Soul Betrayed. Katlyn Duncan

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      Cooper nudged my arm. “You’re going to do great. I’ll be with you the whole time.”

      I looked up at him. Even though I’d trained with Jackson for the last two months, Cooper had never been far from my mind. He’d been there for me all through Ally’s disappearance and, even though we’d had many differences of opinion, I knew without a shred of doubt he had my back. “But what about Ally?” I couldn’t help worrying about her.

      He shrugged. “Calliope took over her training. I’m all yours.”

      My eyebrows shot up.

      Cooper shook his head. “For the mission. I’m your Guard for this mission.” He avoided my eyes.

      I nudged him back. “Thank you.”

      “You’ll do great.”

      “You already said that.”

      He laughed. “I know. But it’s true.”

      I was grateful for his reassurance but I had no doubt in my mind. I had to succeed. For Leha. Moving in front of my body, I inspected the details of her face, details that I knew intimately, but there were subtle differences from my soul form. She appeared much younger than I felt. I wondered if that would have an effect on my transformation, when it was time?

      Dylan bounded across the room, his soul bumping into mine and instinctively I reached for the True Soul as his hands tightened around it. I grinned. “Sorry. Old habits and all that.” Dropping to my knees, allowing him full access to the back of my neck, I got into position. Normally, a Collector used the True Soul to take the soul from the body and bring it to the After, but this time we were going the other way around. It was a first for me, but I knew Dylan could do it. He’d been trained by the best.

      “Remember what I taught you?” I said, my voice a little shaky.

      Dylan nodded. “Of course.”

      He grasped my shoulder for leverage. I closed my eyes and waited until the silky essence came in contact with my soul. When it did, I gasped as a sudden sense of wholeness filled me to the brim.

      “Are you okay?” Dylan asked.

      “Yes.” I stood up slowly, keeping Dylan in contact with me. There wasn’t much of a height difference but I didn’t want to lose the connection, and we moved as one unit closer to the container. The light surrounding my body flickered as the edge of my vision started to shimmer. “Something’s happening.” My words sounded far away, echoing in my head. The shimmering intensified, making me dizzy. I grabbed onto the container the room starting to spin.

      Dylan’s fingers twitched. “It’s working!”

      Cooper came toward me but Sophia barked at him. I found her eyes, her expression slightly alarmed. That wasn’t helping much.

      Instead, I searched for Cooper’s gray steady gaze. He nodded, his expression tight, and we didn’t break eye contact until the room disappeared in a burst of colors.

       CHAPTER TWO

      A terrified howl startled me, waking me from my delirium. An overwhelming scent of blood filled the air. I inhaled deep breaths through my mouth, my chest tight, and blinked a few times. I was drenched in sweat. Waves of excruciating pain suddenly coursed through me and nearly split me in half. I reached down to touch my swollen stomach. I was on the floor in Gemma’s room. The heat from the gun still radiated on the skin of my palm.

      “Stay back!” Father growled.

      I leaned my head back to see Jackson standing by the door with his fists at his sides. If he were alive I’d be able to see his knuckles turn white. Father was holding me in his lap, his gaze hard, staring at the bed where my husband and sister’s bodies lay.

      “Father?” I breathed. My mind was fuzzy. Had I passed out? I blinked several times as if the dream I’d experienced was just out of my grasp. A blond boy found his way into my mind but he disappeared. A name hovered on the tip of my tongue but I couldn’t grasp it.

      My father’s steely blue eyes dropped to mine. “You ruined everything.”

      The pressure in my chest uncoiled, but I avoided looking at the bed. “It had to be done.” Angry tears streaked down my cheeks. I had been embarrassed to learn of my sister and husband’s tryst. Then Jackson had left me. I had lost control of my life. With Gemma and Tristan gone, I had control again and Jackson had returned to me. We could start over.

      I moaned again as another wave of pain struck my stomach. “It’s coming,” I said, my heart pounding in my chest.

      “What are you—” Jackson shouted.

      “She made her choice. This is something I have to do,” Father interrupted, almost as if he were convincing himself of whatever he was about to do.

      “Nicholas!” Jackson hissed.

      I tried to turn around to face Jackson, but Father adjusted my head in his hands.

      I rubbed my belly, desperate to take the pain away.

      “Jackson,” I breathed. Even though he’d left me all was forgotten when he returned. The anger I’d felt for him had disappeared and now I needed him more than ever. My Guard would soon watch my child and we could finally be together after my transformation – a family.

      “You take one step and I will kill you again,” Daddy warned.

      Jackson said nothing.

      He would understand once the baby was born.

      Mother shuffled into the room, the midwife tucked against her. The woman dropped to her knees, lifted my shift and her cold hands invaded my body.

      I jerked away.

      “Breathe, child,” she soothed.

      I focused my thoughts just like she’d taught me and took a deep breath in, ignoring the coppery taste in my mouth. I glanced at the nearby gun, the one I had used to kill Tristan and Gemma. Their still forms were stamped into my memory even though I couldn’t see them from the floor. An unexpected rush of guilt flowed through me. But they had been wrong to have an affair. I couldn’t let them embarrass me and our family. They deserved everything that happened to them.

      Something moved next to the bed. I squinted in the dim light and could make out the thin shape of a person. His—or maybe it was a her— body flickered just like the candles nearby.

      “No!” Jackson cried.

      I hadn’t been going crazy. He saw the form too.

      “Who is that?” I asked.

      “Jackson, get out of here!” Father ordered.

      I blinked and the form was gone. My entire body was in pain and I closed my eyes, willing it to stop.

      “It’s coming,” the midwife cried.

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