Page 5 of A Soul’s Curse (Fallen Souls #1)

“How could you just leave her outside like that? Alone! ” Paige’s hands were frantically signing her frustration, her expression and sharp body movements growing more murderous by the second.

Even after explaining that a ghost had taken over my body and that I was doing him a favor by allowing him to say goodbye to someone he cared about, she didn’t ease up. An empty plastic cup smacked me on the side of the head.

“ I’m sorry! ” I made a fist and circled it around my chest several times to signal my apology.

She stopped throwing things at me. “You need to stop being so nice all the time. Your kindness is going to get you killed one day.” A smug grin stretched across her face. “By the way, you just earned yourself Aunt Lydia duty this Christmas.”

“Aw, come on—”

She held up her hand and shook her head. “Nope. You get to sit next to her at the dinner table and listen to her question all your life choices, while I get to hide in the kitchen and indulge in a fine bottle of wine with our cousins.”

Conceding, I rolled my eyes and gave her an unconvincing “ fine ” with my hand. Satisfied with her victory, she left the room.

“She wouldn’t do that to me … would she?

” I glanced over at my mom. “I am sorry about leaving you, by the way. You know I would have never done that on purpose, but I’m glad you’re okay.

I’ll stop by again soon since we got interrupted today, but I gotta head into work.

Love you.” I made sure she was comfortable, then kissed her on the forehead, grabbed my backpack, and headed out.

I had hoped Paige might have offered to drop me off at work, but I didn’t dare ask for a favor after the stunt I pulled with our mom, so it was back to public transportation.

The pizza shop I worked at wasn’t anywhere near a bus stop, so by the time I neared the restaurant almost an hour later, I was rushing toward the entrance.

I was about to push the front door open when a high-pitched yelp from somewhere nearby caught my attention. Carson’s Pizza was on a quiet corner, and across the street from a body shop where I glimpsed two suspicious dark shadows disappearing toward the back of the parking lot.

It wasn’t dark out, but the evening sun had dipped low enough behind the nearby buildings that the shadows created the perfect cover for someone to easily disappear into.

I held up my flat hand above my face, sweeping it downward until I reached my chest. Instant invisibility. It wasn’t the best cover since it only hid my physical body. People could still bump into me, and any noise I made would give me away.

The parking lot of the auto shop was in between two brick buildings, with three cars pulled into parking spots up against the wall.

Cautiously, I crept across the street and positioned myself on the passenger's side of a sedan.

From there, I could see a woman on the ground dressed in jeans and a red vest that was torn and scuffed with dirt.

A small bead of blood trickled down her lip, and my heart clenched when I saw her cracked horn.

The demon was being attacked by two others, both with black hoods that concealed their faces.

A deep, menacing laugh came from a male who threw out a kick.

The other assailant looked on, a dark braid dangling over her shoulder and her tight hoodie hugging her curves.

Her hands were making gestures with some kind of invisible magic that trapped the victim in place.

“Please … please stop!” the demon cried out. Her head snapped back when the man kicked her chin. It took a lot to physically harm a demon—their physiology having adapted to endure the harsh treatment of others—but that didn’t mean they didn’t experience pain.

“Emma, shrink the box even more. Crush her bones.” The man’s voice was raspy and irritating. “Summoning magic,” he scoffed at the demon. “You force people into contracts to serve you and turn them into your slaves. You’re absolutely disgusting. I hope you rot in hell.”

Emma’s magic flared, an oily slick glimmer disappearing into the evening darkness as the invisible box seemed to solidify the air around the demon and shrink the space she was trapped in.

Unable to move, the demon's knees dug into her chest, her head bent at an unnatural angle that dug into her stomach.

She gasped for air, barely able to breathe.

“Ugh. This is no fun, Jack,” Emma said. “She’s not even putting up a fight. Let’s just finish her off and get out of here.”

Jack snarled, and behind the hood I saw the white of fangs grazing his lips. A vampire and a witch ganging up on a demon.

Your kindness is going to get you killed. Paige’s words echoed in my head. She was probably right, because what I was about to do was utterly stupid, but I couldn’t just sit back and watch this demon be tortured.

Before the vampire could sink his teeth into the demon, I dropped my spell and thrust my hand out to the side.

“Hey, shit heads. What do you think you’re doing?” My hand flattened against the car door, and my magic poured out of my fingertips as the metal disintegrated into dust.

I had hoped the gesture might scare them into running away, but while Emma took a step back, the vampire seemed intrigued by the magic, itching for a challenge as he licked his lips.

Panicking as he lunged for me, I threw my hands forward, letting out a stream of poison. He choked, coughed up saliva, then emptied the contents of his stomach onto the pavement. Specks of blood were mixed into the chunky substance. Whoops, I thought. Too much.

Even as the nausea continued to overwhelm him, he was determined to make me pay. As he raised a hand, I flicked out two fingers and he slipped on his own bile, falling hard on his ass.

“Jack!” The woman, her hood now pushed back revealing her face, darted to her partner. She had a look of uncertainty etched across her narrow features as she looked back at the demon. It didn’t appear she could cast her magic onto two people at once, which gave me an advantage.

“Look, lady, I’ve had a really long day. What are the odds you’ll just drop this and leave?” I sighed, knowing that was highly unlikely.

When she didn’t release the demon, I began gathering magic in my hand, pulling in the life force of anything around me—weeds growing in the cracks of the pavement, a squirrel scavenging through the garbage can, and residual spirit energy from any nearby ghosts.

Careful not to pull too much—I didn’t want to actually kill anyone—I let my magic feast on the surrounding energy, including that of Emma.

I had been told by others the sensation of having their magic pulled was quite irritating but not exceptionally painful. Emma swatted at herself, squealing like she had just walked into a spiderweb and couldn’t get it off her skin.

Although my fingers felt cold, intense heat gathered into a dense ball of shadowy magic that formed in my palm.

The sickly purple hue was barely visible under the dark shadows, and the witch never saw the attack coming when I thrust a necrotic bolt of magic her way.

Like she was just struck by lightning, her entire body froze before she collapsed to the pavement.

The spell disrupted her senses, and when she tried to stand, she fell right back down until all the energy drained from her and she passed out.

It wasn’t a spell I did often. It took a lot of control and magical energy to maintain, and I was starting to feel a bit dizzy. I turned around and held out my hand to the demon. “Hey, are you—”

A hand yanked on my ankle and the pinch of sharp fangs dug in through my jeans and pierced my skin.

“Ow, you son of a bitch!” Pain shot up my leg as the vampire released some kind of toxin into me.

The feeling of pins and needles was a strange mix of tingling and static-like vibrations.

I dropped to the pavement, the rough asphalt scraping the exposed skin of my hands.

A drunk, woozy feeling overwhelmed me, followed by a throbbing sensation at the site of the wound.

I tried to form a sign with my hands, but the venom made my movements too sluggish. My body wasn’t conditioned for this much … activity. I hadn’t used this much magic in a single day since, well, I didn’t think I ever had.

“Jerk!” The female demon, despite the agonizing torture she had just endured, was freed from the witch’s invisible trap when she fell unconscious.

She now stood beside me, swinging her purse and letting it fly at the head of the vampire.

She must have kept bricks in there, because it knocked him unconscious with one shot.

“Nice!” I commented, giving her a weak thumbs up.

With my head swimming, I placed a hand over the wound on my ankle, working to neutralize whatever magical venom the vampire had shot into my system.

As the feeling started to subside, I reached into the pocket of my hoodie and pulled out a crumpled plastic bag of gummy bears, popping one in my mouth.

When I offered the demon one, she declined.

“I … I’m okay. Are those drugs? I don’t do drugs. Besides, I’ve experienced far worse. I’ll be fine.”

I stopped chewing as I processed her statement. What had she experienced that was worse than that ? How often did shit like this happen to her?

“Oh, they’re not drugs. They’re energy gummies. I make them myself. The magic in them helps restore your own magic.”

She still declined. “They didn’t take any of my magic.”

I blinked a few times. “What? Then why didn’t you fight back? They said you had summoning magic. You could have at least tried to scare them into running away.”

She offered me a wary smile as she held out her hand to help me to my feet. “Fighting back and attacking them doesn’t make me any better than the people who hurt me.”

I brushed off some dirt from my jeans, taking a minute to make sure my balance was stable. “I can respect that, but that doesn’t mean you should just let them hurt you. You gotta protect yourself. I’m Theo, by the way.”

“Ivy.” She looked down at her feet, and I caught a closer glimpse of the crack that ran the length of her ivory horn.

She was tall and muscular, as most demons were, but had a softness about her that washed away any threat it might have otherwise been perceived as.

Her thick black bangs covered most of her forehead, and the rest of her wild hair cascaded to her shoulders in dark, fluid waves.

When she looked up at me again, I found her vivid, deep purple eyes sparkling with kindness and reflecting a gentle soul with a deep well of compassion.

Even though I worked a lot with demons, I admittedly knew little about their culture.

What I did know was they were a proud bunch who, even if not everyone thrived on power trips and inflated egos, always felt the need to show that they were strong and capable of taking care of themselves.

The fact I intervened was probably embarrassing to her.

Which was why when she finally smiled and said, “Thank you,” I was in utter shock.

“Of course.” I noticed she started rubbing her right wrist, where a nasty purple bruise was forming.

“My magic can help with that if you want,” I offered, nodding toward her hand.

“No thanks.”

“You sure? I work right across the street at Carson’s Pizza,” I said, pointing at the building. “It’s owned by a demon. You’ll be safe there. Have a slice on me while I look over your injuries.”

“I appreciate the offer, but no thank you. I have to go. I work at the grocery store down the street, and if I don’t hurry, I’ll be late and I’ll lose my job.”

She was about halfway across the parking lot before I blurted out, “Emberheart Place!” She turned around and gave me a confusing glance.

“On Jefferson Ave. It’s not really close to here, but Pastor Nick is the demon who runs the place.

If you ever need help with anything—food, clothing, a safe place to sleep or clean up—go there. ”

“Oh. Okay.”

“I volunteer there a few times a week. Maybe I’ll see you there sometime?”

“Yeah. Maybe.” She adjusted her purse on her shoulder and tucked a strand of black hair behind her ear. “See you later, Theo.”

And then she hurried off, scampering away as she tried to hide the limp of her right leg.