Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Ebony stood staring at the closed bedroom door for a moment, trying to wrap her head around everything that had occurred in the last hour. Her entire life had been turned upside down and when Lark was near, she couldn't think clearly. Well she could think very clearly, but only about his naked body and his strong arms wrapped around her.

"Damn," she whispered and gave herself a shake. She needed to concentrate on what she was after with him. Needed to keep in mind what she'd gone to him for last night because nothing had changed, soulmate or not.

She hurried to the bathroom, ready to wash the stink of work off of herself and hopefully refocus her body. The bathroom was clean and well stocked with essentials. She shouldn't be surprised, they did this for a living, they probably brought halflings here all the time when they started a job. She stepped into the shower and soaked in the high-pressured hot water, hoping it would help ease her mind.

She'd always known she had two choices; live a short but good life with friends and die a young halfling like so many others, or find and kill her soulsibling. Well, it wasn't really a choice, Ebony knew she could never take someone's life just to benefit herself. She'd never wanted that kind of guilt hanging over her head, especially since she had no desire to get married and have babies. A full soul would be wasted on her, especially now. She grimaced as she looked down at the scar that marred her chest. Long, red, and angry. It went from above her left breast around to the middle of her ribcage. Underneath it she felt an ache most days and with an increasing frequency that reminded her of how short her time could be. She ran a bar of soap over the rough skin, hating the odd sensation of the numbed part of her body. She avoided touching the skin over the fake breast the doctors had convinced her she needed. It looked remarkably like the other one, but it was a cold mound with almost no feeling to it at all and she could never forget that it wasn't really a part of her. She shuddered to think what Lark would do if he saw her like this, he'd probably curse the Gods even more for giving him such a defective soulmate.

She didn't want to care, but she did.

Anger filled Ebony and she leaned forward, resting her head against the shower wall. When she first found out she had cancer, she thought that was it, she was going to die very young. Then they removed it and she thought she had a little hope, a little time. But at her first checkup she'd found out that there was no hope, the doctors had missed too much and it had already gone too far. When she'd heard the prognosis, she had come to a sudden epiphany. She knew that her choices had changed drastically and if she didn't want her life to be a waste, she could find her soulsister and give up her half of their shared soul to her. She could benefit someone else, or die knowing she was dooming her soulsibling to a half-life with no options.

And now there was a new part of the complicated decision swirling around in her mind. Was Ebony's soulsibling almost a nosoul? What was the woman's life even like right now? Ebony felt even more desperate to help her, whoever she was, and wherever she was. Ebony couldn't leave her in whatever horrible state she had to be living in.

It had been an easy choice from the beginning and she'd made peace with it. Ebony was going to give someone the chance to have all the choices and it felt right, it felt worthy of her death. She felt good about giving someone else a real chance to make something of their life and find their soulmate, if that was their dream, which was a done deal now. Lark would be the woman's soulmate.

The discovery of Lark as her soulmate changed nothing, she reminded herself fiercely. Standing up under the spray and angrily scrubbing at her body and hair as if she could wash away any desire to be with him. Ebony was still dying of the cancer inside her chest, and she still refused to take someone else's life to benefit herself.

In the end, Lark would still have a fullsoul soulmate, so what did he care anyway? He should be just as happy with her soulsister as he would be with her.

That thought hurt more than Ebony was willing to admit, but it was a good thing to keep close to mind. He wasn't in love with her, he didn't even know her. He was attracted to her soul and any body that held it would be just as good as another, better perhaps. Fuck, Ebony didn't even know if she was Lark's type; maybe he was really into redheads with freckles or blondes with big boobs.

Ebony rinsed with a new determination to ignore the sparks that passed between her and Lark and to keep the end goal in mind. She stepped out of the shower and looked at herself in the mirror. It was never meant to be her and Lark. Whatever the Gods or fate had in mind, it certainly couldn't have been Lark and a girl dying of cancer. He was too… much, too special, too big for a fate so sad. Maybe Ebony was the mistake, maybe her soulsister was just as special as Lark, just as amazing and beautiful.

She had to hope Lark and his fullsoul soulmate would find happiness together. Her heart squeezed and tears stung her eyes as she mourned the loss of something she'd never let herself want but was suddenly just out of her reach. She shook the feelings away, burying them under determination.

When she left the bathroom with her emotions tightly under control she was happy to find a pile of fresh new clothing on the bed, everything from underwear out. All of it brand new and perfectly her size.

"Wow, he's good." She picked a black skirt that hit just above the knee and a pink T-shirt, then brushed her hair straight to dry naturally, and applied a little makeup. She was feeling pretty good as she slipped on a pair of clean black sandals, then she grabbed a jean jacket and reached for her purse with a frown, it was definitely not clean and new. It would give her status away even if she kept her eyes down.

She looked at herself in the bedroom mirror and lifted her chin a notch, she was who she was and that was just going to have to be good enough for him and anyone else. When she opened the bedroom door, Lark was standing across from it, leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest.

"Oh, hey, thanks for the clothing, I'll pay you back."

"Not necessary. Let's go eat, I'm starving."

Ebony bit her lip, she'd hoped he would at least tell her she looked nice. Shit, she wasn't sure when the last time was that she'd worn anything this nice and she wasn't immune to the need for a little flattery. He was dressed in a pair of black slacks and black T-shirt. His hair was messy and damp, he must have showered too, and he looked effortlessly amazing.

"I like your hair like that," she said as she followed him down the stairs.

He just grunted, not taking the hint that she wanted the compliment reciprocated.

She sighed, giving up. He was not a man who complimented, fine. They weren't in a relationship. This was a business arrangement, sort of. She'd feel better about it all if he let her pay him though.

"So where are we going?"

"Steakhouse close by." Lark hesitated at the front door. "You aren't a vegetarian, are you?"

"Not by choice," she said with a nervous laugh. Most of the time halflings couldn't afford good meat to eat with their half rations and she rarely spent her money on something as unnecessary as meat, unless it was her birthday perhaps, or Christmas.

"Good thing I'm paying," he said, holding the front door for her.

"You don't have to—" she said but the look of anger on his face stopped her.

"Let's get one thing straight," he hissed. "I will be providing everything you need from here on out. I won't have you getting sick and dying from lack of nutrition or feel embarrassed because you don't have appropriate clothing to wear. Whatever you need, I'm going to handle it, got it?" As he spoke, he got closer to her until he was almost touching her, and his hot breath fanned her face.

She could only nod, afraid that if she argued he was going to get really mad. He seemed like the type who might rather fight than talk when angry and she had no desire to find out if that included with women or not.

"Smooth, Lark," Stone said behind her, startling her.

Ebony spun around to see Stone standing there with a sandwich in one hand and a beer in the other.

"Stay out of it," Lark growled and grabbed Ebony's arm, pulling her out of the house.

She didn't speak as he led her roughly to the truck and opened the door for her. Once she was settled in the seat, he shut the door and stalked around to the driver's side.

She decided to let him stew in his anger as they drove the short distance to the restaurant. When they pulled up outside, she looked down at her hand and frowned. "If they scan me, they'll kick me out."

"They won't scan you; they'll scan me," he said as if it were obvious.

She supposed that was a normal date thing to assume though, she'd never been on a date before, so it hadn't even occurred to her. Apparently, it wasn't anything new for him and a little tingle of jealousy rose up unfamiliar and strong. "Do you bring halflings here often?"

"Yeah," he said and hopped out of the truck.

She ignored the hurt that his simple answer brought up. She didn't care who he'd been with in the past or would be with in the future, because it wasn't going to be her now or ever and that was the only sure thing about their situation. When he opened her door, she avoided his eyes and pretended to care deeply about smoothing imaginary wrinkles from her shirt.

He offered her his arm as they began to walk but she ignored it until the curious eyes of other patrons started to bore into her with disgust as they walked toward the entrance of the restaurant. The people they passed could tell she wasn't one of them and they didn't want her to sully their environment. She latched onto Lark's arm for comfort, stretching for a semblance of belonging. He was such a striking figure and she hoped that most eyes would gloss right past her and onto him when she was this close. Unfortunately, they just glared harder, seeing her as a halfling slut after a free meal.

"I'm not really hungry," she mumbled as a woman passing them made a particularly nasty remark.

Lark paused and looked down at her with a frown. "You're worried about what other people think?"

"I just don't want to make people uncomfortable," she said, avoiding his eyes.

"Then how do you expect to live a worthwhile life?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

The simple gesture combined with the intensity of his gaze made her heart speed up a bit. "That's what I tried to hire you for," she said with a laugh. She was going to make her life worthwhile before she died, by sacrificing her half of their soul to her soulsister. That didn't necessarily include an uncomfortable dining experience.

He just grunted and opened the restaurant door, putting a guiding hand on her back as she stepped in. She gasped as her eyes adjusted to the low light and she saw the place he'd brought her to. It was by far the fanciest restaurant she'd ever been inside of and that included the one at the hotel. There was a bar off to the right that had a wall full of alcohol bottles and a glass bar top. The restaurant side, what she could see of it from the entryway, had tables with black cloths and candles, seats cushioned with red velvet and the smell. Oh my ! It smelled like the most delicious concoction of meat and butter she'd ever encountered in her life.

Her stomach rumbled and she put her hands over it in embarrassment as the hostess rushed forward with a scan pad.

"How can I help you?" the hostess said to Lark, her gaze raking over his body. Her eyes were bright. She was a fullsoul, and judging by the way she was posturing her body toward Lark and pushing out her chest, Ebony would guess she wasn't into taking suppressants.

"Table for two," Lark said with a wide grin.

The woman's smile widened and then faltered as she looked at Ebony. "Oh, she's?—"

"With me," Lark said, holding his hand over the scanner she still held. It lit up green and Ebony knew it was sending information into the woman's earpiece, giving her all kinds of information about Lark. Ebony would give anything to hear it all herself. What was this man worth? Had he ever used a ration credit in his life? Probably turned them in every year for the tax break.

"Oh!" she said, her eyes widening, "Right this way, Mr. Duport."

Lark motioned for Ebony to follow the hostess which she did reluctantly. Every table they passed eyed her and whispered. Once seated in a dark corner of the restaurant, Ebony felt more comfortable, though she wondered if the hostess put them there so that they'd be out of sight of most patrons, wouldn't want to sully the restaurant with the presence of a halfling. However, if no one could see her, then no one could judge her so she was also thankful for the somewhat private table.

Lark ordered for them both, food and drinks, when the waiter quickly appeared with waters, another thing that was kind of annoying but she also appreciated. She was so nervous she wasn't sure she could have coherently perused a menu and picked something to eat.

As they waited for the food to arrive, Lark started asking questions. "What do you know about your soulsister?"

"She's five years younger than me and she doesn't reside in the LA halfling district."

"Have you searched anywhere else?"

"I've never been out of the city."

"Did your mother ever meet her soulmate?"

"No."

Lark nodded, "That's too bad, if we had a name, we could check the database."

"The halfling database?" Ebony leaned across the table, her eyes wide. "You have access to the halfling database?"

Lark smiled and winked, "Of course I do, how do you think I've been so successful as a searcher?"

"Isn't that illegal?"

"Yes, sort of."

Ebony bit her lip. She knew she was getting herself involved with a dangerous business, but knowing it and being in the middle of it were two totally different things.

"If you're afraid of breaking the law, you should probably stay in the halfling district and wait for her to find you," Lark said dryly.

"I'm afraid of sitting in jail for the rest of my life," she grumbled, not that it would be very long.

"Don't worry, I'm very good at what I do," he said in a husky whisper that made her shiver. "And besides, the government looks the other way when people like me are digging around their system, they want halflings united."

Ebony nodded and sipped her wine that had been brought. Lark had ordered her a red wine and she loved it instantly. She'd only had wine once and it had not tasted this good. This was not too sweet, not sour and just amazing, she wanted to gulp it but didn't. Stopping at a small sip and smiling at him. "This is good," she said.

"Should be," he said with no more explanation.

"Did you look me up in the database?" she asked, suddenly worried he might know too much about her.

"No," he said a little too quickly. She had a feeling he wasn't telling the truth. She was his client, if he hadn't looked her up he wouldn't really be doing his job, would he?

The waiter came then with their plates and Ebony was thankful for the distraction. Her eyes widened at the plate of steak, mashed potatoes, vegetables steamed and slathered in butter and garlic, and a roll. It was so much food, so much good food, she almost wanted to cry at the sight.

They ate in silence for a while and Ebony had to force herself to take it slow, the food was delicious, better even than it had smelled, she wanted to shove it all in her mouth at once. But at the same time, she wanted to savor every last bite.

"Do you like it?" Lark asked with amusement, and she was embarrassed to note he'd eaten half what she had in the short time.

"It's great," she said around a mouthful of buttery mashed potatoes.

Lark laughed, "Good."

She slowed down then, concentrating on the taste sensations and not making a fool of herself. It was hard when all she wanted to do was taste every bit of food on her plate all at the same time and feel her belly fill with the nutrient-rich morsels.

When he was done with his meal, he sighed heavily and sipped his beer. "With no idea of where to start looking, and you having only eliminated the city we are in, we'll start at the bottom."

"What does that mean?"

"We will go to Vegas."

"Las Vegas?" she gasped excitedly.

"Yep, we'll fly out in the morning."

"Fly!"

"Sweetie, you are in for quite a wild experience, not everywhere is like it is here."

"I know," she huffed, she'd heard about other places, she just never thought she'd experience other places.

"And once you're whole we can travel the world first class," he added with a sexy grin.

Whole, the word hurt more than a little. He saw her as missing something, as something less than him, less than all the others in this restaurant. There was something wrong with her in his eyes and it had nothing to do with her being sick. She excused herself to find the bathroom, her dinner suddenly not sitting right.

"Back there," Lark directed as she stood. His eyes were cautious when she glanced at his face.

Ebony kept her eyes downcast as she made her way through the crowded restaurant. Once safely tucked in a bathroom stall, she gave herself a moment to feel. He was offering her the world, literally. But only because he thought he had to. He'd feel the same way if he'd met her soulsister first, he would feel the same way when he met her soulsister and that cheapened it even more. What did feelings even mean when they were directed by such a ridiculous thing as your soul? A soul was just a small, cursed part of a person, it shouldn't be able to decide so much about your life against your will. She resented the apparently more than half a soul she had, resented the feelings Lark inspired because of it. She wanted to do one good thing with her life, and it didn't include being soulmated.

Ebony couldn't stop a few tears from falling and she hated the weakness. Why cry over things she couldn't change? Things that were a result of cursed fate.

She took a little comfort in the knowledge that she wasn't going to be leaving Lark without a soulmate if it was indeed what he really wanted. She was going to help two people have their best life, it was noble and it was sort of what she'd wanted to do anyway. She just hadn't intended on knowing the soulmate, hadn't thought about how that could feel to give up. She dried her eyes with toilet paper that was softer than she'd ever used in her life and had to hold back the temptation to take the roll off the holder and stuff it into her purse to share with Taylor. Would she ever even see Taylor again?

She bit her lip as new tears wanted to fall, heavy ones this time. She knew if she let herself cry for her friend, she'd never get them to stop, so she breathed deep and centered herself. She didn't want Lark to see her like this.

When she once again felt in control, she was about to leave the stall but the sound of the bathroom door opening, and voices, stopped her. She didn't want to face anyone she didn't know, so she hesitated.

"Did you see him! Oh my god, those green eyes, and that hair!" One of the women said.

"His body is magnificent. I would be all over that, suppressants or not," the other one giggled.

Ebony was pretty sure they were talking about Lark, and she bristled a bit at their casual talk of something that was hers. Well, should be hers, but she wasn't going to take it. She shook her head; it was all too confusing.

"Yeah, but did you see he's with some halfling slut, probably a prostitute. Why he's bothering to buy her dinner is a mystery. She can't be that good."

"It's gross, why do they come this far out of their district? Aren't there enough halfling men?"

"I heard halfling men can't get it up."

"Oh! That would make sense why they creep out here to find a good romp. And they're usually too dumb to make sure the guy wears protection, which is why so many of our men are willing to sleep with them."

Ebony's fists tightened on the handle, and she resisted the urge to open the door and tell those bitches that Lark was her soulmate. Whether she planned to claim him or not wasn't any of their business. They had it all wrong and she wanted to shove it in their faces, as if it mattered what a couple of fullsoul know-it-alls thought.

When she heard two stalls close, she rushed out.

Lark met her outside the bathroom door with her purse in hand, already having taken care of the bill apparently and ready to leave.

"Is everything alright?" he asked carefully, taking in her appearance.

"Fine, let's go," she hissed, grabbing her bag from him. She didn't want to see those women come out of the bathroom. It was bad enough she could guess what the people were thinking, but to actually hear it was so much worse. She had never felt the desire to be what those women thought she was. It paid well, she knew, but she refused to give any more ammunition to the prejudices and to explain to them the reality of her situation would be a waste of time and breath; they didn't matter. But that didn't mean that their words didn't sting.