Soul Slam, Soul Warriors Book 1

Soul Slam Chapter Two B

I didn't want to hurt him. I didn't like hurting anyone. I just wanted to get out of the museum and give the necklace to Fitch. I didn't believe any of Xander's story.

Of course I didn't cause Xander pain. I'd barely touched him. Just an act to scare me.

He lay sprawled on the ground and didn't seem to be faking. His tunic inched up his thighs and I wanted to tug it down. But that would mean touching him again.

And I didn't want to touch a hot guy. Never trust one, never touch one.

Footsteps pounded on the concrete. My chest echoed the harsh mingling of sounds: thump, skitter, plop. Jeb had followed us. I couldn't stand around debating any longer. I had to get away. Fitch waited by the loading dock—a  person who would know what to do.

Unfortunately, the only way out was down the hallway past Jeb and into the main exhibit space. I needed to hide and make Xander think I'd gone.

"Don't leave. You need to know—"

I ignored Xander's plea and pretended to run to the right by pounding on the ground with my gym shoes. Then, I tiptoed left, skirting the moisture sensing machine and hid behind a large phony stone tablet.

"Where is she?" Jeb limped to Xander, but didn't help him up.

"She ran away."

My fake running had tricked Xander. I slipped the amulet around my neck and tucked it under my black T-shirt for safe keeping. And to hide its ugliness.

"You let her go?" Jeb didn't even ask if Xander was okay.

"She touched me when she passed. I fell, had no strength. I couldn't stop her." Would Jeb believe Xander's ridiculous tale?

"Which way did she go? I must find her."

Guess he did.

"I just want to go home," Xander's voice scraped with pain.

"You have no home. You failed your one and only mission in life." Jeb's words sounded similar to Fitch's threat to me before the heist. "Olivia, if you're not going to steal for the family, you don't belong in the family."

My bruised heart ached all over again. Do the heist or get kicked out of the family. Be able to watch over Tina and Doug or abandon them just like their parents. Become a thief or become a whore.

Fitch's threats were harsh, but a loud mouth and carrying a big stick was his form of motivation. Although this time his tone had been different. More intense.

My tummy dropped so deep it never hit bottom. Xander wasn't even given an option. And it was because of me.

"It wasn't my fault. She took it." A touch of Xander's usual arrogance returned.

"You are no longer a member of the Society of Aten." Disgust and anger filled the old man's tone.

When I screwed up, Fitch slapped me or sent me to my room with an empty stomach. But this time his larger threat to kick me out of the family was similar to Jeb's threat.

"What about my room? My things?" Xander's voice cracked.

"The things the Society bought are for the host of King Tut's soul." Jeb's ice cold tone clipped short. "Which isn't you."

Xander struggled to sit up. "But...but we're a family, you brought me up, you're the only person in this world I know."

Without Fitch I probably wouldn't have survived the last few years. He wasn't the best person, but I didn't starve or freeze to death. He trained me to do something, even if it was illegal. If I didn't return with the amulet, I'd be kicked out of the family. Abandoned just like Xander. So, I didn't have a choice. I would get the amulet to Fitch if it was the last thing I did.