Obsidian Souls (Soul Series)

Obsidian
Soul
s
             

DEDICATIO
N
             

Chapter On
e
             

Chapter Tw
o
             

Chapter Thre
e
             

Chapter Fou
r
             

Chapter Fiv
e
             

Chapter Si
x
             

Chapter Seve
n
             

Chapter Eigh
t
             

Chapter Nin
e
             

Chapter Te
n
             

Chapter Eleve
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Chapter Twelv
e
             

Chapter Thirtee
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Chapter Fourtee
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Chapter Fiftee
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Chapter Sixtee
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Chapter Seventee
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Chapter Eightee
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Chapter Ninetee
n
             

Chapter Twent
y
             

Chapter Twenty-On
e
             

Chapter Twenty-Tw
o
             

Chapter Twenty-Thre
e
             

Chapter Twenty-Fou
r
             

Chapter Twenty-Fiv
e
             

Chapter Twenty-Si
x
             

Chapter Twenty-Seve
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Chapter Twenty-Eigh
t
             

Chapter Twenty-Nin
e
             

Chapter Thirt
y
             

Chapter Thirty-On
e
             

Chapter Thirty-Tw
o
             

Chapter Thirty-Thre
e
             

Chapter Thirty-Fou
r
             

Chapter Thirty-Fiv
e
             

Chapter Thirty-Si
x
             

Chapter One

I’ve always liked plans, and I have one for every major event in my life. Sometimes, even for the inconsequential events as well. I’ve always thought that they would keep everything moving along in the proper direction, with each plan setting off the next, just like a well designed domino formation. As long as I kept to the plan, life was supposed to turn out the way I had designed.
             

 
 
 
 
             
So when on a cold winter night, I was attacked by a brutish thug, I chalked the whole thing up to wrong place, wrong time. I never considered, even for a second, that this might be the hand of fate coming down and obliterating my carefully constructed dominos. I hadn’t known that this one moment would derail my entire life.

             
It had started off like any other Saturday evening, I had gone to meet my friends Gilly and Amanda at this place they loved. It was the hottest bar in the city, which was the exact reason I didn’t like it. I don’t like standing in a corner, while trying to avoid hitting the overly perfumed bodies two inches away. Give me a corner pub with ripped vinyl stools and a pool table and I’m right at home, but they are harder to find in this neighborhood.

Unfortunately, it was Gilly’s turn to pick tonight.  We’d been getting together a couple times a month since I had moved to New York City a little less than a year ago. We always go out to a trendy bar or club on Gilly’s night.

Gilly’s single…not happy about it… and definitely on the hunt. I’m single as well. I can’t say that I’m happy about it either but not exactly unhappy. I just believed that things would work out like planned, so I didn’t worry too much about that. I had every intention of settling down and having a couple of kids and had every reason to think it would happen.

             
As I stepped into the bar, it took a moment for my eyes to adjust from the bright streetlights to the dim black lighting, but it was toasty warm, which was a nice comparison to the winter chill.

             
Despite the lighting and the amount of people there, I could spot Gilly right away with her bright red Scott’s hair. As I weaved through the crowd, my friends seemed to be oblivious to me even as I got closer. They were too busy staring transfixed at something by the bar. I followed their line of vision as I got closer and saw what was so appealing. He might not be your type, but there was no debating his attractiveness.

             
“Who is that?” I asked as I put down my jacket and purse in the empty chair and took the seat across from them.

             
“He’s the owner” Gilly said. “It seems being drop dead gorgeous is a family trait. There is a whole gang of them. Brothers or something. Every single one could be in a Calvin Klein ad…not quite up to the owner’s level but I’m not sure that another man that attractive could exist, let alone two of them.”

             
I took a quick look around the bar. It was a decent sized place, which surprised me. From the entrance, it looked as if it would have been half the size. Another glance around showed we weren’t the only females admiring the view of the hunky bar owner, which was not surprising in the least. He had a raw sex appeal not often seen except when manufactured for the movie screen. It was as if watching the tawny beauty of Brad Pitt in “Legends of the Fall,” wrapped up with masculinity of Gerald Butler in “Three Hundred,” … but times ten.

             
“Thanks for ordering me a wine,” I thanked my friends. It might have taken a while since the waitress seemed as equally infatuated with the owner. Even as I spoke I could see her leaning over the bar giving him a generous display of her cleavage. I could hear the table next to ours trying to flag someone down for another round as they sat neglected.

             
“So his name is Caden. He bought the bar a couple of years ago and it’s been doing fabulous every since. The guy is a women magnet. The place is packed because all the men come in following the women that are chasing him and his brothers.” Amanda was never as excited or as animated as when she was ferreting out a story or an angle. No surprise, she was a columnist for the local paper. She also did some freelance writing for some pretty big name news magazines. “Him and his brothers, or whoever they are, showed up out of nowhere. They are really a closed group it seems, never any outsiders. No long term relationships for any of them but that one guy over in the corner.” Amanda gestured over to a booth in the corner where an almost equally attractive man was having a drink with a pretty petite blond. “From what I’ve heard he’s the only married one in the group. Can someone explain to me why the really gorgeous ones always have a little petite blond on their arm?”

             
Gilly and I laughed at the same time. “Are you kidding? What about that hunk you have at home that you snared with your mahogany tresses?” I asked as I was rolling my eyes to the ceiling and shaking my head.

             
“My Mark is a cutie, isn’t he?” She said grinning like a school girl.

             
Amanda, Mark and I had all gone to college together. Mark and Amanda had been crazy about each other from the first date, and they were still going strong. Whenever I felt really cynical about love, I always thought of them.

             
“I want a Mark” Gilly said with a pout. She perked up slightly. “Or better yet, a Caden.”

I looked over and saw Caden was inside the bar area still, but now only about six feet from our table. I’ve never been the type to gawk at a man, but I found myself doing it anyway.

             
Just as I was looking at him his head tilted up, almost like he was catching a scent on the air, and he turned and looked at me. I couldn’t turn my head away from him. I felt my cheeks burning from the embarrassment of being caught watching him, but I just couldn’t help but hold his gaze. Even from where I sat, I could see the light grey color of his eyes. They stared at me like they wanted to devour me. His eyes were intense, and the look in them shook me to my core. It was a sexual look but at the same time angry and aggressive. I broke the eye contact first after what had probably only been seconds, but had felt like an hour. I was probably imagining it, but I would have sworn his eyes were still on me. My skin burned where I imagined him staring at me. I took a large gulp of wine to calm my now frayed nerves and looked up to see my two girlfriends staring at me.

             
“You okay?” they both asked practically in unison.

             
“You seem weird all of a sudden,” Amanda continued.

             
“Oh no, I’m fine really.” I tried to say this as adamantly as I could, but the slight tremor in my voice removed whatever strength I was trying to portray. “This place is too busy. Do you want to try that new place down the street?”

             
“I can’t leave yet. I’ve got some papers I have to pass off to a friend of Mark’s that is going to be here tonight,” said Amanda.

             
“Why can’t he just email them like the rest of the civilized world does?” Gilly commented in her normal sarcastic tone.

             
“They needed original signatures. Why don’t you two head out, and I’ll just hang here until the guy comes then meet up with you.”

             
“No, no, I’m just being silly. I’m fine. I’m not going to leave you here sitting all alone. We‘ll wait.” Taking a quick look over at the bar to locate him and he was nowhere in sight, another good l
ooking man had taken his place.
Feeling a bit braver in his absence, “I just overreacted for a minute. It’s not bad here at the table.”

             
“I for one could sit here all night. Look at the new one behind the bar now. This is unreal. They might have to throw me out of here.”