Free Soul Stealer by C.D. Breadner Page A

unison. It was hard to breathe.
    “Stay close. I have to materialize.”
    “What?”
    He didn’t wait to explain. He ducked in to an alley, willing himself into solid form, then walked out, wincing against the intense sun, seeing it as a human now. Raphael waited, and the feeling of danger came back, more of a prickling in his ears. He turned left, walking through the crowds of people, not looking back to make sure if Voro was following. He could sense the Sin Eater behind him, like that sensation of someone watching you. He was more focused on the sense of evil coming from one of the high-rise buildings, very close. But which one?
    A cold breeze moved his hair. He stopped, turning to an apartment complex across the street. There.
    He crossed right into traffic, but everyone stopped for him and no one honked rudely. On the opposite side a woman had stopped to watch him, and he felt her desire hit him like rain drops on a windshield. He was indifferent to it but he felt it all the same. She might have even said something but he wasn’t listening.
    He pushed the front doors open, making for the stairwell. The elevator would block his receptors: he needed to listen for what was calling to him.
    Raphael’s long legs made short work of each flight, the buzzing getting louder with each story he ascended. Third, fourth floor …
    Stop.
    He turned to the fire door, throwing it open so hard it hit the wall. As the door opened the buzzing was replaced with a skin-prickling feeling that even got in his nose and irked his neck. At each door he paused then moved on. Halfway down the corridor the buzzing intensified dramatically, nearly bringing him to his knees. He paused, focusing, and the noise stayed concentrated. Raphael checked both directions down the hall, saw only Voro, then he kicked the door down.
    Raphael was aware of Voro asking him what the hell he thought he was doing. But he didn’t answer. He stepped into the entryway of the apartment, noting the female on the floor doing the duck and cover in her pajamas. What he really paid attention to was the huge shadow on the wall, looming impossibly large over the framed artwork and furniture in the living room.
    It couldn’t be a shadow. He knew right away that it was something living. He had a moment to frown before the shadow froze and then surged back, like a wave hitting the edge of a swimming pool, coming back towards him, growing larger.
    Raphael was stuck to the ground right where he was. His feet stopped moving and his back stiffened up as though he was getting ready for a fight - with what he had no idea.
    The shadow hit him full force, driving his body back, lifting his feet out from under him. It slammed him to the ground hard on his back, and if he’d been human it would knock him right out, not just steal his ability to breathe.
    The ceiling over his head was starting to glow bright gold. It warped and shifted like clouds in the wind overhead. When blackness started seeping in to the corners of his vision he knew he was passing out, which he’d never done before.
    The last thing he was aware of was Voro’s voice calling out his name.
     
     
    The woman had held an attraction for him. She was a cross of plain and pretty. But her soul was so pure despite not being terribly young.
    He was prepped to suck her spirit out, had her cowering as though she knew what was coming. He was all but inside her head when the door had swung inward.
    There should have been a heavenly choir hitting a melodious chord at the sight of the form that entered the room next. He knew immediately what it was and couldn’t believe his luck: a fucking angel walking right into his path.
    He’d never known a soul so pure, never felt that kind of incredible rush as he took the angel by surprise, pushed past any defenses the heavenly vessel tried to fling at him.
    The soul was a supernova, exploding and nearly scattering him again. But no, it was enough energy to form the cell bonds that