Barbara turned to Derek and stepped toe-to-toe with him. The lady had some guts. “Talk sense into her.”
“Do you have $400 on you?” Derek asked her with a conspiratorial current.
“Yes,” she said.
They exchanged the cash, and he stopped blocking the exit. Barbara gripped the door handle. Over her shoulder she said, “I’ll be sure your employer hears about this.”
When she was gone, Callie said, “If she can find the Charmer to tell him, I’ll deal with it.”
“He likes extra cash,” Derek said.
“Asshole fee goes to those who deal with them. That twenty five bucks is buying us beer later.”
Derek kissed her forehead. “Celebratory beer.”
“Perfect. Because whatever’s going to happen downstairs needs to happen quickly. If I’m right about Nate being involved in this Anonymous Souls racket, I expect we don’t have long before he makes a move.”
The basement was colder at night. A wall of chemical stench concealed the musky scent she associated with the decrepit wooden stairs.
“How much bleach did you use down here?” She blinked away tears, and her eyes adjusted.
“Enough.”
And then some.
The door where she’d found Beck and Miguel earlier had been replaced with plywood and was now closed. A muffled male voice rumbled behind the makeshift door. The last person held in this room had been an Anonymous Souls dealer, and he was gone. The last time this chance had arisen, the Charmer disappeared and blood had splattered the floors. Callie didn’t know what safety steps Miguel or the Charmer had taken, but she wasn’t going into that room without Derek at her side.
“We find out who’s fronting the business, if she knows what Nate is up to, and if she drops the Soul Charmer’s whereabouts great. And then we’re done, yeah?” Callie whispered, needing the confirmation.
A single, heated grumble was all he offered, but it was agreement without words.
Lexi’s head lolled to the side, but her eyes were open.
“Just tell me where you got the souls, and then you can rest.” Beck’s plea played as genuine.
The woman’s eyes fixed on Callie, and then narrowed, but she didn’t say anything.
“How long has she been like this?” Callie asked.
“Past twenty minutes or so. Whatever you did to her was no joke.” Beck didn’t look at Callie. Whether that was to keep focus on their guest or to avoid letting Callie see his fear, she wasn’t certain.
Lexi’s lagging behavior and the drowsiness mimicked a concussion. Derek had asked if she’s punched Lexi. Maybe she had. Callie moved further into the room until she stood next to Beck. He offered her the lone stool, but she declined. Magic simmered beneath her feet. It wasn’t the creeping frost of soul renters or blaring heat of unprotected souls. This was new. It itched and tingled. She curled her toes inside her Chucks, and tried to focus on the ebbing sogginess from her snow steps earlier. The damp discomfort was expected, this pulling and scraping of her soles was definitively not.
Callie took a single step backward and the sensation ceased. This was more than memories of her time with Tess giving her bad vibes. This was some kind of warning.
With the biting at her heels soothed, she focused on the woman in front of her. Lexi’s wild curls were limp as though they’d lost their body when she hit the van’s floor. Callie didn’t really want to touch this woman’s soul. It wasn’t about invading the woman’s privacy. Hell, she’d knocked the woman out. It was the unknown. She couldn’t escape knowledge. You couldn’t throw the deuces and ditch out on what you saw in someone’s soul. She might not see anything. She hadn’t before. She’d ask the Soul Charmer if he was here, but once again she was left on her own. Trial by soul magic fire.
He’d told her the souls talked to him. He could hear them. Could she choose to only eavesdrop and not know the soul? Beck was watching her now and not bothering to hide his concern. She didn’t have to peek over her shoulder to know Derek was directly behind her. He was watching, too, but had more patience.
Okay, Callie, you can triage this.
She prodded at Lexi’s soul. It was almost like the beautiful ball of translucent light was bruised. Winding paths of grey and blue wove over the right side. She pushed a little on them, and Lexi groaned. So souls could become concussed. You learn something new everyday.
“Lexi?” Callie kept her voice gentle. “Do you know where you are?”
“What the fuck kind of question is that?” Beck said under his breath.
Callie ignored him. Lexi was quiet for a moment, and then said, “With Soul Charmer assholes.”
“Good.”
“We’re not the assholes,” Beck said.
Callie smiled. “I just wanted to make sure she was coherent, but I’m pretty sure she’s going to think we’re assholes. I knocked her out and you tied her to that chair.”
He looked like he was going to apologize, and this simply wasn’t the time or place. She waved him off.
Callie imagined pressing a cold compress to the soul. She didn’t tell the guys because she was certain this was the closest to woo-woo magic shit that she’d ever gotten and she was not entirely comfortable with that. But Lexi’s soul was bruised, and if they could stop it from whatever the celestial equivalent of swelling was, that had to be a good choice.
Lexi lifted her head. “What are you doing to me?”
“Helping you,” she said with all the softness she could muster.
The scoff was scathing, but if Lexi had the energy to do that then she could probably answer questions.
“And now it’s your turn. Care to tell us who you work for?” Callie’s voice was high, but cut with the edge of a threat.
“You ordered a soul from them. Are you
