Page 35

Watching the fire blaze so high, Evan hadn’t realized when he’d crashed to his knees. Maybe due to exhaustion, or perhaps the agonizing burn in his chest. Time slowed down and voices drifted away, leaving him alone. Abandoned.

He’d won a battle against an army from hell but lost the war against himself. Why even was he agitated? An evil force and a powerful demon had both perished together. A few weeks back, that would have made Evan cheer in relief. But now…he felt as though his very core trembled, quivering with a sorrow he didn’t know how to handle.

“In search of warmth, a heart is burnt…”

Burnt.

After staring into the fiery pit for a while, he couldn’t take it anymore. Summoning whatever strength remained, he stumbled up and grabbed Zeev’s collar, his eyes burning.

“How do I bring him back?” Evan seized the collar of Zeev’s robe, pulling it tight around his neck and cutting off his airflow. “Tell me, now!”

Never before in his life had Evan lashed out at anyone without a good reason. At least not physically. And his sudden fury surprised him as much as the other party.

Zeev’s brows lowered in discomfort but he didn’t fight against Evan. “You will have to help him break out, sir.”

“How?!”

“My Lord cannot perish in his current form. But…the eternal flames would affect his conscience and pull him into a trance,” Zeev coughed as Evan wrung the collar tighter around his neck. “The fire. It…it’s a fickle thing. It will show him his most favorable desire come true, and keep him trapped in the trance until he slowly dissolves into the fiery abyss. The only way he can break free…is on his own volition.”

With an irritated grunt, Evan shoved Zeev away and turned back to the blazing Hellfire that danced in the night breeze.

Zeev dropped his head. “You may try to call his name, sir.”

“I already did that!”

Evan raked his fingers through his hair.

Think, Evan. Think.

If someone else was in Xen’s place, trapped in a trance where their deepest desire became reality, what could break them free?

Perhaps the object of his said desires.

Xen’s desires….

Evan searched his brain, then cursed under his breath.

This moment would either be a mortifying memory he’d dread for life or an equally mortifying memory that he’d pretend never happened.

But he didn’t have time to contemplate. What if—by the time Evan was done considering and reconsidering everything—Xen had melted into a fiery puddle? What could be worse than that?

In response, pages furiously flipped in his head.

The Doctrine of Blackwood Exorcists. Rule 103: “The Blackwood Exorcists are servants of light and must always strive to uphold the good name of the lineage until the very end.”

Evan groaned, then chucked the rule book away and screamed into the flames, “IF YOU DON’T COME OUT, I’M GOING TO SCREW THE FIRST PERSON I SEE OUTSIDE!”

Zeev’s eyes widened.

Aaron groaned groggily, face scrunching.

Evan stared into the crackling fire with fierce determination, making sure Xen saw the seriousness in his eyes through the flames. That he would screw someone just to prove a point.

As Evan stared into the depths of the Hellfire, the fire stared back. A thunder roared in the sky and lightning soared across the dark expanse like a burning dragon spreading its wings.

When a silhouette stirred within it, the Hellfire let out a shrill cry.

In the backdrop of the flashing sky, a tall figure emerged, red robes bellowing, long raven hair dancing wildly behind him. He strolled through the flames, hands in his pocket, fire licking at his boots. When he stepped out of the fiery pit, the Hellfire simmered down before disappearing into the cracks in the ground.

What remained behind was a blood-stained golden spear lying discarded on the ground.

Narrowed scarlet eyes glared at Evan as the figure stopped in front of him. His voice was a low, threatening whisper as he asked, “What did you just say?”

Evan stared at Xen for a long while, making sure he was real and not a figment of his imagination born out of his desperation to see him again. After a moment of idle staring, he let out a breath, rubbing his burning temple. “Thank fuck.”

Xen grabbed his chin, tilting his face up. The fire in his eyes had calmed but those red irises were still glowing dangerously as he stared down at Evan.

“You—”

Unexpectedly, Evan reached out and touched his chest.

Xen stiffened, cutting himself off as Evan’s finger slipped inside his robe, feeling around his skin, probing at the place where Knox had struck him with the spear. “You healed.”

Xen couldn’t look away from him. He was so used to Evan’s biting remarks that his genuine concern left him dumbstruck for a moment. The scarlet in his eyes flickered at Evan’s touch. Xen let go of his chin and covered Evan’s hand with his own, holding it firmly against his chest. “I suppose I did.”

It was probably Evan’s imagination but he felt as though Xen wasn’t talking about his wound.

Evan’s eyes flickered up, a little dazed. The world blurred around them as the pair stared at each other, both searching for something in the other’s gaze.

“If you died, I would’ve killed you,” Evan said.

Xen cocked his head. “Violence suits you.”

A grin tugged at Evan’s lips. Xen stilled. His pupils dilated then shrank as if beholding a wonder of the world for the first time. Like a butterfly entranced by the sight of a dew-scattered blossom.

He reached forward and dipped his finger into the delicate hollow in Evan’s left cheek.

Heavens, Evan Blackwood had a dimple.

The King of Demons was absolutely awestruck.

Evan smiling with his whole face was a rarity more uncommon than a clear sky in Emberlyn. Very few people in the entire town knew of that gentle dip in his left cheek that elevated his cold handsomeness up several notches.

Xen traced the dimple with a finger then dipped his head, eyes slightly dazed. Evan went rigid but didn’t pull away.

Their lips hovered close. So close. But Xen paused a hair’s breadth away, struggling to restrain himself.

Watching him fight against his desires, something in Evan softened. He exhaled, then cupped Xen’s nape, pulling him closer.

A harsh breath left Xen, eyes darkening—dangerous, possessive. Evan shivered as an arm wrapped around his waist, drawing him flush against a hard chest.

“You’re playing with fire, Little Storm,” Xen rumbled.

Evan’s lashes quivered, gaze flicking to the lips just inches from his own. Emboldened by adrenaline still coursing through his system, he breathed, “Burn me.”

Scarlet blazed in Xen’s eyes as he dropped his mouth to—

“Ugh…” Aaron groaned behind them.

Evan froze. His eyes widened, warmth crawling up his pale neck and onto his cheeks. Blinking furiously, he turned away, the heat disappearing faster than it’d appeared in his eyes.

Xen’s eyes narrowed. His hand hovered where it’d been caressing Evan’s face, fingers curling around nothing before dropping away.

Aaron let out a pained huff from where he was sprawled on the ground. His tattered clothes clung to his body in bits and pieces, his face bruised and bloody. “Did I…swallow lead? Why is…my body so…so…”

“Are you okay?” Evan and Zeev helped Aaron sit up. “Can you stand?”

“I can…barely breathe,” Aaron rubbed his head and hissed, staring at the blood on his hand. Then his twisted ankle, and dislocated shoulder. “Fuck… Who the hell—” His eyes glazed over, turning distant for a moment. As his memories returned in broken pieces, he blinked away, turning to Evan. “Is it…gone?”

Knox.

“It’s gone,” Evan patted Aaron’s uninjured shoulder and supplied spiritual energy to him to aid in healing his injuries. “You can rest now.”

Aaron gave a slow nod, then shifted only to wince. “Ow! Something poked me…” He weakly dug into his pocket and fished out a small vial. “What’s this?”

Evan’s eyes widened as he grabbed it. “Reth? Is this Reth?”

Before he could rejoice, his balloon of hope deflated. The tiny glass vessel gleamed in the moonlight, its contents missing.

Xen stared at the empty vial before his lashes lowered, expressions unreadable. Evan cursed under his breath, fist curling around the vial. That fucker Knox had to hide Reth before perishing.

“What’s Reth? What…time is it?” Aaron’s words slurred, shoulders sagging. “That was…the most awful day of my life,” He swayed, eyelids fluttering close. “So tired…” His head plopped onto Evan’s shoulder as he passed out again, breaths evening out.

With a sigh, Evan dropped his cheek against his head.

“Welcome back, Aaron.”

Evan couldn’t recall how he got back to his house, but when he’d briefly opened his eyes on their way back, he was curled against Xen’s chest. Aaron’s huge body was casually tossed over a scrawny Zeev’s shoulder and three other bodies—Nick, Wren, and Rumi—floated alongside them, wrapped in a blanket of black mist.

When Evan came to be, sunlight poured in through his bedroom window, a relatively clear afternoon sky greeting him. His head weighed twice his entire body, and his limbs were cemented in place. Groaning, he rolled over and felt around the cold sheets.

“Mm? Misty?”

He cracked open one eye, but the black fur ball was nowhere in sight. That was strange. She never left the bed before Evan woke up. Stranger still that she hadn’t come and curled over his face so he would suffocate and gasp awake as usual.

With a sigh, he sat up, hair disheveled, eyes puffy. The events of the previous night coursed through his brain in a replay. He forcefully pushed them away, shaking his head like a wet puppy then shivered slightly as a breeze gushed in through the agape window.

“Misty?” he murmured groggily. “Daddy is cold.”

As he stepped down from the bed, Celie appeared at his bedroom door, carrying a tray. Evan instantly straightened, sleep vanishing from his eyes. He smoothed out his crumpled t-shirt and shorts in an attempt to look presentable.

Wait, who changed my clothes?

Celie set down a bowl of chicken soup on the nightstand, looking at Evan with slightly sorrowful eyes. Suddenly, Evan grew more self-conscious about his appearance than he’d cared to admit.

Was he so unkempt that his sister pitied him now?

Evan cleared his throat. “Your friends…”

Celie blinked, then nodded. “They’re okay. I sent them to a motel so you could rest without any…commotion.”

“Any injuries?”

“They’re fine, just scared. But…also grateful. To you,” Celie paused, then continued hesitantly. “Thank you for helping my friends. I couldn’t have lived with myself if something had happened to them on this trip. They’ve been my companions for years, we’ve been through highs and lows. Losing them would’ve been like losing my family.”

Evan stared at his sister, a warm fuzzy feeling flooding his chest. It was adorable how she was trying to act all grown up. After all, there was a whole decade of age gap between them, so while Celie was trying to be brave and communicate her feelings, all Evan could think about was how he wanted to pull her cheeks until her entire face went red.

The urge to annoy one’s sibling was an innate emotion.

“So…thank you,” Celie peeked at Evan. “Truly.”

Evan smiled softly. “You are my family, Cici, so your friends are my responsibility. I just did what I had to do as an adult and your brother. I’m just glad everyone is safe.”

A complicated expression flitted past Celie’s face, a mixture of understanding, reluctance, and something like yearning. She tried to put her troubles into words but eventually gave up and pointed at the soup. “You should have that while it’s still hot.”

The aroma of that soup was so strong and familiar that Evan couldn’t help himself as he reached for it and cradled it in his lap. “Rhea sent this?”

“She didn’t send it.”

The spoon froze mid-way to Evan’s mouth and his eyes rounded. “She is—”

“Here,” a voice echoed from the doorway.

Celie stilled, then stepped aside to reveal a silver-haired woman standing at the threshold, her arms folded across her chest. Stormy grey eyes glared at Evan, faint wrinkles pulling at her skin. As she approached, he instantly cowered.

“Wait, wait, let me explain—”

Evan’s hands were occupied with the soup bowl so he couldn’t protect his ears. Rhea instantly reached out and pinched the lobe, bony fingers tight like iron clamps.

Evan hissed, pleading for mercy but Rhea just dug her fingers harder into this earlobe, her brows drawn together.

“You got into trouble again and nothing small this time, Evan,” she let go of his ear, a barely perceptible tinge of concern fleeting past her grey eyes. “You could have lost your life. Along with several others.”

Evan handed the bowl back to Celie who was as stone-faced as ever around Rhea, then rubbed his ear. “But I didn’t. No one died. And it’s all done. Bygones, Rhea. Let bygones be bygo— Aaah! ”

Rhea’s claws clamped down on his ear again. “You’re not old enough to lecture me, boy.”

“Okay, okay. Sorry. Let go—please, let go. It really hurts. I haven’t recovered completely from my injuries.”

Rhea loosened her grip and stared at Evan for a long moment as he nursed his reddened ear. Then with a sigh, she shook her head. “You’ve strolled down a grave path, Evan. If you think this is over, you couldn’t be farther away from the truth.”

Evan paused, the pain in his ear forgotten. “What do you mean?”

Rhea frowned at Evan, then her eyes trailed to the floor. Her frown deepened “What is this? I’ve told you to keep the space around your bed clean. Are you so attached to bad luck?”

“What…” With a puzzled look, Evan glanced down.

Black stains dotted the white tiles near his bed as if something was crudely scrubbed away. “Did I do that?”

Celie stilled. And the other two sharp-sensed individuals instantly noticed the shift in her demeanor. Rhea stared at her unblinkingly, making the girl shuffle uncomfortably.

Evan straightened, an unsettling feeling stirring in his chest.

“Celie?”

With a thick swallow, Celie dropped her head. When she spoke, her voice wavered. “When… When Aaron took you and disappeared. Misty… I think she was inside the room. By the time we found her, she was…”

A sharp pain pricked Evan’s abdomen where he was stabbed with the shard of spiritual energy, even though the injury had already healed after hours of rest. But he didn’t hunch over and groan in pain. Didn’t even move. His eyes dropped to the black stains on the floor.

They weren’t, in fact, black. But a dark red.

Blood red.

Misty.

Evan clenched his jaws to keep his chin from quivering as he stood up. He didn’t break down like he wanted to, didn’t cry his heart out or burn his room down. If he could freely express his grief, the world would go up in flames around him.

Silently, he walked out of the room, steps sluggish and unsteady. He looked around the living room in a daze, the kitchen, inside the cabinets. The bathroom, guest room, storage.

Nothing.

Empty.

He didn’t even know what he was looking for. Perhaps for a ball of black fur curled in a corner, injured, recovering.

No one had explicitly said she was dead, right?

Yet, when Evan plopped down on the couch in his living room, the grey cover dusted with black cat fur, his eye turned bloodshot. Deep down he knew she was gone. Her absence was similar to losing a limb. Even though it felt like she was there, she wasn’t. She would never be.

If only he hadn’t been in the room. If only he hadn’t come home that day. If only he’d been stuck in the Enclave Passage forever, maybe Knox wouldn’t have been able to abduct Evan.

Maybe Misty wouldn’t have been dead.

Had she tried to follow Evan so Knox killed her? Was it a quick death? Was she hurting for too long? Had she bled out slowly? Every question carved a new wound in his heart, the veins in his chest tied into a painful knot.

Celie and Rhea approached him, looking at his haggard, slightly dazed expression. Rhea sat down beside him while Celie looked away, brows furrowing as if holding back her tears. Misty had been dear to her too, a ball of instant comfort wrapped in a coat of soft black fur.

Running a hand down his face, Evan mumbled into his palm. “Why… Why her? She didn’t do anything. She didn’t deserve that. I—I shouldn’t have…”

“It wasn’t your fault. Blaming yourself would only deepen your sorrow,” Rhea stated. “Besides, cats have nine lives.”

Evan’s red-rimmed eyes snapped up. “What…?”

Rhea’s stormy gaze was fixated on the window of the living room. When Evan followed her eyes, his lips slowly parted, letting out a choked breath.

Outside the glass pane of the window, a ball of black smoke bounced eagerly, trying to find an opening to squeeze inside. It was the same ball of spirit that’d been with Evan when he was held captive near the Tomb of Ascension. Upon entering the cave to the underground passage, he had slid the ball of spirit into his pocket. And everything had erupted into chaos after that so he’d completely forgotten about it.

Evan stood up and slowly approached the window. As soon as he opened it, the ball of smoke rushed in and swirled around him excitedly, before nuzzling his face.

It was warm. Familiar.

Closing his eyes, Evan cupped the spirit in trembling hands.

“Misty…” his voice shook. “I’m sorry… Daddy is so sorry. I…I should have protected you. I should’ve done something.”

Celie’s eyes brimmed with unshed tears, even though unable to see the spirit like Evan could. Reluctantly, she turned to Rhea. “Can’t…can’t we put her soul back into another body or something?”

Her brows furrowed in hesitation, still not used to the world of spirits and magic.

Rhea glanced at Celie, then back to Evan who was cradling the spirit. “Reviving the dead is against the laws of nature,” then she tilted her head. “But that cat is not normal.”

“Not…normal?”

“Evan saved her when she was a kitten. He used his spiritual energy to heal her,” Rhea’s brows drew together in disapproval of Evan using his spiritual energy on animals. “Her body retained the energy ever since that day. Every minute she spent alongside him, every bit of spare energy that his body released, for example, while practicing his craft, she absorbed it. Just like how a human transcends beyond mortal form after acquiring divine enlightenment, that cat’s soul became more than a spirit.”

Evan turned around, Misty poking his cheek. “Then what is she?”

Rhea glanced at the ball of spirit. “A spiritual guide.”

“But…spiritual guides are born out of an animal’s love for their human after the pet’s death. You said she absorbed my energy while she was alive ?”

“She could only absorb it but couldn’t use it to transform into a spiritual guide while she was in her animal skin,” Rhea pointed at the ball of spirit on Evan’s shoulder. “Now she can.”

“Is this her spiritual guide form?”

The ball of spirit was tiny. If anything, Evan had to become her guide for the rest of their time together. Not that any part of that bothered him.

Rhea stood up. “No. She passed just the other day. It will be a while before she can take the form of a spiritual guide. It’s because she doesn’t want to leave you that she’s still wandering, unable to move on.”