Page 13 of A Soul’s Curse (Fallen Souls #1)

I huffed, pressing a hand to my chest at the gentle reminder of the burn that was still radiating heat from my body.

“I’m not sure I would have called that easy , but yeah.

I guess my magic was designed for stuff like that.

I’m glad I could help. But what about Ellie?

And the Syndicate? I can’t just abandon my friend. ”

“I hate to add even more bad news to this already depressing conversation,” Thomas sighed, “but I suspect the Syndicate is planning to do the same thing to you, Theo. Leon tried to convince you to go with him, and you refused. I have no doubt they’ll use Ellie against you to get something they want.

My guess is probably exploiting your connections and your unique power. ”

I’d never thought of my magic as anything special.

If anything, it was a curse. My mix of powers wasn’t exactly common, but there were others with similar abilities—most just couldn’t handle them as well as I could.

Training with my type of magic was discouraged since losing control could cause needless harm or even death.

I was just one of the lucky ones who shaped it into something of my own.

Thomas slapped his hands on the table and stood up.

“Well, on that depressing note, I’m going to catch a train into Boston and go exploring.

I want to see what’s been going on for the past hundred years.

And I miss food. I want to try everything .

Hope you’re sticking around, Theo. Good luck.

” He waved as he left the kitchen and headed for the front door.

“Wait, what? You’re leaving? Won’t the Syndicate be looking for you?”

He didn’t respond, leaving behind an awkward silence between me and Ren after the front door clicked shut.

I didn’t know what to do, so I focused on eating the rest of my cereal as Ren watched me.

Sweets weren’t my typical breakfast food.

I usually enjoyed eggs or leftover pizza, but I was starving.

“I don’t cook,” he randomly said, as if sensing my apprehension toward the breakfast food.

“Oh.” A nervous laugh escaped my lips. “Don’t worry about it. It’s not like you were planning for visitors to suddenly show up. This is perfect, Ren. Thank you. And thank you for helping me last night. I’d probably be dead if it weren’t for you.”

The prickly demon actually blushed at the compliment, his red skin softly darkening on his cheeks.

“This is a beautiful place,” I said, gesturing around to the gourmet kitchen around me.

I didn’t know Ren, but from what I’d seen—the children’s books, the fancy china, the pictures that definitely weren’t his family—he might have lived here, but this wasn’t his place.

“I don’t know many demons who could afford such a nice home. ”

Ren leaned forward with a threatening scowl. “What are you getting at, Theo?”

I leaned back in the chair, my heartbeat racing.

Too far, I thought, so I immediately corrected myself.

“It’s just … this place doesn’t scream you .

You don’t seem like the type of guy to host expensive dinner parties, I’m guessing you don’t have kids, and you aren’t in any of the family photos I saw on the fireplace mantle so I’m assuming they aren’t related to you.

” I needed to shut up. I wasn’t doing myself any favors by pushing him.

“You know nothing about me.” He got up from his chair, snatching our bowls and walking over to the sink, tossing them in with a hint of frustration.

“But, I’d like to get to know you. I mean, it’s not like you’re part of some demon mafia or something.” Although that was exactly what I was thinking. “Shit. Sorry. I’ll shut up now. Forget I said anything.”

I pulled out my phone from my pocket. There were about a dozen missed calls, some from numbers I didn’t recognize, and even more text messages.

“It was going off the entire night. Someone must really care about you.” Ren nodded to the phone, changing the subject. Something in his voice softened. Knowing a bit about his past, I was willing to bet he didn’t have many close friends or people he could rely on.

“Yeah, I’m sure it was just my boyfriend checking up on me and wondering where I was.

” But when I checked the messages and missed calls, most of them had come in last night from my sister, asking if we were still planning to meet up at Emberheart Place.

The unknown number had come from Ivy, who I could only assume went to Emberheart Place and had acquired my phone number from the New Jersey Devil himself.

They were all looking for me, wondering where I had gone and why I wasn’t answering.

I paused at one with Sly’s name on it and smiled, but when I opened the text message, the happiness quickly faded.

Hey, I’m kinda hungry. Can you bring a pizza home with you when you get off work?

That was the only message. Did he not realize I never came home?

Ren coughed to grab my attention. “I might not have some fancy job, but I was technically

a reporter, not that they make much, but most of the money came from the Syndicate and James Whitfield’s fortune that he’d collected over the past century.

And just so you know, it wasn’t easy bashing people like that and spreading propaganda, but I had to if I didn’t want to raise suspicion.

They thought they were paying James to spread lies about those who wield what they called impure magic.

Little did they know, I took that money and funneled it back into the demon community.

The demon who lived in this house had three young kids.

When he injured himself on the job and could no longer work, he couldn’t even afford to pay the electric bill.

So I offered to rent it from him. I needed a second home outside the city, anyway. ”

I nearly choked on my breath. “Wait. Did you say your second home? How many do you have?”

“Just the two.” This time, a smug grin graced his lips. Then he was silent for a minute, knowing where this conversation was drifting to next because there was still one question he had yet to answer.

Ren suddenly looked uncomfortable, his gaze turning away from me, staring out the kitchen window as he sighed. “My father used to call it ‘mediocre magic’ when we were growing up. I can use many different types of magical powers … except I can’t use them very well.”

I leaned back in the chair and crossed my arms. “Well, that’s clearly bullshit. There was nothing mediocre about what I saw of your magic last night.”

“Whatever. I don’t need your pity.” He looked away, and I felt the tension build in the room. This was a touchy subject for him, and maybe I shouldn’t have brought it up, but it bothered me that he felt that way about his magic.

“I’m not lying. I mean it,” I encouraged, dropping all hints of teasing from my tone.

“You suffered a stab wound from Leon and barely even flinched, then sent him flying across the room with a flick of your hand. You literally stopped time, if only for a second, so you could harden your fist into some kind of stone and sucker punch your brother. Hell, you even glamoured yourself well enough that the Syndicate didn’t notice …

for an entire year. That’s not mediocre, if you ask me. ”

Ren stood across the kitchen, leaning against the granite countertop.

Under the pendant lights, his human features were much more visible.

His reddish skin was much softer than other demons, almost like the faint blush of embers glowing in the dark, warm and subdued, yet hinting at an untamed fire beneath.

“Well, thanks again for your help last night, and for the cereal, but I’m sure you have stuff to do and I have a friend I need to figure out how to save, so I’ll get out of your way now.” I stood up from my chair at the same time Ren walked me over toward the front door.

His mouth opened and closed like a gaping fish before he bent down and picked up my backpack. “I brought it downstairs for you. Your shoes are also by the door.”

There was something oddly endearing about this demon. He reminded me of a … burnt marshmallow—dark and bitter on the outside, but warm and sweet within. I could see the two of us becoming good friends if he stuck around.

“Thanks. Here.” I dug into my backpack and pulled out a plastic bag with some caramel cubes inside. “These have special magic in them to help heal wounds and fight infections. My number is also on the bag. Give me a call if you need me to check things out or replace the bandages.”

He took the bag and nodded. As I trotted down the stone steps and onto the sidewalk, I documented my surroundings …

not just because I wanted to remember where Ren lived, but also because I had no idea where the hell I was or how to get back home.

I took about ten steps before that eerie feeling of being watched pricked my skin.

I turned around, horror gripping my chest, expecting to see Leon pushing his way through a tear in the Nether.

But there was … nothing. Or was there? I could have sworn I saw a slight iridescent shimmer across the sidewalk.

A thought sparked in my head. Amusement rippled through my laugh when I finally realized what was going on.

I wasn’t going insane. I wasn’t paranoid.

Someone was there. Someone who could use magic to make himself invisible, but not completely undetected.

“You’ve been following me for a while now, haven’t you, Ren? ”

A flicker of magic revealed Ren standing off to the side with his arms crossed and a death glare on his face. He wasn’t embarrassed by what he was doing, mostly irritated that he got caught. His mediocre magic had been concealing his physical appearance, but couldn’t quite hide his actual presence.

“Just so you know, if you insist on following me, I’d rather you not hide. Also, I’m going to keep asking questions. You have a lot of explaining to do.” I turned around, calling out to him, “Well? You gonna walk me home or not?”

I wasn’t sure if he would, but I was relieved to hear the crunching of his heavy footsteps behind me as I made my way down the street.