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As they neared the streets of Emberlyn, Elysia took it upon herself to brief Evan about everything that had transpired in his absence.

Delos stayed with them as promised and only left that morning after Aaron had shown up. He’d even cooked for them—something completely inedible—and sang songs to keep the kids entertained. Wren added to Elysia’s briefing with a “nice voice,” his face unchanging even as he complimented Delos.

Rue had refused to sleep in his bed, sitting by the door for three days straight. He'd eat his meals, then return to his post—waiting patiently for Evan to come home. Aside from a few cranky hisses, Misty showed no signs of distress at all. As if certain her Daddywouldreturn.

Elysia cast a cautious glance back at Xen, then lowered her voice to Evan’s ears. “Big Brother, tell me something. Is your friend in red…normal?”

Evan almost tripped slightly and casually brushed a hand down his thigh, masking his flustered state. “Normal? My dear, in this day and age, hardly anyone is normal.”

“That’s true, of course. But that’s not what I meant,” Elysia tugged on Evan’s arm with surprising strength and tipped his shoulder down, whispering directly into his ear. “That guy is… He came home the day after you disappeared to talk to Delos. That’s when we found out you were…gone. And when he was talking to Delos, he—I saw his reflection, and it seemed like his eyes were…glowing.”

“Glowing?” Evan chuckled, forcing down a scream. “Where did you see his reflection?”

“On the fridge door.”

Fuck me sideways.

“Ah, I see,” With experienced ease, Evan flashed her a relaxed shrug. “Don’t worry, you weren’t seeing things. I have glow-in-the-dark stickers patched onto my fridge door. That’s what you must’ve seen.”

It wasn’t completely a lie. He’d actually won a few transparent glow-in-the-dark stickers on a carton of chocolate milk once, and he’d aimlessly slapped it onto the fridge. But Evan didn’t know if Elysia would buy it.

After a pause, however, Elysia heaved a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness. I thought I would need an exorcism or something.”

Evan cleared his throat.

Although he knew Celie’s friends were aware of his profession, Evan was still awkward discussing it. While normal people became doctors and artists and politicians, Evan had become a depressed crook who paid regular, uninvited visits to ghosts and kicked them into the afterlife.

It was almost as hilarious as it was sad.

On the way home, Xen quietly took Evan’s wrist and steered him—along with the whole group—towards a nearby restaurant. Only then did Evan realize that he hadn’t touched food or water in God knew how many days. It was because of his constantly circulating spiritual energy keeping his organs from failing that he was still alive.

The owner of the restaurant, Pike—a plump, stout man with a thick silver mustache—happily handed out menus, clearly thrilled by the crowd of customers pouring in. Evan gave a stiff nod, mentally scrambling to recall how much money was left in his account...when, out of the corner of his eye, he caught Aaron slipping his card to Pike.

The servers pushed two tables together for the group as they pulled chairs and sat down. With Elysia and Nick leading the group into interesting topics of conversation, it was lively at the table. Wren occasionally nodded or prompted a one-word response. Rumi remained as unresponsive as the cutlery. Celie sat across from Evan, occasionally glancing at him but mostly engaged in her friends’ conversations.

On Evan’s right side, at the edge of the table, sat Xen. From his stoic face and rigid posture, it looked like he’d rather be anywhere but in a bustling restaurant, surrounded by chattering teenagers and curious eyes. Not even crispy pork belly fingers or smoked bacon with fried potatoes could snatch his attention. And yet, he sat there, not letting Evan out of his sight once.

The topic of him being an Eternal was still untouched.

On Evan’s left side sat Aaron, smiling at something the kids were saying, not really partaking but engaged nonetheless.

Evan studied his face for a moment, his brows slightly drawn together before he cleared his throat. “Hey.”

Aaron stilled, then turned around with a toothy grin. “Hey, you good? Everyone was anxious when you disappeared.”

“Disappearedis an overstatement. I’m a grown-ass man. I don’t need permission from anyone if I want to venture out on my own.”

Aaron chuckled softly. “Good point.”

Briefly looking him over, Evan turned his eyes away. “Talking about disappearing,” he took a sip from the glass of water Nick passed to him, keeping his voice low so only Aaron could hear him. “Where were you the day Celie came home? You didn’t pick up the rest from the station.”

The smile froze on Aaron’s face. He scratched his neck, chuckling nervously. “I’m sorry about that. Something came up at home. I did send a car for the kids, but the driver lost his way. By the time I found out, the kids had already reached home.”

But he’d told Celie the driver had called in sick?

“You could’ve called me.”

“I dropped my phone somewhere."