7. Evalee

EVALEE

“ H ow did you find this expert, exactly?” Hunter asks as we round the side of a rusted warehouse located on the outskirts of town near the water tower.

The sky is still a cloudy grey, and the wind has chilled the temperature to a cool autumn.

“We used to hang out in grade school before he transferred schools.” Gravel crunches beneath my shoes as I approach a crooked door at the back of the warehouse. “I haven’t talked to him since then, but I heard he became an expert. I figured it might be better to use someone I know, you know, since I’m searching for a dead body I was technically not supposed to have. Confidentiality is important.”

“I guess so.” Hunter eyeballs the metal door with distrust. “Are you sure you can trust this guy? I mean, you haven’t spoken to him since you were, like, what? Ten? That was over eight years ago. A lot can change in eight years.”

“Some stuff can change, but I’m sure Evan is still the same sweet guy who shared his peanut butter and jelly sandwiches whenever my lunch got stolen.”

“Your lunch got stolen more than once?”

I give a nonchalant shrug. “Kids weren’t really fans of the girl who claimed she could talk to dead bodies. Although, for the record, I never did claim I could. This town just loves to gossip.” I rap my knuckles on the door. “I don’t know why you’re so surprised by this info. You knew me in middle school and high school, which wasn’t much better.”

“No one stole your lunch in high school. If they did, I’d have kicked their ass.”

“Yeah, I know. And I love you for that. That doesn’t mean kids treated me any better. I was still the same freak who occasionally chatted it up with dead bodies and who has dorky rainbow eyes.”

“Your eyes aren’t dorky at all,” he says matter-of-factly. “And the whole dead bodies thing isn’t so bad.”

I arch my brows at him. “So, you didn’t freak out the first time you saw me do it?”

“I was a little startled,” he admits, carrying my gaze. “But only because of a dead body being five feet away from me.”

I can’t help smiling a little. “Well, that’s because you’re awesome. Most people aren’t.”

“No, they’re not.” He stops talking when the door creaks open.

My jaw nearly knocks against the ground as a guy with short brown hair, a pierced lip, and dressed head to toe in black steps into the doorway. Leather bands cover his wrists, a chain hangs from his belt loop, and a leather collar ornaments his neck.

Two words pop into mind at the sight of him: bad boy. If it wasn’t for his fiery orange eyes, I probably wouldn’t have figured out who he is.

“Definitely not the gangly Evan I grew up with,” I mutter in surprise.

Evan’s gaze glides up and down me before residing on my eyes. Then his lips pull into a sexy half-grin. “Well, holy shit. Little dead body girl is all grown up.”

“I don’t go by that name anymore, thank you very much,” I joke then move in to give him a hug. “How’s life been? I heard you graduated with honors or something like that.”

He waves my remark off as I step back. “That’s completely untrue. In fact, everything you’ve heard is probably untrue.”

I give him a skeptical look. “Either that, or you’re just trying to be modest, like you used to be.”

He leans against the doorway with his arms crossed. “Do I look like the same person I used to be?”

“No, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t.” I gesture at his outfit. “This could all be a fa?ade.”

He rubs his jawline, eyes twinkling in amusement. “Interesting speculation.” He chuckles, his eyes crinkling around the corners. “God, I’ve missed you.”

“Me, too.” I stick my fist out for a bump.

He shakes his head, but taps his knuckles against mine. Then his eyes wander to my right. “So, are you going to introduce me to your brooding friend or what?”

At first, I’m utterly perplexed about who he could possibly mean, but when I realize he means Hunter, I become even more lost. Hunter brooding? That’s a new one.

Sure enough, when I look over, Hunter is in complete brooding form: arms crossed, eyes narrowed, and lips set in a thin, annoyed line.

“Evan, this is my friend Hunter,” I say while shooting Hunter a what’s-up-with-all-the-glaring look. “And Hunter, this is my old friend Evan.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Hunter says, sounding quite the opposite.

“Likewise,” Evan replies tightly then directs his focus back on me. “So, did you just stop by to say hi, or is there an ulterior motive for this blast from the past?”

“Well, I have been meaning to catch up with you,” I answer truthfully. “But I do need your expert advice with a little problem I ran into.”

His brows pucker. “And what exactly is this problem?”

“I recently lost something very important to me, and I need to get it back. The problem is, I have no idea who took it. It did leave a clue behind, and I’m wondering if you can help me figure out what kind of creature it belongs to.” I stick out my hand, indicating for Hunter to give me the container with the sample in it.

Hunter grunts something incoherent and I mouth, “ What the hell, dude? ”

Huffing, he shoves his hand into his jacket pocket, retrieves the container, and slaps it into my hand.

I shoot him a warning look before turning back to Evan, who looks extremely curious about what I have. “We found this on the table that the … item went missing from.”

He takes the container from me and lifts it to eye level. Then his lips part in shock. “Holy shit.”

I perk up a notch. “Does that holy shit mean you know what it’s from?”

His gaze flicks to mine. “Yeah, it’s from a demon. A very powerful, very rare faerie hybrid demon.”

“Faerie hybrid demon?” Hunter and I say simultaneously.

“I thought hybrids didn’t exist,” I add, jumping at the sound of booming thunder.

My gaze travels to the gloomy sky, splattered with hues of yellow, red, green, blue, and purple. Great. Not only is a storm brewing, but a rainbow storm. While that might sound pretty in theory, trust me when I say that being blinded by a thousand rainbows covering the sky for at least several hours is very exhausting. Plus, it brings out the dancing leprechauns.

Hunter tips his head back and frowns at the sky, probably experiencing the same thoughts as me.

Then my attention is swiftly yanked back to Evan as he gives the container a soft shake.

“Hybrids do exist,” he says. “But they mostly live in underground tunnels, so not a whole bunch of people know about them.”

“Underground tunnels?” I cast a quick glance at Hunter, who looks as befuddled as I feel. “Where are those, exactly?”

“I’m not sure.” Evan takes one final look at the container before his gaze settles on me. “If you really want to know, I might know someone you can ask.”

I nod eagerly. “If you could do that, that would be fantastic.”

“Come on in, then.” Evan backs away and signals for us to come inside.

I hesitate. “This person is inside?”

He nods, wariness flooding his expression. “He is.”

Putting my guard up, I step inside the warehouse. Before I get very far, Evan’s fingers fold around my wrist.

“I don’t want to come off weird,” he says quietly, “but did you, by chance, bring a large sum of cash with you?”

My fingers drift to my pocket as I remember the overwhelming feeling of needing to bring cash with me. “Actually, I did.”

“Really?” He seems surprised.

“I had a hunch I’d need it,” I explain, slipping my hand into my pocket.

He waits for me to embellish. When I don’t, he turns and leads us into the warehouse. Hunter stays close behind me as we make our way down a narrow hallway lined with electric lanterns and framed skull paintings.

“Are you sure you can trust this guy?” Hunter whispers, his mouth so close that his lips kiss my earlobe.

I bite down on my bottom lip to suppress a moan threatening to escape. “Yes, I’m pretty sure.”

“Pretty sure?” he questions. “That doesn’t sound very convincing.”

“Pretty sure, if close to one hundred percent sure.”

My gaze wanders to the flickering chandeliers hanging from the low ceiling. Power shortage? It could be from the storm. However, there are a few other things that suck energy away from objects. One being a demon.

I screech to a halt as I reach the end of the hallway, warning flags popping up everywhere. And for a good reason.

Standing in the center of the rounded room is a guy with dark hair, piercings ornamenting his face, and glowing red eyes.

My heart hammers in my chest.

The demon from the park.