“Sure, I can try. But even if she was evil, it’s not a given that the shadows would stay behind with the body. Most often they follow the soul.”
“Give it your best shot,” Warren said.
Esha nodded and followed them out the door. Warren led her and Aerten across campus to the infirmary. The day had turned rainy and miserable and Esha used the power she got off Aerten to create a dry space around herself and the Chairman. He sulked for hours if he had to get wet.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that the goddess hadn’t created a dry spot for herself to walk through and wondered about it. Surely she had the power to do so. As Esha looked closer, she realized that the goddess was looking at the raindrops on the back of her hand and smiling. Weird.
Esha glanced at Warren. He’d popped up the collar of his jacket to keep his neck dry and had his head bent. She waved a hand and created a dry space over him as well.
He jerked, then looked at her. A rusty and tentative smile pulled up one corner of his mouth. “Thanks.”
She nodded, then looked back at the rolling hills of campus and the big gray building that housed the infirmary on the first floor. They hurried up the steps, through the big wooden door, and down the hall into a long room with a dozen beds. Only one bed had an occupant and they walked up to it.
“What’s her name?” Esha said as she looked down at the body of the beautiful, dark-haired woman. She was hooked up to machines to monitor her vitals, but she looked peaceful. Esha could already tell that there was no evil attached to the woman.
“Vivienne Lawrence. American,” Warren said. “She had a driving license in her bag. It’s hard to say where they got her from, but I think they aetherwalked her straight from America to the portal because she dinna have a passport to get through Customs.”
“Well, I don’t see any shadows,” Esha said. “Either they followed the soul, or she’s a good person,” Esha said.
“I was afraid you’d say that,” Aerten said. “If they’ve abducted a mortal nonbeliever, there’ll be hell to pay. And now there’s a scared mortal trapped in the wrong hell.”
Esha nodded, still staring at the woman and puzzling over the mystery. But Aerten was right. Abducting living mortals to an afterworld, especially mortals who didn’t believe in said afterworld, was hugely against the rules. The university would have to get involved.
With a last look at the woman, they walked out of the infirmary and out under the covered porte cochere at the front of the building.
“I appreciate your help with this. And I’m glad you’ll be joining us,” Aerten said. She smiled, then disappeared to return to Otherworld.
Warren looked out at the rain. Esha had made a magical umbrella over his head on the walk here. It made his chest feel warm, which worried him. With good feelings came bad. He’d heard a saying once that the bad things in life allowed you to appreciate the good things. For him, it was the opposite. The good things reminded him how bad things were, both in his past and in his soulless future.
Esha was becoming a good thing in his life, as complicated as she was. A soulceress, for gods’ sake. Of all the species to feel something for, he’d chosen the type who had gotten him into his soulless state, which he despised. He was no longer mortal, but neither was he Mythean, and he despised it.
He should leave now. Staying around Esha was bad for his s
anity. He’d never before seen her so frequently or in such proximity, and the contact was only heightening his fascination with her. His past wariness and avoidance of her species had been wise. Now, it was impossible.
She’d crept into his dreams these last days, slipping away as the sun rose, leaving him hot, hard, and disgusted with himself. Yet he couldn’t get his stupid mind off her. He bit the inside of his cheek hard and focused on the pain and the present.
“Thank you for agreeing to this arrangement,” he said to her. “It’s a very good move for the Praesidium. We’ve been underutilizing you by having you work solo. I’ll call on you when I need you for something.”
She nodded, then said, “Hey, what about the portal in the underground? This isn’t a coincidence. Have you put any more thought toward telling the reincarnate? I know you said it’s dangerous, but this is just too much to ignore.”
He stifled a frustrated groan. “You’ve got to trust me, Esha. It’s a dangerous idea. I called her guardian and warned him. Maybe once she remembers who she was, we can suggest the portal to her. Maybe. Until then, our meddling will only make things worse.”
“I really think it would help,” she said. “This has to be it.”
“Nay.” His voice was hard and she flinched. He almost apologized, but didn’t want to soften the warning. “I’m serious. It would be bad to tell her anything before she remembers who she is. Tell me you won’t.”
She shot him a suspicious look and nodded.
Hell, that could go either way.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
“Watch out, lassie.”
Cadan’s warning came soon enough for Diana to dodge a puddle in the damp grass that stretched between the tumbling ruins. He’d upheld the agreement he’d made last night to take her to Verulamium, and they now walked amongst the stone walls.
He’d called his colleague Esha on the phone last night to ask if she could make a portal for them to travel through. Diana could tell he’d been surprised when Esha had agreed. Apparently she was a type of Mythean who could only perform her magic when she had enough power stocked up. The portal spell was a big one, so big that she rarely had that kind of juice.