I gave him a tentative smile. He slowly returned it, making my stomach do queer little flips. He looked away and took a swallow of his coffee. My mind raced along with my pulse. I was achingly attracted to him. But I couldn’t allow that to get in the way of the more important fact that I needed his help.
“I was thinking,” I began cautiously, “if Balthus really has been stealing unaligned souls, maybe there’s a way to cancel my contract by getting him discredited.”
Sparrow gave me a considering look. “It might be possible,” he admitted.
My heart leapt, but his next words dampened my enthusiasm.
“I don’t want you to get your hopes up, though. Lorien’s right, there are no recorded instances of a death djinn contract ever being cancelled.”
I opened my mouth to protest and Sparrow held up his hand. “Impatient little witch,” he taunted. “I wasn’t finished. There are extenuating circumstances in your case. If I can prove that Balthus has been trading in unaligned souls, I can make a good argument that some, if not all, of his existing contracts should be nullified—especially an uncompleted one like yours.”
He paused, as if deciding whether to say more, and his eyes turned serious. “But you should know that, so far, I’ve only discovered the one unaligned soul in Balthus’ possession. He insists that he won it from a goblin during a game of dice, and that it appeared to be aligned when he received it.”
I gave him an incredulous look. “Now you’re telling me that there are goblins, and that they gamble with death djinns using human souls as currency? And that’s legal?”
Sparrow sighed. “I’ve never endorsed the soul trade, Sydney. But as long as the human receives some sort of payment in return and their soul remains aligned, it’s considered legal. The official position of the Seelie Court is that if a human wants to sell their soul for fortune, fame, protection…whatever it may be…that’s their business.”
I shook my head in consternation. “How can you tell the difference between an ‘aligned’ soul and an ‘unaligned’ one?”
“Aligned souls are still connected to their human host in some manner. Unaligned souls have been ripped completely free of their host.”
Sparrow exhaled wearily. “And a human cannot survive for long once their soul has been completely cut free.”
My eyes widened. “Is that what happened to the girl upstairs?” The one who looks so much like me, I thought, but didn’t say it. “Is she going to die?”
He gave me a measured look and the sorrow in his expression was answer enough.
“Christ, Sparrow!” I whispered. “And you think Balthus did that to her?”
His jaw tightened. “Balthus swears he’d have no use for an unaligned soul, and that hers must have been tampered with to make it appear aligned.”
“And you believe him?” I scoffed. “How could he not know? Wouldn’t he have figured it out as soon as he realized there was no human host for him to boss around?”
His lips turned up in a derisive twist. “He says he only had the soul for a few days and that he stuck it in his vault and hadn’t bothered to check in with the host yet.”
Sparrow drained his cup and his gaze turned considering. “There are minute traces of magic on the soul. We haven’t yet discovered what that magic was designed to do, but if the soul appeared aligned when he received it, whatever made it appear that way has clearly worn off now.”
“You really think it’s possible that he didn’t know?” I asked.
Sparrow was quiet for a moment. “I don’t believe that Balthus can be trusted,” he said finally, “so it makes it difficult to gauge whether there’s any truth to his story.”
I worried the corner of my lip between my teeth as I tried to assimilate everything Sparrow had said and find a way to make it work to my advantage. “I need to talk to him again,” I muttered with a soft shake of my head.
“Pardon?” Sparrow said incredulously.
My eyes flew to his. I hadn’t realized I’d spoken aloud, but I wasn’t taking it back. It was the only way I could see to move forward. “I said I need to talk to Balthus again,” I repeated, working to keep my voice confident despite my apprehension.
“I’m not sure that’s such a good idea, Sydney,” Sparrow replied.
“Balthus and I have a connection,” I pressed. “You said it yourself at the hotel that night—I’m two thirds his already. I want to hear what he has to say. I need this Sparrow. I can’t just sit by and wait for your investigation or Lorien’s research. Meanwhile, if I screw up and say the wrong thing, I lose my soul forever. You saw how easy it is to say that word by accident.”
“I still don’t see the point.” He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back until the plastic chair groaned. “What exactly do you think you’re going to get out of Balthus that trained investigators and magic haven’t already?”
“Who knows? He won’t be threatened by me, so maybe he’ll slip up and say something he wouldn’t say in front of you. Or maybe I can appeal to his sense of fair play and get him to admit that I didn’t really make a ‘death wish’. Maybe he’ll cancel my contract as a gesture of good faith since he’s in such a legal tight spot with the unaligned soul you found.”
A range of emotions played across Sparrow’s handsome face as he stared at me. “Balthus doesn’t have your sense of fair play, Sydney. He’ll try to trick you, and he’s exceedingly good at what he does. If you slip up and make a wish in front of him, I won’t be able to help you.”
“Please, Sparrow,” I pleaded, sensing that I almost had him convinced. “I have to do this. I’m well aware of the stakes, and I promise I’ll be careful.”
He closed his eyes and his jaw tightened. Then he let out a long breath and said briskly, “Fine. It’ll probably be about a week before I can get you approved for a visit.”
I smiled in relief. “Thank you, Sparrow. It’ll be okay, I promise.”
He gave a resigned chuckle and said, “How did we end up with you trying to reassure me? And it’s Patrick, by the way. But you can call me Pat.”
“Syd! There you are—I’ve been looking all over for you! Oh…” Sunny skidded to a halt as she realized that I wasn’t alone. “Sorry. I didn’t know you had company. Who is your company?” she eyed Sparrow with interest.
“Sunny, this is Agent Patrick Sparrow. He’s the one who arrested Balthus last weekend. Sparrow, this is my best friend since high school, Sunny.”
Sparrow snorted. “Great. Just how many people have you told about our world?” he asked with futile amusement.
“Only Sunny,” I said, trying not to sound defensive. “Was I really supposed to keep the most unbelievable thing that’s ever happened to me a secret from everyone I love?”
“No. Of course not,” he sighed. “Nice to meet you, Sunny.” He extended
