Oh, good. Callie was tending this woman’s gateway to the afterlife and was getting name called in the process.
“We know you work for Anonymous Souls,” Beck said. Could he hear Callie’s teeth grind? “The question is, who specifically is your boss? We want a name.”
“It’s anonymous,” Lexi snapped.
This woman was tired, and Callie could relate, but it was going to be hard to keep treating her metaphysical wounds if she was going to keep this up. They had to ease her into this, apparently.
Callie pivoted the questions. “How were you going to give me the soul?”
“What do you mean?”
“You had an aluminum jar. How were you going to get the soul out of it and into my body?”
“Standard way.”
Callie rolled her eyes, and her pressure on Lexi’s soul slipped. The other woman hissed a series of short breaths. Callie eased off. “How?”
Lexi attempted to shrug against her bonds. “Tool of the trade. I’m sure you have one, too.”
Callie send a questioning look Beck’s way.
“No flask,” he said to Callie.
“A quill, honey!” Lexi squeaked. Callie reassessed her magical compress and realized she was probably giving a little too much sweetness to the soul, but it was working so she tried to stay steady.
“Where’s the quill?” Callie asked Lexi.
The woman giggled.
Callie glanced to Beck.
“I didn’t see a quill,” he said.
Derek wasn’t about to let them lose time. He stepped around Callie and gave Lexi a quick pat down. The brilliant blue quill had been tucked next to her calf inside her pant leg.
“Kind of inconvenient location,” Callie said. “Like how do you pull that out all smooth on a street?”
“I’ve got a van,” Lexi sneered.
Derek started to bring the quill back to the Soul Charmer team side of the room. The sensation of steel sliding over her skin ground on Callie’s nerves again. Metal and magic and malevolence assaulted her. A soul magic artifact. Hell. Another ancient item like this, a knife, had been used to steal and store souls before. Nate had put that into motion. That couldn’t be a coincidence. She barely shook her head, but Derek saw it. He moved to stand behind Lexi. He was at a safe distance so the magic couldn’t gnaw at her, and he could keep the Anonymous Souls dealer in check.
“How did you get the souls that were in the van?” Callie asked.
“I’m just a delivery driver.” Rehearsed words from a foot soldier.
Callie pushed on the woman’s soul again. She heard the scream but knowing there was a tool in the room that could allow almost anyone to steal a soul put Callie a bit on edge. “No, you’re not. How did you get the souls?”
“Boss brought them in.”
“When?” Derek asked.
“I don’t know when he collects souls.” Lexi’s own soul seconded that statement.
“Fair enough. Has your van always been that stocked?”
“We get fresh stuff in all the time.” Lexi was looking at Beck’s shins like they had the answers.
Callie’s tone was sharper this time. “That wasn’t my question.”
“There’s some new shit out. Sure. Fine.”
They could check the goods. Now that she could feel the souls more clearly, she could probably identify the damaged ones. She’d have to go through them. Or maybe the Charmer could return and do that shit. A faint rasp hissed nearby, and it took Callie a moment to realize she was wheezing. Her hands were shaking. Holding onto this soul was draining.
“What’s your boss’s name?” Callie asked.
Lexi looked down like she was preparing to melt into the earth.
Callie chest ached. She took a shot. “Lexi, do you know a man named Nate?”
Lexi’s head snapped up. Her shoulders banged against the back of the chair hard enough to scuff it back a centimeter with a hard honk. Her eyes were wide now and her nostrils flaring. Callie couldn’t have gotten a more panicked response if she’d slammed a needle of ephedrine into the woman’s vein.
“I don’t want to talk about Nate.” Lexi’s words slurred together. Callie wasn’t slamming pressure into the other woman’s soul, though. This wasn’t some sort of symptom of injury. This panic had nothing to do with Callie, Derek, Beck, or the Soul Charmer.
Callie doubled down. “So you know him?”
Sweat began to bead at Lexi’s brow. “I’m not talking about him, and you shouldn’t either.”
“You know who our boss is, right?” Beck asked.
“The Soul Charmer won’t accept your secrets,” Derek added.
The men were so ominous that Callie shuddered. Lexi, however, did not. What had Nate done to have this woman so terrified of him that she had zero fear of the Soul Charmer?
“Your magic man is gone, and Nate controls this city now. You shouldn’t speak of him either,” the captive dealer said.
Derek ambled to Lexi’s side. Callie took steps away in equal measure. Now wasn’t a time to get gutted by the weird ass magic of a damn quill.
Derek leaned close to Lexi, like he would be able to smell a lie. “Who says the Soul Charmer is gone?”
“V-V-Vega said your man is gone,” she stammered.
Gone, but not dead.
Gone, but not captured.
Just gone. Well, what the fuck did that mean?
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
A clean jingle drew Callie’s thoughts from worrying over the Soul Charmer’s whereabouts.
“Customer.” Derek pointed a finger toward the ceiling.
Even if the shop owned a “Closed” sign, Callie couldn’t have used it. No one could know the Soul Charmer had disappeared on them. If Vega and Lexi knew the Charmer was missing, who else knew? What did that mean for Callie, Derek, and the others? Had the Soul Charmer run off for a Vegas weekend? Unlikely. Wherever he was, Callie was convinced he wasn’t dead.
If the Soul Charmer was alive, then he’d come back and force her into immolation lockdown if she didn’t keep this damn business afloat.
“Let her sleep,” Callie told Beck.
“But she hasn’t told us…” Beck stopped, and then nodded.
“Watch her for now, please. We’re going to go deal with that.” Callie left the room, and Derek followed. He remained at the doorway until she was at the stairs.
