Borrowed Souls (Soul Charmer #1)(76)

“Or maybe you’re underestimating me now.” The threat of disappointing Derek kept her tone even and cool.

“I don’t think so,” Tess sneered. “You let the boys shoot me with sedatives and tie me up. I thought you’d want something better, but I was wrong.”

Tess knew the buttons to push, and Callie wished she could ask how. That wasn’t what this was about though. She baited the line. “You didn’t actually offer me anything better. I don’t need a new person manipulating me.”

“I offered you a chance to be out from under him. I wanted to help you.”

“He gave me magic. What were you going to give me?” Had she just implied her flame hands were a gift? Ugh. She should punch herself for that.

“Help,” Tess said, as if it were so simple.

“No, Tess, you were going to use me, just like he wants to.” Callie sauntered closer, ignoring the heat coiling in her palms. Uneven burners on an aged electric range were destined to short circuit.

Tess pursed her lips. Hurting another person on purpose wasn’t in Callie’s DNA, but the temptation to remind Tess of the magic she and the Charmer fought over was too tempting. She tapped a finger against Tess’s bound hand. The sparks from her hand lit the small space, but faded before reaching the floor. Tess winced, but remained silent.

Callie circled her. “That’s the truth of it, isn’t it, Tess? The Charmer wanted me to find you, and I expect you wanted me to find his souls for you.”

“I found plenty of his souls just fine without your help.” Touché.

“Then why did you want to help me?” Contempt drenched each word.

“Magic takes time to master. Even more so when you didn’t seek it out yourself.” She was playing nice, but Callie couldn’t let herself buy it.

“You sound like you aren’t a fan of magic, but you wield it pretty freely, lady.”

Tess fought her bonds to stiffen her posture. Callie had hit a nerve. “I would never speak ill of such a gift. I trained for years to learn to pull the energy, found the right people to help, but now … ”

Damn, Callie really wanted her to go into monologue mode. “But now?”

“It doesn’t matter. You’re not interested.”

“Convince me. Tell me what’s worth all this. What could possibly be worth stealing from the goddamn Soul Charmer and purposefully getting involved with all this nasty?” Callie kept her tone light, but she needed an answer. Why would anyone choose this?

“It doesn’t have to be nasty.”

“But it is.” Callie edged away from Tess. The cool wall behind her offered strength.

“I could fix all that.” Words of false promise from a fanatic.

“That’s a tall order.”

“You’ve witnessed my magic.” Tess paused, waiting for Callie to nod. She had. Tess’s eyes were wide as she continued. “I’ve siphoned sin from thousands in the last year. Sipping a tiny portion at a time. They got euphoria for a few hours, and I gained power. Imagine how much sin we could purge with the power derived from the collection of souls he has. Just imagine.”

Tess’s god complex made a little more sense now. Not that Callie was buying into the rule-the-world shit, but she understood the ability to affect such change could go to one’s head. At least something made sense. “Why does purging sin matter to you so much?”

“This magic—” her eyes danced with manic joy “—is beautiful. It’s meant to help. We can cleanse people. Everyone will understand they’ll be happier without the need to sin, without the guilt of it. They will adore us for saving them from themselves.”

Callie groaned. “Pretty sure that’s the church’s job.”

“They let their people do anything. We won’t let that happen. Once we’ve touched their souls, we can keep them from making such poor choices. You’ll have the power to protect your family from bad decisions.”

Callie had to give it to her. It was a good pitch. If it was even legit. The Soul Charmer certainly wasn’t interested in the mundane lives of his clients. That man liked a lot of peeking at souls and cold, hard cash. Tess’s brand of crazy might make this real to her, though. If it was true, shit would only get worse. Who wouldn’t want to keep everyone safe and happy and keep their loved ones from the dangers of the world? Only, who was Tess to make those decisions? What if the church was wrong? What if people weren’t going to be punished for living freely? If the church had its way, having sex with Derek had damned Callie. There was nothing abhorrent about what happened between them. He didn’t judge her for her baggage, her family, or even her situation with Ford. He smiled when they were alone together. She smiled, too. He made her feel whole and worthwhile and special. The idea of Tess as the arbiter of acceptable behavior dug at Callie. This was probably why the Charmer wanted her for the job all along. Callie was a good person—Derek told her as much—but she gave little fucks about what others’ moral measurements were.

Callie couldn’t help herself. “Who put you in charge?”

Tess’s arms strained against her bindings. After a moment she hedged. “Does it matter?”

Goddamn it. “Yeah, it matters.”

“I am the one who will purify this city. That’s all you need to know.”