Page 29 of Deceiver (Soul Chasers #2)

Keagan

M y house looks dark and it’s eerily quiet. The porch light should be on, but it’s not. I briefly glance at the house across the street, but its lights are on so it’s not a power outage.

“Shit,” Talon mutters as she walks up my driveway. “We won’t have to do much summoning.”

“I feel it too,” Wilder says.

“What? Why don’t I feel anything?”

“Be happy you don’t.” Talon tilts her head back to look at the house. “It’s waiting for you.”

“That sounds ominous. Why does everything you two say sound ominous?”

Talon shrugs. “Because it is?”

Wilder squeezes my shoulder. “Let’s go inside and deal with this.”

As we approach the front step, a shadow of a man appears and I recoil, backing into Wilder. The shadow moves, stepping forward enough that we can see his face. He’s young and handsome, but he looks like he stepped out of a movie from the sixties.

“Farnsworth,” Wilder says, stepping past me. “What are you doing here?”

“I just received important information. Too urgent to wait.” His strange gray eyes flicker over me, then to Talon, and he tilts his head. “You have gifts,” he says to Talon.

She nods slowly. “Who are you?”

“Not important. You may see me again one day.” He turns to Wilder. “The Horror is not what we thought. It’s a demon.”

“We know,” Wilder says. “Thanks to Talon.”

Farnsworth looks even more interested. “How did you find out? I’ve known less than an hour.”

“I’d say I found out about the same time. My spirit guides delivered a message.”

“Fascinating.” He smiles slightly before turning his gaze back to me and Wilder. “You know what to do then. I had to make sure you knew.”

“Thanks.”

Farnsworth seems to study me for a moment. “Ah. It’s about time.”

Then he’s gone in a flash.

“What the hell was that?”

“That was Farnsworth. I mentioned him before. He heads the Society of Soul Chasers. Anytime he visits in person, it’s important.”

“Is he dead?” I ask.

“No,” Talon says. “Not exactly. Frozen might be a better word. Wilder would know about that, right?”

Wilder nods. “He’s like me, only much, much older.”

“Whoa. He can just pop in and out like that? Can you?”

Wilder nods. “I can. It takes practice for it to be a smooth ride though.”

My head spins. I’m still trying to wrap my head around living for eternity, and now there are people who can pop in and out of the underworld?

“We should get on this,” Talon says. “I don’t have a lot of strength.”

A realization hits me. “That’s why you were attacked. To keep you from helping.”

Talon offers a soft smile. “Most likely, yes. Water under the bridge.”

Nodding, I unlock my door and the three of us step inside. I choke almost immediately, waving my hands in front of my face.

“What is that smell?”

“It smells like death,” Wilder says, a concerned look on his face. “I’m going upstairs.”

“We’re going with you,” Talon says, right behind him.

Reluctantly, I join them. Facing whatever is up there has to be better than staying down here alone.

The stench worsens the higher we climb, until it’s nauseatingly bad right outside my bedroom. Wilder glances over his shoulder at us, then opens the door.

I stumble backward, nearly toppling over from the sight and the foul odor we’re blasted with. Talon shivers but stays planted, and Wilder, who apparently fears nothing, walks right into the room.

There’s a body on the floor, crumpled and decomposing, with flies circling it. Behind it is a glowing shape, large enough to be a man but not detailed. It’s clear that the blob is interacting with the body in some way.

Wilder, using his foot, moves the body so it’s on its back, and the sight is too much for me. I crumble to my knees, tears stinging my eyes.

“Dad.”

“The body is your dad,” Wilder says, right beside me now. “The thing behind it is not.”

My bottom lip quivers, then my teeth chatter as the air around me turns frigid. My ears ring so loudly I can’t hear anything else. I’m vaguely aware of Talon next to me, but I can’t take my eyes off the glowing mass in front of me.

“I knew you’d come,” the thing says. “We can be together now, Keagan. It’s so easy.”

I open my mouth to refuse, but no words come out. It’s like I’m trapped in a space where Wilder and Talon aren’t, but I can still see them fussing around me.

My head tilts back sharply, held in place by an unseen force.

“You will give me a piece of your soul to revive my body,” the voice explains. “We’ll be tied together as long as you live. All you have to do is say yes, son. Say yes.”

“N-n-n-n?—”

“Say yes,” the voice repeats, sounding closer though the glowing blob didn’t seem to move.

It doesn’t sound like my dad anymore. Not completely, anyway. I’m able to shift my gaze to the dead body on the floor, recalling Wilder’s words. The body is my dad. My dad is dead. The thing talking to me is something else.

Talon’s hands appear in front of my face, moving up and down my body while Wilder seems to be blocking the blob. He flinches in front of me, like he’s being hit with something.

I can’t speak, so I will my thoughts toward the demon.

Stop it. Stop hurting him.

The blob reacts, pulsing and changing to a darker shade. It started out pink, but it’s definitely closer to red now.

“Stop resisting, Keagan,” it says. “You’ve always been difficult. Can’t you do one thing right for once?”

The words sting, but I have to remember that it’s not actually my dad talking. It’s manipulating me.

Warmth starts to push back the chill, and the pressure holding me in place loosens. Talon is touching me now, her hands moving from the top of my head down my shoulders and back. Her lips are moving but I can’t hear anything. Just the voice.

Wilder’s lips are moving too, and though I can’t hear him either, I swear I can feel the safety and growing affection in his words.

Soulmate .

The word bounces around my head.

“Keagan.” The voice is jarring now, a desperate edge to it. “Make them stop. Just say yes and all this can stop.”

I try to shake my head, but it’s like a vise holding me in place, preventing movement. Closing my eyes, I try to block everything else and focus on Talon and Wilder. The demon is still demanding things from me, but I know not to engage now.

I remember what Talon said—I have to break the connection. Instead of directing my energy to the demon, I focus my thoughts on my dad’s body.

This is long overdue. I wish I could have told you sooner how your choices affected me. You left me without a father, then when Mom died, I had no parents. You never wanted me. Never cared.

The demon’s voice deepens as it continues taunting me, but I don’t break my focus.

I thought I needed to know if you were bad enough to murder people, but I realize now that it doesn’t matter.

You did it. Whether you think it was a demon or not doesn’t change anything.

Not to me and not to the justice system.

You got what you deserved, Harold, and I’ve made peace with it.

I know that I’ll never be like you. You’re not my dad.

You never were. Like Mom used to say, I’m the only good thing you ever did.

I fall back suddenly as the sound in the room returns and the pressure holding me still releases me. Talon wraps her arms around me, holding me close as Wilder gets to his feet.

Wilder is chanting something, and with every word, the demon pulses and grows smaller. Then it releases an ear-piercing shriek as Wilder lunges for it, and both of them disappear right before my eyes.

“What the fuck?”

“Are you hurt?” Talon asks, looking me over.

“No. Where did Wilder go?”

She smiles. “He’s escorting the demon back where it belongs.”

Seconds later, the body on the floor twitches as black smoke rises from it. The smoke hovers over the body for a brief moment before seemingly turning in our direction, then disappearing through the floorboards.

“Was that what I think it was?”

“Your father’s soul. Wilder was successful.”

We get to our feet and I help Talon downstairs, where we sit on the couch in my front room.

“Do you need water?” I ask.

She shakes her head. “I’m feeling better already. Mercy will recover as well.”

“Good. I’m sorry I got you involved in all of this. Mercy too.”

“Don’t be. It’s another experience for me to grow my skills.” She pats my hand, smiling. “I won’t be doing any more readings for you though.”

“That’s fair. To be clear, I don’t want any.”

“Also fair.”

We laugh together, and between one second and the next, Wilder reappears. I blinked, and then he was there. His trench coat smolders slightly, and the air is scented with a hint of sulfur.

I get to my feet. “You’re back.”

“I’m back.” He reaches out and touches my chin. “Are you okay?”

“Completely. Is it… over now?”

“Very much so. The demon has been returned to its own realm, and for the crime of unapproved possession, it will spend the next millennium confined.”

“Millennium? A thousand years?”

“Correct. Turns out that particular demon has a reputation for possessing mortals and making them do bad things.”

“My dad really was possessed when he did those things?”

Wilder’s brow creases. “It seems like it, however, there’s a reason that demon found him.”

“What?”

“The demon targeted your father because he was ripe for the picking.”

His meaning sinks in. “He was already doing bad things before the possession. Really bad things.”

“Correct. I’m sure it’s hard to hear.”

“No, I’m good. I let it go.”

“You heard my instructions?” Talon asks.

“Nope, couldn’t hear a word except from the demon, but I remembered what you said so I made peace with it. I told my dad’s dead body the things I wish I could’ve said when he was alive.”

“You broke the connection,” Wilder says.

“It feels like something shifted. There’s been this weight on me ever since I found out about the accusations, and now it’s just gone.” I turn to Talon. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure.” She gets to her feet, stretching her arms above her head. “Oh, so much better. It’s good to be a witch.”

“Can we drive you somewhere?” Wilder asks. “There’s a body upstairs that needs to be reinterred.”

Talon shakes her head. “I’m good. I’m gonna whip up something to help my girl Mercy. I’ll see you two around, huh? Take care of each other.”

We watch her leave, and then it’s just the two of us in my quiet house. It’s sort of weird now that everything is resolved.

“Now what do we do?”

“There’s cleanup to do here. I’ll take care of that part. And then…” Wilder’s eyes soften as he wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me closer. “I was thinking we could go back to my place and get back to falling in love. How does that sound?”

Even after all that just happened, I feel surprisingly giddy and light. “Perfect.”