Page 18 of Deceiver (Soul Chasers #2)

Keagan

I can hear Wilder and Calliope speaking, their voices vibrating through the walls, but I can’t work out what they’re saying. My body feels tired and weak, like I just ran a marathon. All I can do is lie here in bed. At least it’s a comfortable one.

I wonder if Calliope knows why this happened to me and how I can make sure it doesn’t happen again, but my mind feels too sluggish to think about it right now, so I close my eyes and hug the pillow to my chest, laying my head on the other one.

The last few days have been the strangest of my life, and I’ve questioned my sanity more than once, only to find out that this is actually real, and all of this is really happening to me. It’s not some wild fantasy or my brain playing tricks on me. It’s real. I’m actually being haunted.

I squeeze my eyes closed, trying to shut down my thoughts.

I yawn as the exhaustion spreads through me, weighing down my muscles.

It has to be because of what Calliope did—I felt perfectly fine before that, energy-wise—but I also feel a strange sense of calmness inside me.

Like I put on a suit of armor. That has to be her doing too.

The bedroom door opens and Wilder walks in holding a mug.

“I made you get some tea.”

“Thanks.” With some difficulty, I pull myself up, still clutching the pillow. “Does Calliope know why this happened to me?”

“Not exactly.” He takes a seat on the edge of the bed.

“She’s heard of things like this happening before, and the way she described it to me is that some people are just more attuned to the spirit world than others.

They have an energy that attracts spirits.

It’s possible you even have intuition powers or divination powers that you’re not aware of. ”

“What does that mean?”

“You could be a psychic or a medium or be able to read tarot cards.”

“I’ve never done anything like that.”

“You haven’t been attracted to it?”

“No, not really. Not until recently. Sometimes, I’ll watch a movie or something, but I’ve never thought I should do that, or gone out and bought a tarot card deck, or anything like that.”

“Hmm. Well, it could be that there’s just something about you.”

“Great, something about me that I don’t want and can’t do anything about.”

“Unfortunately, that’s how most spiritual gifts go. You get them whether you want them or not.”

“Fantastic.”

“Calliope explains it as being like the way you’re born with an eye color and a hair color already pre-established at the time of your birth. It’s like that. It’s already part of you.”

I rub my forehead. “But she stopped it, right? I think I can feel it.” I rub the center of my chest. “I definitely feel different than before I interacted with her.”

“That’s a good sign. She said that over time you would start to be able to feel the effects of the protection spell she put around you.”

“Protection spell,” I repeat, glancing down at the mug. “So ghosts are real, magic’s real. What else is real?”

Wilder smirks. “Why don’t we focus on what we’re dealing with right now? Eventually, maybe you’ll be in a place where you can handle the rest.”

“That sounds ominous.”

He huffs a laugh. “I didn’t mean it to. Let me just say that there’s a lot more going on in the world than most people can see.”

“You found all that out after you became a Soul Chaser?”

“Yep. My eyes were opened to the spiritual world once I left this one, and I’ve been granted several abilities and powers that I didn’t have in life to help me do my job.”

“Were you scared?”

“When?”

“When you died? Was it scary?”

His brow crinkles, and he seems to be thinking for a moment as his eyes shift to the ceiling, then back to me.

“No, it wasn’t fear I felt. It was a sense of disappointment at first, about how my life could have worked out if I’d had a little bit more time.

Perhaps that’s why it was so easy to accept the offer to become a Soul Chaser.

I wasn’t ready to leave this life. And granted, I had no idea what I was signing up for at the time, but I don’t regret it.

I actually enjoy what I do to some extent. ”

“Even though it’s lonely?”

“I never said it was lonely.”

I shrug. “Sorry. I guess I just assumed, since you said you couldn’t keep your lovers with you.”

“I’m never short of company if I want it.”

“No, I bet you’re not,” I mumble.

“What was that?”

“Nothing.” I sip my tea. “I’m sure you don’t have trouble getting people to be interested in you.”

“Why do you say that?”

I scoff. “Because you’re attractive, obviously.”

Wilder pauses, tilting his head. “You think I’m attractive?”

I feel my cheeks burn, but I nod anyway. “Well, yeah, I have eyes.”

A sexy smirk spreads across his face, and my insides instantly warm. “I happen to think you’re attractive too.”

My brain stutters over that. It’s not that I don’t think I’m attractive, but I think I appeal to a certain kind of person—the kind who values other things over physical looks.

I’ve never seen the inside of a gym other than in PE classes in school.

I don’t do much of anything except play on my computers and build games.

I’m pale because I don’t get any sunlight.

The muscles I do have aren’t visible. I’ve even got a little bit of a stomach pooch, probably from all the pizza I consume.

So I’m definitely not used to a man who looks like Wilder thinking I’m attractive.

“Thanks,” is all I manage to say. “That’s nice of you.”

Wilder chuckles. “Nice of me.” His smile fades as he seems to study my face. “Have you been told otherwise?”

“Not really.”

“Then haven’t you been made to feel that you’re attractive?”

“Um, no, not by people who look like you.”

“People who look like me?” he repeats. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Well, I’m cute and you’re hot, and those two things normally don’t go together.”

“Says who?”

“My experience.” I take another sip of the tea now that it’s not scalding hot anymore.

It’s got a hint of sugar in it, but otherwise it’s pretty bland. Tastes nice though, and it’s soothing.

“It was never the jocks who looked at me, or the guys who go to the gym all the time, or the super popular kids in school. It was the kid who sat next to me in math club. Or the science club geek. It was the computer gamer or the tuba player in band. Those are the kind of guys who look at me, but that’s not the kind of guy you are. ”

“How do you think you know so much about me?” Wilder asks. “We’ve barely met.”

“You have a vibe. You’re sophisticated and worldly. You’ve literally been to hell and back. I’m gonna assume that you don’t spend your free time playing video games.”

He laughs softly. “Can’t say I ever have, no.

” He shakes his head. “It took me a while to even understand and adopt some of the technology and things that have changed around me in my long life. At first, I had no need for it, but eventually I started to see that there are benefits to technology. Like telephones.”

“Telephones?”

He nods. “The invention of the telephone was a big change for society, and it’s only gotten more and more advanced with cell phones that act as little computers nowadays. I don’t even need an actual computer. I can just use my phone.”

“Yeah, that’s true. I forgot that you were alive when none of that stuff existed, not even landlines, right?”

“Correct. Not even cars. It’s been quite a whirlwind of technology, from electricity to indoor plumbing to cars.

” A nostalgic look spreads across his face as his gaze softens.

“I still remember seeing my first automobile. It seems impossible when you look at what they’ve become now.

I never would have been able to imagine it back then. ”

“Wow, yeah. I can only imagine. What about television? Was that really cool?”

“I found it interesting, but I was very deep in my own world at that time. I still preferred live performances like the theater.”

“Did you ever see anyone famous? Like, historically famous?”

“Of course.”

“Like Shakespeare?”

Wilder chuckles. “Shakespeare was long dead when I was born.”

“Oh. Right.”

“Eventually, I gave in to the lure of television and movies and slowly learned to appreciate them. I think more so because suddenly we were exposed to ideas and art we had never seen before. People and different types of societies that were previously hidden from us. It expanded our world, and it was a bit of a revelation, to be honest.” He nods.

“I do think it’s gone too far though. There’s almost too much available, and it’s hard to keep your attention on any one thing now. ”

“Yeah, I agree. I think video games are great. They’re how I make my living. But I’ve also wasted countless hours playing a video game.”

Wilder nods. “I’ve heard many complaints about video games in recent years.”

“What do you like to do with your free time?”

“I read and putter around my house, fixing things. I do travel sometimes. I’ve seen almost every corner of this world. I think there’s very few places I haven’t been; even some of the less delightful ones like Antarctica. That was very cold.”

I laugh. “I can’t even imagine.”

“It’s a lot of snow and a lot of ice, but the glaciers are pretty.”

I take another sip of tea, thinking over my next question. “Does your job take you everywhere, or do you just stay in this area?”