Page 10 of Tortured Soul (Soulless #1)

Lola

“ A h, good! You’re here.”

My smile was only slightly forced as Kai stepped to the side to let me in.

The five minutes it took me to get to his office were hell. The second I put my foot in the large hall, people stopped what they were doing to study me. It was that very second I realized I was screwed.

How was I supposed to successfully avoid someone whose face I’ve never seen?

The only thing I knew for sure was that he was a Divine, and that his eyes were blue. Probably . If he wasn’t some weird confusing Immortal such as Arc.

Since I ended up finding my way without some Divine insulting me or trying to beat me up, I decided to add this whole thing in the small victories’ basket.

I did consider changing my form to some kind of rodent for a second, before thinking it through. My energy was too precious to waste for now.

“Have a seat,” Kai said, walking around his desk to take his own.

The Kai I had in front of me was radically different from the one I met the night before.

He was wearing dark dress pants with a black belt, dress leather shoes, and a half open white dress shirt, displaying his array of scars and tattoos.

His thick black hair was perfectly pulled back and silver jewelry decorated his fingers and wrists.

“Did you sleep well?”

I nodded. “I did, thank you.”

Kai grinned, exposing perfectly aligned white teeth. “I’m glad. ”

He typed and clicked away on his computer for a few seconds. Unlike last night, I could hear people walking back and forth in the corridor and hushed voices in the adjacent rooms.

“Congratulations, your file has successfully been created and updated in our system. If you’re looking for a job, they’ll be able to draft you a contract and send your wage to an account in your name.

” He pushed his chair back and rolled a few feet away, grabbing a freshly printed small card from a tiny printer.

“Here’s your resident card. You can also use it to pay for things, and it’ll be asked by a potential employer so they can have your details. ”

“I have money aside…Would it be possible to transfer it here?” I asked.

“We can do that, yes,” he said, narrowing his eyes in thoughts. “It’ll take time though. Is your money on an account in your name?”

“It is.”

“Okay, that’s good. We’ll work on it. Give us a few weeks?”

A few weeks was a lot. Too long to wait without any money. Too long to wait to buy any clothes and to rely exclusively on my shifting powers.

“Okay,” I said begrudgingly. “Do you happen to know of a place I could work? Something that wouldn’t require me to deal with too many people at a time?”

He seemed to ponder on it for a while. “Are you worried about something?”

“Well, if I could avoid throwing my pheromones at a crowd, it would be great.”

He seemed to give it a lot of thought as he stayed silent for a long time, staring into nothing, rubbing his chin with his thumb.

“I have a few options in mind, but I think you might want to pass on most of them…”

Not a good start.

“Tell me anyway?”

He stared at me, his fingers tapping rhythmically on the edge of his desk.

“You could work at the Archives. It’s here in the City Hall.

You wouldn’t see many people apart…Well, apart from the ones working here.

” He paused, nibbling on his bottom lip anxiously, studying my reactions.

I didn’t think I was showing any. “Including me. And Jeremiah. And Arc and Carter. ”

My eyes widened. “Oh. Oh. ” I chucked dryly. “Yeah, no. No, I’d rather not.”

“I get it.” He winced. “Children are not receptive to your pheromones, right?”

I wouldn’t be surprised if a town like this had a school, but it probably had only one regrouping all ages. Including older ones.

“As long as they haven’t gone through puberty.”

“ Oh . Right.”

He paused again, looking like he was dropping the idea. “Aymeric owns a little bakery. It brings in a lot of people, but I’m sure he’d look over you. Would that be a possibility?”

Could it? Aymeric was a peach, but I was living in the same house as him. If the numerous past centuries had taught me anything, it was that I needed to separate everything to make sure the lines didn’t get blurred—or the pheromones didn’t blur them for me…

Spending too much time with someone was a risk, and I wasn’t willing to take it here.

“Maybe I should work in the archives,” I said, defeated. “I mean, how bad could it be? Stupid Carter coming once or twice a week to do whatever he needs to do there? I can handle it. It’s the safest bet, right? Wait, are there many people working there?”

He pulled his lips in a tight line. “Technically only Carter. You’d be taking his responsibilities. Which is fine, really; he always complains about it and the fact that he has more important shit to do.”

I’d be stealing Carter’s job. Carter, who already hated me ’s job.

The hesitation must have been readable on my face as Kai hurriedly talked again.

“I’ll talk to Arc. Test the waters, all that. I’m sure he’ll say it’s fine and Carter won’t bother you up there.”

“What would I even be doing in the Archives?”

“Nothing complicated really.” He shrugged.

“There’s a computer. We might come up to give you some physical files you have to sort in the right sections and add to the server.

Once in a while, we might need to take a file out and you can help us find it or direct us in the right alley.

Sometimes, we’ll even take care of the server part and you’ll just have to find the right shelf or drawer. ”

“Alley?” My eyes widened. There were fucking alleys up there ?

“It’s a big place.” His face contorted in a wince. “That’s why Carter complained it was a waste of his time. We’ve been considering getting someone to take care of it for a while now. But it’s an easy job and you won’t be bothered too much. Definitely no crowds.”

I hated to admit it but he was right. It was actually a good place for me, if we ignored the fact that Carter may be popping up a few times a week. At least I’d be alone most of the days. Less risks.

“I guess we could give it a try.”

Kai grinned. “I knew it. I’m sure you’ll be perfectly fine. Working hours would be adjustable if you need to. After all, we’re all capable of navigating the archives on our own.”

“Why do you need someone working there, then?”

He leaned back in his chair, smiling. “Because even though we know how to search for and put away said files, you’d be a huge time saver.

If you’re not here when needed we can either wait for you or do it ourselves, it’s not a problem.

As I said, it’s something we’ve been considering for a while, but you’d be a huge help. ”

It sounded too good to be true—if you forgot about the Carter part.

“How many hours would the job require?” I asked.

“Four days a week, between five and seven hours each day, give or take?”

Yeah. It sounded fishy.

“What’s the catch?”

Surprise pulled at his face. But was it feigned?

“What do you mean?”

“Come on. Very few hours that I can adjust to my needs, in a calm and quiet space…Easy tasks? It seems too good to be true. There has to be a catch.”

His brow furrowed, eyes turning to slits. “You’re a deeply distrusting person.”

“With good reasons.”

The silence stretched, the only sound the drum of his fingers on the desk and the occasional squeaking of the chair.

“Believe me or not, the only catch as you said is that you might run into Carter. And since I already told you, it’s not really a catch, is it?”

I rolled my eyes but didn’t insist although I could feel there was something he wasn’t telling me .

“I’m supposed to meet with Arc before noon.

Come by my office around two and we’ll either draft a contract for you or I’ll help you find something else,” he said, ignoring my suspicious glare.

“There’s already some money on your account,” he added, tilting his chin toward the little card I held in my hand.

“Kind of a welcome gift. Or rather, a ‘ we’re sorry about the rude welcome party ’ one. ”

I scoffed, shaking my head. Rude was putting it lightly. I didn’t think I had ever gotten beat up on the spot…Mistreated, abused and disrespected most of the time, yes, but random attackers rarely got the chance to actually land a hand on me in that way…

“Smile!”

A blinding light flashed before my eyes just as I lifted my head.

“Fuck,” I groaned. “What was that for?”

“Your file!” he beamed. “Your face will pop up on any register’s screen every time you use it to pay. There are no thefts here, but just to make sure.”

My face? Was he…Oh god, I couldn't believe it.

His smile faltered when he noticed my pointed stare.

“What?” he stuttered.

“My face? Really?”

“Yeah, your face. Why, what is— Oh. Your face .”

The silence stretched again with more awkward and pointed looks.

“Your face. Face that you can change at will. Sorry, forgot about that for a minute…” He paused for a beat, scratching his head. “Well, I guess whatever face you chose to wear, you’ll have to keep that one on when you decide to go shopping.”

Well, with my energy depleting it wasn’t like I had a choice anyway…