Читать книгу Soul Seduction, Book 2 of The Third Wish Duology - Dawn Addonizio - Страница 7

“I am The Shepherd. There is nothing to fear. Come, bright one, it is time to rest after your journey. Rest and let go.”

The voice was comfort and warmth. I settled into it - became the words, sank into the depths of their meaning. And I was content.

After a while I felt a gentle shifting, inexorably forcing me out of my newfound contentment as if someone was waking me from a pleasant sleep. I transitioned into a dissatisfied grumble, and the voice I had thought to join with chuckled softly.

“Your pardon, bright one. I cannot take you into me, but you will be united with the others soon.”

I accepted, existing along-side the voice instead of within it. A vague curiosity stirred me and my awareness expanded to reveal the space around me. It was darkness, soft and thick, fogged with dim color. Entities floated past, each with a unique form, but all of them shimmering with the same inner light. It was as if their essence was the light and their forms were fluid and inconsequential.

They were beautiful and strange, familiar yet not. I was drawn to them on an elemental level. It seemed natural to want to flow into them and nestle within their glow.

A smoldering orb soared past on gossamer wings, sparking trails of energy that flew out behind it like the tail of a comet. Another being trundled by, almost amphibious in appearance, as if the head of some sea creature had been joined with the body of a man. Its dark, soulful eyes stared through me, wisdom brimming in their depths.

The figure of a woman danced through the gloom, her inexhaustible essence spilling out from her in bright waves of joy. A distinctly feline form slunk past, its face glowing like a cautious moon.

Another young woman’s form peered out at me from a shadowy corner, and she seemed strangely familiar. She glowed golden, but her light was dimmer than the others’. Her long blonde hair billowed around her ethereally as she turned away. A heart-rending sadness radiated from her entire being.

A chubby-faced little girl smiled at me, haloed by points of tiny stars that formed a constellation around her. Her expression shone with innocence, yet worlds of knowledge smoldered in her child’s eyes. A thought flitted past, a fleeting memory of a tiny, wrinkle-faced woman I had once called Grandma.

“These souls are waiting to be reborn and must learn to stand alone once more. You will be together again, perhaps, but now is not the time.”

Then a face with strong male features appeared and looked out at me from a flaming ball of radiance. His eyes, intensely blue, burned with desperation. They struck a chord deep inside me, imploring me to remember who I was and rejoin him.

His fear confused me as I drifted away from him through the multi-hued fog. And then he was gone, replaced by the ocean of light that called to me.

It grew brighter and brighter and I felt myself quicken as I flowed toward it, eager to pour myself into it. But again, something held me back.

“Easy now, bright one. We’ll be there soon.”

Impatient at the delay, my focus shifted to the being that belonged to the voice. A figure drifted close behind me, benevolent and ancient as time itself. A drooping, walrus-like face, dripping with whiskers and studded with large round eyes of deepest midnight, hovered above me. His body was covered in sparse grayish feathers, the skin mottled a dark pink where it shone through them.

The bulbous fingertips of one three-fingered hand were curved above me protectively, and I realized that he cradled me within his palm. Swaying gently with his movement, I watched the being in awe, the ocean of light forgotten. Finally he stopped.

“Here we are, bright one. I now release you into the Sea of Souls.”

He held me away from his body like an offering, and I turned to look out onto a vast sea of purest light. I realized in wonder that it was made up of countless beings like the ones we had just passed. Their endless manifestations were in constant flux as they flowed through each other in waves. They seemed to briefly adopt physical likenesses from one another when they touched, as if they could become each other for a moment before moving on.

I had never felt such utter love and acceptance in my life, and I suddenly wanted to join them more than I had ever wanted anything. I felt myself flowing forward, as if on a sigh – the last sigh of a long and weary day, uttered while sinking into my own soft pillows.

And then all thoughts of earthly existence broke apart and began to fade. I was shining and free. The Shepherd held up a hand in farewell, and I hovered for a moment, mesmerized. A brilliant symbol glowed there on his palm like a beacon. A faraway memory seemed to tug at me. I reached for it, struggling to recall what the symbol meant and why it was important.

With a regretful glance at the beckoning sea, I turned and began drifting back toward The Shepherd’s hand, searching myself for the significance of that strangely compelling symbol. Its meaning was as vast as the sea behind me. It went on forever, like … infinity.

Memory crashed over me and I felt myself buzzing with agitation as I rushed toward The Shepherd. I didn’t belong here. I tried to tell him - but I had no voice. His walrus’ face hung down in puzzlement as he attempted to urge me forward with his hand. Brightness beamed from the infinity symbol there, and I felt it nudging me back toward the Sea.

Panic overtook me as I resisted the push. The air began to glow brighter around me, and I realized that it was my own light, pulsing in time with my fear.

The Shepherd blinked his midnight eyes at me and the infinity symbol dimmed as he slowly lowered his hand.

“Seals of the magi,” he mumbled, shaking his head and sending his long whiskers quivering. “I won’t force you, bright one, but the wait will be long and lonely if you do not join the Sea.” He watched me for a moment before he sighed and turned away. “I suppose you’ll move on when you’re ready.”

I hovered there, lost and alone, as he shuffled back up the tunnel. Not knowing what else to do, I drifted after him. He continued to mutter to himself and I floated closer so that I could hear him.

“Only has one other soul ever refused to join the Sea like that. Strange happenings here lately. More souls being reborn than usual. Maybe it’s time to pay a visit to the Seelie Court. Probably been at least a century since I poked my head out.”

He grumbled, seeming caught up in an argument with himself. Then he shrugged and puffed out his whiskers.

“No. Surely they would call on me if there was a problem. Must be getting paranoid in my solitude and old age.” He chuckled softly. “I’m sure everything is in good order. Still, I suppose I am past due for a visit. Maybe sometime soon …”

He fell silent. I continued to drift along behind him, back up the passage, past the myriad souls that waited to be reborn. He turned to the left and disappeared through an opening in the wall that led into a small, sparsely furnished space. I watched him settle, cross-legged, onto a cushion in the middle of the floor. He closed his eyes and remained there, perfectly still, like a wizened old monk lost in meditation.

I was forgotten. Despair and loneliness settled over me. What was I supposed to do now? How was I going to get home?

And then it hit me.

Oh Goddess.

I was dead.

I flew further up the twilit passageway, this time paying no heed to the glowing entities wandering in my wake. I was desperate to find an exit - and not into the newborn body of a screaming baby. I had to get back and tell Sparrow, Sunny and Lorien about the goblin and the infinity tattoo - I couldn’t be dead!

As I neared the end of the tunnel, fog swirling with dark rainbows gradually thickened and condensed into an amorphous barrier. It looked like a heavy mist, but it was as unyielding as a rock wall. I floated up its length, my anxiety growing as I explored its edges but found no escape.

Two waiting souls approached - one thin and fey, graceful as a butterfly; the other short and round, with the look of a plodding forest creature, an orb of light at the tip of its tail. They were different as sun from moon, but they held hands as they traveled alongside each other, their mingled bliss shining from their faces. They seemed to belong together, like two mismatched peas in a pod.

I thought, in wonder, that they must be twins.

They floated right at the barrier and I swept down to rush after them. But the mist gently pushed me back, even as it allowed their forms to pass through. I could have cried with the frustration of it, but just as I had no voice, I had no tears. I sank down to the floor, utterly disheartened.

I remained there for a long while, limp and hopeless, my consciousness beginning to drift. A sound, so faint I thought I might have imagined it, caught my fading attention. It came again, nearly inaudible, like a cry heard from too far away. I rose, gliding back down the tunnel with listless curiosity, and coming to a halt before the orb of flame with the man’s face that had drawn me earlier. Its brightness had dimmed to almost nothing.

As I focused on it, the pale impression of masculine features reappeared. Eyes looked out at me in desperation and something inside me recognized their heat. They pulled me forward into the intensity of their gaze. The cry sounded again, resonating deep within me, calling my name.

I melded into the orb and was instantly engulfed by its warmth. Then I was flying through the nothingness of space at an impossible speed, too fast to think, too fast to see. It ended in an abrupt jolt of physical awareness that left me gasping for breath.

Heaviness settled into me, paralyzing and unbearable at first. But gentle hands moved over me and soft crooning words whispered through my ears. Gradually the heaviness began to ease, and I opened my eyes to find Sparrow hovering over me. He tried to smile, but his face was stiff, his eyes haunted.

I wanted to reach up and smooth his worried frown, but my body felt awkward and unresponsive, and my hand flopped uselessly at my side. He must have seen my panic, because he moved closer, whispering words of comfort in Gaelic as his palms swept down my arms, his fingers finding mine and twining with them.

I felt wetness on my face and realized that the tears I had been unable to shed now streamed from my eyes.

“Sydney,” Sparrow whispered brokenly, holding me with his gaze as he leaned in to brush his lips against mine. It was the lightest touch, meant only to soothe, but electricity arced between us with the contact. My lips responded the way my limbs wouldn’t, desperately moving against his. I drank him in as if I was dying of a thirst only he could quench, my flesh craving proof that it still lived.

He groaned softly into my mouth, his tongue seeking mine as he returned the kiss with a slow-burning intensity that sent me spiraling out of my body once more.

A muffled sound, half laughter, half sobbing, broke through the burgeoning haze of desire that threatened to sweep me away.

Sparrow gentled the kiss, cupping my face in his palms as he broke it, the stroke of his thumb across my lower lip easing the vacancy left by his mouth. “We thought we’d lost you.”

I felt the mattress dip beneath me as Sunny scrambled onto the bed and threw her arms around me in a tight hug. When I whimpered at the pressure against my aching right side, she instantly pulled back, her tear-streaked face contrite.

“Sorry, Syd. Did I hurt you?” She sniffed, her green eyes rimmed with red and cloudy with worry.

“Just bruised where I fell,” I mumbled, trying to manage a reassuring smile.

She gingerly lifted my dirt-crusted shirt and sucked in a breath. I craned my neck, grimacing at what I saw. No wonder I was sore. My entire side was an ugly mass of discoloration, blooming with shades of black, green and blue.

“Are you sure nothing’s broken?” Sunny asked, looking horrified.

“Let me see,” Sparrow insisted as he leaned over me. He passed his hand just above the bruising, closing his eyes as he did so, his words becoming an inaudible hum. A curious heat traveled down my side beneath his palm and a soft, silvery light bled from the Celtic tattoos on his bare, muscular arm. Except for the one just beneath his elbow, which pulsed with a bright yellow.

My own arm was still a little shaky, but I reached up to trace my finger over the pulsing design. It was almost hot to the touch and a tingling energy vibrated through my hand with the contact.

“Why does this one always glow yellow, when the others glow different colors?” I mumbled.

“Hmm?” he murmured as he completed his examination of my side. He blinked at me, and then ran an absent hand over the inked flesh I had touched. “Oh, that just means I’m a bit tired.”

His blue eyes captured mine and he reached to smooth his fingers over my forehead, the touch both soothing and stirring. “No broken bones, I think, and no internal bleeding. I can probably heal some of that bruising later, but I’m afraid I’m a bit tapped out at the moment.”

I studied Sparrow’s handsome face, noting the deepened lines of strain and exhaustion.

“I’ll get you something for the pain,” Sunny offered, rolling to her feet and heading toward the medicine cabinet in my bathroom.

I felt a flutter of air against my side and looked down to see Lorien hovering there, a look of sheer determination on her face. Her wings quivered and dark purple faerie dust sifted from them in a heavy stream.

“Lorien!” I exclaimed, overjoyed at the sight of her. Just as quickly, regret twanged through me over the way I’d spoken to her earlier.

“At the very least, I can manage this.” She swiped angrily at a tiny, crystalline tear.

She reached into her little silver pouch and pulled out a pinch of glittering silver dust. A look of fierce concentration took over her pale face as she moved above my side and sprinkled the silvery powder onto the bruising.

I felt a faint shimmer of relief. “Thanks, that helped,” I assured her.

She ignored me, staring at my injuries with an irate gleam in her tear-filled eyes. She withdrew a second pinch of dust from her pouch and repeated her actions with forceful intensity. A golden glow transmuted the silver of the powder, growing brighter than flame as it landed against my side.

It remained there for a moment, drawing out the pain, a skein of light lying over my skin like a healing balm. Then it flashed outward, knocking Lorien back onto the bed, before it winked out of existence. I stared down in amazement at the unblemished flesh it left behind. My eyes drifted to Lorien, her small limbs sprawled out as she lay in a stunned heap beside me.

Sunny stood motionless halfway to the bathroom, having abandoned her quest for the medicine cabinet. Sparrow whistled into the silence. “That was quite an impressive bit of healing magic, little sister.”

Lorien swallowed, then her face crumpled and she burst into tears. Feeling helpless, I sat up and gently scooped her into my palms – which were also now smooth and splinter free. I held her close, wondering how I was supposed to properly hug a three inch tall faerie, and felt my own tears start again.

“It’s okay Lorien. And I’m so sorry - I didn’t mean what I said before. I know all you’ve ever done is try to help me.”

“Useless is what I am.” She sniffled. “I knew you were in danger and I couldn’t do a blinking thing to help. And then you just disappeared,” her pitch rose, “and I couldn’t feel you at all.” She shook her head and hid her face in her small hands.

Sunny came back and perched on the side of the bed, pulling her thin robe more tightly around her. She placed her hand against my shoulder as if she needed the contact to steady herself. “What the hell happened to you? Lorien woke me up. I ran in here and you were just lying there, with your clothes and face all dirty, as still as death. I thought you were dead,” she said, her speech strained. “But then I realized you still had a pulse, even though we couldn’t wake you.”

Sunny paused and then whispered, “Lorien said your soul was gone. We thought a death djinn had …” she tapered off as if she couldn’t bear to say the words.

“I thought I was dead too,” I replied in a small voice. “I felt so far away … and light. And there was this old walrus guy carrying me. He wanted me to join the Sea of Souls. It was so beautiful and bright,” I breathed, memory coursing through me.

Lorien let out a gasp, her violet eyes startled, and Sparrow reached for my other shoulder, his hand tightening around it like he was afraid I might float away.

“I almost went into it,” I continued, hearing the awe in my voice as I remembered my intense desire to join with all of those combined souls.

“If you had, I wouldn’t have been able to call you back,” Sparrow said, emotion deepening his brogue.

“Something stopped me.” I frowned, trying to gather the fading fragments of the experience in my mind.

“Did you hear me calling you?” he asked gently.

“Yes, but …” I frowned, trying to squeeze the memory from my muddled brain, and then my eyes widened with excitement. “The infinity symbol! The Shepherd had the infinity symbol on his hand!”

“Was he a goblin?” Sunny asked in confusion.

“No,” Sparrow answered and my eyes shot to his. I could almost see the thoughts spinning behind them. “The Shepherd is an ancient mage who was assigned to watch over the Sea of Souls by the Seelie Court long ago. Very little is known about him, and I had forgotten this small piece of lore, but it is said that he carries the symbol of eternity upon his palm to aid him in tendering mortal souls to and from the Sea.”

“It makes sense,” Lorien said with an animated nod, rising from where she had been resting in my hands. “The symbol of eternity - infinity. Whoever’s been magically tampering with the souls must be using the symbol as a way to gain power over them.”

“The Shepherd’s symbol is a mark of the magi,” Sparrow said slowly. “Only a highly accomplished mage would be able to harness its power. No goblin should be able to fully wield such a mark – there isn’t enough magic in their blood.”

“There was a goblin with the symbol on his hand,” I interjected. “His name was Firzag. But he’s dead.”

Three pairs of eyes turned on me in the sudden deafening silence. “You still haven’t told us what happened to you,” Lorien said, suspicion warring with the concern in her gaze.

I squirmed, knowing that no one was going to be happy with where the conversation was about to go - least of all me.

“I met an old goblin woman who knew him. She didn’t know why he had the symbol, or how he died. But she gave me a book that belonged to him.” My breath caught in panic as I reached down to my waistband.

I exhaled in relief as I felt the thin, square shape beneath it. “I didn’t get a chance to look at it,” I said as I pulled out a small, green writing journal. The cover was heavily stained, the edges of the pages yellowed with time.

Sparrow looked at me questioningly and took the notebook when I nodded my assent. He opened it with caution and then scanned a few of the pages. “It’s part of a journal,” he confirmed.

“It doesn’t look like it was written by a goblin – it looks like it was written by a mortal woman. She talks about a bargain made, granting three wishes and immortality in exchange for pledging service to a ‘highly charismatic man, with eyes of fiery green.’” Sparrow’s gaze rose to mine.

“Death djinn,” Sunny intoned.

“Is there a name?” I asked anxiously.

Sparrow flipped through the thin notebook, shaking his head as he went. “I’d really like for our mages to take a look, if you don’t mind me borrowing it for a few days. But at first glance I’m not seeing any names or other specifics. Only about a quarter of the journal was used.” He held up the book to show us mostly blank pages.