The Soul Mate Read Free Page A

related in some way.
    I was an outsider, a Gaje, someone that they
learned through generations of persecution, deportation and
genocide not to trust. After hearing portions of their history,
mainly of the relatives lost in the WWII concentration camps, I
really didn’t blame them.
    Yet, when Gerik had brought me here, no one
had questioned his judgment. Jericho Popa, the Baró, leader of the
entire clan, and his wife Maisera, had welcomed me with open
arms.
    When Jericho made a decision it was final, he
had final say and was the enforcer of the Roma Laws. Their legal
structure had totalitarianism written all over it but from what I
had witnessed in my time here, both he and Maisera were kind and
fair and loved every one of the clan members as if they were their
own children.
    As always when I left my trailer, part of my
personal morning routine, I checked to make sure the wards that
surrounded camp still held. The wards were a magical wall of
protection, invisible to the naked eye. It protected what was held
inside and kept what lie outside from entering. It didn’t, however,
keep us from seeing the horrors it held at bay.
    Today, the number of creatures our camp had
attracted seemed to have grown. I counted six of them staring
around confusedly, wondering why they could smell us yet couldn’t
see us. That was Romani magic for you. Unless you were Roma, you
couldn’t see it. Those standing on the outside of the wards see
nothing but an empty clearing…just like I would see if I were out
there, with those…things. I shuddered at the thought.
    They looked human enough. I suppose that was
because not all that long ago they had been human. Then everything
changed. I lost everything: my family, my friends, and the world as
I’d always known it.
    Two of the creatures closest to the wards
suddenly bolted across the clearing, toward the edge of the forest
line where a lone deer had wandered. Simultaneously, fangs bared,
they ripped into the squealing animal and within minutes tore the
poor creature apart. Then, sated, eyes glowing red, they turned on
each other.
    Those creatures were a deadly combination of
both animals and humans. They not only possessed great speed and
agility with heightened senses, and the incredible ability to heal
instantly, they also had the power of reason making them the
ultimate predator.
    “Trinity?” I jumped as a hand came down on my
shoulder. Stefan Sava, a man around my father would have been if he
was alive, was smiling down at me.
    “You’re shaking, child. Come away from here.”
With a big arm around my shoulders, Stefan pulled me from the
gruesome sight beyond the wards and began walking me back to the
innards of the living lot.
    I saw Gerik sitting by a small fire near the
tent where food was prepared. Made first thing in the morning and
kept heated all day, it was available for the clan to eat at their
leisure. I would have gone over to him if not for the prostitute
sitting next to him. Onyx, not really a prostitute, had a long
standing thing for Gerik. Whereas typically I find the Gypsy women
gorgeous, Onyx just reminds me of a cheap impersonation. Maybe it’s
the emptiness I sense inside of her.
    I watched her press her tiny, devoid of
curves body up against his in an obvious sexual invitation. For a
moment I fantasized that he would tell her exactly where she could
shove her “been around the block and then some” ass, even though I
knew he wouldn’t. He never did.
    As I continued to stare, I was growing more
and more jealous by the second. According to Becki, Gerik and Onyx
had been an on and off item since Gerik was 17. Now at twenty-nine,
their twelve year relationship made our couple of months look like
chump change.
    I knew I didn’t have any right to feel as I
did, I didn’t have any sort of real claim on Gerik. I had made that
perfectly clear to him time and time again refusing to make any
real commitment to him. It wasn’t for his lack of trying. I just
couldn’t