ending where she seduced you and added your soul to her collection.”
“I oughta kick you in the nuts. Do you even have nuts?”
“Aw, Jesse’s all mad…” He reached out to pinch my cheek, but even as I moved to slap his hand away, he froze, all the humor draining out of his face. “How many did you say?”
“What?”
“How many souls did you say?”
“Two hundred and seventy-six. Why?” I wasn’t ready when Axel grabbed me by the collar of my coat and yanked me close. “Gah! Get off!”
He took a deep breath, scenting my hair, my skin, like a tracking hound. “No…no this isn’t right…” Finally, he let me go, staring at me thoughtfully.
“What? What isn’t right?” I brushed his touch off of my arms, making it very clear that I was displeased with him coming close to me at all.
“You only have two hundred and seventy-five souls.”
“Okay, fine, two hundred and seventy-five. Whatever.”
“No, not ‘whatever.’” He walked a slow circle around me, shaking his head as he muttered under his breath. “What have you done, Jesse? Tell me
So I started all over with the saga of Jesse Goes to Hollywood once again. When I got to the part where I blasted the golem into so many atoms, Axel stopped me. “Again. Tell me exactly what you did again.” So I told him. I explained about the thin threads of magic wrapped around the clay figure, how I severed them with a mere gesture of my hand. I pictured it in my head, how the golem burst into a shower of dust, returning to that from whence he came. I told the story again. And then again, and then once more.
“And you didn’t collapse. You had no fever, no seizures, no blackouts.”
“Well…no. Not after. I think I blacked out at the beginning, when the souls hit me…” The demon looked concerned. Or at least as concerned as I’d ever seen him. “What is it? What do you know?”
“You’ve never had magic, Jesse. Never in your entire life. And yet you used it that night, used it to simply unravel a spell far more complicated than most could accomplish. It hasn’t occurred to you to wonder why yet?”
“Well…no…” But you know, now that he mentioned it…“How did I do that?”
“You burned one up. Burned up a soul to power your magic, because for whatever reason, you can’t access your own.” Axel leaned close to sniff me again, and I gave him a warning look. “Two hundred and seventy-five souls. One short.”
“But they’re not actual souls. They’re…markers. If they were real souls, all these people would be dead.” Right? That’s what Gretchen had said, so it had to be right? Right?
Axel shook his head. “It doesn’t work that way. They’re…it’s all tied together. A direct link back to the source. What happens here happens to the person.”
“So…somebody just dropped dead that night? Just…poof, gone, because I blasted that golem?” Suddenly, I felt sick. I sank down into a crouch, steadying myself with a hand in the cold, cold snow. It didn’t really help.
“I think it would be in everyone’s best interest if you didn’t try to cast any more spells.”
“Ya think?” Seriously, I thought I might throw up. Every single tattoo I could feel on my back suddenly felt like someone’s eyes, watching me from afar. Lives. I was carrying people’s lives around in my goddamn skin. “I gotta get these things outta me.”
“I’m working on it.” In a whiff of sulfur and the pop of recently vacated airspace, he was gone. I sat out in the cold for a long time after that.
That’s way more responsibility than I ever wanted. I mean, I could barely look after myself. How was I supposed to look after two hundred and seventy-six—sorry, seventy-five—other souls? I did try to find out who that lost soul might have been. I pored over the obituaries in every Los Angeles newspaper that I could find, looking for unexplained or unexpected deaths. There were way too many. In the end, I had to resign myself to the fact that I’d probably never know. Sorry, whoever you were. I’m so damn sorry.
It was hard to get life back to normal after that. Ivan stayed of course, waiting for his reinforcements or replacements or whoever. Axel kept way closer tabs too. I caught him lurking often, usually in the guise of some furry rodent, but he seldom came down to talk. He didn’t want to confront Ivan, for whatever reason. Couldn’t fault him there. I never wanted to piss off the old man, either.
I kept tabs on Bobby until he was released from the hospital. After that, I kinda lost track. But really, I was just glad to know that he was all right. He was good people. He didn’t deserve to get mixed up in this.
Tai, on the other hand…also released from the hospital, he was blowing up my phone the very next day. After some discussions with Ivan, we agreed that it was in the Maori’s best interest to get some magical training, harness that explosive power he just had lying around. I know in the back of Ivan’s mind, he was eyeing Tai as a potential champion recruit, but deep down, I was hoping that Tai would say no when the time came. Deeper down, I knew he wouldn’t.
To add to the lunacy that had become my life, I got one text message much later from a number I didn’t recognize. It was a Web site, and when I went to investigate it, I discovered that there was a movie in the works that looked suspiciously familiar. They were touting it as the “A-Team with demons,” and while they were still in the casting stages, the lead was apparently going to be played by that guy. You know, that guy, from the show with the island and the polar bear? Yeah, him. And guess who the screenwriter is? C’mon, guess, you know you want to. I’m tempted to text Spencer back and tell him I want my fair cut. It’s my story, after all.
So now I sit, waiting. Waiting for my new bodyguards to arrive. Waiting for Ivan or Axel to figure out how to get these souls out of me. Waiting for something bigger and badder than either of them to come and try to take them.
Waiting for the middle of August, when my wife will give birth to my second child. Is it all right if I hope for a boy?
