Page 46 of A Soul’s Curse (Fallen Souls #1)

I followed Caspian into Nick’s office, the overseer of Emberheart Place still out replacing the supplies his guests trashed.

Caspian shut the door behind me. Ren and Henry were still restrained, but the spell would wear off quickly and once it did, I fully expected Ren to barge in here demanding answers.

“So let me get this straight.” Caspian folded his hands, sitting in the fancy, executive leather chair behind Nick’s desk.

I prayed the devil didn’t catch him sitting there or he’d have no spine left to sit.

“You successfully tricked the Syndicate into giving Ellie her magic back. You know where she’s being kept.

You have a possible ally on the inside. The clock is ticking on your deal with the Syndicate.

But you’re here talking to me now. Why are you waiting?

You should have called me the instant you figured everything out. ”

“I mean, she was at the office park. She probably isn’t any more.

” I sighed, unwrapping a piece of chocolate from Nick’s candy bowl and popping it into my mouth as I sat in the less- fancy chair on the opposite side of the desk.

“Ren asked if I could wait. He thinks the Syndicate is up to something, and he wanted time to figure things out.”

Caspian’s evil laugh was loud enough to rattle the windows. “Of course the Syndicate is up to something! When are they not? But he must know the longer you wait, the more time they have to plan as well. I don’t understand why you even still listen to that demon after what he did.”

“It’s not like that.” I averted my gaze, playing with foil wrapper from my candy.

“I see. Then there’s a different reason you asked me here.” Caspian propped his elbow against the desk and rested his head in his hand.

“Well …” I scratched my head. “I guess … I’ve been wondering what my magic thinks about all this. I thought maybe, since you can talk to magic, that you might just … ask it?”

“Ask what specifically?”

I leaned back in the chair, staring up at the ceiling. Ren would burst in here any minute now. This had to be quick.

“About Ren,” I answered. “He told me he tried to steal my magic the night he broke into my house. Even though it hadn’t manifested inside me yet, it was there.

And apparently it refused to go with him.

I just … I guess I wanna know why. I feel this strange connection to him.

He might not have taken my magic, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t do something else to me that night. I just want to know … what to do.”

“You still don’t fully trust him.” Caspian leaned forward. “You want to know my opinion.”

“Not really. I want to know what my own magic thinks.”

“I think,” he continued anyway, “that to most people, death is something that happens in the past. Your magic took on the shape that it did because you’re haunted by the ‘what if’s of that night.

But when you started thinking about death as something in the future, to stop something like that from ever happening again, it became something totally unexpected.

Through your magic, you treat other peoples’ illnesses, you welcome ghosts into your life like they’re living beings.

So when Ren tried to take it from you, while it might not have been fully developed yet, it knew it had a bigger purpose than to let surrender to him.

Ren felt that strength and latched onto your magic in a different way.

He couldn’t have your magic, but he refused to let you go, regardless. ”

“So …” I forced myself to look at Caspian.

I was grateful for the sincerity of his words, but it still didn’t answer my question.

“Where does that leave me and Ren? I mean, I should hate the guy, right? I should want to be as far away as possible after everything he’s done to me.

But … as crazy as this sounds, I like being around him.

I don’t have to hide myself. I just worry that it’s only because our magic got mixed up that night and I don’t know what to do.

There’s a part of me that wants to forgive him and work this out, but I have this unsettling feeling that we’re destined to destroy each other.

Like, despite our pasts bringing us together, our paths forward don’t align. ”

“Maybe. But unlike the past, the future can be rewritten. Give me your hands.” Caspian held out his hands, palms up, hovering just above the desk.

I placed mine on top of his. There wasn’t much to see, but I felt his magic take hold, a gentle warmth spreading through my skin.

It felt alive, buzzing through me as it explored every inch of my body.

“Your feelings aren’t because of any kind of magical entanglement from Ren.

This is all you, Theo. Your magic is conflicted, but your heart isn’t.

Theo, as cliche as this sounds, listen to what your heart wants, not your magic.

I’m not an expert in relationships by any means, but I will tell you I mourn the loss of my wife and children every day.

I made choices that made me this way, and I have to accept the consequences because of them.

That includes never being reunited with family again, even as ghosts.

I listened to my magic when I should have been listening to my heart. ”

His magic dissipated, and I felt oddly at comfort with the words Caspian had said. Ever since the night Ren attacked my family, there was this void in my chest that I could never seem to fill. It might have originally been created by Ren, but now I knew he was also meant to fill it.

“Thanks, Caspian. Uh, sorry about the therapy session.”

“Right.” He squeezed my hands. “Now, shall we get back to the topic of the Syn—”

The office door slammed open, Ren on a warpath to rip Caspian’s head off his shoulders. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing here?” Ren caught sight of our locked hands and his meltdown ensued. “Get away from him!”

I knew Ren was protective, jealous even. But I’d never seen him move so fast. I saw nothing, felt only the slight gust of wind that announced Ren’s presence behind the desk where Caspian was sitting. Ren’s fist swung toward his head.

“Ren, stop! Please!”

Caspian didn’t move. He didn’t have to. There was a faint shimmer, and his body became a transparent ghost only visible by me. Ren’s fist swung through the air.

“Show yourself, you coward!”

Caspian’s sinister chuckle sent shivers down my spine, and while Ren wouldn’t be able to see him, he’d still be able to hear him.

“That depends. Are you going to play nice? You need my help, after all. Theo’s deal depends on me and my cooperation.

You wouldn’t want to ruin that for him by killing me, now would you? ”

I rolled my eyes. “Caspian, you’re just as bad as Ren.” I glanced over toward Ren, breathing heavily through his nose, his chest rising and falling in rapid bursts. “He was helping me with something, Ren. That’s all. Calm down. There’s nothing you can do while he’s a ghost, anyway.”

Ren snorted. “That’s what you think.” I felt it thrumming in my bones, this ominous, dark magic pulsing off Ren. It started to change color, drawing out Caspian’s dark green magic and absorbing into Ren.

“Ren, woah! Stop it! You’ll kill him!”

“He’s already dead.”

For the first time, I saw panic cross Caspian’s face. Caspian might not have had a soul, but he still had magic, and if there was magic, Ren could take it.

I shot up from my chair, lunging across the desk and wrapping my arms around Ren’s waist. “Please, stop, Ren. This isn’t you.”

My words must have snapped his thoughts into place. Ren’s rigid body relaxed, and his magic receded. A stack of paperwork fluttered, scattering across the surface before sliding onto the ground. The tension in the room shifted, not entirely gone but no longer suffocating.

Caspian returned to his human form, grunting something about disrespect to elders. He got up from his seat, brushed out some wrinkles from his button-down, and headed for the door.

“W-wait! What about the Syndicate?” I called out to him.

He turned around in the doorway, the teasing curve tugging at the corners of his lips hinting at a secret he wasn’t about to share. “I told you last time to let me handle that. I’ll call you later with details. It seems I’ve worn out my welcome here.”

With just the two of us left in Nick’s office, Ren noticed the dramatic scowl on my face and knew I wasn’t happy.

“Okay,” he placated. “So maybe I got a bit carried away. I just—”

I stormed past him, picking up the loose papers on the floor and re-stacking them on the desk.

“It’s fine, Ren.” My tone indicated it was anything but fine.

He bent down to pick up the pens and place them back in their holder.

I pushed aside my annoyance and everything I wanted to yell at him right now.

My patience was wearing thin, and as much as I recognized we both had issues to work through, I wasn’t sure how long I could stay calm under the pressure.

“Theo?” Ren asked as I picked up my backpack and headed toward the exit. “Where are you going?”

“I have a few deliveries left I need to make. I’ll see you at home later?” It was the best I could offer at the moment. We both needed to cool down, because if I stuck around I feared things would only get worse by starting a shouting match and playing the blame game.

“Yeah. Sure. I’ll be there waiting for you.”