Page 39 of My Silent Demon

I kissed N softly then released my grasp on her. I thought,I love you. I’ll take care of this.

“I love you, too.”

I memorized the lines of her face and her features as she nodded. Even rain-soaked and bloody, she still looked beautiful. At least I had one last look if this was the last time I saw her.

No matter what happens, care for yourself. I love you.

Her eyes widened. “Osian—”

I gave N one more quick kiss, then I transported back to the shed.

The door hung from its hinges, and Onyx was gone.

Fuck,I thought.

I ran outside and frantically looked around. I didn’t see him anywhere.

How was I going to find him? We didn’t have a link like I did with N. I couldn’t just appear beside him.

I listened for noise from the forest but heard nothing.

My gaze darted around. There were places where the leaves looked disheveled, but it still rained — I couldn’t tell what was disturbed by struggle and what was disturbed by the storm.

The realization came to me that I’d have to yell for him. I hadn’t talked since I was a kid — millennia ago.

But I had to. For my brother.

“On—” I stuttered and coughed.

I drew a deep breath.

“Onyx,” I whispered.

Better. Encouraged, I raised my voice. “Onyx.”

That sounded normal, but he wouldn’t be able to hear me. Another deep breath.

“Onyx!” I yelled. Success!

He heard me. “Over here! Toward the house!” he yelled distantly.

I started to run toward his voice, but the wet ground and mud sucked my shoes under, which made moving quickly difficult. I took another step, only to get sucked into place. I growled. This wasn’t fast enough; it wouldn’t work.

Chapter 21

Osian

How could I get to Onyx faster? What could I do?

Frantically, I weighed ideas that wouldn’t work. Finally, I landed on the right idea. Transports. I could transport to spots I could see. Transporting required somewhere we could picture. I’d never been there before but I could transport to dry spots I could see.

Quickly, I did a series of mini transports, one right after another, to cross the ground quickly. I transported to a solid piece of ground in my vision and kept going until I was out of the mud.

Ahead, Onyx threw up his arms to block an overhead blow from someone. I could see the man fighting with Onyx was definitely a soul eater: he looked pasty white with empty black sockets where his eyes once were. He wore a tattered shirt and pants.

Onyx stumbled back and pulled the gun out of his waistband. He shot the creature in the head, only for the bullet to crumple and fall off like nothing happened. Shock crossed Onyx’s face.

Onyx and I didn’t have souls, but the creature was strong; it could still injure or kill us.

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