Soul(s) Read Free Page A

mine. Her body
was relaxed against me and her breathing was steady.
    I tried not to move, relishing in her being
so close, but a blaze started to spread through me. Even through
the suits, her body felt like bare skin against mine. I believe I
would have been able to control myself if her body hadn’t begun
responding to my own.
    Her leg hooked over my thigh. Anchoring
herself to me, she pulled closer and nuzzled her cheek against
mine.
    That small piece of affection awoke every
fiber of my being. I put my hand on the curve of her thigh,
trailing it up her along the rim of her bottom to the small of her
back. She arched into me under the light pressure of my touch.
    Her eyes fluttered open as her head pulled
back, and I could tell she was feeling this heat between us. I
watched her face closely, entranced with arousal. Her lips parted
and the faintest moan escaped her mouth. I bent my head down
to—
    Her eyes flickered to the entrance of the
cave.
    They’ve found us. Sariah thought. Don’t
move.
    “ Don’t be afraid. We know
you can sense us. We’ve come to offer you safe passage to
Paramount. We tracked you to the cave and we know you’re sentient
beings, not Banguri. You belong with us.”
    Keegan, I can feel that they’re different
from those beasts. I want to talk with them.
    Are you sure?
    Yes.
    I released my arms from around her waist and
we untangled ourselves from each other. I stood up first, offering
her my hand to help her up and she took it without flinching.
     

 
     
     
     
    05: SARIAH

    Keegan stepped out first but I moved past
him putting myself between him and the two people waiting for us
outside of the cave. He tried to move in front of me, like a
shield, but I put my hand up and he stopped.
    Let me talk to them.
    Keegan didn’t think anything back to me, but
the muscle below his jaw flexed. He wasn’t happy but he was willing
to trust me. I turned towards the group.
    “ Are you the people the
message said would come?” I asked.
    A slender straight haired brunette woman
moved forward, separating herself from the man she was with.
    “ Yes, and normally we’re
already present or close to where the newlies are going to awaken.
But the atlas hasn’t been working properly,” she
explained.
    “ What are we? Where are
we? I know this is Second-Plane but that means nothing to
us.”
    “ My name is Bem.” Turning
at the waist, she pointed behind her. “His name is Ajani. We’re
from the Aura city. This,” she said waving her hand in the air, “is
Second-Plane, all souls come here after they die on Earth. Do you
know your names yet?”
    “ I’m Sariah and this is
Keegan.”
    “ What were those beasts
that attacked us?” Keegan asked from beside me.
    “ If you were attacked it
was probably by low-banguri,” Bem explained.
    “ We’d better get back to
the platform. Iris will want a report and there might be more
awakenings. We’ll need to be ready to move out again.” Ajani
reminded Bem.
    It was the first he’d spoken and his voice
was deadpan. I didn’t sense anything from him. I knew he was there
but his energy was blank. I couldn’t feel any type of emotion.
Without getting into someone’s thoughts I could still almost
analyze their body language and I got a feel for what their
intentions were. With Ajani I could read nothing and that intrigued
me. I hadn’t tried to do again what I had done with the beasts
until now. I was just so curious about him.
    DON’T.
    The voice was so loud and so aggressive.
Ajani’s eyes flashed to mine. His awareness of me and his reaction
to jarred me. I wasn’t expecting it. I must have moved closer to
Keegan out of reflex because I heard him think to me:
    Did you try to get in his head?
    Yes, but he didn’t let me.
    Well, now we know there are others like
you.
    Bem was watching me. She glanced at Ajani
and then back to me. “If you have telekinesis, so does Ajani. He is
a very private man and it’s also a rule amongst our kind not to