Borrowed Souls (Soul Charmer #1)(85)
Callie managed to make herself pause, though she couldn’t control the subtle shake of her knees. “Yeah?” Containing the squeak of her vocal cords was impossible as well.
She was almost to the guard station. To where Vic should have been. How many steps until she was back outside? Twenty? Twenty-five?
“Where are you headed with that?” The short-sleeved white button-down the man wore strained over his potbelly. The sight was both comforting and unnerving. He didn’t look like a cop. Who was he, and what was he doing here?
“I need to review these notes for my boss,” she fibbed. It worked with Vic. She should have stopped there, but her ballsy attempt at confidence made her talkative. “You know how he can be.”
The man narrowed his eyes at her. “What’s your name? Have we met?”
Should she lie or tell the truth? Both had the potential for disastrous consequences. Plus the threat there might be an actual police officer in the building chipped at what little swagger she had left. “I don’t know if we’ve met before.” She took a step toward the exit. If she sprinted, she thought, doing the rough math in her head, she could be there in five seconds.
He followed her movements. His strides were longer than hers. He was too close. “What’s your name?” he prompted again.
“Eve,” she blurted. Not entirely a lie. IT Girl Callie would have gone by her middle name. Probably.
“Doesn’t ring a bell.” He stepped toward her again, and she backed away until her shoulder blades bumped against the cool wall. He edged in close, and glared down his nose at her. She hated when assholes used their height to get all bossy.
Her fingertips began to sizzle. Great. He was a soul renter to boot. Even in the goddamn police station, she couldn’t avoid them.
“If you were reviewing a file from that room for a boss, I’d be that boss,” he hissed. Spittle landed on her cheek and turned to steam immediately. His eyes widened. “And I don’t remember giving anyone an assignment like that.”
Callie had managed to keep the file pinned against her ribs with her forearm and elbow, which was wise, as her hands had gone full on molten. Only three inches separated their torsos, but she lifted her left hand between them. She could feel the heat radiating, and the quiver in his voice suggested he could as well. “What are you doing? What’s going on?” he sputtered.
She slammed her palm into his chest and shoved him as hard as she could. It wasn’t much, but when one wielded pure fire, force wasn’t a big factor. The man stumbled back a few feet, smacking open palms at his burning shirt. The outline of a black handprint was charred into the fabric. Like he’d been touched by the devil. Her lips pulled away from her teeth in a feral smile.
The door at the end of the hallway flung open, and Callie turned to face whatever backup had arrived. She just hadn’t expected it to be her backup.
“Doll! We need to go!” Derek’s voice pierced her adrenaline-addled mind. She ran for him, her mind reeling at how he could even be at the station. Was the cocktail of adrenaline and guilt making her hallucinate?
Within ten steps her magical flame had been fully extinguished. The flames on her attacker’s shirt had gone out, too, but as for the extent of the burns? Well, maybe he shouldn’t corner unknown women if he didn’t want them to buck back. Derek looked past Callie at the man. He didn’t say a word, and the two of them ran out of the door, across the street, and hopped in her car.
Smart guy. If he didn’t flinch at that, and still wanted to save her, maybe he wouldn’t judge her for torturing Tess. If he could get past that whole slipping him a narcotic thing.
Each heartbeat throbbed in Callie’s neck, as though it pressed against unseen bruises. Only her own mind could conjure enough fear to attempt to choke her out. Maybe it wasn’t loyalty that ran in the family, but insanity. She leaned her head against the headrest of the passenger’s seat. Her pulse was too quick, and no matter how many deep breaths she took it refused to slow.
Derek had already put the car in drive and was pushing the gas pedal down by the time Callie gasped in a few lungfuls of air. She finally asked, “How are you—”
“How am I here?” Derek’s words cut.
She nodded, keeping her gaze straight ahead of her.
“You mean after you tried to drug me?” There it was, the verbal knife he deserved to use, pressing deep between her ribs.
Squeezing her eyes tight wouldn’t make her problems disappear, nor would cradling her legs against her chest. She did both, anyway, and hoped her self-hatred might cocoon her in invisibility. She barely parted her lips to speak. “I needed to save you from me.”
His laugh could have punched a hole in a wall. “Did I ask you to save me?”
She popped her head up from her knees. “No, but I didn’t ask for it either, and I can’t let you fuck up your life on my account.”
“We talked about this. I make my own decisions.” A breeze of comprehension had cooled his fire.
“Well, I’m a shit choice. The last thing I want to do is pull you into Ford’s mess.”
“He won’t touch me.”
“You sound confident, but I never thought I’d be in his world, either. Then he kidnapped my brother and threatened me with knives. Things change, and I wasn’t going to let you fall into that, too.”