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Pieces of furniture went flying across the room and crashed against the walls. Huge chunks of rubble rained around Evan, and he locked his arms around his head, trying to shrink into a corner.

The dummy ring warmed on his finger before something engulfed Evan in a huge, warm embrace. He tried to see what it was but could barely open his eyes amidst the falling debris and exploding dust. Every time something flew in his direction, the invisible force pulled him out of harm’s way and settled him aside like a precious porcelain vase.

Roars and growls emanated from the two colliding forces, glares of red and purple flashing through the dark.

And then, a deafeningboomshook the whole house.

Evan grunted, cupping his ears.

A sudden burst of light assaulted the dark room. After coughing through dust and cement, when Evan managed to open his eyes, the overgrown shrubs of the forest that had been surrounding the house greeted him.

Evan’s jaws unhinged.

The opposite half of the room had been blasted away.

Stranded in between the rubble and grass was a frail, trembling body of the girl in a tattered white school uniform. Her right hand had stretched and elongated inhumanly into a huge claw, which had been severed by the demon. Her other hand had grown into that huge eyeball, which was now nailed to the wall with a piece of iron rod. The eyeball twitched, bleeding out black gooey blood.

Evan’s stomach turned, his meager breakfast threatening to paint the floor. In all his years as an exorcist, he’d never witnessed anything more horrifying.

But the scene became more disturbing when the smell of burnt flesh wafted into Evan’s nostrils. The flesh on the girl’s bare back was sizzling as the sunlight now openly hit her skin.

Evan’s eyes widened. “It’s still alive inside her body.”

“It’s a demon.”

Evan flinched as a voice rumbled from behind. He spun around to find a red-clad figure leaning against the broken door,arms folded across his broad chest, a smile plastered on his lips. The demon—Xen?—looked utterly pleased for whatever reason and not like he’d just nailed a huge eyeball to the wall.

“A demon?” Evan narrowed his eyes.

Xen shrugged a shoulder. “It’s a low level. We could probably absorb it.”

“You meanIcould probablyexorciseit?”

Whatabsorb? Whatwe?

Xen simply smiled in response.

In almost a decade of exorcising spirits, Evan hadn’t encountered a single demon in town. And now he’d come acrosstwoin a span of a few days. Never mind that the one claiming to be on his side seemed to pose more danger than this “low-level” creature.

A muffled groan stirred from the hunched figure of the girl, her flesh burning through to reveal a hint of bones.

Evan rushed forward but halted midway toward her. He glanced down and frowned when he noticed his fake ring was missing. And even if it was there, it wasn’t Crimson Eye. He couldn’t touch her.

But “he” can.

A voice spoke in Evan’s head, sounding too much like the youth he’d seen inside his core.

Evan threw a wary glance over his shoulder as he kneeled near the girl’s withering body, silently urging Xen closer.

Xen was looking straight at him, boot tapping a rhythm against the cracked floor. After throwing a few more discreet glances, Evan finally exploded.

“Are you just gonna stand there and stare?” He barked. “I could use some help here!”

Grinning like he’d just won a silent bet with himself, Xen strolled forward and crouched behind Evan. “Go on, absorb it.”

Not even trying to correct him about his choice of words this time, Evan turned to the girl and, with much effort, focused on his core of spiritual energy. As soon as it opened, a hand came to rest over Evan’s shoulder and he felt an alien surge of energy flowing into his body. Stabilizing his own flow.

He hurried to touch the girl’s head, almost slapping her in the process. As soon as he touched her, the girl cried out. The eyeball nailed to the wall started writhing and growling. Black blood spurted from its wound, and the purple light slowly drained from it, flowing down the girl’s body, and up into Evan’s arm.