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Suddenly, the door swung open, and I practically fell inside, kicking it shut behind me so hard that it rattled on its hinges.

‘Woah, what the fuck?’ Rhodes asked, hands held in the air as he backed away from where I was bent over, panting heavily.

‘Where’s… Chance?’ I asked through my heaving breaths. My eyes were so wide that the air stung them as I whipped my head back and forth, searching for my brother-in-law. Rhodes, Mikey, Ashe and Gloria were crowding the room, but there was no Chance.

‘He… went next door,’ Rhodes said slowly. Cautiously.

‘Hewhat?’Ashe shrieked, jerking back like she’d been slapped.

‘What the fuck?’ Gloria joined in, equally as perturbed. ‘What was he thinking?’

‘No… No, no, no. How could he be sostupid?’ Ashe cried, hands pulling at her hair. She looked completely dismayed.

‘Next door…’ I said the words out loud, sounding them out as if it would make sense why that was so bad. But then I remembered that was where Kali was supposedly buried, where she may have been murdered, and my spine snapped straight in alarm. ‘He went after the killer on his own? When?’

Mikey looked like he was going to be sick, and he swayed where he stood. Rhodes gently pushed him to lean against the wall, and the slimmer man shot him a grateful look beforeadmitting something that turned my own stomach with its implication. ‘A little over twenty-four hours ago.’

‘Wait a minute… I thought he was with you?’ Ashe directed her question to me, unable to keep the accusation from bleeding through in her tone, and I didn’t take kindly to it.

‘I haven’t seen him since I left here yesterday,’ I said, failing to maintain my composure, so it came out snappier than intended. I wasn’t too cut up about it, though, since she was apparently trying to blame me for Chance going missing.

She didn’t seem to care about that, however, because her attention suddenly whipped to the men. ‘Youknew?’

Both men looked at their feet, ashamed that they’d kept quiet, quite possibly to the detriment of their own friend’s life. I wasn’t sure what to do with this information. Selfishly, I needed Chance because if my demons were, in fact, real, then I was going to need all the help I could get. I wasn’t equipped to deal with anything paranormal, and I was scared out of my wits. Now, he could possibly be… I couldn’t even think it.

‘Has anyone called him?’ I asked, my voice shrill in my panic.

‘I’ll try now,’ Ashe said, already pulling out her phone and dialling his number. She put it on speakerphone so we could all hear, but it went straight to voicemail. Either his phone was dead, or…

She tried again. And again. Each time with the same result. I could see her beginning to unravel, and Gloria was quick to usher her away to start damage control. The police were going to need to be involved, especially if he’d already been MIA for over twenty-four hours.

Fuck, this was bad. This was so, so bad.

‘Someone needs to call the police,’ I instructed. I didn’t recognise the sound of my voice. It was flat, like someone had trampled all over my emotions until they were nothing more than flimsy, pancaked remains.

‘We were going to if he wasn’t back by tonight,’ Mikey admitted sullenly, but we both knew that wasn’t good enough. He never should have allowed Chance to run off into danger on his own. If Kali’s killer was next door, and it was the same person responsible for all the other spirits they’d claimed were lingering, then we could be dealing with a serial killer.

And they’d let Chance run right to them.

I had the worst feeling in my gut that told me we weren’t going to be seeing him alive again.

If I’d felt helpless before, it was nothing compared to now.

And when my gaze skimmed past the window, red eyes flashed.

Chapter 5

Kali

Iwatched Blake walk away, his boots leaving tracks in the dirt beside a single line where he dragged the shovel behind him. He was exhausted from burying his own brother, so much so that he didn’t even try to lift the shovel, and his feet shuffled tiredly back to the cabin. I didn’t miss him when he disappeared inside.

Chance was flickering in and out of existence, his presence unstable, his gaze vacant. I’d stood by, refusing to leave him as I bore witness to his torment. His stuttered screams would echo in my mind for all eternity, and I was more than willing to accept that burden. I couldn’t believe I had considered, even for one second, leaving him to face the pain of this fate alone. I still needed to tell someone about the woman in the basement, but how could I have ever contemplated leaving Chance alone? Perhaps, subconsciously, I was afraid, my own burial like a black mark on my soul that I wasn’t ready to acknowledge.

But for Chance, I realised I would do anything, face any fear, and support him no matter what. He was my best friend.

And he loved me.

I wasn’t quite ready to face that revelation. I didn’t know if I was even capable of feeling the same sort of love I’d felt for himbefore. I had given up my crush on him all those years ago in favour of giving my all to Blake, and look how that had turned out.