Page 85 of Of Sins and Sacrifice

“Really?”

Ghosts… I suppose he means mortal souls.

I’ve never heard of another mortal able to do that. Alas, I don’t consider myself to be an encyclopedia of all the abnormalities present in the human world. Perhaps it is possible and he is telling the truth.

On the bright side, this ability of his might come in handy in vanquishing the greed demon.

“I haven’t seen a demon like that before, though. One that can attach itself to the body without possessing the host.”

“That is a greed demon. They’re a different breed andmuchmore dangerous. Your friend is in danger,” I tell him.

“I gathered that much. The demon attached itself to him while we were over Germany. One moment we were hit by flak, the next I see something swirl around Holloway. I didn’t realize what it was until he got off the plane and the demon was clearly visible.” He grimaces. “Is Holloway going to die?”

“The demon is growing stronger. If we don’t get rid of it, it won’t bejustyour friend who will suffer, but the whole base,” I explain. “When it’s strong enough, it will be able to tap into everyone’s greed and feed on it.”

He curses under his breath.

“How do you know all of this?”

“Erm…”

“A greed demon. That’s very specific information.”

“That’s because…” I trail off.

I press my lips together as I debatewhatto tell him. On the one hand, I don’t want to give away my identity, especially since I haven’t known himthatlong to trust him implicitly. But on the other hand, he’s the only other person I’ve met who can see the spiritual world. Without my powers, I will need all the help I can get if I am to vanquish this demon and send it back to the Source.

Yet there’s still a seed of doubt inside me. What if I get in more trouble for telling him? Will he even believe me? It’s not as if I have a way to prove to him I’m telling the truth considering I am powerless.

“Come, sit here,” Mine suddenly says, startling me from my thoughts.

He takes my hand and leads me to the bed, urging me to sit down.

“May I?” he asks.

I frown. He nods to my legs. Unsure of what he means, I just nod.

He undoes my shoes first. Then he gently takes my legs and places them on the bed. He gathers the woolen blanket and covers my lower body, making sure there’s not one inch that’s exposed to the cold.

I blink.

That is…quite nice of him.

Mine goes back to his desk and picks up the wooden box from before. Returning to my side, he hands it to me.

“What is it?”

“Open it,” he urges with a smile.

I pull the wooden top off it and I’m surprised to see a myriad of colorful little balls. They’re the size of pearls, so my first thought is that perhaps they’re jewels.

“Try it.”

“What do you mean? What is it?”

“We call it M&M’s,” he mentions, taking one of those small balls and slipping it past my lips. I don’t even get to act incensed at his much too familiar gesture because the sweet taste of chocolate hits my tongue. Flavor bursts in my mouth and a low moan escapes me.

“Oh my, this is so good!” I exclaim, hurrying to grab more of these magical balls he calls M&M’s.

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