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His face flushed in anger and embarrassment.

It’s because that damned demon pulled me into his lap. It’s a biological reaction!

Resigning to fate, he sat down cross-legged in front of Xen. The sound of laughter was still persistent in the other room as Evan took a moment to relax, facing Xen.

“Why did you disappear earlier?” he asked again, unable to get the question out of his system.

Xen stretched one leg out and folded the other, resting his arm over his bent knee. “I had to take care of some personal business.”

Evan rolled his eyes. “Fine. Then why did you come back here? I’d explicitly asked you to stay away from my sister.”

“And I’d made it clear I am not here for your sister,” Xen cocked his head. “I’m here for you.” With his free hand, he pulled out the thing he’d used to tilt Evan’s chin earlier.

Evan instantly recognized the gadget in his hand as he took it. “Aaron’s phone.” The phone was splattered in dirt, its side cracked. When Evan turned it on, there was his own missed call on the lockscreen. “Where did you get this from?”

“The woods.”

Evan’s head snapped up. “TheDarkWood? What were you doing in—Wait, never mind that. Why was Aaron’s phone there?”

He’d said he was going to pick up Celie’s friends from the nearest station outside town. For that he’d have to cross the town bridge, and that was in theoppositedirection of the Dark Woods. Plus, entry into the Dark Woods was forbidden without a permission pass from Choi, who’d been with Evan the whole day.

Had Aaron trespassed into the forest? No, that didn’t make sense. Other than the fact that Aaron would never do something so reckless, he also didn’t have a reason to when Evan could easily conjure a permission pass for him. Aaron shouldn’t have been in the woods unless…

As the information aligned in Evan’s head, his heart dropped.

…unless he hadn’t gone there willingly.

11. The Old Temple

Apair of crystal blue eyes gleamed in Evan’s face the moment he opened the front door. He was still reeling from the realization that his best friend had probably gone missing when the doorbell had gone off.

“Uh…” Evan blinked, staring at the uninvited guest at his doorstep.

Delos grinned, all cheeks and charm. “We meet again, Evan.”

“I saw you an hour ago.”

“Yes,” he paused, then chuckled. “Oh—no, don’t misunderstand, please. I didn’t follow you here,” he pointed to his feet. “I came to return this home.”

Evan’s furrowed brows lowered to the ground just as a head full of silver fur emerged from between Delos’s feet.

“Rue? What—” The dog leapt on his hind limbs to hug Evan’s leg with a happy whine. With a resigned sigh, he crouched down, letting his furry friend lick his jaws before guiltily glancing up. “Thank you…again.”

Maybe Rue didn’t like Evan as much as he’d hoped. Why else would he run away a second time to this peculiar young man? Was it just the familiarity with his silver hair?

As if sensing the direction of Evan’s thought, Rue whined and reached up to lick his face again, consoling him that his little adventures were nothing personal. The new collar he’d bought for Rue was a deep shade of red, standing out brilliantly in the light coat.

Why red? No one knew.

“It sounds lively in there,” Delos chuckled as laughter and chatter poured out from inside the house. The kids were having a fine old time while Evan was struggling to keep a straight face and not run into a wall.

“Quite,” As Evan stood up, Rue’s ears perked upright in excitement, and he bolted inside. Moments later, someone screamed—sounding too much like Nick—and then another round of “aww” and “so cute” erupted.

Evan had no idea what to do or say amidst the crowd of spirited teenagers. And he certainly didn't have the luxury of fooling around at the moment. There was no news about Aaron. And Xen was somewhere in the kitchen, lingering like a ghost. Invisible. Watching.

Although it felt like he was right there with him.

Evan threw a brief glance at the Shadow Hand clinging to his shirt sleeve. Even though it was impossible to see it without the gift ofSight, Evan was uneasy roaming around with Xen’s shadow.