Winning Souls by Viola Grace Read Free Book Online Page B

wish to remain here all the time, you can engage in recruiting duties for the Guardians. I am sure that they would be only too happy to have your assistance when it comes down to selecting replacements for those who fall or retire.”
    Enher narrowed her eyes. “That sounds like fun; it also sounds like a bribe.”
    He held up his hands in surrender. “I am attempting to find an inducement to make life with me palatable.”
    She laughed. “Interesting technique. Now, can you read ancient Nurmegar? I want to know what is written on the inside of the temple.”
    He laughed and offered her his arm. “It will be my pleasure to translate.”
    They climbed up the steps, and she left the flight harness outside the temple. The interior was dim and dust piled in the corners, but the engravings were still bright.
    “What do they say?”
    “They tell of the march of the stars in the sky. The bright flash that heralded the death of one of their bright lead stars and the death of the god that was associated with it.” He was amused. “Why did I never come here before?”
    She looked at him. “Death of a star? Was that you?”
    “Kiot was their lodestone. They navigated and told time by my position in the heavens. This was thousands of years ago. It took me that long to hurtle here after my death. I knew there was a reason I felt so at home here.”
    She watched the wave of emotion run over him and reached out to touch his cheek. His startled look made her blush again, so she pulled her hand back.
    “So, this is a temple to Kiot?”
    “To a dozen sky gods. Kiot was just one of them.”
    Enher looked around the rest of the temple and found the passageway that led below. She thought of small, chubby felines and walked into the darkness by the glow of her own skin.
    She heard his steps behind her and led the way into the lower temple where holes in the ceiling, that were not visible from above, pointed toward the areas in the sky where the stars were to do their march.
    “That is wonderful. They could watch you day after day or, rather, night after night.” She turned, and the glow of Kiot’s eyes was the only other point of light.
    “That was the past. I am more interested in the future.” He stepped toward her in the shadowed darkness, and he kissed her.
    She blinked in surprise for a moment before she leaned into the intriguing pressure.
    It was romantic to be in an ancient temple with the small pinholes in the ceiling, and his eyes as well as the pink of her skin. Damn.
    She backed away quickly, opened her mouth, closed it and ran up the stairs. She was out of the temple and wrestling into her glide harness when he emerged and stretched his wings.
    “Was it something I did?”
    She shook her head while her hands fumbled with the buckles. “No. I just don’t want my own biology forcing me into a situation I can’t back away from.”
    He nodded as if he understood. She had explained to both entities in his body, so he actually might understand it.
    “You are staying in Jarlo Province tonight?”
    She nodded in surprise. “I am.”
    “Would you go to dinner with me? I promise...no noodles.”
    Enher snickered. “I will meet you at my hotel. I assume you know which one it is.”
    He shrugged. “What I do not know, I can find out. See you there.”
    She returned to her glide wing, used the small propulsion unit to lift her off the ground and turned toward Jarlo Province. She could see Ulises dipping and swooping in front of her, and if she wasn’t sure it was impossible, she would say he was showing off for her.
    She gained altitude and glided in silence, the world around her filled with sounds from the rustling of growing trees to the shrieks and chortles of animals. She heard it all from her vantage point and wondered if this was what all Enjels felt when they flew. If it was, it explained some of their arrogance. How could you hear something that no one else noticed and not feel pride in the moment?
    She loved the