SEARCH FOR THE LOST SOUL Read Free Page A

compassion. He moved to take her in his
arms to console her and reassure her that the reason he wasn’t making love to
her had nothing to do with her or her physical attributes.
    But she had
tricked him. Laughing gaily, she reached up and plastered her lips to his.
    At first, he
didn’t fight it but, after a moment, he pulled his head back, thereby breaking
the kiss. “Kelly, don’t. You have no idea what you’re doing.”
    She pouted
for a moment before a surprised expression crossed her face. Without a word,
she fainted.
    Even though
he was surprised, Chris managed to catch her before she hit the floor. He held
her for a moment, wondering what could possibly have happened before swinging
her up into his arms and carrying her across the room to the bed. He laid her
gently in the center and pulled the covers up to her chin, thinking that this
would be further protection for her from him should his resolve weaken.
    He stepped
back and stared down into her white face. He stroked his cheek thoughtfully.
What was going on here? It was getting stranger and stranger. He heard a noise
behind him and whirled around to see what was causing it.
    Standing
next to the wall was a middle-aged man wearing a long, blue robe and sporting a
long, white beard.

CHAPTER 2
     
    Chris stared
at the strangely dressed man for several minutes, wondering where he had come
from; there was still no sign of a door. “Who are you?” he finally demanded.
    The man
ignored him as he advanced into the room, coming to a stop directly in front of
him. He stared at Chris for quite some time, pulling thoughtfully on his beard.
“You are one strong-willed young man,” he commented. “It takes quite a bit of
inner strength to resist a spell of the magnitude that I had placed on you.”
    Chris felt
as if a cold hand gripped his stomach. “What are you talking about?”
    “You know
nothing.” He glanced at Kelly’s still form and began to laugh.
    Chris felt
anger overwhelm him. He reached up and grasped the other man by the chin,
forcing the man to look at him. “You will tell me what you’re talking about or
you will regret it.”
    The man
laughed again as he pulled Chris’ hand away from his face. “You cannot hurt me.
You are merely a boy. I am a wizard.”
    Chris stared
at him. “A wizard? You mean like Merlin?”
    The man laughed
again. “Merlin. Hah. A glory hound is what he was. None of us would dream of
allowing ourselves to be caught up in such a situation. He grew to be so famous
that he had to change his name.”
    Chris
frowned. “Are you suggesting that Merlin is still alive?”
    The man
shrugged. “Who can say? It is possible. He dropped from history after changing
his name, as he should have.”
    “How is that
possible? He lived more than fifteen hundred years ago.”
    The man
shrugged. “Of more interest to me is where you found the inner strength to
fight the lust spell. I have never had that one fail, partially because few men
in their right mind would turn down a woman who wants sex all the time?”
    Chris stared
for a moment before speaking. “It’s wrong.”
    “But fun,”
he grinned ravenously.
    Chris
frowned at him. “Why would you place such a spell on me? Do you get some kind
of perverse pleasure out of watching a man rape a woman?”
    The man
chuckled. “No.” He eyed Chris for a moment before speaking again. “I will make
a deal with you. I will tell you the plan if you will promise to make love to
her again.”
    Chris looked
over at Kelly’s still form. “No.”
    The man
frowned. “But she is a pretty girl. Why do you resist so strongly?”
    Chris
sighed. “Because I don’t like being forced to do anything.”
    “Even
something as pleasant as sex?”
    Chris
frowned at him. “Rape isn’t something I’m ever going to be proud of.”
    “I did not
ask you to do it with her while she slept.”
    “I couldn’t
help myself. Thanks, I think, to your spell.”
    He chuckled
again. “It is a good