Callie didn’t bother hiding her fear. She was stretched too thin to be able to conceal much anyway. “Isn’t it always? The Charmer’s exhausted right now. He isn’t invested in Nate, but having that asshole disappear now doesn’t make sense. There’s just too much bad coming at us all at once.”
Nate shouldn’t be gone. His boss was gone, the empire for the taking. He had the power to make them bend over by taking Zara. What was the point of making threats if you couldn’t cash in the rewards? Which meant either he was fucking with them—possible—or someone even viler was out there. Whoever it was, Callie was ready to plow through them to save her mother. She had to.
Family first.
CHAPTER FIVE
The Cortean Catholic cathedral was remarkable during the day. Stained glass windows depicting saints rising to Heaven warmed and shimmered beneath the high desert sun. At night the jutting peaks of the enormous building became imposing. Artificial light left the whitewashed exterior stark and foreboding. The centerpiece of the faith’s stake in Gem City loomed above the squat buildings in the plaza. The city had a firm two-stories-max policy for buildings. Except for the church. Its cathedral’s peaks could block the skyline and no one made a peep. You could do that when you held even the mayor’s fear of the afterlife in your hands.
For once Callie could relate. Nate held her mother’s life in his greasy hands, and that meant Callie was damned in a tangible way. Guilt clamped her insides, and she could picture basic black zip ties—the same kind she’d used to hold Nate—and with each passing second she could almost hear them clicking one notch tighter. Any more and she would go morally septic.
Her car whined when she cranked the wheel to parallel park a block down the road from the church.
“You need to let me look at the power steering in this thing,” Derek said.
Her sigh said ‘not now’ nicer than she could have aloud. “I let you do the spark plugs.”
He gave her knee a quick squeeze. “That you did, doll.”
She’d let him fix the leak in her kitchen sink because the super never would. The spark plug thing apparently was a big deal, and she’d finally acquiesced when she realized she had enough money to cover all her bills with money to spare for the first time ever. The Charmer paid well, but that didn’t mean she needed to go throwing cash out of her pocket. Now was the time to stockpile and rebuild her savings, because eventually shit would hit the fan and she’d need a very green safety net.
She pulled the car away from the halo of the low, hazy streetlamps. That light could keep her car from being jacked, but she and Derek were staying inside. From this darkened side of the street, they could see the three main corners where hustlers shilled their wares on the El Paseo. All of them had worked for Ford, and now Callie needed at least one of them to have stayed loyal to Nate after his boss’s untimely demise.
“Hey,” Derek whispered. When she turned, he took her face in his hands. His palms were rough, but familiar on her cheeks. “I’ve got you.”
“I know.” Her voice was barely a breath.
“We will get through this together. We’ll find her. I won’t let Nate get away with this.” His vengeance slashed the air with the ferocity of coyote teeth.
He refused to say it, but she could tell he thought Zara was dead. She wouldn’t be, though. Callie’s aunt had always said Zara was as stubborn as stone. It was more, though, something bright and sharp dug behind her heart at the thought of Zara being dead. Maybe it was a Delgado thing or maybe it was magic or maybe it was God doing her a solid. Whatever it was, Callie believed Zara was alive. What she didn’t know was for how long.
“One of these guys has to know where he is,” she said.
Derek slid his thumb across Callie’s lower lip. “Nate forgot who he was fucking with.”
She scoffed with the force of a sucker punch. “He knows the Soul Charmer fine.”
“Not the old man. Not even me. He should not have fucked with you, and that asshole is going to find out why.”
Callie leaned into Derek’s palm. He pulled her forward to meet his kiss. His lips were soft, but the force behind them wasn’t gentle. He licked at her lips, and she parted them. Energy snapped between them. Sweet ozone—electricity on the air—wrapped around them. The desire to be closer, to refocus all her fears and worry into something positive and forgiving, had Callie leaning into him. She nipped the corner of his mouth. He groaned, and the sound shot through her belly. The tightness, the earlier pain receded. Derek’s fingers slid into her hair at the nape of her neck. Callie shivered.
He pulled back. “I need to remind you that you’re a badass more often.”
“Mhm.” She leaned back in for another kiss that ended too soon.
“Looks like Dougie has a customer, doll.” At least he sounded as disappointed as she was.
He let go of her, and she tried to ignore the creeping sense of loss as her skin cooled. “Should we move on them now?”
“Nah. Let’s watch both dealers for a bit, and see if either has the good stuff.”
“I was kind of hoping we could punch our way to answers today.” She hadn’t meant to sound so sullen.
The roguish smile he offered her was almost as good as another kiss. “I’ve been telling you since the day we met, I only punch when it’s necessary.”
“This situation doesn’t count?” Humor laced the words.
His shrug was tight enough his leather jacket should have creaked. “Too important to fuck it up by breaking someone useful.”
He’d been right, though. The longer
