Soul Kissed Read Free Page B

drink the blood of mortals in order to remain young.”  He appraised me, his gaze almost kind.  “I’m truly sorry, Empusa.  Your father has a black soul.  But I am sure that in time, you will find that you enjoy being here in the Underworld. I am not unpleasant and I am a good friend to have.”
    He had turned and left the room while I crumbled to the floor.  To this day, I could feel the coldness that my father’s betrayal had stamped into my heart.  It had become a permanent fixture.
    “And that’s what happened?” Gaia whispered softly, startling me back to the present. 
    I turned to find her face frozen in an expression of horror.  I could understand that.  You couldn’t fully comprehend the treachery of a father cursing his own child unless you had seen it for yourself.
    “Yes,” I replied numbly.  “That is what happened.  My father exchanged my life for his own.”
    “But your freedom was arranged…” Gaia trailed off.
    “Yes, the goddess of peace did manage to arrange a deal to allow for my release, but I can’t go in front of Hades again.  I don’t trust him.”
    “But your mother set up a meeting,” Gaia argued.  “All you have to do is show up.”
    It was my turn to raise an eyebrow.  “Really?  You think it is that easy?  I should just trust Hades with my life—the god of the Underworld himself?”
    She shrugged.  “Your mother trusts the situation.  I don’t see what the alternative is.  Running like this forever?”
    It was a valid point, I’d give her that.  I honestly didn’t know what my end game plan was.  I was too afraid to tell my mother where I was. I was afraid that she would immediately come to retrieve me and drag me into the Underworld to try and fix my situation.  She had come to me in my dreams, but much to her agitation, I refused to give her my location.  I trusted my mother with my life.  But Hades… I did not trust him.  I had seen enough of his actions in the Underworld to know that no one should ever trust him.
    As I mused, I twisted the moonstone bracelet on my arm.  My mother had given it to me the last time I had seen her.  It was enchanted to alert me whenever my father was near. The moonstone was supposed to begin glowing.  It was silent now, a pale, pearlish stone in the night.  I never took it off.  My life might someday depend on it.
    “Something strange happened today,” I murmured.  Gaia’s head snapped up.
    “Oh?  Such as?” She was always ready for a good story.  Being dead bored her.
    “I met someone.”
    I thought she was going to break her neck as she scrambled to my side, her elegant gown dragging behind her. 
    “Do tell,” she purred as she scooted up next to me and tucked her legs beneath her.  “What did he look like?”
    “He was beautiful,” I sighed, staring absently over the water.  “Honey-colored hair, hazel eyes, perfect body.  Tall, athletic.”
    She stared at me. “Could you be any more vague?  How old is he?”
    “I’m not sure.  Maybe eighteen.”
    “Robbing the cradle, then?” she asked with a grin. 
    “Age is just a number,” I replied glibly.  “I look exactly his age.  But it doesn’t matter. I can’t see him again.  That’s the strange part.  I touched him on accident and I felt so drawn to him that I could barely move.  I almost couldn’t control myself. I wanted to inhale his soul.”
    “So what did you do?” Gaia asked with interest, her ghostly eyes gleaming in the moonlight.
    “I ran.”
    “Just like that?”
    “Just like that.  What else could I have done?”
    “Maybe you should have just taken his soul?  Clearly, something was drawing you to him.  Maybe you should have had a nice romantic moment and then sucked down his soul.  Then you could have had a nice cigarette afterward and you wouldn’t be quite so bitchy now.”
    “I don’t smoke,” I leveled a gaze at her.  “And I’m not bitchy.”
    “Debatable,” she declared.  “But