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  Saving Souls

  Gifted Anomalies Book Two

  Jaliza A. Burwell

  Saving Souls

  Copyright © 2020 by Jaliza A. Burwell

  Published by J. Ann Publishing LLC

  All rights reserved.

  This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Copy Edited by Bookends Editing

  Proofread by Becky Edits

  Book Cover Design by Manuela Serra

  Printed in the United States of America

  Dear Kirsty, the world is a brighter

  place with you in it.

  You bring the sunshine...

  Table of Contents

  1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  6

  7

  8

  9

  10

  11

  12

  13

  14

  15

  16

  17

  18

  19

  20

  21

  22

  23

  24

  25

  26

  27

  28

  29

  30

  31

  32

  33

  34

  Epilogue

  Author’s Note

  Next in the Series

  From the Author

  Stalker Links

  1

  Saige Weiff’s bright blue eyes sharpen as they look out the window at the gathering clouds. A massive storm is coming tonight, and anyone with a gift can feel the charged air as it builds. Her eyes grow distant, and once she fully retreats inside of herself, I’ll lose her for the rest of the session.

  I can’t let that happen.

  To break her from her thoughts, I ask in a slightly louder than necessary voice, “What are you thinking about?”

  She doesn’t respond, and I fear I’ve already lost her. But she finally speaks, her voice barely above a whisper. “I expected to feel relieved, to feel happy knowing he’s dead. But my little brother is still rotting in the ground. So are my parents. That doesn’t change.”

  I nod and let her keep speaking. No platitudes from me will help her through this. She needs to voice her thoughts, solidify them. And then we can get to the root of it all, work through how she’s feeling and thinking. So, I sit and listen, as is my job during these sessions.

  “He was our boogie monster. It feels surreal that he’s gone. In movies, the bad guy always comes back. There’s always a sequel. I’m waiting for that sequel.”

  “You don’t believe it’s that simple,” I say slowly. “It can’t be so easy that the man who tormented you for years and murdered your family right in front of you could possibly be killed.”

  Her jaw tightens, and she glares at a spot over my shoulders. In her mind, she’s reliving those memories, the way Holsen used her family to get what he wanted out of her. She has the ability to see ghosts, but it goes further than that. Plenty of gifted can see ghosts. Saige is even more special. She can command them too. She’s one of a kind in our world.

  To get what he wanted, Holsen tortured her family right in front of her. He’d been her monster under the bed for a very long time. Holsen got his hands on her when she was a young teen. I only got her about six months ago. Not enough time at all to get past what she had to go through.

  Saige’s shoulders jerk back as her spine straightens. Sitting higher in the chair, her eyes meet mine, clearer than they’d been a moment ago. “He’s dead.”

  “He is.”

  “How?”

  “He went after a gifted and failed. They got him instead.”

  Saige doesn’t say anything for the longest time before finally responding. “Good.” After that, she disappears into herself, going into her safe space. All the signs are there: the way her body stills, her eyes dull. How her breathing smooths out. An unnatural stillness settles around her. She isn’t going to come out anytime soon.

  How is she going to get through this? She lived through a nightmare, and I fear even Holsen’s death won’t be enough to end it.

  Knowing that the session is over, I hit the buzzer at my desk before going to her. I gently grab her arm and pull her to her feet. She’s pliable under my touch, easily bending to my will. In her safe space, she’s completely unaware of her surroundings. Coldness sweeps over me. Anything could be done to her when she’s like this. Anything. And she wouldn’t care.

  It’s a very dangerous state to be in, and I haven’t had the chance to brush the surface of it yet. The day she no longer retreats into that headspace is the day she’ll be able to leave this place. But that’s a long road ahead for her. A very long one.

  One of the orderlies, Emerson Marron, comes in. He doesn’t ask any questions as he comes to my side and takes over leading Saige out of the office and back to her room, to familiar territory that will hopefully pull her out of her inner world.

  I sigh and sit back in my chair, letting the leather seat tip back so I can stare up at the ceiling. How many people do I need to break the news to? It has only been a day since they announced Clayton Holsen’s death, and ever since, I’ve been carefully sharing the information with my patients. Half of my residents had been under the hateful hands of that man; they deserve to know that the bastard no longer lives on this planet.

  My intercom goes off.

  “Dr. Deas, Saige was the last patient for today.”

  I hit the buzzer. “I thought I was supposed to have a session with David later?”

  Celeste, my assistant, doesn’t respond right away, and when she does, it isn’t anything I want to hear. “While you were meeting the others, he had a breakdown. He’s currently in isolation, calming down.”

  “Okay, put him on my schedule in the morning.” I sigh. “For now, I’m going to take a nap.”

  “I’ve been informed that Raid and his group will be arriving in an hour.”

  I scowl down at my phone. I forgot about that.

  Okay, I didn’t forget that Raid is bringing me four more clients who will need time to heal after living underneath Holsen’s care. I just worked really hard not to think about it.

  Those four clients will have six guards attached to them. I’m still not sure how I feel about that, not when all of them were employed underneath that man. I haven’t met them yet, and already, I don’t trust them. They have a lot of proving themselves to do before I can even begin to contemplate making them useful.

  Sighing, I pull myself together. “Thank you. Are all the rooms ready?”

  “Yes.”

  “Thank you, Celeste,” I say. “Please don’t let anyone disturb me until they arrive. Have Emerson pull a team of eight together to get the four new patients settled. Have Dr. Eberly supervise and begin the admittance procedures. Before any final decisions are made, I’ll meet with each patient with one orderly and nurse in the room. The guards can wait in conference room 1A.”

  “Very well.”

  The silence pulses with energy and tension as the clock ticks down to showtime. This isn’t how I want to spend my day, but if these gifted are coming from underneath Holsen’s thumbs, then I’m obligated to help them. A good chunk of my life has been spent combating the trauma that Holsen has made in the gifted community. r />
  I just hate that attached to the patients are guards I know nothing about led by a man named Raid.

  Snorting at the name, I grab my cell phone and find the name of the one man who can hopefully ease my worries, even if only a tiny bit.

  “Jackson,” I say with more cheer than I need when he answers.

  “What?” he snaps. I snort at the sound of grumpy-pants’ irritation over the phone.

  “When are you bringing Adalyn to see me again?” I ask. “I miss mi sirenita.”

  “You can’t have her.”

  I laugh, loving how easy it is to push his buttons. “Don’t worry. She’s at her best with you guys around. I don’t want to ruin that. I’m calling for a favor.”

  A moment of silence passes before Jackson finally asks, “What’s wrong?” The concern in his voice is almost heartwarming. Jackson’s a man who’s always rough around the edges, but he’s also the only man I trust to get shit done. He doesn’t bullshit, and I can always trust his information.

  “I have new patients coming in an hour. Short notice. They were held by Holsen.” I pause as Jackson swears, letting him get it out of his system. When he quiets, I continue. “Yeah, I know. They also come with some guards. I need information on them. My team normally does a good job on background checks, but you have a way of really digging. I want that. I need to make sure they all check out if I’m going to allow them near my patients.”

  “I can do that. Do you have any names?”

  “The one in charge goes by Raid.” I snicker at his name. I really hope that isn’t the name on his birth certificate. “His daughter is one of the patients.”

  Jackson doesn’t say anything; the only sound coming over the phone is a soft whistling, like wind.

  “Hello? Did I lose you?” I glance down at the phone. Still connected.

  “Raid is a good man. Trustworthy.”

  Jackson’s simple assessment loosens something inside of me.

  “Do you know who else is on the team?” he asks.

  “I don’t,” I admit. “I just know there will be five others with him.”

  “Okay, I might know who they are, so I’ll dig around. Send me their names once you have them, and I’ll dig deeper.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Zahra, Raid is honorable. He was just dealt a very bad hand. He’ll never put his daughter at risk after all the shit he’s gone through, so his team will be people he personally knows and vetted. They aren’t the danger.”

  “Maybe. I can never be too careful.” I glance at the clock, noting how the time I have left slowly ticks away. I sigh. “I need to get going, but anything you can give me will be greatly appreciated. I’ll send the names to you in a couple of hours. Be sure to give Ada my love.”

  He doesn’t respond right away. A feeling of unease travels through me. Jackson is a silent man, but there’s something about this one that doesn’t sit right with me.

  “Jackson, what’s going on?” I drop the cheerfulness.

  “She’s back to pushing us away again. I think she saw something, but all she mumbles is that it isn’t time yet. She won’t talk to any of us about it.” By the end, Jackson’s voice is a snarl.

  I raise an eyebrow, not expecting that kind of response.

  “Give her space then. That’s all you can do at this point.”

  “She should trust us.”

  “While you guys are fated and all that stuff, she still barely knows you and I imagine the shit she sees isn’t anything she can easily divulge. Give her time. Let her figure out what it is that’s driving her bonkers. And when she’s ready, she’ll come to you.”

  “You sound like Colton.”

  “Colton sounds like a smart man. Listen to him. We haven’t talked about it, but this is coming from me, so listen carefully, muchachon. Adalyn is in a state of vulnerability. She’s gone through a lot and needs to work through it. I haven’t spent enough time with her to know the best course of action for that, but I can say if you push her, she’s only going to pull away. And while I don’t believe in all this fated crap with love, I do see it when you guys are together. She needs you, so just be at her side and wait her out. She’ll talk when she’s ready.”

  “You aren’t helping.”

  I smirk. “Oh, I am. You’re just too hard-headed to realize it. Adiós.” I hang up on him.

  After taking a moment to push concerning thoughts of Adalyn away, I try to work on a game plan for the new patients and their guards.

  Raid doesn’t expect me to keep his men fed, does he?

  2

  Celeste’s voice comes over the intercom. “They’re here. All guards except for Raid are in the conference room. Raid is talking with Dr. Eberly. He doesn’t seem too happy.”

  “Okay, I’ll be right down,” I respond and grab a notepad and pen, along with some paperwork I’ll need filled out. No one is allowed beyond the first floor until they’ve gone through our screening process. For the patients, that means being checked in. For the bodyguards, it’s a lot more in depth than that. They’ll need to go through extensive security measures, including a background check, before allowed anywhere in the hospital beyond the first floor.

  That usually takes a couple of days, but I have a feeling they’ll be poking around by tomorrow morning. It doesn’t take me long to go down one floor. There’s a small hallway at the bottom of the staircase. One way leads to reception, the other to a hallway of rooms, mostly more offices, but there’s also one conference room.

  I don’t need to walk down the hall to see the trouble already brewing. A man towers over my doctor, his mouth moving, voice low. I only have a side view of him as he pushes Dr. Eberly against the wall with pure intimidation. He isn’t touching the doctor, but he’s in his space, and from what I can see of his expression, he’s furious.

  Sighing, I clear my throat and walk down the hall. The drama has already begun, and I’m not even there to see it kick-off. I always love myself a good brawl. Unfortunately, Dr. Eberly is very much a healer. He can’t stand the idea of hurting anyone. The man before him would have him flattened in seconds. Maybe with a simple flick of his fingers.

  “Raid, I assume,” I say when I finally reach them.

  The man tears his gaze away from Dr. Eberly and faces me head on.

  Right away, I can tell. Raid is a contradiction. He’s only a couple of inches taller than me, but I’m a tall woman. The man before me is a sharp man with pointed features, almost hawk-like. There’s a dark predator flying inside of him, ready to swoop down and attack at a moment’s notice. His black hair is pulled back into a low ponytail, sharpening his features even more.

  People wouldn’t call him handsome, but I’d call him intriguing. And for once, I’m completely thrown off. When I look at people, I see them in an array of colors that represent them. When they know other people, I can see those connections between them. That isn’t my main gift, more like an offshoot. My main gift is healing the very soul of a person. I can’t do it often, otherwise the backlash of my gift puts my own life at risk, but it has given me great insight on my patients.

  Heal the soul and the rest will soon follow. I’ve found that the soul has a huge effect on the mentality of people. The soul remembers the trauma, even if there are no outward signs of it, and in some cases, even when the patient doesn’t remember it anymore. It’s there, though—the trauma. Holding tightly on to the soul, staining it with its darkness. I have the ability to dispel that darkness.

  So when I look at Raid, I’m not sure what to make of him. I don’t see anything. Not a single strand, not a single color. He’s blank. This never happens. I always see something.

  I blink, still staring at him, trying to get some kind of read off of him. He’s definitely a gifted, but that’s just experience in telling the difference between a non-gifted and gifted.

  He’s staring back at me, his gaze prickling against my skin. Why? A warning? I have to remind myself that Jackson said he’s honorable. It’s te
mpting to throw him out of the hospital.

  “You must be Dr. Deas.” He breaks the spell. When we first spoke over the phone, he had sounded like warm, melted chocolate swirls. Now, his deep voice is gruff, a little rougher. A thread of determination weaves through me. I want to hear his other voice again, the one that nearly sent my toes curling.

  “Deas,” I correct with a polite smile, pronouncing my name ‘Deez.’ “Scottish dad. My mamá is a Casiano. And you’re Raid.”

  He doesn’t lift his hand for a handshake, and I don’t offer mine. We stare at each other some more, gauging each other. Judging. My hand itches to reach out to touch him, but that’s something that isn’t done with a gifted, especially if we don’t know what their ability is. If I could touch him though, maybe I’d be able to delve deeper, see his soul, pick something up from him.

  Raid clears his throat, again pulling me from my thoughts. He must think I’m weird or incapable—standing there staring at him and not saying anything. His expression gives none of his thoughts away.

  “Why are we separate from the patients, and why is this doctor here? We came here for you.”

  I raise an eyebrow at the undercurrents of anger. “Protocol. The patients need to be assessed, and we like to do that separately from outside influences. They’re simply going through basic questions so we can determine the type of help we will need to give them. As for you guys, you aren’t allowed beyond the first floor until you have been cleared.” I soften my expression. “Your daughter is safe, I assure you. No harm will come to her here.”

  That seems to be the right thing to say because his shoulders slump and he steps further away from us. Dr. Eberly inches his way behind me.

  I turn my head and raise my eyebrow when our gazes meet. “Really?” I ask.

  Dr. Eberly flashes a sheepish smile and shrugs his shoulders. I snort and turn back around, catching the amusement in Raid’s face before he hides it behind a wall.

  “Please,”—I motion to the conference door—“let’s go inside and talk. I’m sure you have a few questions, and I know I have some too.”

  “Fine.” Raid slips into the room.

  I follow behind, going to an empty seat at the round table. Once I sit, I take note of everyone else in the room. My partner sits nervously at my side as everyone gets comfortable.