Life - Life & Death Book 1

Chapter 26 - Zivena

With everything we'd just found out, my mind is left reeling and I don't realize I'm staring blankly at the mural. "Zivena?" Nascha walks past me, her backpack and beanie on.
"Oh, hey! Sorry."
Nascha shrugs, "I'm out. Vasco has taken over. Just a heads up though, he's as dry as a piece of jerky."
I chuckle and watch as she leaves. Sighing, I head up to the apartment. I need to talk to Isis about what we found.

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"Zivena, what are you doing here?" Isis asks when I appear in front of her.
"Oh, you know. Just wanted some one on one girl time. Have a bit of a gossip." I joke.
Isis rolls her eyes. "Is everything alright?"
"I don't know. Mictain and I learned something about the victims this morning. It's strange."
"Come sit down," Isis waves her hand and creates two chairs from the roots of the trees nearby. "What did you find?"
"I think we found what's been missing actually." I tell her everything.
Isis is silent when I finish, an intense expression on her face. After a seriously long pause, she finally says, "I think someone is pulling the souls out of their bodies."

✲✲✲✲✲

I wake up and check my watch. Two hours have gone by. It was time to get to work.
I grab my phone and call Artemis. As I wait for her to answer, I pull on my boots.
"Yes, Zivena?"
"We've figured something out." I fill Artemis in on what Isis told me.
"If this is true then the killings aren't for sport. I think we should ask Zedek this afternoon. He's done a lot of study on magic so he should be able to let us know if it's possible."
I deflate. I was hoping this could somehow be our big break. But could it be possible? Isis said it shouldn't be but she admits she never spent a lot of time learning about magic.
"Who's Zedek?" I ask, trying to avoid overthinking things.
"He's the God of Light and Protection. We'll speak about this at the meeting." Artemis hangs up. I'm left standing in the middle of the apartment with at least an hour to kill.
Just as I sit down on the couch with a plate filled with sandwiches, I hear the elevator ding. Mictain walks in looking tired.
"Did you have a good walk?" I ask.
Mictain nods, "I checked out Central Park and found the crime scene. There were a lot of people around."
"Did you like it though?"
Mictain smiles. "It was amazing. I didn't realize how big it is."
"Yeah, it's my favorite place. Perfect hiding spot."
"I would never have guessed that," Mictain smirks. He grabs a bag of potato chips from the cupboard and sits down next to me. "What do you think the Council meeting is going to be like?"
I shake my head, "No idea."
Mictain murmurs in agreement and we eat in silence.
"I spoke to Isis this morning," I mention.
"What did she say?"
"She said that it sounds like someone is ripping the souls of out the victims' bodies." The words come quietly. It's slowly starting to sink in. I start to feel nauseous as I imagine their souls being pulled out, nothing left behind. Have their souls moved on even if they're forced out? Even if they don't leave their body naturally?
Mictain stares at me. Gods, I wish he would say something.
"Is it possible?" He finally says.
"I don't know. Artemis says that one of the gods on the Council should know. Zedek? We can ask him at the meeting."
We continue to sit in silence. I don't feel like eating anymore, the food in my stomach making me queasy.
Mictain stands up, crumpling his potato chip bag. "We should probably head downstairs. The meeting starts soon."
I sigh and dump my plate in the sink.
Hod is waiting for us outside the elevator doors. "Good timing."
He guides us through the lobby to the other elevators and we wait silently. My hands start to sweat from the nerves.
The doors open behind us and we pile in. Hod scans a security card and hits the button for the 21st floor.
"You will both receive one of these cards. It's the only way to reach the Council room. I believe Nascha said they'll be ready tonight. Now," Hod says, "once the introductions are over, one of you will need to mention what you discussed with Artemis to the Council."
We both nod. The doors open onto a level of glass. Looking one way, we can see through to downtown, the other a glimpse or two of the Hudson. The only things breaking up our view are the pillars holding up the levels above us.
There's a table that sweeps into a semi-circle in the middle of the room, with enough space to sit the Council's ten members. On the floor is an identical copy of the mural that sits down in the lobby.
A man with the palest skin I've ever seen is standing by a window, looking out on the city. He turns when we approach and warmth radiates from him.
"Hello Hod," the man tilts his head before looking to us. "You must be Zivena and Mictain. I'm Zedek, God of Protection and Light. Why don't we sit down while we wait for the others to arrive." Zedek gestures to two chairs at the head of the table.
The four of us take our seats, Zedek on my right, and Mictain on my left. Hod sits on the other side of Mictain.
"I watched your unveiling this morning. You both displayed your powers splendidly," Zedek says.
"You could say that," I mutter.
Zedek smiles at me before turning to Mictain. "How are you enjoying the city so far Mictain?"
"It's really big," Mictain says awkwardly. "There's so many people here. I'm not really used to it."
"Understandably," Zedek laughs. "What is there? About eight hundred people in Plain?"
"Really?" I ask Mictain.
"Yeah, everyone kind of knows everyone else." Mictain looks at his hands, obviously not wanting to talk about it. Thankfully, the elevator opens and four people walk out. The first person I notice has short blonde hair and bounces into the room. Her pink eyes light up when they see me.
"Zivena!" Flora beams at me and waves. I wave back, a grin on my face. Behind Flora, one of the other people is rolling her eyes and makes gagging noises. I stop myself from glaring. Flora takes a seat near Zedek, leaving a space seat between them. The goddess that followed Flora sits beside Hod and openly studies me and Mictain.
Artemis and Vulcan file in behind them.
"Now that we're all here, let's begin the meeting," Zedek says. "I believe that you two have already met everyone except for one?" We both nod. "This is Kali, Goddess of Destruction." Zedek gestures to the wild haired woman. Kali grins at the both of us but there is no humor in her eyes. They're empty of all emotion. I suppress a shudder.
"Faunus, the God of Prophecy, is in Moscow at the moment, and Forseti is in Tokyo."
So that's where Forseti scuttled off to.
"Last meeting we discussed a power struggle between packs in Chicago. Has there been any more progress?" Zedek looks to Flora.
"The Guardians at the Chicago Pillar have intervened after reports of a pack turning over a dozen humans and setting the newborns on the rival pack. We don't know if the humans turned voluntarily as most of them died in the conflict. The Guardians are hoping with their help the Alphas can come to a compromise." I gaze at Flora. I can't remember a time when she had ever looked, well, serious. Professional.
"Fantastic work, Flora. Keep us informed of any more developments," Zedek says. Flora grins and gives him a thumbs up.
Okay, maybe she hasn't changed completely.
"Zivena and Mictain made a discovery this morning that requires your insight, Zedek," Artemis says before anyone else can say anything.
"Oh?" Zedek looks at us.
I take a deep breath and shove down my nerves. "When we visited the morgue this morning to look over the bodies, we found another pattern with the victims. They were all missing something."
"Which was?" Kali asks. Her voice surprises me. I'm not sure why but I'd expected a deep voice but she sounds like a small girl. Kali's eyebrows rise when I don't answer, her expression cold.
"Part of their soul."
"What do you mean?" Hod leans forward.
"Isis explained to me that when a body dies and the soul moves onto the next world, a part of it remains in it's old body. It's the part that houses the memories from that lifetime so they don't have access to them in their new lives. All souls leave that part behind. Other bodies we looked at in the morgue still had that. Our victims didn't. Isis believes that the souls have been forced out of the bodies unnaturally and that's why the memories weren't left behind." I look to Zedek. "Artemis mentioned you've studied magic? Do you know if something like this is possible?"
Zedek frowns at me, thinking. But before he can answer a booming voice sounds through the room.
"Council members to boardroom! I repeat, Council members to boardroom! This is a Level 3 warning!"
"What the hell is that?" I call over the voice. No one answers me. Everyone rushes for the elevators, me, Mictain and Vulcan scrambling after them. Mictain and I share worried looks.
What's going on?
Eight gods and goddesses squeeze into the elevator. More then half are on their phones trying to find out what's happening. In the back corner, I spot Kali with her eyes closed. She's basking in the chaos.
"Hod, do you know what's happening?" Mictain asks but Hod only shakes his head.
The boardroom is only a few levels lower and once we stop, I let the others get out before me. I'll be in the way otherwise.
"Everyone settle down!" Someone calls from the back of the room. We make our way over and find nearly fifty Guardians crammed into the space around us. The Council members hang near the back.
"What's going on?" Artemis calls over the quietened crowd.
A man looks to Artemis and nods to her. "We've just received word that the Seven Clans have been attacked."
Shock runs through the room. The drastic change in emotions is giving me a headache.
"There are no survivors. Every single warlock and witch in the estate was slaughtered."
Disbelief fills me. An entire estate? How? The loss envelopes me, leaving me shaking. So many lives.
"How many?" I find myself asking but no one hears because everyone is in an uproar. "How many?" I call out.
Those close to us glance around, their eyes taking me and Mictain in.
The Guardian at the front faces me. "Close to fifty, miss. The Guardian on the scene hasn't been able to take a full count as there are apparently bodies everywhere." I nod my thanks and he turns back to the others. "A team is already on their way to scout out the area before we send an investigative team through."
"Hold them off, Corvin," Artemis calls out. The Guardian, Corvin, nods and gets a nearby Guardian to make the call.
"You two with me," Artemis mutters as she walks past. We follow closely behind her and, as the elevator doors close, we hear Corvin shouting orders.