Borrowed Souls (Soul Charmer #1)(64)

“Then you’ll have missed out on the opportunity to help purify Gem City.”

“‘Purify’?”

Tess keened her head to the right. “Too many souls are weighed down due to his influence. We’ll help free them. You can have more details once you’ve sided with me. For now, talk to your employer, tell him you quit, and then come find me. I can help.”

If the last year of her life was any indication, “I can help” were three words that could fuck with your head as badly as “I love you.”

Tess was bad news. Callie’s bones screamed at the threat of the woman’s presence. But was she worse than the Soul Charmer? Maybe it didn’t matter. She was already in bed with two nasty men, the Charmer and Ford, no need to add a wicked woman to the mix.

“You want me to talk to him? To tell him about this conversation?” Now she was avoiding the Charmer’s name, too.

“I want you to have the truth. You’d be surprised how freeing it can be.” Knowledge lay behind Tess’s eyes. Tantalizing secrets were being offered on a plate of promises.

Truth was a privilege. One Callie felt like she would forever be excluded from. She did want to know the Charmer’s motivations, and what he planned on doing with her once she’d worked off the debt, but what was the risk? Tess knew more than she should about Callie as it was. What did she really want?

Truth might set others free, but secrets kept Callie safe.


If Gem City were bigger, Callie would have found a way to get lost. Running from her problems hadn’t ever been her style, but the appeal of disappearing was beginning to become clear. Especially when she parked her car outside her apartment building, and spotted Ford’s henchman Nate parked a couple spaces over. Was Tess the type to update Ford on Callie’s comings and goings? How closely were the two of them working together?

The windows of the black sports car were rolled down. Clean guitar riffs caught her attention, but the music faded into the background as Nate spotted her. His stretched arm hooked outside the window to wave over the top of the vehicle at her.

She shuffled to his driver’s side door, knowing she didn’t have another option. The passenger’s side was closer, but she was too aware of the threat of moving to Crime Scene B to get into this asshole’s car. The encounter with Tess had drained her, though she was fairly certain the woman hadn’t literally sucked her energy. Though it wasn’t impossible. “What do you want?” she asked, not caring about the bratty tone for once.

“That’s no way to treat a friend.”

“You’re not my friend. Pretty sure we established that the other night.”

“Don’t see your boyfriend here.” He sneered at her, but she wasn’t about to talk about her sex life with Nate.

Taking the high road took work, but the less-traveled too-tired-to-give-a-fuck bridge was equally effective. “I’m tired. Tell me what you need or I’m leaving.”

“You’re still pissy about the other night? C’mon.”

Ford might have sent Nate over as a test, to see if she’d fall in line. There had to be more to it than that, though. Nate was leveraging a second chance to talk to Callie. She mentally crossed her fingers he wasn’t going to be a double dick after the scene with her and Derek at the Indian restaurant.

“It’s not about you. It’s about me being tired and cold and wanting to go inside.” Bad breakup lines were the best she could conjure today.

“Fine.” He fumbled through a pile of wrappers and newspapers on the floorboard until he produced a legal-sized envelope and handed it over. “This is for you.”

She took it from him with the same care she’d handle a bomb. Reluctant and gentle. “What is it?”

“Oh, now you’ve got questions for ol’ Nate?”

She rolled her eyes, and waited. She was done asking questions, but Ford wouldn’t be pleased if she stormed off. There was a lot on Callie’s plate, but keeping that butcher happy needed to be a top priority. The memory of his flashing a knife upon their first meeting was still fresh.

“You’re really no fun, you know that? Probably why you’re going about renting a soul the hard way.” He glanced at his crotch and Callie somehow managed not to vomit. If she had, though, she’d have done it right into his lap.

“And yet you keep trying.”

Nate scowled at her, but their dynamic had shifted enough for him to drop the subject. “You’ve got blueprints of the target, code lists, and whatever notes Ford thought you’d need.”

This was really happening. Holding documents with the layout of a secure police forensics facility made her officially a criminal. She had literally stepped over the line into conspiring to burgle. Yeah, there was probably a fancier term, and if she was better at this whole thievery deal she might know it. Her cheeks heated, but there was nothing she could do about the sudden rush of anxiety. “Do I really need these?” Her emotions choked her voice to a whisper.

“Yeah, you do. And before you go getting any big ideas, your big, biker boyfriend isn’t allowed to do it for you. Ford gave you this job. You’re doing it.”

“I don’t have experience with all this. Why isn’t Ford having you do it?”

“Your brother made a promise. It isn’t about who is best for the job, it’s about honoring your word. Well, your brother’s word. Ford needs you inside on this job and with the Charmer. Extra eyes on the Charmer don’t come cheap, and there’s something about you he likes. Don’t ask why Ford does something. Just be happy he ain’t hacking your baby bro into pieces. Besides, we’re not making you do the dirty work with the science people on this one. Simple break-in? Fuck, my mom could do that. Understood?”