“Calliope, what are you doing?” The Charmer’s voice sounded meters away.
A moment later the fire was gone and the Soul Charmer of Gem City was glaring at her. He held the lidded jar. “Next time, maybe cap the jar if you can’t control it,” he snapped.
She took the jar from him, and backed away without another word. Derek handed over the woman’s money. No one else needed her in this room. Fine with her. She needed out. She needed to get a lead on Nate. She needed to save her mother.
CHAPTER THREE
“Everyone out here.” Callie didn’t recognize the dark baritone voice, but the volume suggested whoever it was knew there were people in the back of the Soul Charmer’s store. Damn it. She hadn’t left fast enough. The urge to book it out the back bit her jaw. The tang of tinfoil touched her tongue. She couldn’t taste Donna’s soul for shit, but apparently the air of authority could fill her mouth.
Instead of running, however, Callie held steady in the back. No one was peeking past the curtains yet, and as long as her shoes stayed put on the tile floor she could remain fairly silent.
“Calliope, join us.” The Soul Charmer sounded exhausted. At least they had that in common.
She returned to the storefront. Derek was just inside the door. Arms locked tight across his chest. His chin was high enough to enforce his height on others and make every glance a dismissal downward. If he was in fuck-you-up stance, this was not going to be fun.
Two Gem City police officers stood in the center of the room. “Anyone else back there?” the taller one asked. His badge read Grady and his lips flattened into a hard line when he saw Callie. She hadn’t done anything to warrant that scowl. Maybe she just had one of those faces. Pickpocket skills were not a recessive gene, and neither were her brown eyes.
“No,” she said. She was going to keep it to single-word answers. It worked for Derek. Why not for her? Oh, except that she wasn’t six foot plus of badass muscle.
Officer Grady settled his hands on his duty belt. It’d be casual if his fingers weren’t touching his firearm. Callie’s mother hadn’t imparted much wisdom when she was growing up; Don’t hit on seventeen did not count. She had, however, been firm about cops. Avoid them. If that doesn’t work, be polite. If they touch their gun, you best make yourself small and helpless. Zara milked that damsel-in-distress move to pick pockets and to garner favors and cash from tourist businessmen in bars. Callie wasn’t much for the act usually. Right now, though? Callie hoped she looked like an exhausted college kid and not a mid-twenties apprentice soul magician.
“Ortega.” Grady pointed the other cop to the back office. When Officer Ortega didn’t move, he added, “Confirm we have everyone.”
The other officer watched his feet as he walked toward the back. He didn’t see the Charmer’s finger flourish. The soft simmer of magic at her back vanished. Wards down. Odd. It was almost like the Charmer didn’t want the police to know how powerful he was. Her boss hadn’t been bashful about his skills before. This concealment was for Derek. The Charmer’s relationship with her boyfriend was complicated, but at least the magician wasn’t trying to put her man in the line of fire. Well, not with the cops anyway.
The room was quiet while everyone waited for the policeman to return. Derek’s chest barely moved. The Charmer’s lips flattened into a hard line. Everyone waited in silence for the policeman to return, and it for once none of the attention was on her. Grady glowered at the Soul Charmer, and the reprieve allowed Callie to exhale.
Officer Ortega popped his head through the velvet curtain, and confirmed, “It’s empty.” He skimmed his fingers over the curtain, and then ambled back into the room.
The lead officer harrumphed with a heavy enough rumble to rival one of Derek’s grumbles. Callie did a double take. The officer didn’t notice. Grady wasn’t hot enough to pull off the gruff, sour thing.
Grady narrowed his eyes at the Soul Charmer. “Do you know why we are here?” he asked, his voice loud enough to reach the rooftop..
“I would guess you don’t wish to rent a soul.” A blasé Soul Charmer would have been a hilarious thing, if it weren’t for the cops. The man couldn’t help himself. “My patrons do not typically demand to see the back office.”
The Charmer tucked his hands in his pockets. A warm static filled Callie’s sinuses, and she doubted it was a coincidence. What did he have in there?
“No.” Officer Grady’s tone was hard.
“I do offer a discount for law enforcement and military members.” Only the Soul Charmer would have the balls to taunt cops when he knew full well he’d been involved in crimes. Her boss’s needling tone was paired with a silver-toothed smile.
Officer Ortega stood behind his partner, and was pointedly not looking at anyone. Callie thought she heard him snicker. Was he a renter? Callie didn’t recognize him, but the customers were already beginning to blur for her.
Officer Grady scowled. “Are you aware of the attacks on the Ford family holdings?”
“The slaughterhouse magnate?” The Charmer had gone monotone. All revelry disappeared from his voice, and the sharp shift snapped a belt of fear around Callie’s belly.
Officer Grady’s heavy voice hardened. “The councilman, the largest landowner in Gem City, yes.”
“He is
