Winning Souls Read online

  She was laughing to herself when she landed at her new hotel and handed the control chip to the parking attendant. Her bags were brought up to her suite, and she was treated with extreme deference.

  It was the first night in a cycle that took her around the world in thirty days. No one would take her off Nurmegar, no matter how much she was willing to pay.

  She glided over the treetops, the silent canopy above her let her control the descent as she curled over and around the ancient temples that had belonged to gods whose names were lost to time.

  As she touched down, she saw a familiar figure. She was shocked it had taken him this long.

  “Kiot, I am guessing you aren’t here for the flight class.”

  “Enher-Dahl, you are looking well, better than well. You look lovely.” His eyes were a blend of lavender and amber.

  “Pardon me, Ulises-Kiot. Thank you.” She uncoupled from the wing and set it nose down so as not to have it lift off with a random gust.

  “We have become one, and it was pointed out to me that I had treated you abominably. I did not make my intentions or my identity clear and that lead to resentment and mistrust.”

  She stripped out of her harness. “You could say that. I have seen that you are making yourself publically known and are working with local governments when it comes to changing the ecosystems in damaged areas.”

  “It is the least I can do.” He looked at a loss for what to say next.

  She heaved the harness over one shoulder and raised her eyebrows. “Perhaps you came here to tell me that my grounding is over and I am now free to leave?”

  “No. I mean that if that is what you truly wish, yes, of course, you can go, but I would like it very much if you would consider living here. With me. With us.” He ran his hand through his hair and his wings flexed in agitation.

  “I have won enough to allow me to live very comfortably for the rest of my life. I do not need your charity.”

  He sighed and the eyes shifted to amber. “He is not speaking well. He and I both want you, for our very different and yet similar reasons. You must feel something or you would have bought that spacecraft you were looking into.”

  She blushed. “You noticed that.”

  “We felt a flicker of hope when you did not leave just because you could. We would like to become a stable triad, each adding in to support the other. Without the hope of you, I would have left Kiot when he offered me the opportunity.”

  Enher blinked. “He would have let you go?”

  “Something you said sunk into him. He gave me a choice if I could find a replacement. I refused on the condition that we would begin again with you, as if the first few days never happened. Will you accept that?”

  She quirked her lips. “You want to start over?”

  “We do. We have come to a point of balance, and from there, we can stretch out into the Imperium. If you do not wish to remain here all the time, you can engage in recruiting duties for the Guardians. I am sure that they would be only too happy to have your assistance when it comes down to selecting replacements for those who fall or retire.”

  Enher narrowed her eyes. “That sounds like fun; it also sounds like a bribe.”

  He held up his hands in surrender. “I am attempting to find an inducement to make life with me palatable.”

  She laughed. “Interesting technique. Now, can you read ancient Nurmegar? I want to know what is written on the inside of the temple.”

  He laughed and offered her his arm. “It will be my pleasure to translate.”

  They climbed up the steps, and she left the flight harness outside the temple. The interior was dim and dust piled in the corners, but the engravings were still bright.

  “What do they say?”

  “They tell of the march of the stars in the sky. The bright flash that heralded the death of one of their bright lead stars and the death of the god that was associated with it.” He was amused. “Why did I never come here before?”

  She looked at him. “Death of a star? Was that you?”

  “Kiot was their lodestone. They navigated and told time by my position in the heavens. This was thousands of years ago. It took me that long to hurtle here after my death. I knew there was a reason I felt so at home here.”

  She watched the wave of emotion run over him and reached out to touch his cheek. His startled look made her blush again, so she pulled her hand back.

  “So, this is a temple to Kiot?”

  “To a dozen sky gods. Kiot was just one of them.”

  Enher looked around the rest of the temple and found the passageway that led below. She thought of small, chubby felines and walked into the darkness by the glow of her own skin.

  She heard his steps behind her and led the way into the lower temple where holes in the ceiling, that were not visible from above, pointed toward the areas in the sky where the stars were to do their march.

  “That is wonderful. They could watch you day after day or, rather, night after night.” She turned, and the glow of Kiot’s eyes was the only other point of light.

  “That was the past. I am more interested in the future.” He stepped toward her in the shadowed darkness, and he kissed her.

  She blinked in surprise for a moment before she leaned into the intriguing pressure.

  It was romantic to be in an ancient temple with the small pinholes in the ceiling, and his eyes as well as the pink of her skin. Damn.

  She backed away quickly, opened her mouth, closed it and ran up the stairs. She was out of the temple and wrestling into her glide harness when he emerged and stretched his wings.

  “Was it something I did?”

  She shook her head while her hands fumbled with the buckles. “No. I just don’t want my own biology forcing me into a situation I can’t back away from.”

  He nodded as if he understood. She had explained to both entities in his body, so he actually might understand it.

  “You are staying in Jarlo Province tonight?”

  She nodded in surprise. “I am.”

  “Would you go to dinner with me? I promise...no noodles.”

  Enher snickered. “I will meet you at my hotel. I assume you know which one it is.”

  He shrugged. “What I do not know, I can find out. See you there.”

  She returned to her glide wing, used the small propulsion unit to lift her off the ground and turned toward Jarlo Province. She could see Ulises dipping and swooping in front of her, and if she wasn’t sure it was impossible, she would say he was showing off for her.

  She gained altitude and glided in silence, the world around her filled with sounds from the rustling of growing trees to the shrieks and chortles of animals. She heard it all from her vantage point and wondered if this was what all Enjels felt when they flew. If it was, it explained some of their arrogance. How could you hear something that no one else noticed and not feel pride in the moment?

  She loved the feeling of gliding silently through the air, and if she joined with Ulises-Kiot, she was going to see what could be done to make flight her new reality. As she realised it was more of a certainty than what if, she began to set up a bargaining strategy. She had a few items on her list already and two hours of silent flying with occasional propulsion bursts to make up her mind on the details.

  This was going to be one helluva dinner.

  Chapter Eight

  She put on a black suit that she had bought on one of her spending sprees after being banned from her thirtieth casino. It flattered her figure and made her hair glow.

  The black gauntlets covered her from bicep to knuckles. A band around her breasts held them securely, and it was attached to a wide strip of fabric that connected it to the fabric around her hips. She felt powerful in this outfit. She was completely covered and just a bit sexy.

  She clenched her hands and nearly smacked herself in the face. Her receptive time was coming up quickly, and it was trying to manipulate her reaction
s. She never even considered herself as a sexual being, but now, it was rearing its ugly head.

  A chime on her com warned her that her dinner date was on his way up.

  The knock on her door came a moment later. Apparently, he was faster than the front desk was.

  She opened the door and smiled. “Good evening.”

  Kiot was in control, and he bowed gracefully. “Good evening, Enher-Dahl. You look wonderful.”

  “You look splendid yourself.”

  “Shall we get going?” He offered her his arm.

  She took his arm, and he covered her back with his wing as they walked to the private lift that operated on her floor.

  “So, where are we off to this evening?”

  He smiled. “I have arranged something special.”

  The lift went up instead of down.

  The penthouse was a wide-open space, and he led her out onto a wide balcony where servants were standing by and a table was set for two.

  Enher had to admit that it was romantic.

  She didn’t ask Kiot where Ulises was. He was trying very hard, and she appreciated the effort.

  She was settled at the table, and she looked out over the gleaming jewel of the city. It was gorgeous, and the view took her breath away. The mountains in the distance were shadows against the rising moons.

  “It is beautiful, Kiot.”

  “I am glad. Ulises has been giving me clues on romantic behaviour, but since this is between me and you, he has decided to remain in the background unless I panic and call him.”

  She giggled. “Good strategy. I consider this evening a high-powered negotiation, and what I want from you and what I want from him are different things.”

  “What do you want from me?”

  She grinned. “Let’s wait for the first course and get some wine. This is going to get really complicated.”

  He laughed. “Excellent. It shows that you are giving it thought.”

  They waited while the wine was poured, and after she had had a sip, she took a deep breath. “I want to be able to fly. That is the big one.”

  He blinked. “That is easy. What else?”

  She regrouped. “I want to leave on recruiting missions for the Guardians. I need to see others and see new worlds.”

  “Done.”

  The first course was served, and she tossed out the sticking point. “I want my child.”

  That sent Kiot into a spin. “What?”

  “I only have a finite amount of chances to have offspring, and if I don’t have a child, my seasons will continue to accumulate in intensity until I go insane. It was how our genes manage to keep going with the low sex drive.”

  That comment sent a riot of colour through his eyes and the skin on his cheekbones.

  “Um. I will have to ponder that. It would mean that we would not be completely fused until after the child was born.” He scowled.

  “Why is that an issue?”

  “I was hoping to blend us all sooner rather than later.”

  She took his hand on the tabletop. “You have said that we live too quickly as walking beings. I want to remember what it is to have a life, a family and to plant the seed of the next generation.”

  “Would your child remain here?”

  Enher laughed. “Of course. The child would live with me and you until it was old enough to be on its own.”

  Kiot blinked. “I have never had a child before, but Ulises is very excited about the idea.”

  She grinned. “Well, that is settled.”

  She looked down to where he was clenching her hand. “Still nervous at the prospect?”

  “I do not have much power to share with a third person.”

  Enher sighed, “This child is to live its own life. It will live, have its own children, grow old and die. I know this, and I am prepared for that eventuality. It will hurt, and I will grieve, but there will be its children and grandchildren to trail into the future, and we will be there to guard their path.”

  He blinked. “A future family?”

  “One of your own. Yours to guide and guard.” She quirked her lips.

  “I thought it was to be your family.”

  “My body wants to pass on the genes, I am indifferent to the need, but it will not be denied. It is a fact of life for me.” She shrugged.

  He was silent, and they each ate with one hand clinging to the other.

  “What else?”

  “I want my family to visit, so I will need a place to house and welcome them. The endless rounds of hotels get a little old after a while. I will need a home.”

  “Done.” He smiled and ran his thumb across her palm.

  She chuckled. “Now, what do you want?”

  Kiot smiled. “You. I want access to the first third of your mind, but I want you to remain the core. You have a sense of who you are that will not be shaken by power or time. I need that. I want that.”

  “It isn’t really that much of an effort. I was raised to know what I am, accept it and embrace it. My father and grandparents get the credit more than I do.”

  “You have carried their teachings forward. It is quite the execution of theory to have made a life using what you are to help those who are unsure.”

  Enher blushed. “It seemed like the right thing to do.”

  He smiled at his ability to throw her off balance. She wanted to pinch him, but he was entitled to his smugness. She had been pushing him back into his place since she met him; it was time for him to set her in hers.

  The dinner was cleared away, and the traces of sweetness were still on Enher’s tongue when the music started.

  Kiot rose to his feet and extended his hand. “Would you dance with me?”

  She got to her feet and went into his arms.

  Kiot moved slowly, formally with her. “Ulises is frantically coaching me right now.”

  She giggled. “I see. Well, you are following direction wonderfully.”

  They swayed around the open deck of the penthouse as light landed in columns all around them.

  “So, you agree to all my terms?” She licked her lips nervously.

  “I do. And you agree to accept me as a mind within your mind and Ulises as the body next to yours.” His eyes swirled with streaks of gold in them.

  “I do.”

  “Then, I do not wish to waste a moment.”

  He bent toward her, and she felt his kiss a moment before light struck her from the inside out.

  Enher came to herself, hovering in a lavender cocoon above the decking of the penthouse. She felt Kiot in her body, but he was keeping separate from her conscious mind. He was drawing her extra power and humming happily.

  Ulises was watching her closely. “You are going to have to get yourself down.”

  She drew a deep breath and pulled the light into her via her joints and the chromatophores on her skin. She was stronger the moment that the light finished making its way into her body. She was also the same bright lavender as her hair.

  “Okay, so that is going to get annoying.”

  He laughed. “Kiot assures me that you will soon learn to control it.”

  She was standing on her feet again, so progress was being made. “I need some food...again.”

  “Breakfast is here. The caf is nearly as good as the one we had on our first day out. The pies and pastries are better.” He held his hand out to her and smiled. “I have to say it is quite the relief that I am not bearing the weight of Kiot alone.”

  “It is my pleasure. I am going to have to call Relay, though. She is going to need an update. Wait, what colour are my eyes?”

  He grinned. “A rich and vibrant blue.”

  She blinked. “That’s new.”

  “They used to be brown, did they not?”

  Enher shrugged. “They could change with my aura, but blue was outside my scope.”

  “Well, nothing is outside of your reach now.”

&nbs
p; They sat, and the servers brought a breakfast that did indeed rival that first breakfast at the café, though the caf was lacking.

  She wanted to jump, to run and to stay very still so that no bit of power leaked out. Her skin was too tight, and her heart was pounding as Kiot sunk into her inch by inch.

  “You are handling this much better than I did.” He smiled.

  “What did you do?”

  “I took to the skies and flew until I was exhausted then crashed into the mountains, and he rebuilt me.”

  She licked crumbs off her finger. “So, it wasn’t a leisurely stroll around the world until I got here.”

  He shook his head. “Panicked flight.”

  She looked down and watched the pattern of energy on her skin. “The colours are wrong.”

  The server collected the empty dishes, and the knowledge of the origin of the pattern became clear.

  She bolted to her feet and took to the skies. The instinct to fly was powerful, but the urge to vent the tension was an inexorable wave.

  Enher-Dahl flew a mile above the city, and she let the energy loose. Generations of souls were set free with no bodies to bind them. They had been bound to the power of Kiot, and the energy of the Nurmegar did not mix with that of a Reedamani.

  She opened herself to the power and let the souls go. Kiot was shaking with relief. His drive for fresh minds, fresh power had not known how to release those who could no longer offer their support. Enher knew what to do. She let it all go and kept only what was hers and Kiot’s.

  She felt better immediately, but too much power had been expended. Enher began a slow descent toward the city, but she could no longer fly.

  Ulises caught her and flew upward with steady beats of his wings. “That was impressive.”

  She smiled weakly and chuckled. “Nice catch.”

  “The leap of faith is usually a bit more formal, but I believe we satisfied the necessities for my people. By Enjel tradition, we are now legally wed.” He grinned.

  “That is a messed up tradition.”