Page 19

“No.”

A vein bulged on Evan’s temple, and he gritted his teeth before blowing out a breath to calm himself. Reasoning, logic, a kick in the guts—something had to get through the demon’s thick skull.

Reining in his irritation, Evan fell into step beside Xen, discreetly glaring at him. “Look, for all we know, Aaron might be…dying right now. You’re the one who found his phone and brought it to me, so you must understand how important this is to me. And if something happens to him because you were too stubborn to—” Evan sucked in a breath as his voice rose involuntarily, then dropped his tensed shoulders with a sigh. For a long moment, he bit his tongue, then let out the words he’d been suppressing. “He is my only friend. I have to find him, preferably before the Reaping Moon.”

Delos must have prompted it for a reason. It was like a warning sign, glowing bright and red over Evan’s head, threatening to slip off the hook and crush him.

“What do you know about the Reaping Moon?” Xen asked.

The sudden question dissolved some of Evan’s anguish over Xen’s noncooperative attitude. “Is there anything I should know?”

The sky darkened quickly under the influence of the upcoming storm clouds as the two approached the riverbank. “Several portals to the Dark Realm open during Reaping Moons. Makes it easier for reapers to deliver souls.”

The Dark Realm—commonly known as Hell—was different from the Demon Realm, which lay between the human world and Hell.

“So, it’s true about grim reapers walking the land of the living with lanterns to harvest wandering souls on the Reaping Moon?” Evan’s eyebrows twitched with renewed interest. He couldn’t help it. His curiosity about such things had driven him into troublesome situations, but like an innate reaction, his senses bloomed to receive more intel about the matter.

“They don’t carry lanterns,” a fine line marred the middle of Xen’s dark brows, as if the idea of reapers carrying lanterns was absurd. “And it’s not only wandering souls they harvest.”

Evan surprised himself by how fast he caught on to the underlying meaning of that sentence. “They come after demons too?”

Xen fell silent again.

It made sense. Spirits weren’t the only ones who caused trouble in the human world. But if these reapers were doing their jobs, how was it that Evan’s list of exorcisms never lessened? In fact, ever since he’d released a particular demon from containment, his workload had been piling up. And it was acutely annoying because he wasn’t even getting paid for all this trouble.

Kicking a tiny rock out of the way, Evan marched forward, a step ahead of Xen. “You won’t be taken away by a grim reaper, will you?”

Not that he would care if Xen was taken away. Hell, it would be liberating even, having his mind not read without his consent and his body actually obeying his command.

Xen’s voice rumbled low behind Evan. “They wouldn’t lay a finger on me.”

“ Pfft . Sure.”

Silence.

Suddenly, the hair at Evan’s nape spiked in alert, invisible worms crawling beneath his skin. An imposing presence heated his back as if something immense was looming over him.

Evan stilled in his tracks, then threw a wary look over his shoulder. His eyes widened.

A humanized shadow the size of a small tree was casually trailing behind Evan, tracing his little footsteps with its massive foot. It was all but an unending abyss of darkness, a black hole that sucked all light and life and turned it into nothing. But its presence was so well concealed that even Evan—with his hypersensitive senses—had not registered it until now.

Instinct-driven, Evan summoned his spiritual light into a fist, ready to strike. But he stopped short when the Shadow tilted its head, almost...confused. It reached forward with one huge, translucent claw, gently trailing through Evan’s bangs, down his cheek, and into his collar. The action was so familiar that Evan’s shoulders dropped before he could even realize it.

Wait, is that…?

“You…” The blue light faded from Evan’s fist as he lowered his hand. “When did you grow from a hand to… this ?”

It was Xen’s Shadow. Now in a whole human form—although thrice the size of Xen himself—with limbs and head and…

Are those horns?

The Shadow shyly lowered its head, two red dots gleaming in its face. It swirled weightlessly around Evan, a gust of warm wind cocooning him and suppressing his chills. Red shimmered amidst the translucent black form of the Shadow like fireworks.

Evan snorted involuntarily when it tried to scoot closer with its huge body. “Well, well, someone’s excited.”

At his teasing tone, the Shadow trembled gleefully. Shrinking its imposing size to Evan’s height, it dropped its head onto his shoulder, snuggling up. If Evan strained his ear, he could almost hear a purr of content.

A tsk flew from Xen’s mouth, narrow eyes shifting to the Shadow. It froze mid-cuddling, then cowered behind Evan.

“I asked you to stand guard,” Xen’s voice grated against the tensions in the air. “What are you doing clinging to him?”

With an inaudible whine, the Shadow transformed back into its huge size before quietly stepping back to its place a few feet away from Evan.

Evan took that personally on behalf of the Shadow. “You do realize that's your Shadow, right? Like your literal sunshine twin. So, you’re basically just scolding yourself right now.”

Xen gloomed quietly, then twisted his face away.

Evan and the Shadow shared a victorious look.

After passing the riverbank, they headed to the clearing leading to town, the distant sound of the busy streets echoing in their ears.

“So, why do we need a guard?” Evan waved a finger over his shoulder at the mighty Shadow following them.

Dark eyes shifted to Evan. Xen smiled. “Because I’m here.”

So, you’re the danger?

Evan recalled that time back at Greene Mansion, all those dark energies, crawling malicious spirits drawing to the place because of Xen. If not even such a strong containment array could suppress his presence, now that he was unbound, what kind of creatures would come seeking him?

Xen was a demon—a magnet for darkness, a beast that didn’t belong in this world. He moved along the fine edge between life and death. And yet, when he looked at Evan, his eyes shimmered with light.

A warm flutter buzzed below Evan’s clavicle, and he waved a hand over his chest, as if trying to dust off the feeling. “Right. Coming back to the relic. Does it have a name?”

Xen’s gaze lowered, long lashes fluttering against pale cheekbones. Just as Evan thought he wouldn’t answer, his response filled the space between them.

“Reth.”

Evan nodded slowly. “Reth…”

Based on the name alone, it wasn’t possible to imagine what it could be. Considering the way Xen spoke of it, the stiffness in his voice, there was no doubt it was precious to him in his own little demonic way.

As they entered the streets, walking close to the walls on the sidewalk, Evan pocketed his hands into his coat, dropping his voice. “Why do you need Reth so badly?”

Xen’s eyes switched warily over every face that passed them by on the street. “I have things I need to protect,” he said, then gave Evan a pointed look. “As do you.”

The Shadow behind them, invisible to the masses, shifted closer as Evan frowned at Xen. “What are you implying?”

“Surely, you must know all these disappearances before the Reaping Moon are not a coincidence,” Xen said. “It’s a preparation for something bigger.”

It had crossed Evan’s mind when Delos had suddenly brought up the Reaping Moon while they were discussing the missing people. But for all the goodness he tried to conjure in his heart, he couldn’t care less about the disappearances. The reason he got interested in this matter was because of Mila and Victor’s case, and the reason he got involved was Aaron, which was a little stupid now that he thought about it.

There was no solid proof that Aaron was kidnapped by a religious cult wanting to sacrifice him to a Dark Spirit. Perhaps he’d had an emergency back home and left in a hurry, dropping his phone along the way. Perhaps.

But his phone was found in the opposite direction to his way home, and that made every remaining logical assumption disappear into the trash.

Evan and Xen turned a corner, passing bustling shops, the old library, some poorer parts of the town, and into the woods. Evan knew his way around these forests better than anyone and led the way towards the chains restricting entrance into a narrow pathway, impassable through the overgrown weeds. Beyond these chains were the haunted grounds surrounding the Old Temple. A place where—despite his interest for years—Evan had not trespassed.

Stopping right outside the chains, Evan turned to Xen. “Did you say “preparations for something bigger”? What are they preparing for?”

Xen tilted his head, staring into the narrow pathway, seeing God knows what. “Bloodbath ritual.”

Evan’s eyes widened slightly. “What the— Why ?”

“Mass sacrifice of innocent souls can be very advantageous. For example, to bring the dead back to life. Or to feed a growing beast with spiritual energy until it can take human form.”

Evan’s face twisted. “Who exactly is that advantageous to?”

The books that provided information about the divine arts of spiritual energies—like The Doctrine of Blackwood Exorcists—were the same books that warned users about the darker uses of the same power. In more detail than necessary.

A Bloodbath ritual, like its name suggested, was a bloody sacrificial ceremony that devoured the lives of innocent people. Some believed through this ritual they could please the gods and attain immortality. Others argued that such customs were established by their ancestors, and continuing them was their responsibility. But a few foul-minded bastards drained blood from innocents just for the thrill of it.

In ancient times, it was even a tradition to leave a few children in the woods to satiate the monstrous appetite of creatures of the dark, in hopes that a few lives could salvage several others. Although those children probably fell prey to wild animals rather than fictional monsters, their deaths were tragic and unfair all the same. It was downright repulsive.

But it had been a long time since such rituals were discontinued for the sake of preserving the now-endangered species known as humans. Then why now, and which god were they trying to please this time?

“What does the ritual have to do with the Reaping Moon? They could sacrifice people any day,” Evan pulled out his pack of cigarettes, plucking the last one.

Xen stared at the cigarette between Evan’s lips. “The scent of blood and essence of unnatural deaths would gain them unwanted attention—”

“—of the Reapers,” Evan finished, pieces of the puzzle falling into place in his head with a click . “If they sacrifice the people on the Reaping Moon, the essence of the wandering spirits would be too strong. Strong enough to drown out the scent of the sacrifices.”

It would be like concealing a faint odor with a heavier one. And the grim reapers would already be too busy reaping souls to notice anything amiss.

“Precisely,” Xen quirked a proud smile at Evan, then flexed his index finger before the tip of Evan’s cigarette. It lit up with a crimson hiss.

Evan took a long drag, eyes never leaving Xen. “What is their intention behind this Bloodbath ritual?”

It was needless to say who “they” were. There was only one freak cult in Emberlyn, and their notorious reputation didn’t leave much area for doubt.

A wind blew past them, making a dark strand flutter into Xen’s eyes. Those eyes, which were glowing scarlet like the tip of Evan’s cigarette.

It had been a while since the last time Evan had seen that scarlet gaze, and a shiver shot down his spine involuntarily as a brief look of unsettling darkness flitted past Xen’s face.

There it was, that sudden shift in his demeanor. The drop of temperature. The heavy demonic energy radiating off his tensed shoulders.

“Xen?”

As soon as his name was spoken, it was like he’d been released from a spell by Evan all over again.

Xen blinked, then blinked some more, processing the word that’d left Evan’s lips. It was the first time Evan had willingly called him by his name. The scarlet flickered in his eyes before fading away with a tic of his jaw, his gaze trailing back to Evan. “Mm?”

Evan studied him, blowing out a puff of smoke before carefully prodding. “I asked what their intention behind the Bloodbath was.”

“They want to awaken something,” Xen’s strained voice echoed in the space between them.

That reaction was so out of character for Xen that Evan couldn’t help the question that surfaced in his mind. Couldn’t help it when it fell from his lips, doused in suspicion.

“How do you know all this?”

Xen paused, then glanced up at the darkening sky. “I’ve seen it happen before.”

That’s it. No further explanation. And it wasn’t even surprising at this point. Xen only revealed what he wanted others to know, what he deemed sufficient to solve an issue. Anything beyond that was impossible to draw out of him, not by tactic, definitely not by force.

Deciding to drop the questions about where Xen had seen such heinous ritual in the past, Evan took a drag from his cigarette, his brows furrowing as he tried to untangle the matter at hand.

“We have to stop this ritual. Obviously. Or else sixteen people will lose their lives for absolutely nothing.”

“Fifteen,” Xen prompted.

Evan flicked the cigarette and stomped over it, then stepped over the chains restricting access to the area. “Including Aaron, sixteen.”

As he dipped under a branch and rose, Evan walked straight into a fresh cobweb. He spluttered, the web plastered across his face, decorating him with artistically designed insect spit.

“Fifteen,” Xen said again, following behind him, unperturbed by Evan’s distress.

Spitting and scrubbing at his face to get off the remnants of spiderweb, Evan snapped at him. “What?”

“Remember what you saw on the recording.”

Digging his face into the crook of his arm, Evan furiously wiped his face into his coat sleeve. It took him a moment to compose himself and wonder what recording Xen was talking about before he made an ah sound of realization.

The video that Choi had shown him.

“What about it?”

Evan mentally replayed the video, wandering into the abandoned area through overgrown wild weeds and dodging more spiderwebs. But no matter how much he recalled, all he could remember were the three tents, a mysterious firefly, and the six people who disappeared from it.

Huh?

Wait.

Evan abruptly stopped, eyes transfixed on the ruins of old houses peeking over the weeds and bushes as a residential area neared as the gears in his head turned.

“Seven loggers disappeared from their tents without a trace ,” Choi’s voice rang in Evan’s head. Following close behind were Delos’s words when Evan had asked him about the missing people. “Over fifteen. Including seven loggers who were working on the road construction project.”

Evan raked a hand through his hair. How could he have missed that?

Seven loggers went missing two days ago. But on the video, it showed only six, two people each in three tents. Why was the seventh guy not with the others in the tent in the middle of the night? Had he gone to take a leak? Then why hadn’t he returned and reported about his fellow workers missing? Did he perhaps go missing after the video had ended?

Evan turned to Xen with confused, wide eyes. “Where’s the seventh guy?”

“Doesn’t matter. Fifteen people is still enough life force to awaken a minor deity. One less person wouldn’t make a difference.” Xen folded his hands behind him, and the Shadow peeked over his shoulder, two red dots blinking at Evan. It had shrunk to Xen’s size.

With another answerless question hanging in the air, Evan’s annoyance flared. He was not used to using his brain to solve mysteries, only to get through them without dying.

“Why don’t we just raid the Nightshade freaks’ nest?”

Xen cocked his eyebrow. “Do you know where that is?”

“No. But perhaps you can help.”

“I refuse.”

Evan rolled his eyes, folding his arms across his chest. “Remind me again what good it would do me if I found you this relic.”

“I can protect—”

“What’s yours, I know.”

“—you.”

A silence spell descended over Evan as he stared at Xen, searching those dark pools for a hint of mockery or amusement. But there was nothing other than sheer sincerity with a smidge of annoyance.

Evan’s eyelids fluttered. “I don’t need your protection.”

Xen dropped his voice, as if trying to engrave his next words into Evan’s conscience. “Yet, I cannot suppress the need to want to protect you. Remember the foundation of the blood bond, Evan. You must help me.”

At first glance, Xen didn’t really look like a figure who would need anyone’s “help.” If they’d met under different circumstances, Evan would have convinced himself that Xen was a powerful creature, single-handedly sufficient to defeat a horde of his enemies. That was the impression he gave. And if even a fraction of that impression was rooted in truth, then Xen was strong enough to protect himself and Evan.

What could this relic—Reth—possibly do to add to his strength?

Blinking away, Evan cleared his throat. “I won’t go back on my word. But you have to make an effort to repay me for all this trouble I’m going through.”

As they started towards the abandoned residential area, Xen folded his hands behind his back again. “I’ve already said this, and I’ll say it again. I will do whatever you ask me to—”

“Clearly that’s not the case most of the time.”

“—considering it’s within logic and better judgment.”

“Did you just question my judgment?”

“Yes,” Xen smirked. “And you should too.”

Oh, that’s all Evan ever did, question every decision after making it. Because thinking before making a move would mostly lead him into the gray area of doubt and indecision. So he went with the flow until he realized it was a clog.

When Evan huffed and stormed off, Xen smiled at his retreating back.

But he didn't make it far.

The Shadow floated into his view, silently blocking Evan’s path. It gently grabbed his shoulders and turned him around to face Xen.

Oh, so slowly, Xen approached, hands clasped behind him, a killer smile drawn on those perfect lips.

“What do you want?” He invaded Evan’s personal space, bending at the waist until their faces were inches apart. “Tell me now, and I’ll give it to you.”

That challenging glint in his eyes sent a wave of heat coursing down Evan’s body, warm breath fanning his face. Too close. Way too close. Even if he tried, he wouldn’t be able to back away. The Shadow was blocking his escape.

But instead of playing right into Xen’s hands and dropping the subject, Evan saw it for what he always visualized an inescapable situation to be. An opportunity.

“I want…” Evan softly let the words out. “Answers.”

Xen’s eyes slightly narrowed, trying to gauge Evan’s intentions, but he cunningly kept his mind empty and let his mouth do the labor. “I want answers whenever I ask and whatever I ask for.”

Xen cocked his head. “How many?”

“Ten questions,” Evan offered.

“One.”

“Five.”

“One.”

“ Three !”

Xen considered Evan's slightly panicked face for a moment before straightening. “Done.”

The Shadow let go of Evan’s shoulders and dissolved quickly, as if ashamed he’d held Evan captive like that. Xen walked past Evan, knuckles brushing his arm.

Evan blinked at the empty space, eyebrows raised high. Had he just beaten a demon at negotiation?

Smirking to himself, he spun and jogged to catch up to Xen. “Give me your word.”

“You have my word.”

“What type of demon are you?”

At the speed of that question, Xen was briefly taken aback. “Is that the first question?”

Evan shrugged nonchalantly. “Nah, I’ll save that for the future. Just making small talk.”

As they walked deeper into the area, more houses appeared, barely standing, most of them ruined from lack of maintenance. The air was foggy with dust and…something heavier. The aura was so thick and tangled that deciphering whether it was malice or resentment or longing was almost impossible. Such dense energies shouldn't have manifested in a residential area. Not unless a tragedy had occurred. One that’d claimed many lives.

When Xen didn’t answer, Evan nudged him. “Well? What type?”

“ Type …” The word dropped from Xen like it had offended him on a spiritual—no, demonic—level. Like it was an insult to his long generation of ancestors.

For some reason, Evan felt the need to soothe a burn he didn’t inflict. “As in, what kind? Like low-level or, er…what was it? Hellguards?”

Xen smirked. “There’s a third category too.”

“I know. But you’re clearly not from…” For a moment, Evan’s firm assumption faltered. His eyes unknowingly drew up Xen’s body. Could he be…?

Just as the thought surfaced, Evan chuckled to himself with a shake of his head. His vivid imagination was running wild again. What would a Demon King be doing here, taking a stroll with an exorcist? And not to mention where he’d found Xen, in a containment mirror. Who would dare imprison a Demon King? Was the mirror realm strong enough to contain one?

The more he thought about it, the more absurd his doubts seemed. Xen was probably reluctant to answer because he was indeed, like Evan’s assumption, a low-level. Not that Evan thought there was anything to be ashamed of being a low-level demon. That would be like mocking the poor in the human world.

“You know what, never mind,” Evan had no idea where the Old Temple was, so he followed beside Xen, eyes alert and studying his surroundings. They left behind the abandoned residential area and entered a clearing surrounded by dense trees. There was a narrow pathway ahead that led straight to a stone door, nestled into a huge tree.

The Old Temple.

On both sides of the rock-laden pathway stood walls of thorns almost ten feet high, each thorn several centimeters long. It looked like a manmade barrier. At seventy steps of distance was the stone door. The rest of the temple was not visible. The thick bark of a mighty tree had somehow grown around it, spiraling appendages thoroughly wrapping the temple in its claws, leaving open only a small partition at the base for the stone door.

“Is this it?” Evan stared at the stone door in a mixture of wonder and wariness. Wonder, because of the outward appeal of the mysterious construction. Wariness, because of the dense air of a certain energy radiating through and around that stone door.

Resentment. Immense, unquenchable resentment.

A muscle jumped in Xen’s jaw as he stared at the door, face impassive even though his shoulders remained tense.

For some reason, Evan felt like he was looking at his younger self, hesitating before trying to confront the kid who bullied him for being different. That unease weighing in the stomach, muscles tensing involuntarily, and staring blankly into space, they were things Evan was familiar with.

Absentmindedly, he reached up and rested his hand against the broad expanse of Xen’s back. The hard ridges of muscles somehow tensed even further. When his eyes shifted to Evan, slightly wide and confused, Evan mustered up a half-hearted smile for him. “Let’s go get Reth.”

Xen’s lips parted ever so slowly. Then one corner of his mouth curled into a smirk. Faster than a human brain could register, he moved, yanked Evan into his arms, and grasped his chin.

“My, my," he drawled, voice velvet. "Aren’t you growing comfortable around me.”

Evan was shocked into dumbfounded silence for only a second—a second of relishing being pressed against Xen’s warm, hard body—before he stiffened, face flushing. “You fucking—let go!”

Xen nuzzled his temple. “Make me.”

“You…you… I’ll kill yo—”

Thump. Thump.

Evan froze mid-struggle. Xen stilled.

The ground trembled beneath their feet as Evan’s wide eyes darted towards the direction from where they’d entered the clearing, then towards the temple enclosed within a tree.

An earthquake?

Thump. Thump. Thump.

It sounded like a rock was playing hopscotch. And it was hopping closer, the sound growing louder with each jump.

“What’s that?” Evan’s sensitive ears hurt as the thumping assaulted his senses, the sound echoing inside his skull.

Xen still had one hand around Evan’s waist as he tilted his head, listening closely. Then he made an oh sound of surprise. But it was so fake that Evan didn’t even have to look at him to know.

“It’s my old friend,” Xen said, sliding his hand that was around Evan’s waist lower, into his back pocket.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Evan didn’t appreciate the way the word “friend” rolled off of Xen’s lips. He pursed his mouth. “Does this friend of yours want to kill you?”

“Perhaps,” Xen dropped his head against Evan’s shoulder as the ground quaked harder, leaves rustling somewhere nearby, creatures shrieking away. “He guards what’s inside the temple.”

Evan’s ears picked up a low growl over the deafening thumping, and he spun around just as a hand popped from behind the tree cradling the temple.

A stony hand. A huge, stony hand. Big enough to grab half a dozen men in its fist at once. As a head came into view next, made of rocks of all sizes stacked together, Evan’s heart thundered, trying to jump out of his chest and flee back home.

Xen lowered his mouth to his ear, a smile evident in his voice as he said, “We’ll have to face him first.”