“That we can agree on. None of us have forgotten what happened to Gerard,” Savannah muttered.
Miguel’s harsh whisper sliced the room. “Don’t mention him. Not now. Not ever.”
Gerard’s name didn’t slap Callie the same way it did the others. She hadn’t known the man, the soul collector. He was gone now, though, and from the ever-darkening vibe in the room, the Charmer was to blame.
Savannah stretched, and then stepped forward, and Miguel followed.
The five Soul Charmer employees huddled together. Okay, Callie thought, time for a plan.
“I have to go get the soul. Beck and I are the only ones who can retrieve directly.” Callie did not mention that she could pull souls from bodies or force them into jars. The Soul Charmer was shit about sharing information with her, and she hoped he was with the others, too. Until they proved themselves to be more than threats, there was no reason for them to know what she might be capable of.
“Why you?” Beck asked with genuine curiosity. She appreciated the lack of bravado.
“He spoke to a woman on the phone.”
“I doubt he’ll be the one making the switch,” Beck countered.
Derek leveled his best ‘back off’ look at Beck. “Probably not, but he’ll have the details of who is coming. Even if it’s just that she’s a lady and will have three hundred bucks on her.”
“Fine, but I can’t just sit around waiting to hear how this goes,” Beck said. “I doubt the big man can either.”
The infinitesimal tilt of Derek’s head suggested he was on the same page, but doing his best not to fight Callie’s battles. It was moments like this that she did not regret telling him she loved him.
“I know the Charmer’s haunts. I’ll hit them and see where he’s holed up.” Miguel made moves toward the door.
Callie caught his arm. She released it quick enough to avoid being iced in place, but frost hardened in small rings around her fingers. “It’s too risky to go after him now.”
When it looked like an argument was brewing behind Miguel’s tight lips, Callie added, “If people see us looking for him, they’ll know he’s gone. If someone did take him, they’ll also think they’re winning.”
Miguel deflated. “Good point.”
“We need quality souls back in this building. Beck, Miguel, Savannah, can you three hit the high-level targets and get those souls back in this building? We can’t have people cutting out on us right now.” Everyone looked at her like she knew what the fuck she was doing, and it took a moment to realize that she just might. At least she had a good gut sense of how the Charmer would react.
If the Anonymous Souls group was bold enough to take souls from within the Soul Charmer’s emporium, they would be brazen enough to jack souls from his clients. Tess had tried that, and had experienced immolation-level pain for her troubles. That was without robbing him directly. The blood on the back room floor was still wet. Whether it was the Charmer’s or Vega’s didn’t matter. The Soul Charmer was built like an apocalypse-proof insect, and Callie had no intention of failing him. She liked her soul and her skin right where they were.
“We already have a handful of pickups scheduled for today, but I know a few regulars who only rent the pure shit.” Savannah checked her phone. She nodded at the screen. “We can rattle five or six of them and push them in here, if you’re here to collect the soul.”
“Have them here after seven. The Charmer may have returned by then, but if not I should be back from the soul drop off.” Callie found herself nodding along like the plan carried at a steady beat.
“If Derek’s going with you, then do we put a closed sign?” Beck pulled a drawer from the chest against the far wall. These people were ready to help. Holy shit.
“Is there a closed sign?” Savannah echoed.
Closing shop was not an option. The Soul Charmer had never closed his doors since he’d opened the small space ten years ago. She hadn’t seen his living quarters, but he slept somewhere nearby. Obviously he slipped away for some Z’s, and to tend the soul well. One of them had always been here, though. The image of her arm ablaze lit her memory. Let’s not do that again.
“No closed sign. Derek and I can stay here until I have to leave for the drop site. Derek, will you keep the clients distracted until I can get back?”
She winced in preparation for the impact, but all he said was, “No.”
“No? We can’t close the shop.” This was one of those times when she wished he could read every worst-case scenario flitting through her mind. This could go sideways in a hurry, and they couldn’t risk being caught in it.
“You can’t go alone.” Those four words were the granite foundation for an upcoming argument, if Callie didn’t fix this fast.
“I’ve got this. It’ll be quick.” She wiggled her fingers at him, a reminder she had a magical backup.
“It isn’t safe for you to be out there alone, especially not with them. Not now.”
Not now? she mouthed.
“Zara.”
Oh. Oh oh oh. Later she’d need to thank him for not spilling her secrets all over the soggy carpet. Telling these strangers that her mother had been kidnapped and mutilated recently was too dangerous. The less they knew of her weaknesses, the safer she and Derek would be.
“You need to lay low right now,” she whispered, “but you’re right. I won’t be alone.”
Beck was close enough to hear her hushed words. “I can go with her.”
“Where you go, I go.” Each time Derek had said those words to her, she’d gone a bit gooey for him. This time the promise hurt.
