Page 3 of Beautiful Soul

The two leaders nodded and within minutes they, their seconds, and the security men each had brought with them, settled their bills before walking out of the café. A handful of supernatural beings were left behind, not knowing that inter-species war had been put off for another two nights.

“You ready for your check? Or are you planning to hang around a while?” Mystic Simonds approached his table, stopping well out of arm’s reach.

“I’m staying for a bit longer, Mystic. A female bland will be asking for me within the hour. Please show her over, then bring us a big pot of your special peppermint tea and a couple of those matchmaking croissants you claim bring couples together, and also a selection of butters and jellies. I’ll be throwing up a curtain once she’s here.”

Mystic Simonds, the owner and head baker of Mystic’s All-Night Café, raised one eyebrow as she studied him. No one was certain whether she was psychic, a witch, vampire, or some combination, but no one dared asked. The frail-appearing wizened woman was somewhere between sixty and a hundred, her skin the color of chocolate sauce and close-cut, pure white hair curly as a sheep’s coat.

“A date, Kingsley? With a bland?” Mystic spoke so softly until only he could hear her as she took a step closer to the table.

Kingsley met her dark eyes squarely. He did not bother to answer, because he had yet to come up with a description of what exactly this meeting with Lena was. Certainly not enough to explain to Mystic.

The old woman blinked before shifting her gaze to the wall across the room. Her pupils opened to turn her entire eyes black. When she next spoke, it was not in her normal speaking voice, but two octaves deeper. “Lena Wellings is anything but bland. You need to keep a close eye on your woman, Mage. She holds the key, but doubts herself and all those around her. There are those in the shadows who will do whatever they have to in order to take control.”

A shiver of … something raced down Kingston’s spine at Mystic’s words.

How did she know Lena’s full name when he only knew her as LenaW? And what key did the bland woman hold? Physical? Metaphysical? Or something else? Was Mystic saying Lena would somehow keep the city from exploding into war when the current agreement between vampires and shifters expired?

Or was she the key to something else?

Though Kingsley had many questions, he bit the inside of his cheek to keep from asking them. Mystic was known to give information and predictions in bits like puzzle pieces that one could not make heads or tails of until later once all the pieces fell together and the situation was dealt with and over.

Kingsley watched as Mystic blinked and her eyes returned to normal.

“What was that?” Kingsley asked, though he already knew.

Mystic had these occasional moments of prophecy and he had learned decades ago to heed her words and not question them.

Mystic ignored his question. “No peppermint tea. You and Lena need lavender tea tonight. Lavender tea and croissants when the bland female arrives. Do you want me to pop upstairs and change the sheets on your bed as well?”

Kingsley chuckled as he shook his head. “Not tonight, Mystic. We’re just getting to know one another.”

“Uh-huh,” Mystic said with a cackling laugh as she walked away, “and I’m a Sports Illustrated cover model.”

****

Lena stood at the entrance to the alley. Then she looked around. She was alone, just as she had been since leaving her apartment. No one was out at 3:12 in the morning. Not even a cab, bus, or police car had driven by during the six-block walk between her apartment and where she now stood frozen.

The alley was not as dark as most of the others she had passed. There was a light glowing from the right wall of the alley, which was reflected on the left side, providing a surprising amount of illumination.

Looking up and down the street once more, Lena took a deep breath and crossed her fingers for luck as she stepped forward into the alley proper. She slowly walked down the narrow corridor to the spot where the twinkle lights seemed to radiate from.

Once outside the door the lights highlighted, and she stopped again. She looked around, surprised to find the narrow passage so clean. No trash, no homeless people living in boxes, not even a rat scrounging for an early morning snack. This had to be the cleanest alley in the entire city. She could not remember ever seeing this alley before, even though she had lived in the city all her life.

She slowly approached a solid wood door painted deep red, with a bright purple frame around it. Strange, but somehow it looked right together. A gold-colored plaque near the door’s knob glinted under the twinkle lights. Lena refused to dig out her reading glasses, so she leaned closer and squinted.

“Mystic’s All-Night Café,” she read to herself. “Well, apparently I have arrived.”

Her stomach knotted up in fear as the door opened. She took two steps back as several people exited and headed up the alley without a glance in her direction. Taking a deep breath, she adjusted the pashmina, pulling it forward to hide her face more fully.

“You can do this. It’s only coffee and then you can go home. No doubt you’ll never see or hear from him again,” Lena whispered to herself.

When the door opened and another couple exited the building, she grabbed the door before it closed all the way. It took another deep breath for courage before she stepped inside.

As Lena stepped over the threshold into the building, a shiver ran through her followed by a wave of warmth and comfort. It felt as if she were a dry bit of sponge that had been plunged into a bucket of warm water.

It felt strange. She took a breath when the muscles across her shoulders responded by relaxing.

It felt like coming home, which was strange since she had not had a home-home to return to in years. Her parents had died a decade ago within a day of one another. Her mother had died from the flu and her father had gone to sleep the next night and simply not woken up. The medical examiner said he had had a heart attack. Lena had been convinced he had died of a broken heart. Since her brother had taken off the day he had graduated high school and was never heard from again, Lena considered herself alone in the world.

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