Page 34 of Woven Souls

The table behind us grows silent. We’re drawing too much attention to ourselves.

“I think we’re done here.” Viktor stands before offering me his hand.

I take it before I do something stupid. Shooting Fredrick a dark glare, I tell him, “Just so you know, I showed that woman a little bit of mercy and destroyed her soul.”

As Fredrick continues to try to pull the knife out of his hand, he ignores me, and I let Viktor pull me away. People at nearby tables are staring at us. I’m too pissed to care. If people want to stare at me, they can. Before we get to the elevator, Viktor pulls me into a dark corner. The way he sidesteps, twirls me into the space, and steps in close to me is so smooth that I find myself surprised rather than worried that this is his attempt to end me. He did, after all, hear from a power-hungry mage that I’m not supposed to be in this realm.

“Viktor, what—”

“Hold on.”

The big, grumpy, quick-to-anger Fae raises a napkin that he’s snagged off our table to my face, and with a tenderness that I didn’t think he was capable of, Viktor wipes something from the corner of my right eye. I’m so stunned I simply stand there. Viktor repeats the action to the other eye. When he pulls the napkin away, he shows it to me. There’s blood on the white fabric.

“Are you really okay? Do we need to go get you some first aid?” he asks me, his voice gruff.

I look up at him, back to the napkin, and then back up to him.

“What’s happening here?”

He clenches his jaw and then lets it relax. “I’m making sure you’re alright.”

“This seems super out of character for you.”

Viktor snorts, and his mouth twitches. I think he’s going to smile, but he doesn’t. “It wasn’t always.”

He doesn’t elaborate. Alright, well, since we’re having a super weird, awkward moment I guess I can play along.

“I’m good, I promise. It hurt in the moment, but the pain’s gone.” I roll my eyes. “Now, I’m just super pissed.”

Viktor grunts as he takes a step back, leaving my personal bubble.

“Yeah, I know. Your face already told me as much.” He shoves the napkin into his pocket and offers me his arm again.

I laugh and take it.

“Come on, let’s go find the others,” he grumbles as he guides us over to the elevator.

Chapter8

WILLOW

As we exit the restaurant, Viktor pauses to sweep the streets for any sign of danger.

I do the same, but for another reason.

Just like back at the house, there arehundredsof spirits lingering on the sidewalks and street waiting to speak with me. Swallowing hard, I try to ignore them converging towards me. It’s hard trying to not be overwhelmed by the sheer number of them. These are the most spirits I’ve seen in one place in a long time. Judging by their modern clothes, these are people who’ve died relatively recently, perhaps within the last five or so years.

What happened a few years ago that would have stopped these spirits from crossing over?

“We need to go. Now.”

Viktor’s sharp command pulls my attention back to the living people surrounding us.

“There’s our driver over there.” I point to the SUV up the street.

Viktor pulls us in that direction.

“What’s going on?” I ask him.

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