Derek dropped the rag on the counter, and then took two mammoth steps toward the other soul collector. “This isn’t a joke. Protecting her isn’t a game.”
“Got it, man, but I can’t go into this with us looking terrified. She’s supposed to be some party tourist idiot wanting an escape for a weekend high. If she shows up with me all broody badass with her, it ain’t going to work. Fuck, that’s one of the reasons you’re staying here. You’re good at scaring the shit out of people. We need that here, remember.”
“Hold up.” Callie had to shout to be heard. “He’s here because he’s the one who can handle this shop, but know if the Charmer were here, Derek would be with me and it wouldn’t be an issue. Do not doubt his ability to do whatever needs to be done.” She would not ask about that rag.
“Whoa.” Beck’s shoulders lowered. “Guess I know why you two are together. Fucking A. Yeah. Fine. Derek’s a ninja and you believe in the power of love or whatever. Can we just get this done?”
Derek ambled to Callie’s side, and the testosterone in the air began to dissipate.
“You’re right. We need to focus.” Callie hadn’t consumed enough calories to multitask for long anyway.
“Agreed.” The heavy boulder Derek loaded on the word shook it until everyone felt the weight.
Callie cast him a side-glance, and hoped he could see the question in it. Was there more? Was it something that could be shared in this company?
“Still no sign of the boss?” Beck asked. His gaze skittered from them to the wall and back. It was almost as if they were making out hardcore in front of him, and he didn’t want to be the perv who watched. Which was great except no clothes were being shoved to the side.
Derek shook his head, and then added, “He didn’t show, but the cops did.”
“What?” Callie’s stomach hollowed out, readying for a second blow. The Soul Charmer had shielded Derek last time, but no one was here to offer magical protection earlier. If she hadn’t spent quality time with her mom, she would have been here. Not that she knew how to hide her boyfriend in plain sight, but she could have distracted someone. He was still here, though. No police had been stationed at the door when she returned. Callie hissed on an exhale. “I mean, what happened?”
“And what about the storage room?” Beck added.
Shit. She hadn’t even through about the hell scape that was broken glass and sticky blood covering the room behind the curtain. It didn’t matter how persuasive you were, or how crooked a cop was, ignoring a room covered in blood was a hard sell.
“I dealt with it.” Derek’s hard tone might have made Beck bristle, but Callie wasn’t scared. The more she thought about the intrusion and the danger, the more outraged she became.
“What happened? What did they ask? Are they coming back?” Her rapid-fire questioning didn’t give him a breath to butt in.
“They showed up and wanted to talk to me.” If he gave her that ‘no big deal’ shrug again, she was going to slug him.
“Talk to you about what?” Beck asked. “Are they looking for the Soul Charmer? Do they know?”
Derek rested a heavy hand on Callie’s hip, but he spoke to Beck. “They’re always looking for the Charmer, but they didn’t know he was missing. I didn’t clue them in either.”
Did Beck know that the Charmer was behind the bombings? That Derek was involved? She had to play it safe. The fewer people who knew what Derek had done, the safer he’d be. “What did they want to ask him? More of the same?”
“They had questions about how he sources souls. Made some threat about how our business was going to be illegal in a few months, and how I should look for another income stream.”
“The news had something about an idiot calling for people who pawn their souls to be held liable for the actions of whoever rented it, but it wasn’t a politician.” Didn’t that shit take time? She’d been more interested in biology than political science in high school, but she was pretty sure legal shit took forever. Debates and lobbying and other bullshit meant to rack up billable hours.
“I’m sure you’re right,” Derek’s tone was gentle for her. “They wanted an excuse to rattle him. Rattle us.”
“And that’s all they wanted?” She needed the assurance.
He gave her a subtle squeeze with the arm wrapped around her waist. The hint of bleach hit her over the stale Nag Champa in the air.
“That’s all these cops asked about.” Different cops then. Just what they needed: more cops stopping by for little chats.
Beck watched the volleys between Derek and Callie with too much interest. You didn’t get to be trusted by the Soul Charmer by being an idiot. Callie needed to remember that.
“Any trouble with the back?” Beck asked.
“They didn’t want to search the place, but the back is clean. Downstairs is still a fucking shit storm, but I figured you broke it, you’d clean it.”
Beck stretched a hand over his shoulder and pressed his fingers against his traps. When he let his hand fall back to his side, he gave his head a subtle shake. “I don’t even know if you’re kidding anymore.”
Derek’s half-hearted shrug didn’t offer much, but it made Beck snort.
It had taken Derek time to get comfortable enough to jest with her. How long had he known Beck? The tension in the room was beginning pinch Callie’s nerves. Or maybe it was residual magic.
“You’ve been working here too long,” Beck said.
While Callie agreed, neither she nor Derek said as much.
She checked the time on her phone. The digits helped her for once. She needed an excuse out of this room, and time was a good one. “We should get going.”
“Right.” Beck turned toward the door.
“Do I look like I’m angling for a good time?” she said to Derek.
The
