Page 19 of Tortured Soul
“You forget that Arc isn’t a fan of me either.”
After all, Marcus was in the room during our exchange. He obviously saw and heard the animosity. The blatant distrust.
“You can think whatever you want about Arc. He’s looking after us all. And since his last vision, that includes you.”
“Right. Hisvisions,” I said. “Like that’s a common trait among…Whatever he is.”
I was confused by the almost smile that stretched his lips. Who knew this ass was capable of such a thing?
“He definitely is something.”
Great. That didn’t give me any more clues about what he was. It would make sense if he was some type of Earthwalker as Kai told me hewas in charge of all Hellrisers and Jeremiah—I guessed I would meet him at some point—was looking after the Divines. It could also explain the ears—that, unlike me, he didn’t bother to hide—since about half of the Earthwalker population had Hellrisers’ origins.
But that didn’t explain the whole aura surrounding him, both holy and sinful. That didn’t explain why Kai said that since Arc was busy, he was the one getting my paperwork done.
“Stop torturing yourself,” Marcus said next to me. We were both standing still in front of the temple, his arms crossed over his chest, mine falling by my side. “He’ll tell you eventually. Or you’ll figure it out, whatever comes first. I trust you remember the way? I gotta go or I’ll be late.”
“Actually, I—”
“Don’t remember?” he asked in a condescending voice. “Left corridor. Don’t go right and don’t linger if you want to avoid Carter. Alright? See ya!”
I didn’t have time to object as he was walking away quickly, hands in his pockets. He didn’t turn back, hence, didn’t notice me standing still like a lunatic, my hand halfway up in wasted protest, for a whole two minutes after he left.
Chapter 7
Lola
“Ah, good! You’re here.”
My smile was only slightly forced as Kai stepped to the side to let me in.
The five minutes it took me to get to his office were hell. The second I put my foot in the large hall, people stopped what they were doing to study me. It was that very second I realized I was screwed.
How was I supposed to successfully avoid someone whose face I’ve never seen?
The only thing I knew for sure was that he was a Divine, and that his eyes were blue.Probably. If he wasn’t some weird confusing Immortal such as Arc.
Since I ended up finding my way without some Divine insulting me or trying to beat me up, I decided to add this whole thing in the small victories’ basket.
I did consider changing my form to some kind of rodent for a second, before thinking it through. My energy was too precious to waste for now.
“Have a seat,” Kai said, walking around his desk to take his own.
The Kai I had in front of me was radically different from the one I met the night before. He was wearing dark dress pants with a black belt, dress leather shoes, and a half open white dress shirt, displaying his array of scars and tattoos. His thick black hair was perfectly pulled back and silver jewelry decorated his fingers and wrists.
“Did you sleep well?”
I nodded. “I did, thank you.”
Kai grinned, exposing perfectly aligned white teeth. “I’m glad.”
He typed and clicked away on his computer for a few seconds. Unlike last night, I could hear people walking back and forth in the corridor and hushed voices in the adjacent rooms.
“Congratulations, your file has successfully been created and updated in our system. If you’re looking for a job, they’ll be able to draft you a contract and send your wage to an account in your name.” He pushed his chair back and rolled a few feet away, grabbing a freshly printed small card from a tiny printer. “Here’s your resident card. You can also use it to pay for things, and it’ll be asked by a potential employer so they can have your details.”
“I have money aside…Would it be possible to transfer it here?” I asked.
“We can do that, yes,” he said, narrowing his eyes in thoughts. “It’ll take time though. Is your money on an account in your name?”
