Concealed, p.1
Concealed, page 1
Concealed
The Solrelm Series
Book 1
By J. Risk
“What about those ladies over there?” Chase motioned.
Bastian turned around and spotted the building he avoided at all costs, always. The garage was open, revealing several different flavors of motorcycles. Four of the reasons he never went there were standing in front of the garage talking. Four Gemini women. “No, I don’t think we should ask them.”
“They might have seen…”
He shook his head, “there are few things in any realm that scare me, but those,” he jerked his chin toward them, “are the Gemini’s,” he waved his hand around trying to remember, “league or group or, whatever they collectively call themselves.” Bastian glanced over to see Capri; the leader of the group was looking right at them. “They scare me.”
“Just because they ride motorcycles doesn’t make them scary, Bastian.” Quinton crossed his arms over his chest and looked over at him.
“No, that part makes them hot.” Bastian tried to think of a way to explain it to them. “We’re just better off not bothering them.”
“I’m going to go talk to them.” Rafael shrugged and started walking toward them.
Bastian turned and looked at Chase, “Is this his first time in this realm? Walking up to strangers isn’t always advisable.”
Quinton snorted, “no he’s been here a lot, he just thinks that pretty smile and face are going to help him.”
“If they don’t like him, not even the gods in all the realms can help him.” Bastian stood there watching him walk with ease in their direction. At least it was only four of them. The leader had stopped talking to the others and stood there with her miles of black wavy locks and expression that said, ‘I would rather carve you up than talk to you’. Rafael was either a brave man or very naive with the vibes coming off her. Standing next to her was Jeri, he’d heard her called, and in comparison, she looked like a calm redheaded hippy filled with peace and serenity. He was too old to believe she actually was. Though looks were very deceiving. That was a hard lesson he’d learned. By the time Rafael reached them all four were standing, legs braced apart and looking at him.
“What are they?” Quinton turned to study them like they were labeled.
“Scary.” Bastian had his phone in his hand now just in case they needed backup or an ambulance.
“I think he means because you can see if they’re human or otherwise,” Chase smirked.
“Otherwise, mostly.” Bastian watched Rafael come back towards them, he couldn’t read his expression, then the young prince pulled his phone out and called someone.
Smashwords Edition
Published by Exordium Books (FRP)
Copyright © 2023 Roxane Kerr
Excerpts from Unveiled book 2 in The Solrelm Series, Heart book 1 in the Animal Senses Series, and The Witch Within Book 1 The Ancestor’s Enchantment Trilogy by Jacqueline Paige, copyright ©2015, 2016, 2022, 2023 Roxane Kerr
All rights reserved. Including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form without the author’s prior written consent, except for brief quotes for use in reviews.
This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this novel are fictitious or used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events or locales, is entirely coincidental.
This is for all of the readers that fell into Alterealm along with me, fell in love with the characters, and rooted for them to succeed. Thank you!
Because of you, I decided to continue with more Realms Books and there’s no better place to start than with Bastian’s story.
As you know the ride is unpredictable and you never really know where it’s going until you’re there. I love it.
xox
Jacqueline
Chapter One
Early evening was one of Bastian’s favorite times to watch humans. The low light made their souls so easy to see, but that wasn’t the only reason. As nighttime approached, they changed. The polite, carefully composed people that smiled innocently during the day, turned into entirely different people once the sun went down.
He was sitting on the roof of a five-story building, looking down at them moving along the busy sidewalk. Picking a location with coffee shops and fast food always ensured his entertainment.
With the vast number of years he’d been alive, his entertainment was very important. Without it, the years, decades, the centuries dragged out and it was mind-numbing. The previous century, he’d been assigned to other areas, but then they’d—as in whomever it was that made ridiculous decisions about what was best, without ever asking those doing the work—decided each authorized watcher would be placed in one area going forward, so the chances of missing any souls in need of aid would lessen. It had made for some very tedious decades for him, but he’d also gotten to know the area better than his own home, which was useful at times.
Leaning over the ledge, he looked down and smiled. There were so many of them down there right now, if he’d been higher up they’d look like ants in their colony. The addition of cell phones into society made for some humorous moments. One of them would stop dead and stare at their phone and the entire flow of the group would change to move around them. Of course, the collision of two watching their phones instead of where they were going happened too often to have any entertainment value now.
A waning soul caught his attention. It wasn’t pulling at him yet, but the body it was in wasn’t long in this world. He’d been seeing it soon, or one of his kind would be—Bastian couldn’t be everywhere all the time. It was disappointing his kind couldn’t teleport with a thought as the Alterealm royals could. The things he could do if he had that power were countless and probably illegal.
He held his breath as another bus moved down the other side of the street. The main reason he’d chosen this location tonight, was the bus terminal was only half a block over. Studying any females close to it, he looked carefully, not having a clue of what or whom he was looking for. The seer princess in Alterealm could have at least supplied him with a rough description. A woman and bus are what she had said. He had to find the woman. None of it was helpful.
Not one of those women, or rather their souls struck him with any sense of urgency in any way, so hopefully, he didn’t miss the one he was supposed to save. Of course, if the bus-woman scenario meant for him to be at the bus station watching those boarding and departing buses, the mystery woman was good and truly screwed because the tedium of that held zero entertainment value, so he was here instead.
Many from his realm complained about the modernism of the human realm, there were too many to watch over now, they traveled too quickly and many more obscure grumblings. Bastian, he loved the fast pace of this current time. So many souls, so little time. He chuckled. Although lately, he’d been busier than he cared to be with a lot more than watching for souls to help cross to their next life, it was— Pausing, he turned and looked back the other way again. The darkness of a soul popped out like a flashing nefarious sign. One from the lawless faction was down there and they were coming down the street in his direction.
“Won’t be a fruitless trip after all.” He watched as the man impersonating a normal human paused a moment before moving again in his direction. “That’s it, come to Bastian, you traitorous cur.” He rolled his eyes at the word from long ago, then shrugged, he was allowed to think in any time period, he’d been around for many of them. Too many some days.
He glanced along the sidewalk, trying to find the soul the lawless traitor was after. It wouldn’t be the sickly one whose time was almost up. They didn’t highjack those. They liked the strong souls with many decades left in their current bodies. There were too many strong ones in the area. Most were just human with very little hints of anything otherworldly mixed into their genes. Maybe he was going to pick some random soul, that was happening far too often lately. Headlines of people’s sudden, unexpected deaths were far too common. Although, the lawless ones weren’t behind all of them. After all the human body was fragile and sometimes unforeseen things did happen. He’d been on morgue detail a lot recently and after tracing the soul’s signature in the corpses, he knew many were being taken by the unsanctioned soul suckers from his own realm.
Standing up, Bastian glared at the other side of the street. Another dark-souled bastard was on the other side. Two in one area was not a whimsical coincidence. They were hunting a specific soul. “Now, I’m intrigued, boys. Thank you for keeping things interesting.” He exhaled slowly and focused on making himself invisible. Of course, if his brothers knew he often perched in very visible, precarious locations where the chances of being seen were high, they’d have monumental conniptions. Did he care what they thought of his habits? Not in the slightest. Being invisible was necessary this time though, it wouldn’t do if these lawless spotted him, then he’d have to run. Being a prince and somewhat a celebrity among his people, made him very memorable. But he still wasn’t fond of running.
Keeping them both in his sights, he quickly moved down the fire stairs. Getting both of them was going to be a challenge, but nothing spiced up an endless day better than an impossible task.
He was on the last few steps when his heart practically did a flip inside his chest. He looked around with a feeling of urgency. He didn’t have time to help a soul pass right now, he really didn’t. He glanced around, looking for the soul calling out to him and then he saw her. Stopping, he put his hand over his heart, which now felt like it was going to beat r ight out of his chest. She was breathtaking. Miles of pale blonde hair, high cheekbones—Bastian wanted desperately to see her eyes. It wasn’t a myth that you could see a person’s soul through their eyes. Of course, Bastian could see it regardless, but the view from those intriguing orbs was always better. That and his people had black, without variation irises and humans’ eyes were so pretty with the flecks and differences in color. She glanced behind her and much to his disappointment, she was wearing sunglasses, which was odd for the fading light, but each to their own. He more than agreed with that. He was the epitome of that.
There was something more important than her beauty and no doubt lovely eyes, that made him dizzy with joy, she housed the very soul that haunted his every dream and all his nightmares. The soul he had chased through time since his own began. He’d never felt drawn to a soul that wasn’t close to passing on or burning out, just this soul that was now in her fragile human body had many times over the years given him the motivation to carry on. He wanted to rush to her, touch her skin, and feel that she was real. He wanted to kiss her. Take her breath of life into his body—
Movement caught his attention, and he remembered the lawless ones. They were both moving in her direction. All the pieces clicked together in his head like cogs on a gear. They were here for her and now he knew why. Grabbing his phone, he knew he should call Tor or at the very least Trendan for backup, but did he? No. He dialed the first number on his call list. Chase, one of the kings from Alterealm.
“Bastian?”
Scowling, Bastian watched her look over her shoulder again, over the rim of the glasses covering her light-shaded eyes, she was afraid. She knew she was being hunted. He remembered the king, “yes. Where is the little seer? Is she there?” He’d hoped to bring these bastards in alive to question them, but that probably wouldn’t be happening now. Pulling the wand from his pocket, he decided he was sucking their souls right the hell out of those bodies. He’d have to send in clean up afterward, couldn’t have any of his kind ending up in a morgue somewhere to terrify and amaze some coroner when they sliced them open to discover the secret inside.
“I’m here.” Princess Crissy said.
“The woman—the one with the bus, what did she look like?” Jerking his head in the other direction, he looked one way and then the other, checking for a bus.
“I-I didn’t really see her.”
The woman started to hurry along the edge of the sidewalk, to avoid collision with others, she was barely staying on the curb. A loud hissing drew his attention. A bus was coming along the same street.
“I think I’ve found her. This can’t happen. Kings, I may need that favor soon.” An ambulance went blaring past, the bus moved over into the other lane to get out of the way. It was very close to the curb now. They weren’t getting her. “Someplace secure in your realm. It can’t be here, and it will have to be guarded.”
Bastian ran down the steps, then jumped over the last few. “Damn, why didn’t I see this?” Another ambulance went by “The easiest way to take down the leadership of my realm…” He was such an idiot. He froze, trying to decide the best course of action. Then remembered he was on the phone, “would be to take out the soul I can’t live without, the one that I live for—” How did she know she was being hunted? He could count on one hand the number of times in all his life when a human knew one of his were nearby. He ran, trying to avoid the people on the sidewalk and was failing. “I’ll call you later.” Hanging up, he shoved the phone into his pocket and ran toward her.
He felt the pull of a hot soul and stumbled, debating for a moment if he should see who it was from. He couldn’t, not this time. One lost soul was worth the answers. Answers he’d been looking for since that first time many centuries earlier. He’d end up doing penance later for losing a soul, but he needed to save her.
Bastian rushed through those coming toward him on the crosswalk and then started looking, searching—she had to be here. He couldn’t be too late. He just couldn’t, not for her. Spotting her, he sucked in a breath, she was going to step off the curb. It couldn’t end this way. He jumped out onto the street, not caring about the cars flying past him. “Stop.” He bumped into someone and didn’t care that now he was no longer invisible and would also be a target for the lawless—if they didn’t run the other way after seeing he was also in the neighborhood. He hopped back up on the curb when she paused and looked in his direction. Dammit, he wanted to see her eyes, needed to, but the glasses covered them.
Tires screeched as a van lost control for a moment, swerving. If she had stepped off that curb, it would have hit her. The glasses slid down her nose and revealed to him the most beautiful pale eyes he’d ever seen. They were huge as she realized the near miss she’d just had. She was all right. His shoulders slumped in relief. For the briefest of moments, she looked at him and he held his breath for fear she would look away if he moved. A horn honking brought them out of the hypnotic moment and then he remembered those after her.
Before he could take a breath and search for those two bastards, he found himself standing in the command center of Solrelm. He hadn’t taken the link off his wrist. Dammit.
“Have you completely lost your mind?” Trendan growled at him from the other side of the desk.
“Forever ago.” Bastian slapped his wand onto the desk and then hopped over the table to stand beside him. Why was he monitoring him during his downtime? He’d ask in a minute, right now he needed to get some guards to that location and find those two soul-stealing bastards.
Bastian’s brother watched him tap the screen with more force than necessary as he brought up the location, then hit Tor and Ulric’s badge numbers. Dragging them to that location, he leaned over the mic switch. “Two from the lawless faction.” He scowled at the screen, “I need them alive to question.” He had to know how they knew about her. Huffing out a breath, he turned to look at his older brother. One of his two older brothers. This one standing here looking at him like he’d lost all touch with reality, he trusted. “I was visible when you jerked me back here.” That ought to be fun for some human counselors when their clients tell them about the disappearing man. He wanted to laugh but was still annoyed.
Trendan rubbed his hand over his short, well-trained blond hair and frowned. “You had two closing in on you. You know they’re only visible on here,” he tapped the screen, “for a few moments and there you were running around like a madman.” He gave his head a quick shake. “Was there a reason for that?”
Bastian looked around the control room, noting a few curious glances their way. “Yes. Was there a reason you were in the control room during your downtime?”
Trendan scowled at him. “I was looking for you.” He gave those monitoring the screens a quick side-eye. “We need to talk.”
Glancing down at the screen, he saw Tor and Ulric’s markers moving around the area he’d been yanked out of. She had to be all right. “Yes.” Bastian clicked his teeth together, “we do. Next time try phoning me instead.”
He messaged Tor as we walked to his quarters, telling him to text as soon as he was back. Opening the door, he went in, leaving it wide open for Trendan to close.
Shrugging out of his leather jacket, Bastian tossed it to the sofa and then took off his link bracelet and set it on the table. He ran both hands through his hair as he went over to the black cylindrical shelf in the wall. Opening it, he looked inside. It was empty.
“You’re about six hours early for that,” Trendan said, sounding amused.
Closing it, Bastian blew out a breath and went over and dropped down onto the sofa. “I don’t even know what day or time it is.”
With his ever-serious expression on his face, his brother sat on the arm of the chair across from him. “You need some downtime.”
Bastian snorted, “I need something all right.” Leaning his head back, he looked over at him. “Why did you need me?”
“I found three more.”
Bastian didn’t need to ask three more what, he knew exactly what he was talking about. The men that had been taken, their minds wiped and then records of their human realm visit erased. But it was so much worse than they thought. “How long ago?”
