Wherever he was.

Together the Prognatum pressed their hands onto the clear, hard surface of the freezer and, after a few moments, a hiss like the sound of an opened can of soda burst from the container and the lid started to rise. I expected my body to come tumbling out but it remained in place. I stepped forward, bracing myself for the unknown.

Cooper nudged my arm. “You’re going to do great. I’ll be with you the whole time.”

I looked up at him. Even though I’d trained with Jackson for the last two months, Cooper had never been far from my mind. He’d been there for me all through Ally’s disappearance and, even though we’d had many differences of opinion, I knew without a shred of doubt he had my back. “But what about Ally?” I couldn’t help worrying about her.

He shrugged. “Calliope took over her training. I’m all yours.”

My eyebrows shot up.

Cooper shook his head. “For the mission. I’m your Guard for this mission.” He avoided my eyes.

I nudged him back. “Thank you.”

“You’ll do great.”

“You already said that.”

He laughed. “I know. But it’s true.”

I was grateful for his reassurance but I had no doubt in my mind. I had to succeed. For Leha. Moving in front of my body, I inspected the details of her face, details that I knew intimately, but there were subtle differences from my soul form. She appeared much younger than I felt. I wondered if that would have an effect on my transformation, when it was time?

Dylan bounded across the room, his soul bumping into mine and instinctively I reached for the True Soul as his hands tightened around it. I grinned. “Sorry. Old habits and all that.” Dropping to my knees, allowing him full access to the back of my neck, I got into position. Normally, a Collector used the True Soul to take the soul from the body and bring it to the After, but this time we were going the other way around. It was a first for me, but I knew Dylan could do it. He’d been trained by the best.

“Remember what I taught you?” I said, my voice a little shaky.

Dylan nodded. “Of course.”

He grasped my shoulder for leverage. I closed my eyes and waited until the silky essence came in contact with my soul. When it did, I gasped as a sudden sense of wholeness filled me to the brim.

“Are you okay?” Dylan asked.

“Yes.” I stood up slowly, keeping Dylan in contact with me. There wasn’t much of a height difference but I didn’t want to lose the connection, and we moved as one unit closer to the container. The light surrounding my body flickered as the edge of my vision started to shimmer. “Something’s happening.” My words sounded far away, echoing in my head. The shimmering intensified, making me dizzy. I grabbed onto the container the room starting to spin.