Page 17 of Deceiver (Soul Chasers #2)

Wilder

N ot long after I return home, Calliope knocks on the door. I notice how Keagan flinches at the sound, so I rub his back to remind him that he’s at my house and he’s safe.

“It’s okay. It’s Calliope.”

He nods nervously, clutching his glass of water. I hurry over to the door and open it to see Calliope there with several bags at her feet.

“Hey, Wilder,” she says. “How are things?”

“Not the best. Come on in.”

She follows me inside, glancing around. “Where is he?”

“He’s in the kitchen.”

“Lead the way.”

We walk down the hallway and into the kitchen, where Keagan is leaning against the wall, still clutching his drink. He looks up, and the moment he sees Calliope, he smiles and his shoulders relax.

I almost laugh aloud. She had that same effect on me. There’s something about her presence that’s incredibly calming, and I can only assume Keagan feels it too.

“Hi, Keagan. I’m Calliope.”

“Hi, Calliope. Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too. I hear you’ve got a little problem on your hands.”

“To say the least.” He sets his water glass down. “But you can help?”

“I certainly can. I did a little research, and I think I’ve come up with a few things that will at least buy Wilder some time and keep you safe.” She smiles. “I’d like to start off by holding your hands, if I can.”

“Holding my hands?”

“Yep, I’ll be able to get a sense of your energy and what might be attacking you.”

“Are you a medium?”

“No, honey, I’m a witch.” Calliope winks, tossing her thick black hair back.

“And what’s the difference?” Keagan asks. “I’m not being a smart-ass, I just don’t have any idea.”

“Oh, no problem. My abilities, like a medium’s, were inherited. But unlike a medium, I can access many different realms. I’m not limited to the dead or a certain group.”

Keagan nods. “Okay, so it’s… it’s magic?”

I tap Calliope’s shoulder. “I’m not sure I’ve convinced Keagan that magic is real yet.”

Calliope smiles at me. “With your persuasive skills, I’m shocked.”

“Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I trust Calliope with anything. So you should trust her too, Keagan.”

“Oh, I do,” he says. “I don’t know what it is about you, but I definitely feel comfortable with you.”

“Good.” She smiles warmly. “That’s exactly how I want you to feel. Witches have gotten a bad rap over time, but not all of us are scary and dress like crones who live in the woods. Although I do actually live in the woods. It’s peaceful there.”

Keagan actually smiles. “Yeah, I bet it is.”

“All right, let’s get started. Why don’t we take a seat at the table?”

“Sure.”

Keagan sits down, and Calliope joins him on the other side of the table, while I hover in the background.

I’ve always enjoyed watching Calliope work. She’s so together and clear on what she should do, and I’m very lucky that our paths crossed when they did—helped along by her grandmother, of course.

After Calliope exhales slowly, she turns her attention to Keagan. “Okay, I need to hold your hands and sit quietly for a few moments.”

“Okay.”

He wipes his hands on his jeans, then offers them to the witch.

She grips his hands, closing her eyes, and as I watch Keagan’s face, I see his curious expression morph into one of pure amazement.

I already know what’s happening. His hands are vibrating and he can feel her moving through him. I know how remarkable a feeling it is, having experienced it myself.

His eyes flicker to mine, and I nod, hoping it gives him some comfort that I know what’s happening to him, and that it’s totally fine. He seems to understand that as he nods back and shifts his gaze to Calliope again.

I wonder what she’s picking up. I had the sense that he’s a good person, brave and adventurous, but also terrified and wounded by the events surrounding his father. But my sensory abilities only go so far, and Calliope should be able to get a better read on everything.

After a few more seconds, she jolts, opening her eyes wide and sitting back slightly, but she doesn’t let go of Keagan’s hands.

Instead, she seems to grip them tighter.

Keagan is watching her, also wide eyed. “What?”

But Calliope shakes her head. Then she’s thrown backward, her chair toppling over as she tumbles onto the kitchen floor.

I rush to her side. “Calliope, are you all right?”

She nods, pulling herself upright. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.”

Keagan is rubbing his hands together now, looking deeply concerned. “Do I even want to know what just happened?”

Calliope looks at me first, then at him, trying and failing to neutralize her startled expression. “Okay, so Wilder was right. You’ve had a few entities attach to you, and they’re not real keen on my presence here.”

“Entities,” Keagan repeats. “Like ghosts?”

“If that’s what you want to call them.”

“They’re not Horrors like what Wilder deals with, right?”

“No, no, nothing like that. Just some energy around you. I’ve got a couple things that should help though.”

“Please.”

She smiles again, but I can tell it’s an uneasy one. “Of course. That’s why I’m here.”

I help her off the floor, and she walks over to her bags, digging through them, obviously looking for something specific. I watch as she pulls several vials and a smoke stick out of her bag.

“Okay, Keagan, why don’t you join me over here?”

“Sure.”

He stands up and walks to the center of the kitchen where Calliope is.

“I’m gonna see what I can do. Just stick with me and stay exactly where you are. Don’t move unless I tell you to.”

“Okay.”

“It’s very important,” Calliope says, her expression serious.

“I understand.” He sounds unsure, glancing over at me for reassurance.

“It’s okay, Keagan, I’m still here.”

He nods, blowing out a slow breath as Calliope sprinkles a powdery substance around his feet, containing him in a circle.

Then she directs her attention to me. “Okay, what I’m gonna do is attempt to draw the entities to the surface. If they come out, I want you to grab Keagan from the center of the circle and pull him out so we can keep the entities trapped.”

“Got it.”

Keagan visibly shivers, but he stays put as directed.

“All right, Keagan,” Calliope says, “a final reminder. I need you to stay exactly where you are. Don’t move unless you’re told to. Wilder is here to help me, so you’re gonna be just fine.”

“Okay,” he says, his voice trembling. “I trust you.”

“Good. You should trust me. I’m only here to help.”

Calliope gets on her knees and starts chanting as she mixes powders together and then adds a few drops of liquid to the mixture.

As she chants, I keep my eyes trained on Keagan, whose body visibly vibrates.

“What’s happening, Wilder?” he asks.

“Don’t worry. Calliope knows what she’s doing.”

He nods, clearly concerned, but accepting my answer.

I know Calliope will do everything she can to make sure he isn’t harmed in the process, so I simply keep my eyes trained on him, waiting for any sign of an entity jumping out of him.

Calliope rubs some of the mixture she made on Keegan’s palm, which causes his eyes to widen.

The more Calliope talks, the more agitated the spirits become, rattling Keagan’s body to the point where I can almost hear his teeth chattering.

But he doesn’t say anything. He just keeps looking at me, and I nod in encouragement.

“Okay, Keagan,” Calliope says. “Here we go. Wilder, I sense—” She sways slightly. “Something’s coming.”

Just a few seconds later, Keagan’s body twitches and tenses as dark gray smoke rises from his mouth, the force of it throwing his head back and holding him slightly suspended in the air.

I tense, ready to jump in and help, but Calliope puts her hand on my arm.

“Not yet,” she whispers. “There’s one more. ”

She continues her chant, throwing her mixture towards Keagan. And sure enough, Keagan’s back arches even more as thick black smoke billows out of him.

“Now!” Calliope says.

I reach into the circle, careful to keep my feet on the outside, wrap my arms around Keagan’s waist, and yank him out of the circle.

As soon as he’s clear, the entities that were trapped inside of him shriek as they’re sucked down between the floorboards while Calliope continues chanting.

Keagan slumps against me, breathing hard and clutching my shoulders.

I wrap my arms around him and rub his back to soothe him while Calliope finishes closing the portal she opened.

Once she’s done, she smiles, but I see the concern lingering. “Those were doozies, but we got them out.”

“Now what?” I ask. “Can we do something to prevent it from happening again?”

“I have a protection spell. It’s really, really strong, so he might not feel well afterward for a little while, but once he rests for a few hours, he’ll start to feel normal again.” She turns her gaze to Keagan, though his face is still pressed against my chest. “Is that okay with you?”

Keagan nods. “Whatever you gotta do.” His voice is weak. “Just make it stop, please.”

“I’ll do my best.” She glances at me, mouthing the words, Hold on to him .

I wrap my arms around him even tighter, holding his head to my chest.

“Hold on, Keagan,” I whisper. “You’re gonna get through this just fine.”

He nods again, not lifting his head.

Calliope begins chanting, flicking liquid of some sort over Keagan. He flinches every time the liquid touches him, even though there’s not much of it, and stays pressed against me.

Calliope smears some of the liquid on the back of his neck, then asks me to lift his head. I do so, and she smears some of the liquid on his forehead in an intricate design.

After she says something else that I can’t decipher, Keagan gasps, his body tensing in my arms, his eyes wide as he gazes up at me. “What the fuck?”

“It’s okay,” Calliope says. “I told you it was strong, but it’s not doing anything to you except helping.”

He nods, but digs his fingers into me even harder, as if he’s afraid that he can’t support his own body.

As he gazes at me, his eyes turn hazy. Light seems to pour out of him, and I hold on, watching it all happen, knowing Calliope is helping him, which, in the long run, helps me.

The safer I can keep him, the more I can focus on getting rid of the Horror.

After a few more moments, Calliope is finished, and Keagan slumps in my arms again.

His eyes are closed now, and he looks like he’s fainted.

“Did he pass out?”

“It’s possible.” She touches his forehead, then his hands. “Oh, good. The defense is in place. I had to pull out one of my strongest spells. Those things inside of him were pretty powerful.”

“Damn.”

“Do you know how they got there?” she asks.

“Sort of. I told you before that he was told he attracts spirits, and they seem to have slipped in and attached themselves to him when they had a chance.”

Calliope shakes her head. “No, these weren’t what you described. These things had intent. They were holding on to him with everything they had.”

“Really? What do you suppose that means?”

“I don’t know.” She frowns. “I almost felt like they had a mission, like they purposely targeted him.”

“Interesting.” I tilt my head, thinking about everything that’s happened in the last twenty-four hours. “The Horror is worse than I thought. It might be getting help.”

Calliope scrunches her nose. “Sounds like it. Do you know its goals yet?”

I shake my head. “No, and I don’t care. My job is to get it back where it belongs and to keep Keagan safe during it.” I glance down at the man in my arms. His eyes are closed, but he’s breathing softly. “I think I’ll carry him upstairs to bed. I’ll be back in a second.”

“Cool. I’ll be cleaning up.”

I lift Keagan into my arms and trudge up the stairs to carry him to the guest room. When I lay him down, he grabs my arm.

“No, don’t leave me.”

“I’m not leaving you, Keagan. You’re still safe in my house, I’m just going downstairs. You should rest after what you’ve been through. You’re safe now.”

He opens his eyes, looking like a scared child. “Are you sure they can’t get me anymore?”

“I’m really sure. That’s what Calliope was here to do. She said your defenses are in place, so you should be okay now.”

“Should be,” he repeats.

“Sorry, bad wording. You are okay now. You’re safe. I’ll be right back up after I see Calliope out.”

“Okay,” he says, but I can hear the fear still in his voice. “Come back quickly.”

“I will.”

I hurry back down the stairs to talk to Calliope. She’s already been busy walking around the perimeters of my home, adding her protection spell. When I find her, she’s in the kitchen just finishing up.

“That should do it. I put the strongest spell I have in place. It should keep everything out, okay? But we know I haven’t really been successful blocking Horrors. They’re too damn strong, so I really don’t know if it’ll work against that.”

“That’s okay. Keeping the other ones out is a start, and I can work on the Horror.”

She nods. “Let me know if I’m needed again.”

“Keagan’s pretty scared.”

“Rightfully so, but in another day or so, he should be able to sense how protected he is. The spell will last until I break it.”

“Okay, sounds great. Thanks for your help.”

“You bet.”

“Keep me posted.”

I watch Calliope walk out and close the door behind her, then glance up the stairs. Even though he’s protected now, I still have a feeling it’s gonna be a long night.