Heartless Souls

Heartless SoulsSAINTS ACADEMY #5 KC KEAN Copyright © 2023 KC Kean www.authorkckean.com Published by Featherstone Publishing Ltd All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Cover Design: Covers by Christian Editing: Encompass Editing Proofreader: Sassi’s Editing Services Interior Formatting & Design: Wild Elegance Formatting Heartless Souls/ KC Kean – 1st ed. Contents Prologue1. Harmonia2. Talon3. Harmonia4. Harmonia5. Alexi6. Harmonia7. Harmonia8. Talon9. Harmonia10. Harmonia11. Malik12. Harmonia13. Alexi14. Talon15. Harmonia16. Harmonia17. Alexi18. Harmonia19. Harmonia20. Harmonia21. Alexi22. Harmonia23. Malik24. Harmonia25. Alexi26. Harmonia27. Harmonia28. Talon29. Harmonia30. Talon31. Harmonia32. Harmonia33. Alexi34. HarmoniaEpilogueAfterwordAcknowledgmentsAbout the AuthorAlso by KC Kean To always feeling like the side character in your own story, it’s coming, just you wait. This one's for you. “I came to say that I was meant for you, just like you were meant for me. But you could only have me when you deserved me.” — HARMONIA PrologueHARMONIA Alexi tosses me over his shoulder as the world goes dark and I know immediately that I’m no longer with Rhea and everyone else. The pain in her voice, the cries from her lips, they echo in my mind. Fuck. I’m going to be dreaming about them for a long time, and I have a feeling it’s really going to be a long-ass time if these three have anything to do with it. Talon grunts as I blink my eyes open, revealing a familiar view of a garden I’ve been in too many times, before Alexi drops me to my feet like I’m on fire or something. I’ve barely managed to find my feet before the three of them are walking toward the red front door that held so much promise in my childhood. Malik leads the way inside as I remain firmly planted on the spot. Uncertainty coils in my stomach, but I don’t regret being here, not when I know Alexi healed Cassandra. But fuck, Alexi, Malik, and Talon are… Furies? Since when? I haven’t seen them since they left me behind for their own journey into the supernatural world. The anguish they caused me was gut-wrenching, and a sharp pain flairs in my chest at the mere memory. “Harmonia, move.” Alexi’s voice booms around me as I wet my lips, staring at him as he quirks his brow at me, challenging me to be a bitch and giving him any excuse to up the ante on the game he’s clearly playing here. But I don’t. Instead, I place one foot in front of the other and slowly, so very slowly, head toward him. He doesn’t move out of the doorway, forcing me to brush against him as I enter the house, and the second I do, regret burns deep inside of me. Gone is the pretty red door and the sunshine seeping in through the stained glass, gone is the hallway that used to be filled with pictures, and gone is the happiness that lured me closer. In their place stands a cell. A fucking prison. Whoever created that glamor did too good of a job. Bars circle me as the three boys I used to hold so dearly stare at me with menace in their eyes. “Welcome to your new Hell, Baby H.” Chapter 1Harmonia Iblink my eyes once, twice, three times, and the same steel bars glare back at me, taunting. These motherfuckers actually have the audacity to put me in a cell. A fucking cell. A prison of their own making, and it makes my blood boil. Twisting my lips, I fold my arms over my chest and my fingers steeple against my skin subconsciously as I assess the space around me. In Alexi’s words; my new-found Hell. A dim bulb looms above my head, casting light and shadows around the space. The room that consists of solid bars holding me captive, crumpled sheets piled in the corner, and me. The stone floor matches the color of the walls, making the place look even more dreary than anywhere else I’ve been—which is saying something given what the last couple months at Saints Academy have been like. When I stepped through the portal with Rhea, the Elites, the twins, Thalia and Cassandra, and Nyx, my brows knitted together straight away. The gym wasn’t somewhere I was familiar with, but the heavy masculine scent in the air and the grunts coming from the sparring men on the mats were wisps of a memory from long ago. I’ve somehow gone from my perfectly girly bedroom in my family home, to being contained in my room at Agion, where I was eventually saved by my best friend and taken to Hell—where the bed was comfier than I expected—only to wind up here. It seems I can’t catch a break. My world stood still as I watched all three of the men continue with what they were doing without acknowledging our presence—a trait I became all too accustomed to from them—but back then they were boys. It would be a crime to use that word to describe them now. Alexi, Malik, and Talon. My eyes locked with Alexi’s first, my jaw falling loose as I gaped at him. Hearing my name from his lips as we stood toe to toe left me lightheaded. I could tell by the glint in his eye that the game had changed, and when he confirmed I was the price to heal my friend Cassandra of the Frenzy inside of her, I knew I wouldn’t be able to deny him. Guilt clenches in my chest at the memory of Rhea calling out my name, pleading with me to find another way, but that’s not an option with these three. Once their mind is set, there’s no alternative. I did the right thing for my friend, I know it with every beat of my heart, even if I’m unsure of what I’ve gotten myself into. I can only hope that Rhea will