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That presence…hispresence was so strong. Imposing. Unnerving. He’d barely moved from his place, but the force of those scarlet eyes—that stare—was enough to glue Evan immobile.

What is he? Can I touch him to make sure he’s actually here and I’m not hallucinating?

As if reading his mind, a faint wave of black smoke detached from the silhouette’s mighty shoulders, carrying in the air towards Evan.

With a sharp breath, Evan braced himself as the dark energy crept onto him, but strangely enough, it did not weigh down on his chest like it had done at the Greene Mansion. Instead, that little creeper of smoke swirled around Evan, dancing to a silentrhythm like it had a conscience of its own. Tiny red sparkles sprinkled in its wake, raining around Evan like fireworks.

Momentarily, Evan was mesmerized. He reached up to touch the creeper of smoke, and a small dark tendril separated from it, twirling around his ring finger. If he focused hard enough, he could almost feel its smile, its…joy?

“Curious…”

Evan flinched as the word rumbled off the silhouette and quickly withdrew his hand. The black smoke circled around him one last time before retreating to its owner.

Shit.

Evan had let his guard down, and the silhouette had seen right through him. He wasn’t completely wrong, though. Evanhadbeen curious, even though only for a fleeting second.

He’d never seen a strand of energy that beautiful, let alone a tendril ofdarkenergy.

Shaking his head to brush off the straying thoughts, Evan cleared his throat. No matter what the silhouette was or what tricks he was playing, Evan had to exorcise him. That was the only way he could help that thing—and himself.

Evan stood up inside the salt circle, keeping his stance unfazed and expressions neutral.

The silhouette didn’t move, nor did those scarlet eyes blink as he stared at Evan. In fact, he hadn’t taken his eyes off Evan since he’d materialized from black smoke.

Casually pocketing his hands into his shorts, Evan clasped the tiny bottle of Del water in his fist.

Without his ring, Evan could not touch spirits to exorcise them. He could get possessed. Although the sacred water would sting a bit—like stroking Hellfire—it was the only option left to send a spirit to the other side. Even if thatthingwas not a human spirit, the river water would dissipate any sort of creature of the dark irrespective of its origin.

“Step into the light,” Evan said, holding his scarlet gaze.

The silhouette didn’t budge, didn’t blink. He was at a distance, yet his presence crowded Evan, making his pulse quicken. His false confidence wavered, about to crack when finally, the silhouette stepped forward.

One step is all he took, and all the lights in the room abruptly turned on.

Evan winced, covering his eyes with an arm, momentarily blinded. But when footfalls headed his way, he quickly blinked up, taking the bottle of sacred river water out—

Something moved. Fast. Too fast for a human spirit. Too fast for anything Evan had ever encountered in his life.

One second, the figure was across the room, and the next, he was standing right in front of Evan. He clasped Evan’s hand holding the sacred water…and stepped over the salt circle.

A gasp escaped Evan’s lips.

Impossible.

Hewas impossible.

But more shocking than him crossing the salt circle, or his speed, were the pair of scarlet eyes staring down at Evan.

Thick, dark brows dipped in focused glare, long strands of raven hair blowing away from a magnificent face. From the sharp line of his jaw, his straight nose, to the impeccably flawless pale skin, he was…impossible.

Evan was awestruck. Frozen. Just staring at the unearthly handsome face in front of him that had appeared from a ball of smoke, which was previously contained inside an enchanted mirror in an abandoned mansion.

None of it made sense.

Not in the moment.

The handsome face leaned close to Evan, and a whiff of damp earth tickled his nostrils.