Immortal

Bright Tina

"You won't be able. These souls don't care about physical distance. They can easily be on another continent."

"But I feel their death…"

"Not all of them. It's more like an anomaly. Charon feels no pain. Perhaps, it's your human nature to feel their emotions. In fact, only the cause of death is important for the Carrier. Since you are limited by the human form, you can only feel those who died in relative proximity. You have no idea how many people and other creatures die every minute. If you felt the pain of each of them, you would have died long ago. Try to abstract your mind from those who die. You can't help them."

"Maybe, with time… But why a new Carrier hasn't been appointed yet? It's terrible that souls have to suffer all this time."

"You're right, but it's not that simple. Charon has served as a Carrier since the beginning of time. According to scripture, after uncertain circumstances, it's necessary to appoint his Heir – a direct descendant, that is his son. But in view of the fact that he does not exist or we don't know about his existence, this process is somewhat complicated. Now hundreds of sages are trying to find someone who's willing to bear this burden voluntarily, not abusing the Force. This one must be worthy, or the Vessel won't choose him. You have to pay off the debt until then, because the Carrier will need the Force to take over the post."

"Tell me, how does the lack of Balance impact your world?"

Eugene was about to answer my question but we were interrupted by six newly arrived vampires.

"I'll handle this…" I said and started whacking those blood-suckers.

It wasn't until the third one that I realized I was moving as fast as they were. It was so amazing that my vestibular system could stand it, and everything did not merge into one continuous landscape before my eyes, but remained as clear. But by the time I was done with those three, the others attacked Eugene, who did not put up much of a fight, thinking it was better to leave them to me.

He was holding one by the throat as I approached. My hand burnt a hole in the back near the heart and grabbed the vital organ of the vampire, who did not fight at all. The next second the vampire fell down at our feet. But when I was holding someone's heart in my hands it strangely cheered me up. A smug smile on my face made me look very predatory.

My eyes met Eugene's for a second. It was hard for me to determine the nature of his emotions, but something in his eyes made my smile disappear. I did not know whether it was good or bad. I had no time for further consideration as the two remaining vampires decided to flee.

"Where are you going?"

There was no response. I went after those two but got bored. Eventually, I concentrated and I created a firewall the vampires ran into – the chase was over.

When I returned, I saw a lovely picture – Eugene was sleeping, leaning against the post. We had just started hunting, and I felt unprecedented energy but he needed to rest. Judging by his appearance, he was not telling me the real state of thing for one reason or another, and I personally could not care less.

From up close, he looked peaceful and handsome. His tattoo gleaming with dull red light, most likely fading. His breathing leveled off, and his always tense muscles relaxed. For some reason, I wanted to touch his perfect face, to outline his tattoo, to feel the roughness of his slightly unshaven face with my fingers. My hands reached out for his face against my will, but stopped half an inch as Eugene spoke in a guttural voice,

"Don't you dare!"

I clenched my hand and put it in my pocket.

"You fell asleep!"

"And you've found out that I sleep too. What a surprise," he stood up, looked around and continued, "Let's go on hunting or to the Guardians' Abode."

"I think it's better to go home. Tomorrow is an important day, and I need to rest and get ready for it. I don't want to be sleepy during the classes."

Eugene looked me in the eye for a long time, as if trying to read my thoughts, and then smiled warmly in gratitude for the secret care. At least that's what I thought.

"Okay, let's go! I'll walk you home!"

Our relationship became weirder and weirder.

Chapter 7

The Guardians' Abode. The Cell of the Guardian.

He had not been sleeping for three days in a row, and now the narrow bed in his room seemed unusually attractive. Having taken off his jacket, Eugene flopped down on the bed and instantly fell asleep. But he was not given a chance to sleep long. Milena rushed into the room with undue familiarity.

She pursed her lips, looking at her carelessly sleeping man, when terrible things were happening.

Milena tugged at Eugene's shoulder for a long time, saying,

"Eugene, how long are you going to sleep? Get up! We need to hurry up!"

"What happened?" Eugene was muttering, being in a doze.

"Our armory was robbed."

"Milena, are you out of your mind? How's that possible? And what for?

"How do I know? Tol is gathering us all. We need to search for outsiders in the Abode and eliminate them. Another group had already set off on the trail of several Murky Shadows."

Milena threw the jacket in his face. If she was not his woman, he would break her neck for that, but he had to control himself.

"Pull yourself together and let's go. I hope you haven't forgotten how to fight while you were babysitting."

Milena was a lousy Guardian, and yet the Guardians were never notable for kindness and obsequence. For decades, Eugene had been wondering why the Elders punished him by choosing Milena as his soul mate. They chose the worst and cruelest of all Guardian-girls. Even in good spirits, Milena was more like a formidable fury than the mother of his future child. He often imagined how she was choking the child for crying. Eugene could not stand Milena and considered her a terrible lover, a bad friend, and an obnoxious woman. He could not see them living happily ever after, so he secretly hoped to be killed at the battlefield, but not to share a bed with Milena. Even thoughts of his former mistress Melinoia, who cheated on him with more than a dozen of Murky Shadows, were much more pleasant than the memories of nights he spent with Melina.