One
I am a mortal man.
Iâm not sure how I feel about losing my immortality. I gave it up freely.
For a woman.
Did I make the right decision? Itâs too soon to know. It has only been a week since I changed from an all-powerful soul bringer to mere mortal. Yet the woman does seem like a good trade-off. To be a part of Libertie St. Charlesâs world is a wonder and a learning experience....
* * *
I, Reichardt Fallowgleam, watched through the kitchen window from Libbyâs hexagon house as the bold redheaded witch wandered through the backyard garden, here and there plucking a petal to nestle in her basket of spell supplies.
The sun shone in her candied hair like the clear coat on a Maserati. (I find that car the only thing capable of distracting me from Libby.) Her hips rocked to a rhythm I couldnât hear. She wore the earbuds often, listening to music from the tiny metal box clipped at her hip. There were so many kinds of music, and I was just dipping my toes into Libbyâs favorite genre, country. I had to take it slow, though. So much to overload my new senses in this worldâlike shiny red cars.
Generously curved hips shifted side to side, swaying her gorgeous bottom and the flirty hem of her purple skirt. Libbyâs ample curves filled my hands whenever I put them on her. Everywhere I touched her she was soft and so warm.
Yet I had a lot to learn about touching a woman.
Iâd tallied over two thousand years in my lifetime, yet thanks to recent events, I now felt as new and lacking in experience as a newborn. Once Iâd been a soul bringer, an angel forced to Fall from Above and assigned to collect souls from this realm immediately following the death of the mortal body. Constantlyâ24/7, as Libby referred to itâIâd delivered souls to Above and Beneath without regard or judgment for the destination. I had known nothing else.
Save for the woman now smiling at me from over her shoulder.
I waved to Libby and received a wink in return. Her long lashes, which she lengthened with some fancy black stuff from a stick, drew me to her green eyes. Green like thick moss coating a lush forest floor. Mesmerizing. Made my heart shudder in a good way.
My heart hadnât beaten until a week ago.
Apparently, as the soul bringer, I had taken Libbyâs soul, and her sister Vikaâs soul, as well, because I felt Iâd been owed after Vika had inadvertently stolen souls from my usual daily rounds. The theft hadnât been purposeful on Vikaâs part; she was a witch possessed of a sticky soul who attracted lingering souls, those myself and other soul bringers couldnât get to quickly enough.
According to Libbyâs report, Iâd been unemotional and hadnât cared less to strip the sisters of their most prized possession. Vikaâs boyfriend, a dark witch named Certainly Jones, had offered up his soul in trade. I had refused the offer.
When the dark witch had found the halo that contained my earthbound soulâlost after my fall to the mortal realm millennia agoâand had offered it in trade for the sistersâ souls, apparently I had also refused. To have a soul would strip me of my powers and condemn me to mortality. It would also strip away memory of my angelic life.
What I knew now was only what Libby had told me after the transformation. Yet I could remember why I had finally decided to take that deal. I had looked into Libbyâs eyes, and she had promised she would be there for me. And Iâd remembered all the times sheâd offered me chocolate-chip cookies when Iâd come to scrub her sister of souls. Something about the feisty red-haired woman had rapped against my glass heart.
Placing a hand over my heart now, I was glad Iâd made that choice. Yet I regretted the lost power. Libby had detailed the few times sheâd seen me move objects or command people to act against their will. I had shaken entire buildings and brought the rain and lightning to this realm. Fierce stuff, that.
Now, to look at my hands, I felt...less. As if I was missing something. The air also felt wrong. Heavy upon my shoulders. Intrusive.
Beyond that ineffable longing, I did look forward to learning emotions, something Iâd never utilized while immortal. But had the sacrifice of power been worth this new step as a mortal?