Free Love Beyond Sanity by Rebecca Royce Page B

for him anywhere.
    He shook his head. "Enough, Charma."
    She cocked her head to the right. "Excuse me?"
    Needing to change the subject, he stalked towards her. "Tell me more about this soul mate business. What is it they do together?" He stood over her, his eyes unable to look away from her blue depths.
    "What do you think they do?"
    Her tone said she was completely uninterested in what he imagined soul mates did together. He could see her pulse flutter under the skin of her throat, hear her breathing increase. Hell, she'd known what they were supposed to be doing together all these years. He reached out and captured her face in his hands. Lips red as cherries called to him. He needed to taste.
    "Isn't this convenient? I didn't even have to seek you out?"
    Jason shoved all thoughts of making out from his mind, let go of her face, and pushed her behind him. Self-loathing had come to call. He'd be damned if she hurt the blonde-haired angel behind him.

Chapter Six
     
    Sebastian charged down Magazine Street, holding his coffee with chickaree and smoking the appropriate cigarette for a man in the south. His pace was fast, which allowed him to skip exchanging pleasantries with most of the people he passed. Occasionally, someone would catch his eye and he would be forced to nod and smile. Most of the time he couldn't remember the pesky human's name.
    He shrugged . Did humans bother to ask the name of the cockroaches they crushed under their boots? No. These creatures were no different to him.
    Today was not a day for endless wandering while he perfected his plan. No, the current mission was too important to waste time. A minion was getting out of hand and when that happened, penalties had to be paid.
    Magazine Street changed as he walked down it. Starting out rather tourist friendly, full of coffee shops and oyster bars, the street soon became the place for local antique dealers and used bookstores. It was the end of the street that had always interested him. That was where Magazine Street got really seedy, and it was in those dens of inequities that Sebastian found his most useful people.
    Until recently, he had counted Trent Lupo amongst his most useful and loyal followers. Very rarely did Sebastian even have to possess his mind anymore. Trent just liked following his orders and destroying humanity. Sebastian smiled to himself. If it took all types to make the world go round, then Trent was, hands down, his type.
    By day, it appeared he ran a women's lingerie store. Not the kind of place the uptown beauties and mid-city mommies would frequent, or at least be caught frequenting, but rather the store catered to the kind of women found working on Jefferson Highway. The kind who negotiated the price for their services by the hour.
    At night, Trent's business became even less respectable. In the back of his store, Trent conducted rituals using his special set of skills to eliminate problems for the people who could afford to pay. Usually this meant ending the life of whoever it was he was asked to condemn. Soul damning voodoo did the trick ninety-nine percent of the time, but Trent had never scoffed at pulling out a gun when the occasion called for it.
    So why on earth Trent would pick this week, when Sebastian's damned sister flew into town, to grow a conscience and start refusing orders?
    Standing outside of Ladies Pleasure , not the cleverest name for the lingerie store, Sebastian took a deep breath and smelled inside to see if Trent was alone or if he had customers. Immediately, Sebastian smelled two women. Bile formed in his throat. Somebody needed to tell both of them that less was more when it came to perfume. Eyes watering, Sebastian blew at the front door as he exhaled smoke from his cigarette.
    The door swung open like he'd pushed it. Dropping the cancer stick that would never make him sick, he walked through the entryway. As he did, he used his power to form a protective bubble around the shop that would keep humans out and