Immortal Souls (The Immortal Souls: Magic & Chaos)

Book 2 - Chapter 1

The fluorescent bar lights shone into her eyes; she closed them tightly against the glare. As she closed her stinging eyes, images burned behind the lids.

A face with skin like smooth alabaster covered in blood and eyes with draining colour staring back with an expression of betrayal.

Sam opened her eyes and stared down at her shaking hands, which clutched a glass of clear liquid. Her eyes watered slightly, though she couldn't tell if it was because the lights were too bright or if she was crying.

She sipped her drink.

The liquid burned as it made its way down her oesophagus. She didn't wince against the pain. Instead she embraced it. A small amount of pain was the least she deserved for what she'd done.

Sam sat on the barstool in discomfort, wishing with all of her being that she could go back and stop herself. The exacts of what had happened skittered along the edges of her memories, if she tried she knew that she could piece everything together, but the full details were not something that she wished to reminisce. Though it didn't take too much effort to figure out what had transpired.

When she'd opened her eyes to find a body with its throat torn apart and the taste of freshly spilled blood on her lips, she knew.

She would have staked herself through the heart the moment she'd opened her eyes, a penance not even close to what she felt she deserved for the life she'd taken, but she couldn't bring herself to do it.

No matter how badly Sam felt that death was all she deserved she just couldn't do it. Her survival instincts outweighed the guilt of her conscience.

Which was why she had searched for hours for a specific scent, and then followed it here.

To where she would find someone else to exact her punishment.

She peered over her shoulder as a woman walked past, lightly brushing her hand along Sam's back as she did. The woman stopped at the door and turned, looking directly at her as she smiled invitingly.

It was obvious from the flirtatious way she held her body that she was inviting Sam away with her. The woman appeared to be making an effort to convince Sam that it was because she liked her, or at the very least lusted after her. But Sam knew why the woman wanted her and not someone else.

Sam stood, psychologically preparing herself for what was about to come; she finished her drink in one go, then followed the woman out of the bar.

Outside the air was cold and fresh, which was a nice change from the stale smell that contaminated the air inside. Once the bar door had swung shut behind her, the woman threw herself into Sam's arms and kissed her as if they'd been flirting all night.

Sam's senses were assailed by the sweet aroma of the woman's blood. The scent pulsed through her skin and rolled off her in overwhelming waves of heat. She pushed the woman gently to get her to back off; if Sam wasn't careful she would tear this woman's throat out here and now.

"Why don't we go back to your place handsome?" the woman said, batting her eyelashes. She swayed in Sam's arms, moving as if she were drunk. And if not for Sam's heightened senses, which couldn't detect the slightest scent of alcohol, she would have believed that this woman was completely wasted.

"It's too far," Sam said, barely recognising the sound of her own voice as she spoke. "Why don't we find somewhere closer?"

The woman's expression grew slightly irritated. "No," she said quickly, before she recovered herself and gave Sam a dazzling smile. She grabbed onto Sam's shirt, twisting her hand in the fabric as she stood on her toes and leaned in too close. "I'd like to go to your place. I don't mind the walk."

Sam shrugged as she removed the woman's hand from her shirt; she turned and led the way home, not needing to look behind to know the woman was following.

Sam wondered why she had been so insistent on going to her house, surely anywhere private would do? But perhaps she needed to check to see if Sam lived with other Vampires or not. Lucky for this woman, Sam lived alone, as she had for the majority of her undead life.

It took almost an hour for them to get to the house. They walked the whole way there in complete silence, the woman no longer feeling the need to keep up the lustful pretence. If Sam were any other Vampire, this woman would have been bled dry by now. They had been in an isolated area for the better part of an hour and Sam could sense that the other members of her hunting group were so far from them that if Sam had felt the inclination for murder, this Hunter would have been dead before the others would have known what happened.

"Are we going inside there?" she asked once they'd arrived at the house. She stood a few steps behind Sam, not taking a single step past the line of trees that surrounded the building. Her arms wrapped around herself tightly as she shivered. Sam felt a slight bubble of guilt seeing her body shake; she'd been so preoccupied in her own thoughts that she hadn't thought to check whether the woman was alright walking so far in the cold while being so scantily clad.

But then, what did it matter what the woman felt? She would be killing Sam soon so why should she make any effort at niceties beforehand?

Sam turned her gaze up to the trees that surrounded the house and remembered the runes that had been carved into them. The woman couldn't step any further without an invitation.

She turned her back to the woman and stepped onto the porch; she opened the door. "Come in," she said, hoping the verbal invitation would be enough. Spells and potions weren't something she had the necessary skills to perform, so hopefully words were all she needed.

The woman slowly stepped away from the trees and walked towards the house, looking around in confusion as if she wasn't sure why she hadn't walked forward earlier.

Sam held the door for her. The woman stepped inside the house and Sam followed, closing the door on the way.

As it slammed shut, she caught her reflection in the mirror and froze as she saw Jamie's face looking back at her.