A Division of Souls - A Novel of the Mendaihu Universe Read Online Free

murmured.
    She pulled away, but could not let go of
her, not just yet. “Be good.”
    Denni smirked at her. “Oh, please. ”
She pulled away and stumbled over to the couch. “When do you think
you’ll be back?”
    Way too damn late, by the looks of it. She
refused to look to look out that damn window to hazard a guess. “I
really don’t know...late morning, midafternoon, I hope. I’ll call
if it’s going to be longer.”
    Denni stretched and began sinking down onto
the pillows. “’kay,” she said, stifling a yawn.
    She watched her sister stretch out lazily,
surprised and perhaps even a little worried. Perhaps she was
exhausted by this rude awakening, but she couldn’t help but think
there may have been more to it. She didn’t have time to think about
it though, not with Poe waiting for her. “Take care, kid,” she
said.
    “You too,” she mumbled, slumber already
beginning to take over. “Love you, Caren.”
    “Love you too, honey.” She leaned over and
gave Denni another peck. She smiled and took Caren's hand, squeezed
it, and let go as they parted. She turned off the overhead light
and shut the door quietly, and with a heavy heart and shaky breath
she walked away, closing and locking the apartment behind her. Poe
was at the elevator doors, staring at his feet and wringing his
hands. She knew he hated to tear them apart like that. Any other
time and Denni would have come first, no matter what, and he always
stood by that. And she silently thanked him for it.
     
    *
     
    They drove towards the Branden Hill
headquarters of the Alien Relations Unit in silence. Caren was in
no mood to talk, and thankfully Poe chose not to say anything. She
stared out the window as they drove through the district, annoyed
by the lack of any new information from their director, or from
anyone else for that matter. The ARU radio frequencies were a
chaotic mess, street patrols yelling over each other as they tried
to make sense of what had just gone on downtown.
    They drove past the main campus of Spender
College, and she wasn’t exactly surprised to see a large number of
students milling outside on the grounds, smoking or talking. They
moved warily, as if they’d all witnessed the awakening firsthand.
She had to be seeing a relatively small percentage of students at
that moment…Branden Hill was the academic center of the city,
housing over a dozen colleges and schools large and small and the
autumn semester had just started. The youngest would be the most
affected by this ritual, and although the school was well out of
the range of the crimson mist, no one knew just how far the
spiritual wash had reached, or how strong it had been at this
distance. She could only hope those kids would be able to grasp
what had happened and not lose themselves in the process.
    They pulled into the circular driveway at
the ARU complex minutes later. The underground garage was desolate
and unnervingly quiet. Very few vehicles remained from the evening
shift…Caren wondered where everyone had gone. Perhaps some were at
the scene already? Or they hadn’t been called in yet? They heard
the rear exit opening and closing and a few footsteps heading down
the stairwell to a lower level. A few ARU cruisers also drove by at
a coasting speed, their occupants waving as they passed. They had to know about the cloud out there…but they’d shrugged it
off as another busy night at the HQ. Perhaps she’d read them
wrong?
    “This doesn’t feel right,” Caren said, her
voice small in the cavernous garage. “You’d think we’d be All Hands
by now.”
    The footsteps were heading their way. Nick
Slater, part of Poe and Caren’s second unit, emerged from the
stairway threshold and joined them, exhausted and sore from a long
shift. His ARU uniform was sweat-stained and rumpled, and he held
his overcoat over his shoulder. There were dark circles under his
gray eyes, and his short black hair was a flustered mess. “Most of
night shift is Downtown covering