Save My Soul (19 page)

I turned my head away from him. I was
so angry that I couldn't think straight.

"It was I who sent word to the
guardians about what Rhyan was doing." He leered. "They didn't
approve, but I guess you've already found that out." His face lit
up. "I do have some rather good news for you. You succeeded in
making Adam fall in love with you. That was fast, especially for
someone I thought would never be able to love again. I guess when
you find your soulmate it's almost an instant thing, huh?" He
scowled again. "Unfortunately, I have some bad news as well. When
he saw you with Rhyan, he was beside himself with anger and grief.
You made him fall in love with you, then he saw you with another
man. How do you think he feels having lost the only person he's
loved since he was thirteen?"

I clenched my teeth. "You are a
bastard!"

He smiled a mischievous grin. "Why
yes, yes I am."

"Where did you take him?"

He shook his head. "Even if you found
him, you're the last person he wants to see. He may not be willing
to give his soul over to me right now, but he'll never give it to
you."

"Where is he, dammit?!" I screamed it
at him.

"Happy hunting, Kendra," He held up
three fingers. "Three days down," He added another finger. "Four
days to go, babe."

I woke up in a cold sweat. Rhyan was
trying everything he could do to help me without actually touching
me.

He sighed. "Oh, thank God. I thought
he had you. I couldn't get into your dream; he was blocking me. I
couldn't touch you, but I was shouting at you to wake up. What did
he do to you?"

I told him the whole dream, including
the part about Murry bringing Adam into my room and what they saw
upon arriving.

The sun was pouring through the
window. I had to call all of my clients and cancel. I didn't have a
choice. Murry was holding Adam somewhere, and I had to find him or
I was doomed for sure. Murry didn't intend to kill me now. He knew
if I found Adam, he would never forgive me anyway. I was staring at
my fate, and it wasn't a good one, unless you considered Hell a
place to have a nice long vacation. I know I didn't.

Rhyan was rubbing his temples as if he
had a headache. I was getting one myself. "What am I going to
do?"

He shook his head. "I don't know what
we're going to do when we find him, but we have to find him,
Kendra. If we don't, your soul will be lost come Friday. We have to
try."

"I know we have to try, but after Adam
saw us together," I shook my head. "He hates me now."

"He doesn't hate you. He's hurting,
but he doesn't hate you." His eyes met mine. "Do you love him?" he
asked me very quietly.

"Rhyan," I said, but he didn't let me
finish.

He closed his eyes and spoke. "Don't
worry about hurting me. I know you love me." He inhaled then slowly
exhaled. "Do you love your soulmate?"

I couldn't deny it. It had broken my
heart when Adam refused to believe me about Mason. It felt like
something was actually ripping my heart out of my chest when he
told me to leave him alone. It still hurt to even think about the
look on his face as he said he didn't believe he was my soulmate. I
loved Rhyan, I really and truly did, but I knew that I loved Adam
more, and I'd do anything to get him away from Murry, even if he
never loved me again. I had chosen Rhyan, but it had been because
it was the easiest path to take.

He closed his eyes and nodded. "I'm so
sorry, Rhyan. I didn't mean to hurt you." My eyes misted
over.

"You gave me more than I could ever
hope for. Don't be sorry that you love Adam more. At least you love
me. You are meant to be with Adam. I know that. Don't feel bad
about loving him. Loving him is what is going to keep you alive,
and that is what I want for you more than anything, for you to be
alive and happy."

I nodded with tears threatening to
fall. I didn't know what to say. "I would kiss you right now if I
could."

"I know you would, but only because
you know that's what I want."

I shook my head and he held up his
hand to stop me from speaking. "We need to find your soulmate. I
don't think we have to worry about Murry trying to kill you until
Friday. We have four days. I'm going to leave you for a while. I'll
see if the guardians know where he's holding him. Are you going to
be all right here by yourself?"

"I'll be fine." He looked at me a
moment longer, maybe to see if I was lying, then he popped out of
my room.

I got out of bed and headed for the
shower. I needed hot water to clear my head. I didn't have the
first clue where a guardian demon would hold a human captive. It
couldn't be in Hell unless he was already dead, so where could he
be?

Seemed to me that I should be able to
tell where he was. He was my soulmate, right? Soulmates were put on
the earth to find each other. I could find him, I knew I could, but
how would I make him believe I was in love with him after he'd seen
me and Rhyan together? I don't think I would be able to trust him
with my heart again if the roles were reversed.

I closed my eyes and sighed as the hot
water ran down my back. How did I get myself into this shit? More
importantly, how could I get myself out of it?

I dressed in comfortable clothes,
jeans, a tee-shirt and tennis shoes. I didn't know what I would be
doing, so it seemed more sensible to be comfortable than cute.
Rhyan still hadn't made it back yet, so I dried my hair and just
threw it in a ponytail. I did make an effort with a little makeup.
I couldn't go out of the house totally revolting.

I heard the pop, but it sounded like
it was further away than usual. I glanced in my bedroom and Rhyan
wasn't there. I suddenly had a sinking feeling that Murry had
changed his mind about killing me.

"I'm in the kitchen,
Kendra. I didn't know if you would be dressed. I don't know what I
would do if I saw you naked. I don't really trust myself right
now."

I put my makeup bag away then hurried
toward the kitchen. On the way, I wondered if he'd found out where
Murry had taken Adam. When I saw his face, I knew he still didn't
have a clue.

He shook his head. "I asked the
guardians if they knew where he was. I think they really would tell
me if they knew, because Murry isn't playing by the rules…but they
don't know anything either."

"Do you think he would keep him at
Mason's apartment?" I asked.

"It isn't likely he would be that
obvious, but it's worth looking into. We can start there. Maybe
we'll find a clue. Murry is playing a game with you, and he's
having fun watching. I think he wants you to find Adam eventually,
so he can watch Adam tell you to go to Hell."

I winced. "That was really harsh,
Rhyan."

He shrugged his shoulders. "I'm only
trying to prepare you. Do you expect him to hand you chocolates and
flowers then tell you everything is all right?" He shook his head
at me. "Murry knows what he's doing. This is what he does, and he's
good at it. It will take a miracle for you to get Adam
back."

"So, you don't think I have a chance?"
I was getting irritated at his negativity.

He raised hands, palms out, and closed
his eyes as he sighed. "I didn't say that. You've already
experienced one miracle this week."

I crossed my arms over my chest. "That
wasn't a miracle. That was Coen, and you know it. I would hardly
say that was a miracle. He was the one who caused the accident in
the first place."

"I wasn't trying to upset you. It's
just that I know Murry's kind, and he won't give up, so neither
should you."

I grabbed my purse and my keys. "I
wasn't planning on it."

"That's why Coen chose you," he said
as he followed me out the door.

We got in my vehicle and I started the
engine. "No, Rhyan. Coen picked me because he knew that Adam and I
were soulmates. He knew I wouldn't give up until I got him back or
lost my own soul."

He nodded a little sadly.

I watched him as I drove. I know
you're supposed to keep your eyes on the road, and I did look often
enough to be relatively safe. "I really wanted last night to
happen, Rhyan. I can't change that it didn't."

He looked out the window. "I'm not
upset with you, Kendra. I'm just upset."

"Well, could you try to keep your
pissy attitude in check until Saturday? I've got to find Adam, and
I could sure use your help about right now." He looked at me and
gave me a small grin. "That's better. Now, do you know where
Mason's apartment is located?"

"On the other side of town, two blocks
from Adam's apartment." Great. At least it wasn't rush
hour.

"Well, we can go to Adam's apartment
if we don't find anything helpful at Mason's place. I think Murry
came to Adam's apartment to kidnap him, so there may be a clue
there as well." He nodded his head in agreement. "Who is Adam's
Guardian Angel now that Coen's soul was sent to Hell?"

He looked at me nervously for a moment
then said, "He doesn't have one. They won't give him another one
unless you succeed."

I hit the steering wheel with my palm.
"Shit! Are you kidding me? I'm all on my own in this. Don't they
care about my soul?"

"They're punishing you for making that
deal."

"He tricked me! Don't they take that
into consideration?"

He nodded again. "They are allowing me
to help you."

I leaned my elbow on the door then let
my forehead fall on my palm. "Sweet Mary, mother of Jesus." I took
a few breaths. "How the hell are we going to defeat this son of a
bitch when we find Adam? I know he'll be there waiting to attack
us. He isn't going to let me win without a fight. I can't fight a
demon. Look at me, Rhyan."

He turned his gaze back to me and let
his eyes sweep slowly down then back up my body again. He wet his
lips then smiled at me when his eyes met mine. I scowled at him.
"He can't make you do anything you don't want to. If he kills you
before Friday, then he loses in a way, so I don't think he will go
that route. He will most likely wait until Friday."

My eyes grew wide. "So how can I beat
him?"

"Find Adam and make him choose you,
but the only way you can truly win is for Adam to believe God is
his savior. Just getting Adam back isn't good enough; he will still
have to choose good over evil."

"Why isn't my guardian demon
interfering?" I asked.

"Patrick isn't strong enough to come
to earth. I am able to because you chose to be on the side of good,
and Murry is strong enough because Adam turned his back on God.
Unless you fail in this mission, you'll never have to meet Patrick.
He's in the pits of Hell, and your decisions keep him
there."

I nodded. "Good…good, because I don't
think I can stand anything else working against me this
week."

We drove through the city and Rhyan
directed me to Mason's apartment. The building was equipped with a
security system that required residents to buzz in visitors who
didn't have a key. I didn't have a key and I wasn't a cop, so I'd
pretty much run into a brick wall.

We stood in front of the apartment
complex, and I noticed Rhyan looking around. "I'll go up and take a
look around. When I return, you will be the only one who can see
me, so be careful about talking out loud. You don't want someone
hauling you off to a psych ward." he smiled then popped out of
sight.

I didn't know when people could see
him and when they couldn't. I could see him; shouldn't everyone
else be able to?

"He isn't here,
Kendra."
Rhyan said.

"Well, buzz me up so I can
look for clues."
The buzzer went off, the
door unlocked, and the brick wall tumbled down. Woot-Woot!
"What apartment is his?"

"5B,"
he said, and I made my way to the fifth floor. I could hear
heavy metal music playing, but under that was a softer, classical
sound. Well, he hadn't been lying about his neighbors. I tried the
knob on 5B, and it turned freely in my hand. Rhyan was waiting for
me in the living room of the small apartment.

"Did you find anything?" I asked, and
he shook his head. I looked all around, then huffed. The apartment
was neat and free of clutter. I sifted through some mail on his
kitchen counter. "This looks like the apartment of a normal guy,
not a demon."

"Looks can be deceiving, Kendra." he
said.

"Tell me about it." I looked around
for a few more minutes and came up with absolutely nothing. "Let's
go to Adam's place. Maybe we'll find something there." I walked out
of the apartment by myself. Rhyan was already sitting in my Land
Rover when I got there. "Where to now?" I said as I buckled up and
started the engine.

"Two blocks up; same side of the
street." I nodded and we were off.

The apartment complexes were much
nicer on Adam's block. Mason's hadn't been a shit-hole, but these
were clearly expensive. I would have been surprised to find anyone
making less than a hundred grand a year living here. I had a
feeling that was not a problem for Adam.