Page 29 of A Soul's Curse
I handed him what was left of my bottle of water. He snapped open the cap and took a short sip. “I suppose I deserved that outburst. But I didn’t tell you because the first thing you would have done was tip off Mr. Carson. The Syndicate would have known it was my fault, and even if we didn’t get caught, your reaction wouldn’t have been genuine. Leon assured me he wasn’t planning to kill anyone. He just wanted to startle you until you panicked and agreed to his terms. But I tried to avoid this. I tried to get you to come with me to the Syndicate so I could call this all off.”
I snorted, rolling the chair closer to him. “Well, look at how great that worked out for us. Now I have two weeks to find this mysterious ghost—and if I fail, not only is Ellie essentially dead, but I’ll be bound to the Syndicate for the rest of my life.”
“I won’t let that happen, Theo.” His voice was scratchy, but his words rang with truth, although it was a promise I knew he couldn’t keep. “The Oathstone wasn’t a part of the original plan and I didn’t think Leon would go that far. My plan was to bind you to me so that I could keep tabs on you in case anyone tried anything when I wasn't around. But what’s done is done. All things considered, it could have been a lot worse. At least you agreed to something we have the capability of doing.”
We, I thought. He’s still acting like he wants to be a part of this.
“Did you know what Leon was going to do to the food supply?”
Ren shook his head. “He told me right after we left you. I immediately came here, hoping I could get ahead of it, but I was too late. The least I could do was assure Nick you had nothing to do with it.”
“Thanks for that.” I sighed. He may have gotten me into this mess in the first place, but without him, I couldn’t deny things would have been a lot worse. “May I?” I raised my hands toward his head, my magic itching to absorb the damage I had caused earlier. A dark bruise was blooming around his neck like a ring of shadowed petals, wrapping around his skin with a painful precision. “I promise I won’t strangle you this time.”
Ren smacked my hand. “No.”
The hurt of betrayal must have flashed across my face because Ren quickly added, “Not because I don’t want you to, but because you’re exhausted, Theo. Don’t worry about me. It’s just a bruise. I’ll be fine.”
I hunched over on the stool, bracing my elbows on my thighs and resting my chin on my hands. “Can I ask you something?”
Ren grunted. “What?”
“Leon said that if I tried anything, the oath would hurt the person who cared about me most, but I don’t understand why. Wouldn’t it make more sense the other way around? To hurt someoneIcare about?”
With a heavy sigh, Ren answered in a distant voice. “You already know who the person is that you care about most. You could try to protect them, but do you know who the person is who truly cares aboutyou? You do so much to help others, Theo, but look at how quickly they turned on you when they thought you poisoned them and burned down Mr. Carson’s restaurant. You’re replaceable. It won’t be long until they cast you aside completely.”
“I don’t believe that. They’re good people … most of them, anyway.” Regardless, the truth of his words sat heavy in my chest. I enjoyed helping people—I took care of my mom, protected my sister, and used my magic to help anyone I could. I didn’t know what I would do with my life if I suddenly could no longer do that.
“Theo?” Stella’s footsteps and loud greeting echoed in the church loft. “You slacking off up here?”
I was worried about Stella when she left my apartment earlier, wondering whether she actually had a place to sleep or a meal to eat. The icing stains smeared on her t-shirt informed me she must have taken my advice and went to see Ivy at the grocery store to interview for a position within the bakery department.
“We’re over here,” I waved her over. “Where’s Ivy?”
As if summoned by my thoughts, the smacking of footsteps against the stairs was followed by an out-of-breath demon. Ivy’s eyes brightened when they settled on me, and a brilliant smile widened across her face. With newfound energy, she rushed over to me and squeezed her arms so tightly around my neck I thought she might snap it. “I tried calling, but you didn’t answer. Stella was in the middle of an interview decorating a cake and I was in the break room watching TV when I saw on the news what happened. We immediately left to find you.”
Stella crossed her arms and sniffed at me. “You better hope they were impressed enough with half my cake to still offer me the job!”
“Howdidyou find me?” I rasped, tapping on Ivy’s arm to let me go, and as soon as she did I sucked in a deep lungful of air. Something buzzed beside my ear, and I batted my hand around at something blurry that darted across my face.
The little pixie, about the size of a hummingbird, flapped her iridescent wings. Translucent and gossamer-thin, they reflected an array of blues, greens, purples, and pinks from the overhead lights. She made a few circles around me while leaving behind a trail of sparkling magic in her wake. When she stopped and hovered in front of me, her lilac hair and red, petal-like dress floated in an invisible wind.
“Me, of course! I followed the trail of your magic here. I approve of this one, Ivy. I like the feel of his magic. It is soaccepting and innocent, and sends a delightful warmth through me, even if its origins are a bit … dark.” She took in a deep breath through her dainty nose, and her pale skin lit up with glowing golden vines of magic winding across her arms and legs. Eager to take in more, she dove into my sandy blond hair, tiny fists gripping at strands in small clumps.
“Um, Lyric,” Ivy pleaded. “Maybe you should …”
“Not now, Ivy! I’m committing his scent to memory, so next time I won’t need to rely on something he owns.” The little pixie abandoned my hair and began pulling at my lips and nose. Bright green eyes, full of expression, intensified with the golden glow of her magic as she examined me.
“It’s okay, Ivy,” I said as Lyric pried open my mouth and practically shoved her body inside it. Her hair tickled my tongue and a brief laugh rumbled from my throat. I knew little about pixies except that they were a type of fae, a distant lineage to Stella, and that they were often curious but rarely malicious. If Ivy trusted this pixie to locate me, then I wasn’t worried about Lyric poking and prodding.
“I hope you don’t mind,” Ivy’s stare turned to her feet. “Lyric can track magic. We didn’t know where to find you, so I gave her the gummy bears you gave Stella. She tracked your magical signature inside them to bring us here.”
Ivy looked up at me, the bag of gummy bears in her hand crinkling as she tightened her grip on them. “Before you ask, she can’t track Ellie’s magic because her body isn’t, um, alive, I guess? Stella actually told me what happened and asked me about it, but Lyric can’t track the magic of a ghost and most of Ellie’s magic was separated from her. It’s not strong enough to track.”
Lyric, her assessment of me completed, then moved on to Ren. She immediately stuck up her nose at him and rudely sniffed,made a gagging sound, then returned to nestle herself in my hair. “Can I keep this one?”
“Oh, I don’t think Theo would—”
“Pleeeease, Ivy? How many times have I helped you out and I’ve never asked for anything in return? I just want this one thing! I won’t break our agreement, I promise!”
