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Aiden pulled out his phone and started dialling.  I ll get a bag packed.
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Before I could ask him any questions, he d vanished down the hall. I turned to Cullen s
parents.  What s going on?
To my surprise Gloria spoke up.  You encountered one of the soul stealers, a species of
mist people who have stalked vampires since time began. Their goal is to grab souls before
transition. The more souls they eat, the stronger they are. The mist people are one of the few
things that can truly kill a vampire. They are the ones who hunt us.
She looked pale, even for a vampire, and I felt a spurt of concern for her.
 How do you kill them? I asked.
Mocking laughter met my question and my sudden bit of empathy disappeared.  You
don t kill the mist people, Bartholomew. You run from them. If they can get Cullen s soul
from you, we will lose him forever. We need to get you to the Soul Catcher and she can tell
us what to do next. After contacting you once, they won t be happy until they get Cullen s
soul and possibly your own.
I swallowed hard. For the first time I realised my own vulnerability. It never occurred
to me that my soul might be in danger, too.
 You d best go pack Cullen some clothes. There s a suitcase in his closet. I ll have your
stuff delivered directly to the plane. Citren took pity on me and gave me something to do
while I absorbed the idea that I could, in fact, die for love.
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PROTECTING HIS SOUL Amber Kell 26
Chapter Two
Vampires travel in style.
I kicked back on the private plane and enjoyed my cold beer as I tried to drink away my
worries. Maybe after four or five bottles of liquid courage I wouldn t tremble so much inside.
Cullen s family watched me like I was an unpredictable wild animal that could snap at
any moment and might need to be put down. I kind of thought his mother would enjoy that.
Out of all of the family, she appeared the most likely to  accidentally kill me. I hated to say
anything bad about my lover s parents, but his mother creeped me the hell out. She glanced
over at me as she sipped red liquid from a martini glass. I d bet every penny in my coin jar
that her glass contained blood& and I had a lot of pennies. She licked her lips to clear away a
drop and I barely resisted a shudder.
 It s synthetic.
I turned my head to see Aiden watching me with amusement.
 What?
He nodded towards his mother.  It s not real. Think of it like an energy drink for
vampires. They dye it red to make us think it s actual food, but really it only boosts us
between feedings so we don t get too weak.
 Huh. Red Bull for vampires. Who knew?  Are there a lot of you?
Aiden nodded.  Probably more than you think.
I couldn t stop my hysterical laughter.  As I didn t think there were any vampires until
yesterday, I m pretty sure there has to be more than I thought.
 I guess that would make the number a bit higher than anticipated, Aiden agreed.
We shared a laugh.
Cullen growled at his brother who gave him an amused look.  I m only talking to him,
he protested.
 Mine, Cullen insisted.
I sighed. I wished he had a better vocabulary. Cullen and I used to have long
conversations debating all kinds of things like politics, current events and even
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history& though now that I knew Cullen had probably lived through those times, I felt a bit
foolish about the facts I d argued so strenuously over.
I closed my eyes and rested my head against the back of the seat. Maybe if I took a nap
the rest of the flight would vanish. All I wanted was my Cullen back. I didn t care what I had
to do, but after losing him once, I wasn t going to do it again. Little did I know the price
would be so steep.
My avoidance tactics lasted through the rest of the flight. Eventually I fell asleep as the
events of the day caught up with me.
I awoke to find Cullen watching me, a sad look in his eyes.
I m not usually so slow but for the first time I questioned how it must feel to have
nothing inside& to essentially be hollow. I d never given my soul much thought before but
right then, meeting my lover s gaze, I wondered.
 Are you all right?
Cullen nodded. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]