Soul Dealers Read online

  Mya slipped on her golden sandals and shoved her suit into her gigantic handbag. While her hand was in the bag, she felt her cell phone buzz. The vibration startled her.

  She was at the Babylonian temple, a place that didn’t actually exist in current human civilization. She had no idea how her travel between the two worlds worked or where the two worlds were physically located. Every time she needed to travel, she simply closed her eyes, concentrated, and channeled the path to her court. She did the same on the return trip.

  Well, they must be pretty close by! Mya rolled her eyes. This was the first time she had taken any belongings from the modern world to the court. Perhaps she should give her Goddess Ishtar a cell phone. It would certainly save a lot of back and forth travel.

  She pulled out the phone and looked at the screen. There was a text message that said, “Dan Chandler is in danger. Death by fire.”

  “Oh hell!” Mya moaned. She cared for Dan. He was one of the very decent men she had come across on Earth. After the disastrous failure in the valley, she no longer took big cases. She stuck with Ishtar’s list, handled each subject carefully, and hoped her scores trickled in enough to make her balance of a thousand souls. Because she handled subjects individually, she got to know them well. She didn’t like all of them, but Dan was one of those rare cases she genuinely cared about.

  She had to save him. There was no time to see the Goddess. She closed her eyes, concentrated, and transported back to Earth.

  Chapter 4

  Lucas leaned back in his leather chair and put his feet on the desk. He closed his eyes and immersed his mind in his favorite Tchaikovsky concerto. The music washed over him, a storm of melody like the drama of his life.

  He opened his eyes and looked at the check on the desk—a deposit for the job he had just taken. It was like God had finally heard his prayers.

  He killed for a living, and he was good at his job. He was an excellent citizen as far as he was concerned. He had a legitimate business as a facade, and he paid taxes religiously on those business activities. He would be happy to pay tax on his assassin business as well, but he suspected the government wouldn’t want blood money, so he kept the money for himself.

  When he saved enough money, he’d retire and have a nice family. He would send his children to good schools, and they would, later on, contribute to society.

  Lucas didn’t know what had happened, but recently jobs had dried out. He didn’t think the world had become more peaceful and people had suddenly decided to do the right thing and stop killing each other. On the contrary, the level of crimes and accidents reported on TV was higher than ever.

  The only explanation he could think of was that ordinary people these days had become so skilled in killing that they could take on the task themselves, leaving professionals like him jobless.

  He needed the money, and this contract had come at just the right time. Not only that, it was an easy and lucrative one.

  Mya transported back to the closet at the university from which she had left Earth. She scrambled back to her office and darted to her desk phone.

  “Sam, I have to leave. I have a family emergency. Can you take the class?”

  “The introductory class?”

  “Yes, there isn’t much content at all. It’s just an introduction.”

  “Sure, I know that, Mya… Are you okay?” Sam’s voice sounded hesitant on the phone. He had been her assistant for three terms. He was competent. She never had to give him much instruction on her teaching tasks.

  “Yes, I’m fine. Thanks for doing this. I owe you one.” She hung up the phone then grabbed her bag and stormed out of the office, running right into Sam.

  “Sam, I thought you were going to head over to my class,” she said in a winded voice.

  “You hung up the phone too quickly, Mya. You have to give me the teaching notes.”

  “Oh, yes. Of course.” She pasted a quick smile on her face. “I’m sorry. Feeling scattered today. I have an emergency to attend to.” She darted back into her office, grabbed the notes, and shoved them at Sam, “Here you are.”

  Sam was looking at her like she’d grown a second head.

  “What’s the problem?” She arched an eyebrow.

  His wide eyes scanned her body, and when they made it back up to her face, he said, “Your outfit is…interesting.”

  Mya looked down. She was still in her golden bikini. She rolled her eyes and snorted.

  She was tall, slim, and exotic. Exotic was the description she got all the time from male humans on Earth. Whenever they laid their eyes on her, not knowing she was a thousand-year-old deity and could read their thoughts when she was in her deity mode, the word exotic popped into their heads liked a neon billboard.

  Her experience with humans had taught her that being exotic meant attractive, skewing slightly toward naughtiness, different from the common standards of beauty. Sam was one of the male humans who obsessed over her exotic beauty. Sometimes she wondered how he got any work done at all as much time as his mind spent concentrating on her.

  She didn’t have time to explain it to him right now, and she really didn’t care if he thought she was coming from a sexy costume party in the middle of the day where they performed rituals and held orgies. She had a life and death situation to attend to.

  She shoved him out the door and put on her running clothes. Before she left the office, she heard a ‘gong.’ That was the sound of someone trying to contact her from the court at the temple.

  “Come on, not now!” she growled.

  An image of Leon appeared, hovering in the air. “Mya! You left the court before seeing the Goddess. She’s very angry.”

  “She sent you here to get me?”

  “No. I sneaked out. Come on. Come back to court. There’s something going on there. That’s why she summoned you.”

  “Not now. I have to save a subject. I’ll come back when I’m finished.”

  “It’s only a subject, Mya. Your life is on the line—”

  “Stuff that, Leon. A subject is a life I care about. If I don’t care, what the hell have I been doing for the last thousand years?”

  “Mya!”

  “Tell Ishtar I will see her as soon as my subject is safe and sound.”

  “Don’t do this…”

  Mya arched an eyebrow.

  Leon nodded. “I’ll do my best to calm Ishtar.”

  “You don’t have to do anything for me. Playing with Ishtar’s temper is dangerous. Just tell her I put the life of my subject first, as always. I understand she has important matters to see to. But the safety of my subjects is important, not only to me but for her reputation as well.”

  “I can’t let anything happen to you, Mya.”

  “Nothing will. She needs me here, Leon.”

  Leon shook his head. “I won’t let her harm you…” His image faded away.

  “Don’t— Damn it!” Mya cursed but was sure Leon didn’t hear, nor would he have understood because she cursed in English.

  Save Dan first. Mya concentrated. She turned on her deity mode, and then she could run like the wind. She stormed out the door.

  Chapter 5

  She could smell the smoke flooding her nostrils as she came close to the building where Dan worked. She looked up to see it rolling in the sky like black clouds on their way in for a big storm. When she moved even closer, she could see that chaos had ensued around the building. Fire trucks and police cars were all over, and emergency personnel had the area roped off as they went about trying to rescue those inside. There were people gathered around outside, some of them praying that their loved ones would be the next brought out and some practically incapacitated by the torrents of tears that racked their bodies.

  Mya used her supernatural abilities to block out all of the sounds so that she could scan the scene without interruption. Everything slowed down as she ran her eyes across the building, searching inside for her subject. She could see through the people and the trucks and t
he building. She could connect in a psychic way with her subject once she found him.

  Dan was at the far end of the building. When she found him, she closed her eyes and concentrated, waiting for the signals. She could hear his heartbeat, slow, steady, and most importantly, alive. She could see him now in a room at the far end of the building. He was lying on the floor, not moving. He was obviously unconscious. She took in all the sights and sounds and smells in the room. A heavy odor floated about. Mya sniffed, and panic seized her—the smell was gas. Her eyes moved back to the front of the building where the fire raged. That was where the rescues were taking place. There was no fire yet at Dan’s end of the building, so there were no uniforms there.

  Mya was going to have to get him out of there herself. That would mean switching off her powers and going in to save him like a human. Otherwise, the rescue wouldn’t even count. She took a deep breath, concentrating on all of the visual and sensory information one last time. Then she closed her eyes and switched off her supernatural abilities.

  Even as an ordinary human, Mya was quick on her feet. She darted toward the far end of the building and entered from the parking lot. Everyone’s attention was currently concentrated on the commotion at the other end of the building, leaving this part unattended.

  She heard the faint sound of singing as she sprinted through the empty lot and into the building. She looked around to get her bearings. The smell of gas filled her nose and her human lungs. She could still hear the singing. It was a soft voice, and it echoed down the corridor. It was something soothing and pretty like a lullaby, not in English but in a language Mya didn’t instantly recognize.

  “Hello?” she called out. The only answer was the sound of her own voice bouncing along the walls. She located the room where she had seen Dan and tried the door. It was locked. She looked around the hall, and her eyes fell on the glass cabinet of a fire emergency compartment. She shouldered the glass, and as it shattered and cascaded to the floor, she grabbed the hammer inside. She took it and hit the door handle as hard as she could. The hammer only bounced, sending numbing vibrations all the way to her shoulder.

  “Damn it!” she muttered, suddenly remembering that she was an ordinary human now. Summoning all of her strength, she raised the hammer and brought it back down on the handle. This time, it gave way. She kicked the door in and stormed into the room. It was a storage room, small and filled with gas fumes. The open door provided an inlet for the fresh air and an outlet for the gas. The rush of clean air caused Dan to stir. Mya covered her mouth and nose with one of her sleeves as she darted toward him.

  “Dan! Can you hear me?” She tapped lightly on his face.

  He’d gone still and silent again. She tapped his shoulder then and asked once more, “Dan, it’s Mya. Can you hear me?”

  He didn’t respond. They needed to get out of there. Holding her breath, she tucked her arms underneath Dan’s from the behind and dragged him outside the room into the hall.

  There was still no one around. This part of the building was completely isolated. She had no help now. Dan was breathing, but he was dead weight. She couldn’t carry him outside the building.

  She heard the singing again and looked up to see a young Asian girl sitting on the ledge outside the balcony of the parking garage. Her legs dangled, and her long hair flowed out into the wind. Suddenly her big eyes darkened, and she stared straight at Mya with an absent expression. Her lips continued to move, and the sound that flowed out hung on the wind. It was a lullaby.

  The hair on the back of Mya’s neck stood up, and she shouted at the girl, “Get down from there!”

  The girl kept singing.

  At first, Mya worried that when the fire reached her, the girl would panic and jump from the building. But the more she looked at her, the more she realized that the girl didn’t look human. She looked more like a spirit…a ghost.

  “Get down! Can you hear me?” Mya tried again. There was still no reaction from the girl. Mya turned her attention back to her charge on the floor.

  “Dan, please answer me,” she said with desperation in her voice.

  He stirred again.

  “Oh my God, come on, wake up!” She shook his shoulders. There was still no response, so she shook him a little more violently.

  Dan grumbled and opened his eyes.

  “Dan, Dan, can you hear me? Can you see me?” He nodded. “Thank God!” Mya said, helping him up to a sitting position.

  They heard the singing again, and Dan looked up. Still disoriented, he jumped to his feet then staggered and slumped down again.

  “Riko! What are you doing? Come down here!” he yelled.

  The girl he called Riko kept whispering that strange lilting song. Mya helped Dan stand. He swayed and leaned against the wall for balance.

  “Riko!” Dan called out again.

  “We need to get out of here, Dan. You smell the gas?” Mya asked.

  Dan snapped back to reality but still looked at Riko.

  “She came to my office and stood there with a strange look on her face. Then she started walking down the hall like she was in a trance…like a zombie. I called out and followed her. The next thing I know, I woke up with you slapping at my face.”

  They heard a squeaking sound from the door at the end of the corridor. Mya raced to the doorway and watched as their only way of escape slammed shut.

  “Damn! She lured you here. We have to get out of here. How many other exits are there?”

  “That was the only one.” Dan gestured toward the closed door, panic beginning to color his face.

  “What the hell is going on? Who wants you dead, Dan?”

  He shook his head and winced. In the dim light of the corridor, blood streamed from his right leg and pooled on the floor.

  “I don’t know…”

  “You’re injured,” Mya said, crouching to take a look.

  “We have to get out of here. Gas is everywhere. It’ll only take one spark to send us into oblivion,” Dan said.

  “The other end of the building is on fire,” she told him.

  “What? Okay,” Dan puffed, trying to keep his composure, “this is definitely a setup, although I’m not sure killing me will benefit anyone. I’m just an accountant. I balance other people’s money, but I don’t have any more than my salary. Why would anyone want to kill me?” He turned around, back toward Riko, and said to her, “If you don’t get down, we’ll leave you here, Riko. Zach won’t come for you this time.”

  “What?” Mya asked.

  Dan shook his head. The girl kept singing.

  “Dan!” They heard Zach’s voice echoing from outside.

  “Oh, crap!” Dan said as he realized what was happening. “Holy crap. This wasn’t for me. The setup was for Zach.”

  Chapter 6

  Smoke had fumed out from the other corridor. The heat and the smell of gas had intensified. Mya cursed. Both Dan and Zach were on her list to protect. But Zach’s profile had never been flagged. If she had known she would have to rescue them both, she would have been better prepared. Mya grabbed at Dan’s arm.

  “Do you mean someone wants to kill Zach?”

  “They’ve tried before. We got out of it. It’s a long story.”

  “Dan!” Zach called again.

  Dan limped toward the door. “In here. But don’t come in! We’ll come out.”

  “Let me,” Mya slid her arm around’s Dan’s waist to help him walk. The smell of gas was growing stronger by the second. Dan looked back at Riko and tried once more, “Riko, come on.”

  They heard the door swing open as Zach broke the handle. Zach stormed in and bolted toward them.

  “Professor Portman,” he said, obviously surprised to see her.

  “Which part of don’t come in here did you not understand?” Dan exclaimed.

  “All of it, but there was no way you were coming out otherwise. What’s wrong with your leg?” Zach asked.

  “Zach, there’s a girl sitting outside.” Mya point
ed to the ledge above.

  Zach looked up and saw Riko. He stared at her. Mya expected him to call out to her, but he merely grimaced. He took a stance as if bracing himself against an invisible attacker and then narrowed his eyes at Riko. Mya wished she could slide into her deity skin to read Zach’s thoughts. But she had to stay human until Dan was safe.

  As Zach stared, the girl stopped singing. Her image flickered, and then she disappeared.

  Mya wished again she could switch back to deity mode to find out what was going on, but there was no time, and it wasn’t an important matter at the moment.

  “Professor Portman,” Zach said again.

  “Huh?”

  “That wasn’t Riko. It was a hologram. It’s a long story, and I’ll explain later. Can we get out of here now? The place reeks of gas.” Zach grabbed Dan’s arm to help him walk.

  As soon as they started moving, Mya saw a movement from the corner of her eye. She looked in that direction and saw a girl of about five years of age. She had wandered in from another wing of the building. Her little face was as pale as a ghost, and she looked like she was too shocked to even be frightened.

  “You take Dan out of the building,” Zach said. “I’ll go back for the girl.”

  “No, Zach, Dan’s heavier than the kid. I can handle this. You keep going,” Mya told him.

  She dashed back toward the girl as hundreds of scenarios flashed through her mind. It was like watching a reel of a bad movie. She had done this so many times—saving the wrong people. She knew Dan’s files. He would live until the end of his natural life and die from natural causes. Anything that ended his life now would be unnatural, and it was her duty to save him from an unnatural death. But she didn’t have the girl’s file. She didn’t have time to check the girl’s natural life span. She had to be in her deity form to pull that information. If the girl was meant to finish this life and move on to the next, Mya’s interference would be a negative mark against her record.