Free Hunting a Soul by Viola Grace Page A

inevitable and let the creature walk onto her shoulder. The moment he was settled, she felt a lightening of the weight on her emotions.
    “My name is Veera. My partner, Stanik, is around here somewhere. Look for a large black creature with fangs.”
    Leadra leaned away. “You hang around with a lot of creatures?”
    “Stanik is a shifter. This is his go-to shape. I have to tell you, it makes the Resicoran peacekeepers run like crazy.”
    Veera sat with her as the others ran around to wake the last of the sleepers.
    “What is your talent, Veera?”
    “I am a broad-spectrum telepath. I can pick a thought out of a mind from half a world away.” Veera leaned forward and looked at her hands.
    “Can you teach me that?”
    Veera sat up in surprise. “What?”
    “Can you teach me to look for one mind? I can see him if he is in front of me, but I can’t catch him, and I think if I could use telepathy, I might have a better chance.”
    “I think you might need to go back to the beginning. What are you looking for?”
    Leadra stroked Fixit on her shoulder, and he made a soothing, chortling noise. “I am looking for the soul that jumped into my brother’s body, slaughtered our family and several bystanders before jumping off a bridge. When my brother died, I saw two souls leave and one entered the nearby officer. I tried to engage him and I attacked him, but he beat me and I ended up in the dome for three years.”
    “So you can see the dark soul when it is in someone.”
    “I can. And it needs to kill its host to move on.”
    Veera nodded. “Interesting. We might be able to get the archive to do a search. There might be other recorded issues like this on Resicor, and if they only started recently, there would be a landing craft record and one dead alien.”
    “You will help me?”
    “Anyone in the Citadel would take this seriously, and we will all help you. Look for anyone in these robes and ask for me. I will get the message right away. Or just ask Fixit if he is still with you. He and I have a direct connection.”
    “If you are a telepath, why didn’t you just go through my mind?”
    “It is your mind, not mine. I don’t need to feed on your grief to feel it. I don’t need to rip back the curtain to know you are in pain. You are hunting a serial killer. That takes nerve and I am going to put all of my resources into helping you. First, you have to find out a way to kill it after you catch it, and for that, you need research. For that, we need the archive, and for that, we need to take down your government.”
    Leadra nodded. “Right. I will pick up a weapon and do what I can.”
    “You don’t have to do that, just be here and your positive thoughts and energy will power Resicor and therefore power Trala. The stronger she is, the faster this will go.”
    Leadra was feeling less depressed and stronger. Her plan of revenge had a purpose and there were those who would help her achieve it. Things were definitely looking up.
    Fixit chirped in confirmation and sent her an image of something that was small, fluffy and purple.
    Veera looked up in surprise. “Really?”
    He made a confirming noise.
    Leadra looked from one to the other in confusion. “What is going on?”
    “Fixit wants you to take his youngest as your companion.”
    “It didn’t look like him.”
    “They start out cuddly and fluffy, and when you are ready, they nest and breed.”
    Leadra looked around. “Where is it?”
    “It is at home. We left him where he was safe, with a babysitter. It means you will have to head to Balen when this is all over, and we will be happy to have you.”
    “How do you know?”
    “Because I run the Citadel on Balen. We have trainers who can help you and information access bar none. You will be able to move forward or, at least, expand to your fullest potential.”
    Leadra cocked her head. “Are you serious?”
    Fixit chirped and rubbed his head along hers.
    “I am serious. I don’t often leave the Citadel