Free Shattered Souls by Mary Lindsey

me. “No.”
    I couldn’t believe he wouldn’t date. “No?”
    He turned and met my eyes directly. “I’m your Protector. Once you emerge, I’m here solely for you. I can’t let myself be distracted. If I don’t focus, you’ll be killed. My purpose is to protect the vessel. That’s the only reason I exist.”
    His sudden intensity made my heart hammer in my ears. “That sucks.”
    “Not at all.” He sat next to me on the sofa and smiled.
    I returned his smile and leaned a little closer. “What do we do now?”
    His gaze fell to my lips then returned to my eyes. He reached over, and for a moment, I thought he was going to pull me to him. Instead, he brushed my hair behind my shoulder. “I’ll teach you how to help the Hindered.”
    “I don’t want to do that. It’s disturbing.”
    “It’s not disturbing. It’s natural.”
    “Natural?” I got up and began pacing. “What do you mean it’s natural? You’re like this minion who follows me around so that ghosts can’t shove my soul out of my body. You have no free will. You have to subject yourself to my mood ? That’s what you said, isn’t it? That’s not natural.”
    He looked so comfortable and confident, arms draped across the back of the sofa. “I have an inordinate amount of free will. I choose to be your Protector. I choose to let you lead. I choose to let you decide how to handle each particular lifetime.”
    I stared at him openmouthed from across the coffee table. “How can a guy who can kick a bogeyman’s butt be such a wimp?”
    “I’m anything but a wimp.” He leaned forward. “Let me show you. Let me in again, so that you can understand me better.”
    “It hurts.”
    He got up and crossed to me, taking my hands. “Lots of things hurt. You get used to the pain of accommodating another soul. Sometimes pain is good. It lets you know you’re alive. And the cool part? I can show you my memories.”
    Maybe seeing his memories would trigger mine. “Why don’t I remember, Alden?”
    He dropped my hands and shoved them in his pockets. “I don’t know.” He stared at the floor. “It’s probably related to your absence. Maybe being gone longer affects memory.” He met my gaze. “Please, Lenzi. Let me in again.”
    I gnawed on my bottom lip, considering. “Can you show me things from past lives? Can you show me . . . me ?”
    “Absolutely.”

NINE
     
    I couldn’t believe I’d actually agreed to let Alden put his soul in my body again, but I was too curious to pass up the chance to see myself in another life. I sat on the sofa and nervously gestured him over.
    He lowered himself next to me, close but not touching. “If you just relax and trust me, it won’t hurt too much.”
    “I bet you say that to all the girls,” I joked in a feeble attempt to mask my fear. He blushed and looked away.
    “Oh, my gosh, Alden. Did I embarrass you?” His blush darkened, and I laughed. “I did! I embarrassed you!”
    He glanced at me, then stared at the arm of the sofa. “I’m just surprised, that’s all. I don’t expect you to find double entendres in everything. You’re funny. It’s new.”
    New? It was hard to accept the fact that he had known me in other lifetimes.
    “What? Was I some boring loser or something?”
    “No. Oh, no. Never boring, just intense. You took your job very seriously. You took the rules seriously. You were the best Speaker on the planet. No one could beat your record. Very few Malevolent made it through you unresolved.”
    “What does that mean?”
    “Heaven and Hell really exist, Lenzi. As long as the soul is Earth-bound, it isn’t too late for redemption. There’s hope until the last second.”
    My insides churned like they were being dissolved and sucked down a drain. “Don’t tell me I was in charge of saving souls. That’s way out of my league.”
    Alden took my hand, and the calming thing began immediately. “No, no. You were the best at pointing souls in the right direction, that’s all.