Shadow Soul (Narun Book 1) Page 9

  “Explain.”

  “I’ve seen you around in Narun.” Too vague.

  “That’s impossible. I would remember.” Then again, my facial recognition system has been experiencing a few glitches.

  “I didn’t say we’ve met. In fact, you never met me.” I shook my head and Leo continued, “Like I said it was just in the Guard, in passing.”

  “You’re telling me,” I enunciated slowly, “that seeing me in some assembly made you care enough to give a year of your life to shadow me? That’s the biggest load of rubbish.”

  Leo shrugged, and I felt like ripping his shoulders off. “Maybe I felt sorry for you. You used to be full of life, and over here… there’s nothing left in you.”

  “Yeah, right.” It was obvious my voice lacked conviction. I turned away from him.

  “You know full well how much you’ve changed. Let’s leave it at that.” Leo’s words were thick with emotion. There was still so much he was hiding.

  “What do they want from me?” My eyes searched for his darting ones.

  “They want you back on the Guard; they have a need for your special kind of gifting,” he said after a moment. “They want you to be my partner, Kalika.”

  It was like being hit with a bazooka.

  “Never. Never in a million years will I be your partner, you lying dung fly!” I yelled, self-restraint blown to bits. “How could you even think for a second I would go with such a ridiculous idea? Did you really think you could replace…you could never—” I sucked in air through my teeth, feeling my temperature rising a degree.

  “Kalika, this wasn’t my idea! Things are changing, and they need more fighters, especially ones with gifting like yours. Plus, they don’t want you to lose your way. We’re a family—one suffers, we all suffer.”

  That answered one question: they didn’t know of the events that led to my departure.

  But if going back meant Leo would become my partner, it tipped the scales. I’d rather lose my honour than trample on his memory. He would always come before me.

  “Don’t, okay, don’t. I don’t want to hear it. Consider your job done. You can tell them I’m not coming back. Tell them… I’m already lost.” I stormed to the door, ready to jerk it open. “Oh, FYI—I’m not running away. I’m leaving because we’re done.”

  I yanked at the door handle and left an un-opposing Leo alone in Tony’s apartment.

  *

  It was late, or early morning, when I got back to my place. I’d been all over, from the beach to the woods. I dropped the keys on a table near the door and headed to the kitchen. With a glass in one hand, I let the water run through my numb fingers. The fire may have died but the ember still heated my insides. The events of the afternoon refused to digest.

  I washed my face and dried off with a kitchen towel.

  A new partner? Leo? The very thought offended me, no, appalled me. He could not be replaced.

  I walked into my tiny bedroom and sat on the bed, knowing my thoughts would allow no rest. Darkness strangled the room. The past had been getting the better of me all night, slicing what felt like physical wounds on my body.

  Of course, the thought had been there. It forced itself into my consciousness. It demanded to be thought through.

  It wasn’t just me Leo would’ve seen in Narun; he would’ve seen him. He might have even trained with him, talked with him.

  My only saving grace was that at least Leo didn’t know I had killed him.

  Chapter 13

  The sky threatened with thunderclouds, the air filling with anticipation of the coming storm. My head rested against his chest, my knees pointing to the sky. There was no place in Narun that made me feel more at ease. The rock was our rock, the view down below our homeland, his lap—mine.

  “It’ll rain soon.” He played with my hair, brushing the short length of it through his fingers. “We should head back.”

  “We should.” Neither of us made an effort to get up.

  “I have business in town tomorrow morning, so I won’t be at breakfast.”

  “I can come with you.” I swiped away a strand of hair from my face that he’d dropped.

  He leaned back on his hands and I adjusted my position. “No,” he retorted and chuckled under his breath. “I wouldn’t dare take you away from food.”

  “Good. It is Scrambled eggs-Friday tomorrow.” I turned on my side, squashing my cheek against his abs. He smelled like…cocoa.

  “Seriously, Kali. It’ll rain soon.” He made an attempt at shifting me, but I wrapped my arms around his torso. “Come on, clingy.”

  I squeezed him harder. I never wanted to move. I never wanted to part from him. In so many ways, he was a part of me, and he had made me who I was. Otherwise, I’d still be lost, trying to cope under the pressure of a gift I’d always considered a curse.

  A raindrop splashed against my temple. He wiped it dry.

  “Oy.” He got up laughing, with me still holding onto him. “Come oooon, I don’t wanna get wet. Wet frizzes my hair.”

  I let go of him. “Pftt. Yeah, all two inches of it…”

  He gave me a peck and took my hand.

  I’d follow him anywhere. Storm or calm.

  Chapter 14

  A girl giggled a few seats from me. I glanced at her, guessing her studies had moved to the back-burner while she updated her social media. The library was slowly losing its students, yet my essay was only half-way finished. I’d left it to the last minute out of laziness. I’d had the time. What I lacked was the motivation.

  Nearly two weeks had passed since my chat with Leo, and he still hadn’t left. Obviously, he had issues with accepting rejection. Or he felt his life purpose was to complicate my life.

  I did my best to avoid him, but it was becoming difficult as he worked his way up the social ladder, befriending my only, few friends. Somehow, Leo’s explanation, “Never knew I had a look-alike on the police force”, had even done the trick in satisfying Matthew when it came to looking exactly like the undercover cop he’d stumbled upon in the park where he’d found me.

  Apparently, you could sell anything these days.

  Of course, the biggest problem wasn’t him wrapping Tony and Jill under his spell: barely a day went by without him attempting to talk to me. I had to give him one thing: he was persistent.

  If only I could figure out a way to get him to leave.

  “Burning the midnight oil?” a guy asked, catching me off-guard.

  “Yeah, deadline.” I faced the person now perching on the desk. “Sebastian, right?” I picked a name from memory; he was the brother of the girl who’d lost her phone, and we shared a lecture.

  “You remembered.” His face lit up. “How much do you have left?”

  I leaned back on my chair, grimacing. “Around a thousand words.”

  “Oh, bags of time.” Sebastian glanced at the screen dismissively. His shaggy hair was brushed back as if he’d just had a shower. “What exactly do you study?” Sebastian nodded to the books sprawled around the keyboard.

  “Actually, I only take a few modules. Just figuring out what I wanna do.” While re-thinking my life’s purpose from this point onwards… “But this one,” I tapped the books, “is Community Studies. What about you?”

  “Psychology,” he replied. “It’s fascinating. I never knew there were so many ways in which a person could be a bit of a nut.”

  A guy in the corner of the room woke up to my laughter. “What you doing here at this time, anyway?” I twirled left and right on the chair, one leg bent.

  “Borrowing a book. Well, I teach a Taekwondo class here on Wednesday nights. So, killing two birds with one stone.”

  Should’ve guessed. He was toned and carried himself with a certain confidence. “You must be pretty good to teach it.”

  “That, or the students are really bad.” Sebastian grimaced.

  “I doubt it. You’re pretty fit.”

  Sebastian burst into clumsy laughter. “Thanks… It’s no
t every day you hear a pretty girl say that to you.”

  My cheeks flushed. It wasn’t exactly what I’d meant by it. “I meant that,” I swallowed, “that you’re in good shape. Physically.”

  Sebastian eyed me, amused.

  I slapped his arm. “Ignore me. My brain died an hour ago.” I turned back to the screen, willing the blush to cool down.

  Sebastian pulled a chair for himself and lifted a finger to tap on the desk. “Do you drive?”

  I shook my head and glanced at the time. Hopefully, I’d be finished by midnight.

  “I’ll give you a lift back, then.”

  “No, it’s okay. I’ll still be a good while.” I ran a word count; it didn’t impress. “I couldn’t ask you to do that.”

  “You’re not.” Sebastian dug out headphones and a tablet out of his bag. “I’m offering.” He grinned and surrendered his attention to the tablet.

  Guess the matter was settled.

  Minutes past midnight, I followed Sebastian out into the breezy night. His pink car, borrowed from his mother, jolted several times until kicking into a smooth purr. We chatted through the short journey until Sebastian pulled over in front of my house. Even for a local boy, he was great with directions.

  Looked like I’d made a new friend.

  *

  The next morning, I arrived at my lectures early. I took a seat near the back and slumped into the royal blue, fabric chair, casually scanning the students as they trickled in.

  “Hey, stranger.” Tony shoved my bag to the floor and claimed the seat next to mine. “Seems like the only times I see you anymore are at lectures.” He pulled out a notepad and pen from his bag.

  “I’ve been busy.”

  “Busy avoiding us.” Tony set his face.

  “You know I’m not avoiding you…”

  “Just who we hang with,” Tony added knowingly.

  My lips pursed, and I swayed a pen between my fingers. I couldn’t exactly be angry. Tony and Jill had been more than accommodating, respecting my wish not to hear, see, or speak of Leo. Ultimately, they were the ones left juggling.

  “I take it you remembered assignment deadline this morning?” I asked.

  Tony took the pen from me and placed it on the table. “Of course, I finished it ages ago.”

  “Sure you did—geek.”

  Tony grinned, settling deeper into the chair as he took in the room. “How’ve you been, anyway?” His head was angled towards me, but he watched a guy a few rows ahead showing off a tattoo on his arm.

  “Good. Studies, work. You know, the mundane.”

  Tony brought his focus back to me. “Jill misses you.”

  “I saw her last week, and I talked to her a few days ago.” Tony raised an eyebrow and I faltered. “Okay, I know, I know. I’ll arrange something with her. What about you? What you been up to?”

  “Same old. Been hanging out with people. You’re missing out, lass.”

  I pulled my shoulders inwards. The last few weeks had been rather lonely.

  “You and Jill free tonight?”

  Tony said they were all going out, and we shared a look. “I see. I have to give it to Leo. He’s suddenly everyone’s best buddy.”

  If Leo’s tactic was to alienate me from my friends so that I’d return, it wasn’t going to work.

  “It’s not like that.” Tony rubbed his beardless chin. “You should cut him some slack—talk to him. Did you even know someone tried to mug him the other night?”

  If someone tried to rob Leo—an Attacker in the Royal Guard—I felt for the mugger.

  “He can look after himself,” I noted.

  “True. But he also said he didn’t think it was random. He thought it might’ve been someone from wherever you’re from.”

  “Narun, Tony,” I muttered. “And that’s insane. Why would someone from Narun attack Leo?”

  “He said they were probably after you.”

  I picked up the pen again and tapped it on the desk. If they were after me, why attack Leo? “Or he’s just trying to get me to talk to him. The guy will stoop to any level.”

  I didn’t catch what Tony mumbled in reply.

  After the lecture, I sat with Tony in the cafeteria, nibbling on a cheese sandwich, while Tony filled in an application to volunteer at a youth centre—his long-term dream was to run a sports club for children in need. I couldn’t think of anyone more suited for such a role.

  I swallowed the last dry bite, scrunched the used cling film into a ball and tossed it in the bin as Tony and I parted ways.

  I wasn’t looking forward to my four-hour, mega lecture.

  A group of students had already gathered by the door of the large lecture theatre. No one seemed particularly eager to go in and I slowed my pace until I registered the casual, one-leg-up-the-wall, pose. As usual, Leo wasn’t going to let a day pass without attempting at a conversation.

  Hard-faced, I picked up the tempo.

  “Still no ‘hello’?” Leo’s good-humoured voice reached my ears.

  “It’s not looking promising.” I passed him without a glance.

  “Come on already, we’re going to have to talk one of these days.”

  I was about to lay down the law for the hundredth time when I spotted my new friend— the only friend I now had who Leo didn’t know.

  “Hey, Sebastian, wait up!” I rushed over to him, jerking at his arm and feeling the force of Leo’s glare on my back. “I wanted to say thank you for last night.”

  Sebastian greeted me, throwing an arm over my shoulder like we’d know each other for years, and led me to the lecture hall. Leo didn’t follow.

  *

  Half past seven in the evening, I pushed open the two sets of heavy glass doors to the cinema. Groups of teenagers stood scattered in the high-ceiling entrance lounge. Sebastian’s mop of hair and green Hollister hoodie caught my eye near the stairs. He held out two tickets between his fingers.

  “I was impatient.” He fanned the tickets. “I thought there’d be a queue, so I got here early.”

  I took the ticket from Sebastian’s extended arm. ‘Not a date, not a date’, I repeated the mantra in my head. He’d just asked me to the movies. After that lecture, we needed a treat. Besides, I could only spend so many nights playing tic-tac-toe by myself.

  Then why was I having a boxing match with my conscience?

  “Thanks. You were right.” I nodded towards the snake-like queue. “Must be a popular night.”

  “Or a popular film,” stated a familiar voice behind me.

  My heart skipped a much-needed beat.

  I turned to face Jill, Tony, Stan, and Leo, sizing us up, intrigued.

  Jill’s gaze flittered to Sebastian, but Tony was the one to ask the obvious. “Who’s your friend?”

  My smile was all teeth, no emotion, as I introduced everyone, ignoring Leo’s prying eyes.

  Sebastian smiled, holding out his ticket like a business card. “So, you’re here for ‘Sobriety’ as well?”

  “You bet. Wouldn’t miss it.” Tony took in the queue with a frown. “And on that note, we need to get tickets.” Stan followed Tony to the end of the swerving snake.

  Jill stalled, adding up things between the lines. “You know each other from uni?”

  “That’s right.” I nudged my head to the side knowingly and thankfully, Jill got the message. She hurried away with a quick smile. I suspected she’d be bombarding me with text messages soon enough.

  “So, Sebastian” —Leo took a demanding step forward— “have we met?” His tone may have fooled the Queen of England, but the sour twist of his lips spoke louder.

  “You haven’t,” I cut in as Sebastian was about to reply and took his arm. “Let’s get a drink.” I yanked Sebastian towards the stairs and shot Leo a warning behind Sebastian’s back.

  He wasn’t going to steal this friend, too.

  I gulped the last of my drink, shaking the cup to get the drops trapped within the ice cubes. Surrendering, I shoved it back in t
he holder. My head fell against the head-rest. The action sequence was never-ending. Surely killing innocent people in road crashes didn’t justify the hero’s quest to save his family.

  I jiggled on the seat—and jiggled again. Great, I needed the toilet. Engrossed in the film, I doubted Sebastian heard me excuse myself. A few irritated murmurs followed me out of the room as I slipped into the dimly-lit corridor.

  The restroom was empty, so I passed a few extra minutes reading the wannabe graffiti artists’ writings on the cubicle doors. It would be unheard of in Narun to write profanities on walls.

  I sighed—the mirror sympathised. This had all been one dysfunctional idea. The connotations of the night looking like a date didn’t sit right with me. And Leo’s burning stare on the back of my skull for the entirety of the evening had given me a headache. Someone ought to educate Leo; a cinema trip was a happy occasion.

  Speaking of which… I should join the film before Sebastian got suspicious.

  “What are you doing?”

  The restroom door nearly knocked my back as I was confronted by Leo inches from me.

  “Coming from the toilet. Obviously.” I pushed past him, only to be pressed back against the doorframe. I resisted the urge to go Krav Maga on him.

  Leo stared down my face, hard as marble. “Who is he and what are you doing with him?”

  “What’s it to you?” My attitude was thick as wool.

  “Who is he?” he repeated, leaning in further.

  “Seriously, none of your business. Get off me.” I pushed his face away, but he returned his stare.

  For a few seconds, Leo measured me, then let go, and backed up a step. A tight line formed in place of his usual grin. “Is that how it is then?” he stated, or asked? Who knew?

  I steeled myself further. “And if it is, then it is. We’re not partners, Leo. We never will be, so you don’t get a say in my life and I definitely don’t need to tell you who I go out with.”

  “He’s your date?”

  That’s what he gets out of what I said? I glanced up at the ceiling in frustration. I’d had enough of this conversation.