Peyton was right; the Ghost Breather is being uncooperative. I understand not always liking the powers you possess, but I’m getting pissed. The more time we waste trying to get her to come out and help us, the longer Evalee stays dead.

“Just walk in,” I tell Peyton as she raps her knuckles on the front door of the single-story house located in a sketchy neighborhood on the outskirts of Mystic Willow Bay.

“Give her a second, okay? She hates this ghost shit, and honestly, I don’t blame her.” She bangs on the door again.

The curtain covering the window at the side of the door moves back, and a shadow of a face peers out.

“Open up!” I shout, but the curtain only falls shut again.

Peyton waits another a minute before knocking on the door again. Like the other ten to twenty times she’s knocked, no one answers.

“How does she even know why we’re here?” I step back and look at all the windows. Not a single light is on, but every so often, a face briefly appears in a window.

“Um, hello, you’re carrying a dead body.” Peyton gives a pressing glance at Eva’s lifeless body. “Why else would we be here?”

I adjust Eva’s body in my arms, noting her body temperature is rapidly dropping. My stomach coils with knots as a fading sensation sweeps through me.

Something’s wrong.

“You should’ve left her body in the car,” she adds, staring down at Evalee.

I shake my head. “There’s no way in hell I’m going to leave her alone anywhere. Too many dead bodies in this town go missing.”

I hold Evalee closer to my chest. She looks even paler than when she first died. And her body is as chilly as an ice storm, while my body feels like a dissipating cloud.

Something is definitely not right.

“I think we need to hurry,” I say. “She’s getting really cold and pale.”

“She’s dead.” Peyton rolls her eyes. “That’s how she’s supposed to look.”

“I know, but … she’s getting colder and paler, and …” I rack my brain for the right words to explain how I feel. “I’m not sure why, or if I’m just being overly paranoid, but I swear I can feel her fading.”

“I’m trying my best, Hunter.” Peyton heaves an exhale then hammers her fist against the door again. “Come on, Rowan; open the damn door. It’s an emergency!”

As Peyton continues to bang on the door, Evalee’s body temperature plummets.

As panic sets in, I sink to the steps, settling her body in my lap. I sweep her hair back from her face. Her skin is as white as the clouds, her lips blood red, and that fading sensation I feel emitting off her is amplifying by the second.

What’s going on? How can I feel her fading?

Suddenly, it dawns on me. The fading feeling is from our shared magic. I can feel Evalee’s magic diminishing.

Does that mean her ghost is leaving?

No, I’m not going to fucking lose her.

“This is why I don’t deal with this shit anymore.”

The unfamiliar voice startles me. I snap my head up as I jolt. Then I relax a drop when I realize where the voice came from.

The front door is now open and a girl around Evalee’s age is standing in the doorway with a frown on her face. She’s dressed all in black, which contrasts strangely with her nearly white hair and the most silvery eyes I’ve ever seen.

Rowan, the Ghost Breather. She must be her.

“If you want to say your goodbyes, you should probably do it now,” Rowan tells me. “She’s about to go.”

My brows pull together. “Go where?”

Sighing, she steps forward onto the porch beside Peyton. “To the Afterlife.”

I shake my head in fucking denial. “No, Evalee’s a ghost. She accidentally cast this spell on herself a while ago, and—”

“It doesn’t matter,” Rowan cuts me off, glancing at Peyton. “Spell or not, I can tell her spirit is fading, which means she only has a few minutes left before she permanently dies.”

Peyton shakes her head. “No … She can’t … I don’t …” She turns away with her head lowered. “Goddammit, Eva, why’d you have to go and get yourself killed? You’re, like, the only witch I was ever able to stand.”

“Tell Eva to hold on,” I beg Rowan. “You’re the Ghost Breather, right? Tell her to hang on until we save her.” Tears burn my eyes. I’ve never been much of a crier, but I can’t fight them back no matter how hard I try.

I can’t lose her yet.

I can’t lose her at all.

I’m so sorry for lying to you, Eva. I should’ve told you the truth a long time ago.

“Her ghost isn’t here,” Rowan whispers apologetically. “She’s probably already heading toward the Afterlife.” She presses her lips together. “I’m so sorry.”

Shaking my head, I cup Eva’s ice-cold cheek. “Eva, please don’t leave me.”

Nothing but silence. Not even the whisper of a breeze.

“Please,” I whisper, begging. “I can’t lose you. I need you, okay? I’ve needed you since the day I met you. You’re the only witch in my life I can stand anymore. Everyone else … my family … There’s so much you don’t know. I should’ve told you. If you come back, I’ll tell you everything. Please, just come back.”

I restlessly wait for a sign that Eva is here, that she can hear me. But silence crushes my soul.

Perhaps that’s why I do what I do next. Perhaps the pain is too much and I lose my damn mind.

Or maybe I’m thinking clearly for the first time in my life.

Shifting Eva into one arm, I retrieve my wand from my pocket.

Peyton turns around and frowns at me. “What’re you doing?”

“What I should’ve done the moment she died.” I raise my wand, my hand trembling. “I’m going to bind her soul to mine. That way, she can’t die until I do.”

“That sounds like a pretty easy solution.” Peyton’s frown deepens. “Too easy.”

“That’s because he’s sugarcoating it.” Rowan wraps her arms tightly around herself. “He’s not just binding her soul to his. He’s binding his soul to hers, as well. Which means, if she dies, so does he. And it’s black magic, so a lot could go wrong. You could both end up soulless, or your souls could end up tainted by darkness. It’s a really risky spell.”

I already know all this. That’s why I was hesitant to perform the spell. But if I have to choose between losing Evalee or losing my soul, I choose the latter.

“How the hell do you know so much about black magic?” I ask Rowan suspiciously. “I thought you were a Ghost Breather?”

“Let’s just say I have a connection to the witch world and know a thing or two about black magic.” She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear as the wind kicks up. “You shouldn’t do it. It’s too dangerous.”

“I know the risks, and I’m willing to take them.” I move my wand toward Evalee’s forehead.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Peyton asks warily. “I mean, what if Eva returns, but she’s like soulless or some shit like that? She won’t even be Eva.”

“If she loses her soul, we’ll get it back. This is just to buy her some time.” And if I lose my soul, I know Eva will do the same for me.

Hybrid-demon or not, Eva is the kindest and most caring creature I’ve ever met. After she lost Ryleigh, she spent countless hours trying to put together a spell to save her. Every time I’ve been sick, she’s taken care of me. And on some of the worst and darkest days of my life, she helped me hang on to the light, even if she didn’t know she was helping. She should’ve known, though, because I should’ve told her. I should’ve told her the truth about herself, about the society, and about the shit my father put me through.

When I get her back, no more lying.

My hand shakes as I part my lips, uttering a forbidden spell in the witches’ world. Magic begins to spark from the tip of my wand. With each word I utter, my heartrate quickens, a combination of fear and relief racing through me.

“Please let it work,” I whisper when I finish the spell.

Evalee remains lifeless in my arms, her chest not moving, her skin pallid and cold.

“Fuck!” I cry out. Why didn’t it work? What did I do wrong?

“What the hell are you doing here?” Rowan suddenly snaps as she backs away, staring at the railing in front of me. “I told you never to visit me again!” Silence fills the air, and then Rowan pales as her gaze drifts to me. “The Grim Reaper’s here.”

“What?” Peyton and I say simultaneously.

“Why?” I ask, fearing the answer, worried Death’s presence has to do with the black magic spell I just cast.

Rowan lowers her head and pinches the brim of her nose. “Your spell worked, Hunter. Eva gets to live again, but there are consequences, just like I said there probably would be.”

I swallow hard. “What are they?”

Rowan’s hand falls to her side as she meets my gaze. “Since the Grim Reaper was about to take Eva’s soul when you cast the spell, he now gets yours instead. You won’t die, but you’re going to be, well, you know, one of the Soulless.”

My heart misses a beat. No, it fucking stops. The Soulless are creatures that live up to their names, raising havoc wherever they can without ever caring about who they hurt. They’ve done awful things to the townspeople before, and now I’m supposed to be one of these monsters. The only positive side of the situation is that Eva will live.

I could try to make a deal, try to reverse the spell, but then what? Eva dies and the Grim Reaper gets her soul?

No, I can’t do that. All I can do is hope we can figure out a way to get my soul back. Until then, I’ll have to try to hang on to my humanity.

“When is it going to happen—”

A searing pain rips through my chest and I gasp.

Warmth spills from my body, leaving a mist of eerie calmness behind. Then that calmness quickly turns to restlessness, a hunger emerging inside me.

A hunger to hurt someone.