King Of Souls (Book 2) Read Online Free Page A

inside her. She recalled Elan’s words. He’d judged her brand of magic forbidden.
    With a physical link established, Tara released the energy through the connection. She felt it surge, strong and unfettered, through Zack’s bloodstream.
    Zack’s body stiffened as Tara’s eyes drew half-closed, and her ruby lips parted.
    “Please.” His plea came out in the barest whisper as his eyes widened.
    Even if she’d wanted to, Tara couldn’t reverse the energy flows, and she wanted nothing more than this young man body and soul. She’d waited too long and needed the restoration his energy would provide.
    With her magic spread across Zack’s body like a million tiny anchors, Tara pulled on the current of dark energy. She shuddered pitching her head back in ecstasy as the young man’s life force filled her empty coffers. Tara closed her eyes and gasped, savoring the raw intensity of the human soul filling her body. She’d grown used to the bitter, biting, foreign tang of the strange Baerinese souls. She’d forgotten the human soul’s pure sweet taste.
    Her body quaked while a low groan escaped her lips, and she tossed her head back and forth. Riding halfway down her back, Tara’s wavy auburn hair flowed in time swaying side to side.
    Zack’s face drained of color, and his cheeks slackened before collapsing. His his skin hung like a loose sickening bag of flesh draped over a skeleton’s frame.
    She moaned louder as energy poured into her body sharpening her senses in a way nothing else could. That fleeting sensation of human existence she’d long ago given away sparked a passion and desire inside her. The human soul had no rival on earth. Tara drained the last drops of life force through the link and released her touch before her eyes fluttered open.
    General Demos’s gaze found the office floor as if unwilling to watch the act’s culminating moment.
    The assistant harbor master’s skeletal remains held motionless for a long moment. His clothing hung loose from his grotesque body, giving him the cruel appearance of a sideshow absurdity. Zack’s lifeless remains crumpled collapsing into a bloody heap atop the office floor.
    Montgomery’s face, a mix of horror and rage, trembled as he watched his friend’s last moments of life fade from existence. “In the name of Elan, why? That boy’s done nothing to you.”
    “It’s not what he’s done to me. It’s what he’s given me. I’m sorry for your loss, but I won’t use his gift in vain. Besides, the pleasure he felt during the act made his last moments of life his best.” Tara tipped her head toward a chair placed beside the dented spittoon. “Please sit down Master Montgomery.”
    Montgomery struggled to his feet and staggered into the chair.
    “I need you to supply me with information, and if I’m happy with your responses, you may live.”
    Montgomery stared ahead wearing a blank expression. He looked like he’d aged a dozen years since Tara had first seen him so haughty on the pier.
    “I’ll need you to focus Master Montgomery. Can you do that?”
    Montgomery nodded, staring ahead into nothingness.
    “Good. My first question involves that peculiar statue and building right outside in the square. Who is the man depicted?” Tara said.
    Montgomery’s head turned to meet her gaze. He looked as if she’d ask him to grow wings and fly. “The statue m’lady?”
    “Yes, the statue,” Tara said.
    Montgomery’s brow furrowed, and he shook his head. “That’s Elan.”
    Tara nodded. “Why have the townspeople erected a statue of Elan in the town square?”
    “Why?” Montgomery looked between Tara and General Demos. “Elan’s the Lord.”
    Tara stiffened and balled her hands into fists. They worshiped Elan? He’d stood out as a leading scholar and minor celebrity of his time, but she knew him as a man not some twisted god. “That’s what I thought.” She forced a short nod and a weak smile. “Thank you.”
    General Demos stood and crossed the