Page 7

“I can’t believe after sleeping for two whole days you’re still drowsy,” Aaron chuckled, picking up the soup bowl and carrying it to the kitchen. From there he called out, “I’ll clean the few dishes in the sink, then leave. You can go lie down.”

“Just leave already, idiot!”

“Rude.”

Evan fiddled with a thread hanging off the hem of his t-shirt, a frown crawling up his face. If he’d known he was going to die so soon, he would’ve at least talked to Celie more. Cuddled Misty some more.

Maybe I should’ve had sex some more too—

Whoosh!

A sharp wind sliced past his side, spreading a chill down one side of his body.

Evan tensed, swallowing a curse. He was already wound up tight, but that thing was trying to make him snap.

Of course it was.

Anger, if pushed far enough, could inadvertently crack open one’s core of spiritual energy. If one couldn’t control his emotions, controlling the core was out of the question.

Every human carried spiritual energy within them. Some more than others. It was that very energy that made some people more vulnerable to spiritual possession.

But unlike any ordinary person—who did not know how to control their spiritual energy—that thing couldn’t suck Evan’s power out of his body right now. His core of energy was locked away inside a light barrier that had taken Evan three years to form, and only he could open it.

Now, unless the thing was bloodthirsty for his flesh and didn’t care about Evan’s spiritual energy, he was safe.

Somewhat. As long as he didn’t lose his mind and accidentally let open his core like that night in the mirror room.

Rubbing his hands on a towel, Aaron strolled out of the kitchen. Evan pulled on a tired face—or his usual face—as Aaron picked up his blazer from the wooden chair and shrugged it on.

“Well, then, sleep lots,” he ruffled Evan’s hair, earning a glare, which he reciprocated with his stupid grin. “I’ll see you later.”

Will you?

Something pinched in Evan’s chest as he scratched the back of his neck, contemplating what to say. Then finally settled for, “Thanks…for everything.”

Aaron reared back, alarmed. “Damn, what day is it today? Evan Blackwood actually expressed his gratitude. No wonder it looked like it’d rain.”

Evan gritted his teeth. “On second thought, fuck off.”

Aaron burst out laughing as he spun around, waving a hand over his head. “Glad to see you’re still you, dude. Goodnight.”

As soon as the front door shut, Evan rushed ahead and locked it, shoving a chair under the handle just in case someone heard his screams and barged in.

Note: There was no other residence in a one-mile radius around his house.

A cold sweat broke out across Evan’s skin, turning his palms clammy as he stared at the door.

He could ask for help. Maybe from Rhea—

“Run, Evan.”

He flinched as the memory resurfaced before reluctantly pushing it down.

No. He couldn’t ask for help. There was no telling what might happen if he dragged someone else into the mess he’d created. The creature’s origin was still a mystery, and he couldn’t bear the thought of another life lost on his watch.

That would never happen again.

Alright. If I’m going to do this, let’s give it my all.

What exactly was this ?

Hopefully not death , even if, deep down, that was what Evan was preparing himself for.

Blowing out a breath, he stalked into his bedroom. He picked up Misty, who was still curled in his bed, and nuzzled and kissed her as much as he could in one go, as if this was the last time he was holding her. As he laid her on the bed and covered her with a blanket, he whispered, “I hope someone finds you if I am to die here tonight.”

Just to make sure she could escape in the worst-case scenario, Evan opened his bedroom window.

Then he found his backpack perched against the foot of his bed. Taking out a few things from it along with salt, he locked his bedroom door and made his way back into the living room.

Evan wasn’t the type to live by mottos. If he had one, it was simple:

Don’t die a pathetic death .

Night had nearly swallowed the sky. Distant thunder rumbled, a strong breeze rattling the windowpanes as a gentle pitter-patter began outside.

Turning on a single table lamp just enough to shed light in the living room, Evan pushed aside the chairs and carpet, making space in the middle.

“I hope this works,” he muttered a quick prayer to the Del and started making a salt circle on the tiled floor, big enough for him to sit inside.

Without his ring, the salt circle was the only thing that could prevent Evan from getting possessed during a confrontation with a spirit. That was to say if he successfully summoned the thing to him. He was too weak to cast a light barrier over himself, still exhausted from his Greene Mansion field trip.

Now that I think about it, I am pretty useless without Crimson Eye.

Useless or not, he was definitely a little stupid for not coming up with a backup for the ring over the course of almost a decade as an exorcist.

Setting the empty can of salt aside, Evan pocketed a tiny bottle in his shorts before sitting in the middle of the salt circle and closing his eyes.

Not all exorcists were born with a set of abilities, and not all born with special abilities became exorcists.

Sight , the ability to see spirits and inhuman creatures, was passed down to Evan from his maternal bloodline. He could also see human auras, the faintest traces of spiritual energy, and almost all entities without a form. If it was once a human, Evan could see it. If it wasn’t, he could see its traces.

But although he could sense the unusual heaviness in the air, he couldn’t visually spot the form of this entity or any traces. It was a first for him, given Rhea always complimented him, saying his Sight was as strong as the ability could get.

And if Sight wasn’t working, the only way to reveal the evil was to use himself as bait.

All spiritual entities, human and inhuman, were attracted to strong spiritual cores. The more spiritual energy they gathered, the longer they could retain a conscience without turning into a Shadow Ghost, formless and beyond recognition.

Lucky for Evan, he was born with an abundant supply of spiritual energy in his body, which—according to Rhea—would only grow as time passed. Potentially the second ability he inherited from his mother.

Exposing his spiritual core was the fastest and deadliest way to force the being to reveal itself.

Emphasis on fastest .

A distant rumble vibrated across the floor as Evan concentrated on his core of spiritual energy. A small orb of blue flame danced in his vision, the light barrier around it burning brighter and brighter as he focused on it. The barrier protected the core from external manipulation, only heeding the command of the core’s master.

In special cases, if the mind of the owner was too disoriented or desperate to survive, sometimes the core would take it upon itself to protect the master by casting a barrier over him.

Evan had suffered something similar at the mirror mansion, where his core had exposed itself to shield him but had been drained of energy before it could function.

A soft blue glow set his skin alight as Evan’s focus deepened, a warm blanket of air caressing the surface of his body.

“Open.”

As soon as the command left his lips, the light barrier around his core dimmed before fading away.

Evan opened his eyes, his brown irises now glowing bright blue. Combining that with his now radiant skin, he looked ethereal.

It’s open.

Evan’s throat bobbed with a gulp. With his spiritual core exposed, he sat poised within the salt circle, awaiting something he was yet to see or understand. Something that was probably hideous to look at.

Come on out, asshole. Show yourself.

As if in response to his internal challenge, the table lamp started flickering, casting uneven shadows across the dim walls and floor. The rumbling in the sky stirred throughout the floor, crawling up Evan’s legs. An elongated beat of complete silence passed when—

A warm breath fanned down his exposed nape.

Evan jumped in place, almost falling out of the salt circle.

Creepy fucker .

His lips thinned. He’d never actually lingered around a spirit long enough to experience such haunting techniques. It was always a quick touch, poof , exorcised.

But this…this was trickier than he’d assumed. Trickier and nastier.

The tiny bottle shifted in his pocket as Evan sat up straight again.

“Who is it?” he asked, eyes trained on the flickering lamp ahead, the emptiness on his index finger stirring uncomfortably inside him. “Show yourself.”

The same gust of wind ripped past his side, swirling around the salt circle and blowing some of it away. A hum carried through the air, haunting Evan’s skin as goosebumps spiked across his arms.

Longing and anger clouded the air around him, so strong that his mind momentarily turned numb. It was the same feeling he’d had in the mirror room at Greene Mansion, standing in front of that mirror. The pain muffled under that anger was so intense that day that he had even shed tears unknowingly.

Something softened inside Evan.

In the mirror room, after suffering severe mild trauma because of the corpses, Evan had somehow concluded the thing was evil. He couldn’t see it—at least not without its will—and its ability to hide its energy traces was disturbingly impressive.

But now that he thought about it with a calm mind, maybe that wasn’t all.

Maybe it was just another spirit that was longing to pass over to the other side but was unable to due to some reason.

Why else would it kill four people in the mirror room and leave one—without argument, the one with the most spiritual energy—alive? It had been trapped inside that mirror for who knew how long.

Maybe what this spirit deserved was not anger but aid.

The gust of wind still swirled around Evan as he said, “Reveal yourself so I can help you.”

Silence.

Then the air tremored with a sound.

A breath.

A soft chuckle.

“Help me…?” The deep, manly voice echoed in the room. Hushed but firm. Somewhat…annoyed.

The air thickened with resentment, and Evan sucked in a sharp breath before dropping his shoulders. He had to stay calm and help it… him calm down too.

Folding his hands in his lap, Evan stared at the floor, at the flickering shadows cast by the table lamp. “I don’t know what you went through or what attracted you here, but…I know it must have been hard. I know it must have been painful. Lonely. And…I’m sorry. I’m sorry you had to go through whatever you did.”

A beat of silence passed before a hum crept up Evan’s skin and the dense air of resentment cleared partially.

Evan perked slightly, feeling—for the first time in years—a strong need to genuinely help someone. It was like the sixteen-year-old Evan inside him had risen from the dead. There were no monetary benefits here. Only the goodness of his heart—and the sheer determination to not die.

“Let me help you,” Evan said, staring at an idle shadow on the floor.

“How…?”

Evan flinched when a puff of warm air grazed the side of his face, as if that question had been whispered right into his ear. But that was impossible. No spirit could ever break through a salt barrier, no matter how ancient.

Composing himself, Evan tried to put the word “exorcise” into a much more acceptable form of sentence that wouldn’t piss him off again.

“Well… I’ll help you pass over to the other side.”

Faint amusement churned in the air, making Evan’s stomach twist.

“Cunning Little Storm…”

Evan’s brows furrowed as the familiar words caressed his ears. Before he could ponder why, out of everything he could have called Evan, he decided to call him a fucking natural disaster, the table lamp went out.

Evan blinked in complete darkness, a sudden spike of anxiousness transfixing his body in place.

In the dim twilight shedding through the window, across the living room wall, a ball of black smoke wafted off a shadow on the floor. The shadow Evan had been aimlessly staring at.

It grew, expanded, and stretched, taking shape of a dark silhouette. A full-grown human- ish silhouette.

The figure was so tall he could probably touch the ceiling if he reached up. Those ridiculously broad shoulders radiated an intimidating aura. Long, straight hair flowed down his back, swaying softly, as if it were alive.

Something fluttered in the periphery of Evan’s mind.

A memory.

What was that?

Two glowing scarlet eyes peeled open in the silhouette’s face, staring down at Evan sitting cross-legged inside the salt circle.

No matter how much Evan tried and forced himself to believe otherwise, this was not a normal spirit or ghost. There was no trace of spiritual energy or malice around him. And a strange red halo burned around his silhouette.

Evan wasn’t even sure something like this existed. Was he real, or had Evan finally gone mad like the townspeople said?

The silhouette cocked his head, whatever tattered clothes he wore fluttering around him in a wind that seemed to only envelope him.

Evan opened his mouth to say something, anything, but no sound made it past his lips. After opening and closing his mouth several times, all he was able to let out was warm puffs of air.

That presence… his presence was so strong. Imposing. Unnerving. He’d barely moved from his place, but the force of those scarlet eyes—that stare—was enough to glue Evan immobile.

What is he? Can I touch him to make sure he’s actually here and I’m not hallucinating?

As if reading his mind, a faint wave of black smoke detached from the silhouette’s mighty shoulders, carrying in the air towards Evan.

With a sharp breath, Evan braced himself as the dark energy crept onto him, but strangely enough, it did not weigh down on his chest like it had done at the Greene Mansion. Instead, that little creeper of smoke swirled around Evan, dancing to a silent rhythm like it had a conscience of its own. Tiny red sparkles sprinkled in its wake, raining around Evan like fireworks.

Momentarily, Evan was mesmerized. He reached up to touch the creeper of smoke, and a small dark tendril separated from it, twirling around his ring finger. If he focused hard enough, he could almost feel its smile, its…joy?

“Curious…”

Evan flinched as the word rumbled off the silhouette and quickly withdrew his hand. The black smoke circled around him one last time before retreating to its owner.

Shit .

Evan had let his guard down, and the silhouette had seen right through him. He wasn’t completely wrong, though. Evan had been curious, even though only for a fleeting second.

He’d never seen a strand of energy that beautiful, let alone a tendril of dark energy.

Shaking his head to brush off the straying thoughts, Evan cleared his throat. No matter what the silhouette was or what tricks he was playing, Evan had to exorcise him. That was the only way he could help that thing—and himself.

Evan stood up inside the salt circle, keeping his stance unfazed and expressions neutral.

The silhouette didn’t move, nor did those scarlet eyes blink as he stared at Evan. In fact, he hadn’t taken his eyes off Evan since he’d materialized from black smoke.

Casually pocketing his hands into his shorts, Evan clasped the tiny bottle of Del water in his fist.

Without his ring, Evan could not touch spirits to exorcise them. He could get possessed. Although the sacred water would sting a bit—like stroking Hellfire—it was the only option left to send a spirit to the other side. Even if that thing was not a human spirit, the river water would dissipate any sort of creature of the dark irrespective of its origin.

“Step into the light,” Evan said, holding his scarlet gaze.

The silhouette didn’t budge, didn’t blink. He was at a distance, yet his presence crowded Evan, making his pulse quicken. His false confidence wavered, about to crack when finally, the silhouette stepped forward.

One step is all he took, and all the lights in the room abruptly turned on.

Evan winced, covering his eyes with an arm, momentarily blinded. But when footfalls headed his way, he quickly blinked up, taking the bottle of sacred river water out—

Something moved. Fast. Too fast for a human spirit. Too fast for anything Evan had ever encountered in his life.

One second, the figure was across the room, and the next, he was standing right in front of Evan. He clasped Evan’s hand holding the sacred water…and stepped over the salt circle.

A gasp escaped Evan’s lips.

Impossible.

He was impossible.

But more shocking than him crossing the salt circle, or his speed, were the pair of scarlet eyes staring down at Evan.

Thick, dark brows dipped in focused glare, long strands of raven hair blowing away from a magnificent face. From the sharp line of his jaw, his straight nose, to the impeccably flawless pale skin, he was…impossible.

Evan was awestruck. Frozen. Just staring at the unearthly handsome face in front of him that had appeared from a ball of smoke, which was previously contained inside an enchanted mirror in an abandoned mansion.

None of it made sense.

Not in the moment.

The handsome face leaned close to Evan, and a whiff of damp earth tickled his nostrils.

Evan’s eyelids fluttered.

Damp earth…

Without warning, the image of Bruce’s shriveled corpse assaulted his head as he recalled the havoc this handsome face had wreaked at the mansion, the lives he’d taken. With a jolt, his conscience kicked into default mode.

Evil. He is evil. He killed people.

Evan tried to push away from him, but the grip on his wrist simply tightened in response.

“Let go of me—” Struggling to free his hand, Evan stepped back, accidentally tripping on his own foot.

With a curse, he reflexively clasped whatever was in front of him: the handsome man’s red robes. Surprise flashed across scarlet eyes as their feet tangled, toppling them both over.

Evan shut his eyes tightly, awaiting the excruciating pain of landing flat on a tiled floor. Only, it never came.

Thud!

Two arms cushioned his fall, one under his head and the other at his back, as a heavy weight dropped on top of him, knocking the living breath out of his lungs.

Huffing and puffing, when Evan finally cracked open his eyes, the same scarlet eyes glowed down at him. Somehow more intense.

His lips parted. The tips of his fangs peeking.

Evan slowly blinked, once again dumbstruck by that face.

That was, until a rush of intense hunger engulfed him, churning in his stomach before ascending up his chest. It seared through him. Scalding. Tormenting.

Evan’s heart stuttered when it finally registered that the hunger wasn’t radiating from him.

And in the haze of the moment, Evan realized a few horrifying things. The bottle of sacred water was no longer in his hand, his core of spiritual energy was still wide open, and the hard thing poking his thigh was…was a fucking boner!