Soullord (Soulguard Book 2) Read online

  "I'll send for him, immediately, Colin."

  "Thanks," I turned and headed toward the elevator.

  If what I feared was true, there was a very uncomfortable explanation for the actions of the Archmage and his Council. And even for the actions of Gavin Price, all those years ago. There is one common link between every action that was taken. She lay in the infirmary in a coma.

  I'd gone to see her a while back, and the remnant of Soul that clung to her body looked very familiar. What was left of Regina Worthington's Soul looked like the purple and black Soul of a Demon.

  Chapter 4

  "It's so damn infuriating," Paige said as she sat down behind the huge desk of the Archmage. "They don't listen to me at all. I'm just a child in their eyes, and I can't stand the sanctimonious pricks."

  Unfortunately, now that we are dealing with the public, people don't realize that the man or woman in front of them is actually not a teenager. I never had even thought about the problem until recently. Tying the Soulstream in the Guard knot sends so much life force into a person, they heal incredibly fast. A side effect is that age is something that the Source heals as well.

  I'm thirty years old but I look like I'm eighteen, as does Paige. She is thirty one yet the Senators see an eighteen year old standing in front of them. They have a hard time taking her seriously. The ones who have a history with the Guard try, but the others are a bit more difficult.

  "I don't know how to get it across to them that we are a force to be reckoned with," she said.

  "I've got an idea," I said, "They haven't accepted what has happened yet, but I think a demonstration on the plains of Kansas would be beneficial."

  "What sort of demonstration do you have in mind?"

  "I would expect a show of power needs to be made," I said, "They think their military can protect them. I think I'll show them it can't."

  "That," she gave me a wary look, "makes me very nervous."

  "That gate is there. I don't know how long until it opens again. We don't have time for this bullshit," I said, "I need their support for the defense of our whole damn planet. And I'll have it if I have to set the whole damn Capitol on fire!"

  "I'm thinking something a little less drastic, but you're right. They won't take us serious until we show them what they are really facing instead of the teenagers they think they are facing. Go ahead and set up the demonstration. I think you should include something you would like for me, personally, to do. All of this power scares the shit out of me, but if it will hammer the idiots into listening, I'll use it."

  I smiled, "I think I can come up with something that needs a great big hammer to take care of it."

  "Sometimes," she said with a shake of her head, "that smile makes me very nervous."

  I stood and chuckled. Then I turned to start for the door.

  "I'm sorry, Colin," she said.

  I turned back to see her tiny figure sitting behind that huge desk. I could see regret and sadness in her aura.

  "For what?"

  "I never understood how hard it must have been for you, knowing that everyone was afraid of you. I'm sorry I became one of those people instead of the kind of person you deserved."

  "It's ok, Paige," I said softly. "I've accepted what everyone thinks of me. I'm ok with it, now. There's a lot about me that inspires fear in others, but there's much more that would terrify them if they knew. They need not fear what I'll do to them. The Kresh, on the other hand will learn to fear me with good reason."

  "But it’s a lonely way to go through life, and I apologize for adding my fear to it. I actually see the other side of it now. There aren't many people who don't cringe when I drop my screen. Almost everyone is now just as scared of me as they are you."

  "It's a hard thing, the wielding of Power," I said, "But you have the iron in you to stand. I know this, I can see it in your Soul. Never forget it, never doubt it."

  She sighed, "Thanks for the vote of confidence. I know you are one of the few who doesn't fear me, but of course, you don't have enough sense to be afraid of anything. Only a fearless idiot would tie himself to the Source while two hundred and thirty-seven new Mages stood within a hundred feet of him, any of which could have served as support in our place."

  "Hindsight," I said with a grin, "is twenty-twenty."

  "That it is," she said with a smile.

  ***

  "Hello Doctor," I said with an outstretched hand, "Thank you for coming to Montana."

  "I go where I am needed," he answered in his precise voice. "I saw what happened in Kansas on the News. That certainly is not staying away from stressful environments."

  "Yeah... I had to take option two."

  "Use the Rage as much as you can as a release," he nodded, "Not the best way for you, but apparently it is the best way for everyone else. If no one else has done so, I must thank you. There is no way to even imagine the destruction they would have caused if you had not stopped them."

  "Wasn't just me," I said, "Close to four hundred men and women were there with me."

  "As you say," he returned with a nod, "and what would you like me to look into for you? You already know I have not found anything for you to use against the Demon DNA. Is there something else?"

  "As a matter of fact, there is. In our Infirmary there is a woman in a coma. I need you to do a DNA test for me. I think it will confirm my suspicions and clear much of the confusion surrounding the Archmage and all that occurred over the last fifteen years."

  "You think this woman has the same sort of problem as you?"

  "I'm not sure but I need to know, and if you don't mind, keep this between you and I for the time being. Most people don't know about my... situation."

  "You know I can be discreet," he said with a solemn look, "I've kept your secret for the last six years without revealing anything."

  "True enough," I nodded. "That's why I sent for you and not any other physician. Your discretion is much appreciated."

  "I will begin immediately then, and we will see what we will see," he said and stood up. "I am familiar with the Infirmary and the compound. I will make my way there now, if you have no objections."

  "No problem, and thanks again."

  He gave a short nod and turned away. As he left my office, I wondered if my suspicions were true.

  If they were, there had been a Demon spy in our midst with possible skills unlike any that we have been trained to defend against. It was actually possible that she had gained mental skills that a regular human doesn't have. I'm almost certain the Demons have some form of telepathic connection with one another. Could she have some way to force people to do things with her mind?

  My ability to project to the Guards around me could also be based on a telepathic sort of communication gained from my Demon DNA. Lyrica doesn't seem to have any ability in that area. She can't push a memory into someone else like I had done back when we'd found that child molesting bastard in Knoxville.

  It would explain why the Archmage had done something that would endanger the whole human race for his own ends. Not even a bastard like Price should have been able to do what he had done. And the eerie way the whole Council seemed to have the single goal of destroying Gregor and Simon without thought of defending themselves at all? It just didn't make sense to me, unless someone else was in control.

  But I would find out soon enough if my suspicions were true. I had a demonstration to set up, and I was thinking seriously about tanks.

  Chapter 5

  The Hooters in Missoula didn't have a large crowd, except for us. There were twenty-two of us from the Academy seated around five tables that the staff had pushed together. Now that we didn't have to keep our Soulguard ties secret, we scheduled these get-togethers once a week.

  "How many wings have you already eaten?" Kyra asked me in amazement as I ordered another plate from our waitress. It was all you can eat wings day and I was taking advantage of it.

  "I'm not sure but there are a lot of flightless birds out t
here somewhere," I answered.

  "They don't fly to well anyway, son," Kharl said with a chuckle. "At least you didn't eat their legs. They can still run."

  "That's mean," Lyrica punched Kharl's arm, "Those poor chickens."

  "And the chicken breast you just devoured?" Mattie asked.

  "At least I'm not leaving a bunch of crippled chickens running around. It's much more humane," She answered easily.

  Mattie snorted and laughed aloud.

  The very well-endowed waitress returned with another plate of wings for me and I saw Kharl's eyes drawn to the same place as most of the other men at the table. She smiled and headed back to the kitchen.

  "Really?!" Kyra asked. "She's a biscuit older than Lyrica you lecherous old man."

  "But... damn it, woman." He answered shamelessly.

  "She'd end up cutting those things off the first time she drew a blade. Her arms aren't long enough to swing the blade around them."

  "I beg to differ, Mom," Lyrica said, "the first thing she remembered after seeing the Soulguard uniforms was when she won the Championship at her school in fencing. She's really pretty good at it."

  "Now why would you say something like that?" Kyra asked, "Now every one of these apes wants to try and convince her to go home with them. And you better not even think about it, Old Man."

  "I'd never," Kharl said. "I've got everything I could ever want right here."

  He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and she smiled. With his other hand he acted like he was wiping his forehead, and he mouthed a silent "Whew" out of sight of Kyra.

  "So," Lyrica said, "let's hear a good story from the vast store of BS seated around this table. Anyone have something to share?"

  "What about the Chattanooga thing?" Andrea asked.

  I cringed. Of course it would be something about me. It always ended up going there before the night was over so maybe it was good to go ahead and get it out of the way.

  "You want this one?" Prada asked Ric.

  "Sure," He answered with a grin, "Why not?"

  "We were just finished with a patrol just north of Chattanooga, and our illustrious potentate over there needed something to eat," he began.

  "Big surprise there," Mattie said from over beside Trent.

  "Yeah, isn’t it?" Ric returned with a shrug. "Anyway, the boss was just steppin’ up to the counter with the biggest cup of coke I think I've ever seen. What was it? Sixty-four ounces?"

  I nodded and he continued. "So he's standin’ there, and this guy runs in the door and sticks what looked like a 44 magnum right into his face..."

  "Oh my God!" Kharl interrupted and looked at me, "Did ya put yer finger in the gun?"

  "Have you already heard the damn story?" Rictor looked disappointed.

  Kharl laughed loudly, and shook his head. "I always wanted ‘ta do that."

  Prada looked at Kharl with a sad shake of her head and said, "Just knowin’ that you raised the man explains so much."

  Kyra snorted and said, "There was no way I could even stop it. I tried so hard to prevent the insanity from passing to the child, but I had to sleep sometimes, and I just couldn't stop it."

  There was laughter all around the table.

  "So there we were with this kid standin’ there with his finger in the barrel of a 44." Rictor continued after a moment, "It was just so ridiculous, the cashier was shakin’ with her mouth hangin’ open, and I racked my brain to find a way to stop the madness..."

  "Bullshit!" Prada exclaimed, "You're just as bad as he is! I didn't see any trying to stop anything!"

  "What?" Rictor returned.

  "I remember that the only thing you did was ask the guy with his finger in a 44 whether he wanted his twinkies with icing or the plain ones."

  "That was a ruse..."

  "For what?" she asked, "When he said the iced ones you just picked them up, and walked toward the cashier like no one was there."

  "I was strategically placin’ myself where I could intercede if it was necessary."

  "Really? You were behind our fearless leader where you couldn't even see what was happening anymore."

  "Well, you know how important it is to get the Boss his twinkies. If he didn't get ‘em he might do something crazy. I was just doin’ my job."

  Lyrica laughed merrily. She was watching memories in both of their auras.

  "That's just not fair," Kharl said. "She gets to watch stuff happen while we gotta wait for these slow asses to get on with it."

  "Any way," Prada said, "so the Boss stands there with his finger in this guy's gun, and the guy starts cursing, and trying to pull back on the gun, but the finger follows as fast as he can move the gun. Then the guy actually looks at Colin's face where he gets a shot of the Crazy Eye. He just screams, and lets go of the gun, and sprints back out the door."

  "Crazy Eye?" Mattie asked, "What's the Crazy Eye?"

  "Ahh, it's that look when you can see the Soulfire burning inside of them, and you start to think he might just rip your spine out or something equally unsavory."

  "Yeah I saw that one," Kharl said, "He was still carrying the spine when he got back into the shield."

  "Yeah," Prada said, "Right, that's the look I'm talking about. The Crazy Eye."

  To be totally honest, I don’t know what possessed me to do it but it was so hilarious I couldn’t stop myself. I'd pushed a shield out to stop the hammer if he pulled the trigger. There was no danger of him actually doing anyone harm. I had almost forgotten the whole incident, but I'm not allowed to forget anything for long before someone always brings it back up. Usually at one of these grand get-togethers that I tend to be a party to.

  "That's awesome," Kharl said with a grin. "God I hope I get the chance to do that someday."

  I pointed at his huge hand, "He better bring a twelve gauge shotgun so your finger will fit in the barrel."

  "True enough," He laughed and reached for another hot wing from the platter in front of him.

  Everyone had their round of laughter at the antics of a Soullord who has seen too many cartoons. When they settled down I looked at Lyrica.

  "So I know we've all seen the extremely smelly dog that's taken up residence at the Academy. It seems that it came to the Academy after our esteemed colleagues returned. You know, the ones who were on vacation in Scotland, while we were all workin’ so hard here at home. Anyone care to explain the presence of the ugliest, stinkingest creature I have ever laid eyes on?"

  "I'm not sure if 'stinkingest' is really a word," Jacobs said, "Smelliest, might be right, or most smelly, odiferous even."

  "Yeah," Rictor said. "I've never seen any animals that would get anywhere near a Soulguard, much less follow a group of ‘em around."

  "And what the Hell is that damn thing?" I agreed. "I mean, I can tell it's a dog but, damn. Its whole body is all wrinkled up. Its wrinkles have wrinkles."

  "I think it's adorable," Prada argued.

  "Once again," Kharl said in triumph, "Proof positive that all women are crazy. That's probably the ugliest animal I've ever seen."

  Trent was snickering and looking at Lyrica, who was trying her best not to pay any attention to the rest of us.

  "It happened the other day," he burst out. I think Trent would probably explode if he really had to keep a secret. The man is hopeless.

  "We were down on the highway below the Academy giving Lyrica a chance to work on her driving skills. Skills that she doesn't possess at all," He began.

  "Humph," Lyrica looked around the room.

  "Anyway, we topped a rise, and this dog is a couple of hundred feet from us. It turns around and like most other animals, runs like hell when Soulguards approach. Unfortunately, the car in the other lane hit him, and he flew back out of the road."

  "Here's part of the girl's lack of driving skills," Trent said, "She was out the door and running before the dog had even hit the ground. She didn't stop the car; she didn't even touch the brakes. She just stepped out and ran for the dog. Of course, now, we're in a
car flying down the road with no driver, and Mattie is screaming in terror..."

  "Now wait a damn minute! I recall the screams coming from the back seat, not the front," Mattie interrupted.

  "Nope, definitely from the front," He answered quickly, "But regardless, by the time we stopped the car and got out, Lyrica is holding this ugly thing's head in her lap, and we're feeling her Pull through the dog's stream."

  "Then it followed us home," Lyrica said, "And now I finally get to have a puppy. A sixty pound, smelly puppy, but a puppy, nonetheless."

  "It's a Shar-Pei, by the way," Kevin Graves offered. "They're actually a very expensive breed."

  "People really buy dogs that ugly?" Jacobs asked. "They pay money, real money for ‘em?"

  "Lots of folks do," The Kid answered.

  "Well I'll be damned," Jacobs mumbled, "Who would've thunk it?"

  The waitress returned with the check and before she could ask, twenty-one fingers pointed straight at me. I sighed, she laughed and handed me the bill.

  "Jesus, you people are gonna put me in the poor house," I mumbled and handed her my debit card.

  It would take quite a bit more than that to hurt the money I had squirreled away in the bank. Warren was still doing wonders with my finances. I really needed to take a trip back to Knoxville and see him, and see the Twins, too. I had only seen them once since the whole fiasco in Kansas. They'd really come through with finding more Guards to back us up there.

  Maybe I could go in the next few weeks, maybe after the demonstration in Kansas.

  Chapter 6

  I awoke the next morning early and decided to go for a run. As I left my quarters I saw a figure exit the room that had been given to Jacobs. With his leg and arm gone, he wasn't made to stay out in the regular barracks. The elevators were closer to one of the rooms in the underground facility.

  I recognized the woman as she turned and waved at me with a smile. It was the waitress from Hooters. I smiled and waved back.