—— CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR ——
The day before, Callie had become a criminal. A real one. Not just ganking makeup at a drugstore. You could fit an entire ocean between that and appropriating confidential police research. She couldn’t even call herself simply a thief anymore. That title was lost when she’d burned a man’s chest. Thinking about it, semantics suggested she could say it wasn’t assault with a deadly weapon, since it was her hand that burned him. Though that argument would not likely hold up in court.
Her reunion with Josh hadn’t gone quite to plan. She couldn’t hug him, which she wanted to do badly enough it hurt. She also couldn’t shake the feeling he didn’t understand how dangerous saving him had been. Resenting him wasn’t something she wanted, but her mind kept flashing back to the conversation she’d overheard earlier that morning. Like Josh’s attempts to defend her while simultaneously demanding she give even more. She mentally booted herself for the thought. He deserved her help not because he had kept her secret all these years, or because he covered for her with Zara. He was her brother. Taking care of him was what she did.
But Callie was still struggling to accept that Derek wasn’t sticking around just to screw her over. Although, even with a bonus soul inside her, he was a better person than she was.
Derek parked his bike near the Charmer’s rear door as usual. “You ready for this?”
She wasn’t. Inside that door the Charmer would take back the soul. She wanted that, but her muscles turned to bow strings with each step toward the entrance. “Today has to be better than yesterday, right?”
He grinned at her. “Don’t tempt fate, doll.”
She nodded, but rapped her knuckles against the wooden doorframe they passed through. Just in case.
“How did it feel?” the Charmer crooned as soon as they were inside. His delight churned her stomach.
She wasn’t prepared for up-chuck round two, though. “No big deal.”
“Did you wish to keep it then?” The words were playful, but the menace behind his eyes was anything but.
“No,” she said too quickly.
He beamed. “In that case, sit.” He pointed to a stool next to his bench.
“Why could I still use magic when the soul was in me?” She wiggled her fingers.
“My magic isn’t negated by a single soul. If it were, this business would not be nearly as successful. It all worked as planned.” He was half ignoring her while digging through drawers like some aged apothecary ready to cure her ails.
She mouthed “as planned” at Derek, but all he offered was a shrug. It was time to be done with the Soul Charmer. If she never returned to this overtly sterile and creepy room again, it would be too soon.
“Ah!” The Charmer held up a flask, but it wasn’t the same as the one Callie had used. While inlaid with dark stone, there was no mistaking the green hue.
“Why are you using a different flask?” she asked before her brain could quell her stupidity.
“It’s gentler.” He put zero effort into concealing the lie.
“Let’s get it over with then.” She gritted her teeth and wondered what kind of pain she’d inflicted on others when her position had been reversed.
The flask’s opening pressed up against her sternum, her breastplate vibrating from the impact. She jerked forward, tits first, as the container created an industrial-grade vacuum. Her head swam, but nothing hurt. Or it didn’t until she blinked and found herself sprawled on the floor. Derek’s rough hands were under her arms, lifting her. Random black spots obscured her vision of him.
“Apologies, Calliope.” The Charmer’s patronizing fake grandpa voice grated against her already throbbing skull. “It seems the rented soul rather liked you.”
“Liked me?” she groaned.
“It’s rare, but then again, you’re a special one.”
“You got it, though?” Derek’s husky voice was the balm she needed.
“Yes, of course.”
Once she was sitting on the stool again, her faculties returned. If that was finished, then there was only one more bit of business. “Let’s go ahead and get the magic removed now, too. I’m up for it.”
“I’m not.” No shame with this one.
“What do you mean?”
“I can’t very well take the magic out of you now.”
“Why the hell not?”
“Watch your tone.” His obsidian eyes flashed. Powerful lightning cutting through a cloudless night.
She closed her eyes, but it didn’t improve anything. “Our deal is complete. I don’t work for you anymore. So, please, take back your magic.”
Saying please had almost killed her. It was far worse than the goose egg forming behind her ear.
He sighed like he was indulging her, and she bit the inside of her cheek so hard she tasted blood. Now was not a good time to piss the Soul Charmer off. “I still need you.”
“For what?”
“Tess is contained, but she—”
Ungrateful asshole. “You already have her. Remember, Derek was bleeding all over the place as a result of our capturing her? Remember that I … ”
It’s like the bastard had baited her. “That you what, Calliope?”
Callie caught Derek’s gaze and let him see the hurt and shame and guilt roiling inside her. She couldn’t voice her regrets here. Her secrets were to be laid bare. The Charmer cleared his throat. He wasn’t going to be denied her humiliation.
“I already got the answers you wanted from Tess for you,” Callie said, keeping the patronization level at one hundred percent. “We know she was recruited to take souls from you. Just not by who. We know she’s batshit and thinks what she’s doing is going to make Gem City a better place. We know she’s a big believer in group think. What more do you want?”
He cocked his head to the right, like a hawk eyeing its prey. “You forget your role.”
“My role?” she gasped. She’d already collected souls for him, and then captured his enemy and burned answers out of her. What else did he expect to squeeze from her?
The Charmer ignored her, his beady eyes locking on Derek instead. “My business is threatened. That means your life is, too,” he told him.
He had to mean livelihood, not life, right?
“You said Tess was the threat.” Derek’s measured tone kicked Callie’s heartbeat to a hummingbird pace. Why was he acting like he knew what the Charmer was talking about?
“She isn’t the true threat.” Bottles clattered and toppled as the Charmer slammed an open hand against his desk.
“She was taking souls, boss,” Derek cut in.
Callie resisted adding a very unhelpful, “Yeah!” She needed Derek to see she was on his side.
“She was, but she was not, as you say, in charge. She refused to reveal who recruited her, someone else who is now targeting us.” The Charmer’s vitriol slid, unseen, down Callie’s legs like broken egg yolks against a house on Halloween. Was she being battered for another magical invasion? She wasn’t soul French toast.
“Then is it really an immediate problem?” Derek pushed boundaries, but at least it felt like she and he were on the same side. And it wasn’t the Soul Charmer’s side.
The man who could steal their souls took two, fast, tiny steps toward them. “What’s mine is being taken, destroyed. That will not stand.” He swiveled his head, again, more birdlike than usual, to glare at Derek. “How would you feel if you were robbed of that which you loved?”
Derek had never suggested the Charmer had anything on him. He’d never spelled out the reason to Callie why he was so loyal to his reptilian boss. It was a mutual relationship, he’d said, but as the threat clogged the air, one thing was clear: their dynamic had changed. Was this on Callie? Or was this part of why her idiot move with the pills made sense to him?
“I can investigate,” Derek said, his voice quivering at the end.
“You’ll do it together.” Final words from the Soul Charmer, the man with all the power.
Callie fought the urge to curl in on herself. Skipping breakfast was the right call. “I already did my part. Why does this involve me?”
His eyes widened. Had she gone too far? “We need to find the person who wants to steal my power. They’re stealing all my souls and ruining their value.”
Whatever the fuck that meant.
Callie licked her lips. He was already screwing up her life, so there was no reason not to push harder. “Again, why does that involve me?”
“What needs to be done isn’t possible without you. You, my dear, are the only one capable of sensing this person. I can’t very well lose such an asset right now.” Three feet separated them, but his words wrapped around her throat like a cold, scaly hand.
Her jaw dropped. What. The. Fuck.
“Now, child, it won’t be forever. The sooner you complete the task, the sooner I’ll unburden you.”
“No,” she muttered.
He ignored her. “Tess did mention your mother was a client of hers. Frequent client. You failed to share that tidbit. Seems the taste for the dark side runs in the family?” He grinned, aware Callie was too angry to speak.
Real nice, Zara. If one family member wasn’t in debt to the mafia, it was another who was dabbling with soul magic. Callie needed to get out of the Charmer’s store. Like now. The sooner she resolved this, the better. “We find out where this other soul magic person is, and then you and I are done?”
“I am not in the mood for negotiation.”
“It isn’t a negotiation. I want answers,” she bit out.
“Yes, when you’ve helped quell this coup, you can ask me again to take the magic.” His even tone wasn’t what threw her, and it wasn’t his magic floating beneath her skin either. Callie put it together: he didn’t think she’d want to lose the bothersome gift he’d so graciously endowed to her. Ego the size of Texas on this one.
“You will take this magic back.” If she could figure out how to actually make him do anything.
Derek took her hand and squeezed it. They left the Charmer’s shop together, and she hoped he planned to stay at her side for more than the drive home.
Derek hadn’t spoken a word since they’d left the Soul Charmer’s shop. The black and silver flask was back in Callie’s pocket. Even its heat and the realization she’d continue to work within the world of soul magic couldn’t distract her from the tension between them. She should have spoken as soon as they exited the building, but words failed her.
Derek had treated her like she was special. He’d told her she was a good person, and he’d meant it. Now, he’d know the awful truth, and she ached with the thought of losing his trust. She wanted to keep him, but she’d known this would happen from the start. Now he would understand.
He followed her up the stairs to her apartment.
Once inside, though, he didn’t beeline for the bedroom. The shower was running and the bathroom door closed, which left them brother-free in the living room. He strode to the couch and plopped onto a cushion. His cushion. “We going to talk about this?” His voice scraped along gravel.
Rubbing her palm against the side of her neck didn’t soothe any muscles. The nervous act only telegraphed her emotions. He’d broken her walls, and now she couldn’t muster a decent poker face. This was going to hurt. “This is why,” she whispered.
“Come over here.” He patted the couch cushion.
She did, because sitting would limit the mess when she melted into a puddle of shame.
“Tess.” He didn’t spit her name, like Callie would have. There was no inflection in that four-letter word.
“I had to—”
“Why?” There wasn’t any judgment in his tone, but the curiosity was obvious.
“He wouldn’t let me take you unless I did.” The image of him crumpled and bleeding flashed in her mind and she winced.
“You’re going to have to give me a little more here, doll. Why wouldn’t you wait for me to come around?”
Wait, what? He wasn’t mad?
“You were out from the blood loss and the Charmer wouldn’t let me take you home until he had answers from Tess,” she said. “He said I had to get them. I couldn’t leave you with him. They weren’t watching you. What if you’d stopped breathing and I hadn’t been there?”
He smiled. “He wouldn’t have let me die.”
“I couldn’t risk that.”
Derek reached forward and ran two fingers along Callie’s jaw before placing them on her lips. “Thank you.”
She started to speak, but he pressed his fingers more firmly against her mouth.
“Did you really think I’d judge you for getting answers?”
He pulled his fingers away.
“I did awful things at the Charmer’s, and then to protect you from them I did awful things here. I couldn’t imagine you wanting to be with me after you knew I’d done that. And if you’d helped with the break-in, too? I didn’t want to force regret onto you. I have enough of it, and I wanted you to be safe.”
He nodded and the simple act conveyed more understanding than she’d been allowed in her life. “We protect what’s ours. I didn’t want that for you, and I’m sorry you had to do it. But if you want me to be mad at you for looking out for me, it’s not going to happen.”
“You’re not pissed?”
“Just tell me next time. We all have to make hard choices, do shit we aren’t proud of. I wouldn’t hold that against you. That said, I’m still not going to take so much as an aspirin from you for a very long time.”
She had the good sense to look chagrined.
He pressed a light kiss to her lips. “It’s hot to have a woman protect me.”
“You think everything is hot.”
“Only on you, doll.”
Reaffirming their relationship in the bedroom strengthened Callie. Her muscles were sore after their activities, but the ball bearings of stress and fear hidden in her torso relinquished their hold on her. Trust was fucking weird, but nice enough.
“I think Tess was right about my magic,” Callie blurted, then paused. She’d startled herself by claiming ownership of the fire teeming below her skin.
Derek skimmed his fingers along her hipbone, his trajectory never faltering. “You sure about that? Woman was crazy.”
She nodded. “Totally batshit. Agreed. The Charmer isn’t taking the magic back, though, is he?”
“No. I don’t think so.” Disappointment crushed her with those five words.
“Tess said he couldn’t take it back anyway. So I guess I already knew I wasn’t going to be able to go back to normal. I’ve been thinking a lot, about us, about me, about what’s happened in the last two weeks. Maybe this is some fucked up sign I need to learn how to use the magic for now, and go from there.” Hope lifted her voice an octave.
“That sounds smart … ” Derek narrowed his eyes as he met her gaze. “But you’re about to use the good sex we just had to make me agree to something, aren’t you?”
“No. First of all, it was better than good.” She waited for him to smile before continuing. “Second, I’m not asking you to do anything. Well, except to be cool about it.”
“And what exactly is it you’re about to do?” His hardened gaze sent a shiver down her spine. Goosebumps prickled her skin in its wake.
“I think I’m going to tell the Charmer to fuck himself.”
Derek had made several strong arguments as to why changing her relationship with Gem City’s Soul Charmer was an awful idea. He was probably right. His ardent need to keep her safe warmed her heart, but the trust deal went both ways, and he had to trust that she was making the right decision for herself.
She’d texted her mom from the street outside the Charmer’s shop. After all soul magic name drops and the way Zara had stormed out the other day, it didn’t hurt to touch base. She didn’t receive a reply. That was okay. She’d deal with one family crisis at a time. The way she always had.
She’d rescued Josh. He might not stay clean, but she’d do her best to help him try. Derek helped her understand that, which was why she was striding into the Soul Charmer’s store with the most confidence she’d carried in years. Derek had remained at her apartment when she left, proving he was really in this relationship for her. She didn’t need to worry over him now. It was time to push the Charmer in a new direction and see how greedy he could really be.
She tugged her sleeve down to cover her palm and tapped the ancient brass bell. The Charmer’s head poked out from between the back entrance’s curtains in seconds.
“Ah, Calliope. You already have my answers?”
She ignored the condescension coating the Charmer’s words. She was in the dank storefront for a single reason. “No, I’ve decided I need more from you if you want more from me.”
While Callie was eager to go back to her real life. Back to mornings with Louisa. And nights with Derek that didn’t involve a magic flask. She was a realist. The magic wasn’t as terrifying as it had been even a week before. If she had to carry it, she wanted to get more than a “good job” from the greasy old man who strong-armed her into wielding it in the first place.
“Not your decision,” the Charmer hissed.
“Wrong. We made a deal. You changed the terms, and now I’m doing the same.” His bone-melting stare wouldn’t break her. Her need to reclaim her life was too strong.
He skittered toward her.
“My magic is inside you.” His gaze assaulted her, but the pervert hadn’t stabbed a flag in her torso in the name of God and country.
“If it’s inside me, then it’s mine now, not yours.” Every stutter-step the Charmer took toward her cranked her internal flight response another notch higher, and dialed back her confidence level with equal measure.
“Is that what I should tell the police officer who was here this morning?”
Her hand collided with the counter as her balance faltered. “What?” she choked out.
“Someone—a petite woman—broke into a police substation, and she burned a crime technician. Horrible business, really. The police came to me for help, as the perpetrator’s fingerprints were illegible.” His nearly toothless grin turned Callie’s stomach.
Her hands began to heat as he moved within a few feet from her. The flight response was on lockdown. Her feet had melded to the grimy floor under the Charmer’s threat.
Prison. Felon. Criminal. The words blazed her mind. She had saved her brother, but the cost? She turned into exactly what her mother told her she would: a failure.
The Charmer watched closely as tears welled in Callie’s eyes. He continued speaking as though they meant nothing to him. “At the time I couldn’t remember providing my services to any women. I don’t keep written records, you know. But after the officer left, something jogged my memory. Do you think I should I call them back, tell them I’ve suddenly remembered something?”
“No.” At least she didn’t sputter. Callie hauled in a behemoth breath and quelled the impending tears. Regaining control of her life was too important to let fear get in the way. “I think you need to hear my revision to our arrangement.”
“You do, do you?” He was practically laughing in her face.
Her earlier bravado might be squished beneath her soles, but she had enough pride to push her goal: “Make me your apprentice.”
That got him. The Soul Charmer’s jaw dropped enough to give Callie a too-long look at the man’s silver teeth.
His silence allowed her strength to grow. “Will you teach me how to use this magic in exchange for my continued services in finding your competition?”
“Apprentice.” The grin was back. Fuck. He stared past her breasts, clearly seeing the soul beneath her sternum. He seemed lost in thought for a long time. “Yes,” he finally answered. “While you obtain the information I need, I will help you understand that which you wield.”
“Okay.” Such a mild word for the roaring conflict in her belly.
She’d entered his store in the name of regaining control and power. She’d gotten what she’d asked for, but didn’t quite feel like she’d won. Magic offered strength, but the taint wouldn’t wash off when she was done. Callie refocused on what was important: Her brother was safe and she’d found someone outside her family who earned and respected her loyalty. She could survive this.
If it took learning his craft and finding his enemies, she would find a way to escape the Soul Charmer.
She’d play his apprentice.
For now.