Winning Souls Read online

  She stared at the records, and a sick horror ran through her as she realised that twenty thousand local lives had been given to this strange power and no one had done anything. It had spanned generations, but now, there were only two hospitals dedicated to the maintenance of those who had been taken from their bodies. Five hundred locals were slowly dying and no one had found a cure. As far as the reports indicated, no one was even looking for a cure.

  Ulises was onto the next display while Enher’s mind whirled. The souls were not removed at once. There had to be a connection that allowed whatever was using them to grab them after the fact.

  “Enher, come see this. It is a record of the first tourist attraction on Nurmegar.” He grinned and beckoned her over.

  She wandered over, and he pulled her against his side, putting his wing over her back. “What was it?”

  “The first attraction was a brothel, but they soon replaced it with a casino, and after that, it was the nature tours.” He smiled, but his eyes were conveying that this information was important.

  “So, lust then excitement and finally relaxed enjoyment. It was quite the evolution in tourism.” She nodded; she looked up at him. “I wonder what it would take to stop the loss of souls.”

  He grimaced. “I am wondering the same thing.”

  They walked together through the memorial walls that were reflections of the memorials all over the world. Entire villages had been lost to this outbreak of theft, and no one had bothered looking for the thief. That was the mystery here. They had a killer among them, and no one was looking for it.

  It was a conspiracy of secrecy, and they were paving the road with strangers who were only coming for fun, sex or relaxation. If it was a hunger, it needed to be satisfied; if it was lonely, volunteers could be acquired.

  Enher knew that there was a fit volunteer for any project. She was the perfect example, and those who were injured or in agony would welcome the opportunity to leave their bodies behind.

  Taking those who did not wish to die in such a way was cruel to them and their families. Pleasure was not a fair trade.

  Enher paused and turned back to the original display of the meteors. The three sites that they had visited the previous day were in the strike zones.

  There were nine others, and Enher knew she needed to see them all.

  She returned to Ulises’s side, and they walked through the rest of the museum, including modern fashion, ancient fashion and the development of propulsion through the ages.

  When they finished their tour, bought their souvenirs and gotten a snack, they walked through the city and enjoyed the companionship.

  Enher asked him idly, “Did you notice what was missing?”

  “I don’t know. You tell me.”

  She chuckled and moved in close to his body so that it looked like she was cuddling. “I think first contact is a rather noteworthy event in a planet’s history. I know my world recorded it with deep reverence. It is a moment when we are assured we are not alone in the universe. I wonder what happened to the first landing teams.”

  He nodded. “Good question. Do you think the answer is on one of those other nine sites?”

  “I think so or, at least, a chunk of rock large enough to question.”

  “We are too late today to book a cross-continental tour. It will have to be the day after tomorrow. How about tomorrow we head to the casino and we can work on you giving me a kiss for luck?”

  She snorted. “Follow my lead and you won’t need luck. Reedamani are excellent gamblers.”

  “You don’t have sex and you are excellent gamblers. Where do you leave things to chance in your life?”

  Enher smirked. “When I walk with a strange Enjel through alien cities as dusk is taking over. That is a pretty good chance.”

  He inclined his head. “I stand corrected. You do have a spirit of adventure and risk.”

  She grinned. “It comes and goes. Now, where should we get dinner?”

  He steered her through the streets to a noodle place a few blocks from her hotel. The broths were rich, the meat was well cooked and separated easily from the bone, and the noodles had just enough bounce to make them fun to slurp.

  When she returned to her hotel room, it was hard to fight the grin that wanted to stay on her features. It had been a really fun day of espionage and noodle fighting. Though, she was in desperate need of another shower. Her hair had two noodles stuck to it and her shirt was a lost cause. Ulises was deadly with the eating sticks. She would get her revenge tomorrow when they were at the casino. He would never be able to match her game for game.

  “Wedging in like that has to be uncomfortable.” She sipped at her caf and flicked her fingers at his wings.

  He shrugged. “When you travel away from home, you get used to it. The tendons and bones have a certain amount of flex that lets me get comfortable anywhere.”

  “That is handy.”

  “I think so.” Ulises smiled. “So, casino today?”

  “I believe it is a logical step. I have to go see them sometime.” She smiled.

  He inclined his head. “Well, today is that day.”

  They finished their breakfast and walked down the streets arm in arm. The nearest casino was in the city centre and walking distance from all the hotels.

  Two pairs of greeters flanked the entryway. Each pair was a stunning example of Nurmegar beauty of each gender. The couples welcomed them in with friendly smiles and invited them in to play the games offered at the casino.

  Enher blinked as the man leaned in and kissed her lips. It was an intrusion that got him a hand to the chest and shoved backward by the flick of one of Ulises’s wings.

  Enher pressed a hand to her lips. “I do not kiss.”

  The greeter paled as Ulises snarled at him.

  “Apologies. It is our custom to give a kiss for luck. I was unaware of the cultural dissimilarities until you mentioned it.” The greeter remained back, and the woman next to him cleared her throat.

  “Sir, you had no problem with my kiss.”

  He looked at her with laser focus. “I did not, but you kissed my cheek.”

  She blinked. “You are correct. He did not?”

  Enher shook her head. “He did not aim for the cheek. It is fine, Ulises. We will simply go inside and see what luck has been given.”

  She grabbed Ulises’s arm and shoved him bodily away from the greeters.

  He looked down at her with surprise. “You are extremely strong.”

  She snorted. “It comes with the genes.”

  “What are the other effects?”

  She chuckled. “If you are still speaking to me at the end of the day, I will let you know.”

  “Why would I not be?”

  “Some men don’t like to be outstripped when it comes to making money.” She winked and headed for the dim interior with its bright lights. She went to the token kiosk and got a few thousand credits to play with. Ulises did the same, and he took his chit to the machines that sang happily to all around them.

  She followed him for a moment and said, “I will meet you back here in three hours. Enjoy.”

  She headed for the card, dice and other games of chance. By the time she was ready to stop, she had accumulated four hundred thousand credits and had been asked to leave all the tables she had played at.

  Enher looked around for Ulises and found him surrounded by a group of females who were admiring the win that was still accumulating on the machine.

  He must have noticed her, because he extended one wing and cleared a path for her. To her surprise, he pulled her in and settled her across his lap.

  She watched the numbers ticking over and laughed. “I think you have me beat.”

  “Did you play any of the games?”

  She shook her head. “I prefer to play against people. It adds to the fun for me.”

  He inclined his head.

  She looked over his shoulder, and th
e crowd of admirers was thinning out. Only those who were interested in the final payout remained.

  She spotted a game behind him and to the left that glowed with promise of paying out. She cleared her throat. “Excuse me for a moment.”

  He looked surprised. “Where are you going?”

  “To test a theory. I will be right behind you.”

  Enher eased from his lap and looked at the machines. They all glowed with different intensities, but the one she was focused on flared and flickered like it was about to blow.

  She sat at the machine, put her card in, set it to maximum bet and watched the images of half-naked Oefric scrolling around and around until they settled and an alarm went off.

  Enher’s vision had been right. She won the progressive, the full jackpot, and all funds were loaded into her credit chit. As fun as it would have been to watch the accumulation, she hit the buttons and ejected her slip. The machine’s aura was now a subdued glow.

  She returned to Ulises’s side and watched as he continued to play. She chuckled. “Well, I am done. Shall I meet you on the tour tomorrow?”

  He ejected his credit slip and turned to her. “I think we have earned a well-deserved lunch.”

  She laughed, and they went to the kiosk, uploading their winnings to their personal accounts.

  Enher walked with him, back toward her hotel. “I think we will skip noodles today. I found one fused to my pillow this morning.”

  He grinned. “You started it.”

  “My sticks slipped. You didn’t have to fight back.” She gave him a dark look.

  Ulises laughed. “My instincts kicked in.”

  She snorted.

  “I promise that today’s lunch will be much more sedate. The shop specializes in finger sandwiches.”

  They entered the shop, and the women waited on them, bringing tea, tall trays of sandwiches and a matching tray of desserts.

  Enher gave Ulises a sober look. “Where did you learn about this place?”

  “I asked at my hotel. The concierge is very helpful when it comes to finding places for ladies to lunch.”

  It was a suitable answer, but the energy that was embedded in him was pulsing in a way it had not been doing the day before. Enher could see the change, but she didn’t know what had brought it on.

  It was time to focus on her tea party. The alteration in energy could be dealt with later. Tomorrow, they had trips to the craters planned, and she could investigate the changes then.

  Desserts were waiting.

  Chapter Five

  After lunch, they walked through the commercial sector, and she did some shopping for friends and family.

  “How much did you end up winning?” Ulises asked her as she bought an expensive piece of jewelry for her dispatcher.

  “Just over a million credits. The games are not nearly as fun as people, but I do win a lot faster.”

  He blinked. “I thought you said I had won more than you had.”

  “Oh, you had, but I saw a machine ready to pay out, so I played it and won.”

  He stared at her. “You can see them?”

  She shrugged. “Energy patterns are energy patterns. I can see them in living beings and in the world around me. It is the blessing of my kind, if you can consider it a blessing. I think the strength came to defend those who tell people about what they see. Not everyone needs to know that you can see their spouse is cheating on them or that they are cheating on their spouse.”

  He cocked his head. “Does your species break bonds with its mates?”

  “My species does, my genetic grouping doesn’t. False information makes us sick to the stomach. It isn’t sexy to be puking on our mates because we know they have lied to us.”

  “So, when you said your kind only go into season rarely...”

  “It is when we feel completely secure with our mate. Until then, there is only manipulation and uncertainty.” She lifted a l’nal silk scarf and smiled. “This is pretty.”

  Ulises nodded in dawning understanding. “So, your chromatic display is to give your mate a chance at understanding what you are thinking.”

  Enher laughed. “I suppose that is accurate.”

  “Does your species ever find a mate in their own kind?”

  She was holding the scarf against her skin and trying to imagine how it would look on her cousin. She glanced at him. “No. Our Reedamani parent is the only one with any interest in us. We are wired too differently to maintain actual relationships. We are born, given to our gene parent and they raise us, explaining our mental makeup as it develops.”

  “Isn’t that a solitary way to live?”

  “I spent time with my cousins, my mother and my grandparents. I just knew that the only person who truly understood how my mind worked was back at home.” She didn’t add that she had skills far beyond the average person with her bloodline. If he knew where she had come from, he knew that she saw more than the average member of her kind.

  “It does seem unusual.”

  “It is the way things are done.” She smiled and nodded at the shop assistant who was waiting respectfully nearby.

  The woman came forward and folded the scarf into a soft rectangle, slipping it into packaging and waiting for Enher to finish her shopping.

  She did a final tour of the silks in the shop, and she could not imagine any of it for herself. She concluded her shopping and paid for the purchase. It would be sent to her hotel.

  Enher looked at her companion. “So, I suppose we have run all the options for today.”

  “Would you care to see a show this evening?” He offered his arm as they walked out of the shop.

  “I think I would like a quiet night in. I am here to relax after all.”

  Ulises nodded. “Understandable. Would you like company?”

  “Sure, we can order room service and watch a comedy vid. That is all I am really in the mood for.”

  He grinned. “It sounds wonderful.”

  “Well, then, let’s go. I have had an urge to get room service. It is a private vice of mine.” She smiled and her skin glowed hot orange in anticipation.

  Arm in arm, they headed back to her place, and it was to her surprise that she found a message on her com.

  A familiar voice said, “Whatever you are doing, keep it up. One hundred and ninety-three are free and two hundred more are stirring.”

  The call ended there.

  Enher nodded, and she had a slight smile as she turned toward Ulises. “So, that just begs the question, why are you letting them go?”

  He looked at her with astonishment that lasted three seconds. He grimaced and crossed his arms. “How long have you known?”

  “I suspected at the beginning of the tour, but it was the museum when it was confirmed for me. Your eyes glowed when we read about the meteor drop. Enjel eyes can’t glow.”

  Enher moved sideways and settled in the conversation area. She gestured for him to sit. “Please.”

  He made himself comfortable and propped his head on his fist while resting his elbow on the back of the couch. “How long have you known that I was not Ulises?”

  “Since I had never met him, I had no idea what to expect, but I have read about Enjel protocols, and you definitely missed a few steps.”

  He cocked his head. “How so?”

  “They court their mates with gifts. All interactions take place under strict rules. If he felt I was safe to touch, he would have pursued sex. He didn’t, well, you didn’t. Who are you?”

  The lavender eyes glowed. “I am what remains of the planet Kiot. I was not expecting that so much of me would end up on a world inhabited by sentient beings.”

  “Honoured to meet you, Kiot. I do have a question for you.”

  “You wish to know about those who sleep.”

  “Yes, and when did you grab Ulises?”

  “I asked him if I may walk in his skin, and he understood what I needed. He agreed as a Gu
ardian and a protector of the Imperium.”

  “What did you offer him?”

  “A cessation to my acquiring of new minds to assist in my survival. He gives me full access to his power and his mind and that is enough for me.” Kiot smiled.

  “Why have you been around me then?”

  “Your mind is wonderful. I put myself into every man, woman and beast on this world, and they are all attracted to the strength of your thoughts. I want you to join with me, with us.”

  She swallowed. “Why did you free the ones that you did?”

  “Your touch gave energy and joy to the animals. That feeds me, and it enabled me to cut off the draw from the souls of those who have shared my joy before.”

  “So, it is enjoyment that you seek.”

  He shrugged. “Pleasure, laughter, joy, excitement. They all make me stronger and keep me alive. My power scattered across Nurmegar. I had to find a way to bind myself back into a sentient being. Lives were sacrificed, but I made sure that the families of those who gave their souls to me were compensated. They had the best harvests, the best profits and the brightest children. I gave what I could to honour the sacrifice.”

  “So, you have bought their population.” She frowned.

  He shrugged. “When your survival is at stake, you would be amazed at what you can and will do to ensure it.”

  “May I speak with Ulises?”

  He frowned. “No. Not yet. I want to make sure that you know I did not intend harm, but time passes for you much more rapidly than I anticipated, and before I could return the borrowed souls to their bodies, the bodies were gone.”

  Enher closed her eyes. She had met two Avatars in her life, and each of them had expressed their marvelling at how quickly time passed for the children of their soil.

  “You seem upset.”

  She opened her eyes to see his concerned face close to hers. “Not upset, just resigned. Let the off-worlders go. Their families don’t know what is going on, and they have lives to lead, children, parents and siblings who need them.”

  “I have released as many as I could. When you go on that tour tomorrow, if you give more of yourself, I will release what I able to then.”