Page 114

“An Enclave passage has few doors in, but several that lead out,” The tree said and opened its mouth unbelievably wide. Although Evan had already been inside once, he felt like something had shifted in the chilling air blowing from the hole. “Go on, child. And for heaven’s sake,don’tcome back.”

Too bad. I will.

“Night, Grandpa,” With a twisted scowl, Evan raised a foot and stepped into the mouth of the tree. But instead of firm, crisscross roots or anything solid—

There was only cold, thin air.

Evan hadn’t considered exactlyhowthe tree would teleport him back. Which was stupid of him, because he was pretty sure he’d just stepped into a portal to hell.

Evan yelped as he tumbled into the bottomless void of the tree’s mouth. “Motherfuckers!”

His heart leapt into his throat as darkness swallowed his falling body, limbs thrashing to find something—anything—to grab onto. He was free-falling into an endless pit that led to—

A sudden burst of blinding light erupted beneath him. Evan squeezed his eyes shut against the glare, just as cruel gravity yanked him downward.

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuc—”

His curses came to an abrupt halt when he hit something. Not the ground, thankfully. Instead, his fall was broken by a pair of strong arms. Chest heaving raggedly and gulping down the fright of the fall, Evan cracked open one eye.

A pair of narrowed eyes stared down at him, gorgeous and dark andutterlypissed off.

Evan blinked once, then groaned as he turned limp in Xen’s arms. “Fucking hell, that was the scariest fucking moment of my whole fucking life.” He spat, hanging from Xen’s arms like a dead body. As he cursed up at the heavens, he noticed a tall tree, its trunk slanted towards the ground with a gaping hole right above where they stood.

That was where he’d come out of after falling into the talking tree’s mouth.

Thank God, Xen had been standing below the hole, or Evan would have become a squashed lump of meat on the ground.

All of a sudden, a thought struck Evan, and he turned from a limp dead body to a tense reptile in a second. He grabbed Xen’s suit collars, wide-eyed as he announced, “I found it! I found the Covenant of the Nightshade’s hideout.”

That annoyed look had made a home on Xen’s face. He didn’t even try to look impressed by Evan’s discovery.

Evan stared at him expectantly, still in Xen’s arms, still holding onto his collar. “What? That’s good news. That’sgreatnews. Now we can plan out how to ambush them and rescue Aaron, along with the others.”

After running a brief eye-scan over Evan’s face as if searching for something, Xen gritted out, “Three days.”

“Huh?”

“You were gone. For three days.”

Evan stared at him like he was speaking a foreign language. “I…” His eyes widened. “Iwhat?”

Xen, still upset about something, pressed his lips into a thin line, refusing to explain.

Three days? Evan had hardly been in the Enclave Passage for an hour. How could he have been gone for three days? Then Evan realized that he was staring up at the gloomy afternoon sky of Emberlyn. It was only around midnight back in the Enclave Passage just a few minutes ago.

Had he really been away for…

When Xen showed no signs of letting him down and Evan was too perplexed to notice, he turned and vigorously shook Xen’s shoulders. “What do you mean I was gone for three days? Are you trying to get back at me for running away at the Old Temple? Because that is not funny. Are you listening? Tell me what—Aaah!”

A shriek tore through Evan when a masked figure suddenly materialized from behind Xen. Already panicked beyond sense,Evan wrapped himself around Xen’s neck and shoulders, almost climbing onto his head.

Xen didn’t move, merely supported Evan’s ass with an arm as he perched himself higher.

“Time is funny within an Enclave Passage,” the masked figure said.

“What the fuck! Where the fuck did you come from?!” Evan’s fingers clawed at Xen’s suit, trying to get a better grip. “Who the fuck are you?!”

The mask that figure wore was truly something out of a horror movie. A white face with two dots for eyes and a straight line for a mouth. It wouldn’t have been too creepy if dark strands of hair weren’t cascading around the mask and the figure himself wasn’t dressed in all black.