Page 171 of A Hail From Hell: Vol 1

“You promised me you won’t kill him,” he barked. “Are you going back on your word? I’m talking to you, dumb Eternal!”

Xen ignored him like his ears were sealed with lead. His lips moved in a silent incantation, fire ablaze in his eyes.

Then he punched his hand into Knox’s chest.

Evan choked on a curse, his mouth hanging open.

Everything stilled. Even the distant howls seemed to cease.

The purple light in Knox’s—Aaron’s—wide eyes flickered, then faded away. The bloody symbol on his forehead scattered into fine dust before his eyelids drooped and he slumped in Xen’s grip.

“Aaron!”

Xen’s fist tightened inside Aaron’s chest, curling around something before he wrenched it out. A translucent sphere of white light.

As soon as the soul was yanked out, color drained from Aaron’s body. His heartbeat ceased, a peaceful expression on his face.

It looked as though he’d just fallen asleep. But with all that blood and bruises, his sleeping face was a chilling sight.

Evan stared wide-eyed at his best friend’s corpse hanging from the Eternal’s grip.

Then he exploded.

“What have you done?!” he growled, thrashing against Zeev. “You bastard, you killed him! You said you wouldn’t!You promised me!”

A muscle fluttered in Xen’s jaw. Without sparing Evan a glance, he let go of Aaron’s body, but surprisingly, it didn’t tumble lifelessly to the ground. It floated before Xen as he raised his free hand. “Get out.”

A shimmering, purple orb surfaced from between Aaron’s brows, resembling the ominous firefly Evan had seen in the video Choi had shown him. Knox possessed no strength whatsoever in his original form and so, pliantly landed in Xen’s free hand.

When the purple orb detached from Aaron’s body, Xen swung his hand outward. He opened his palm, releasing the soul.

Aaron was flung to the side. His soul lurched forward and hastily slammed back into the body in mid-air. He crashed to the ground, unresponsive.

Evans stared at his friend like he was already a ghost, not even daring to breathe. After a good minute, he cautiously started, “Aar—”

Aaron jolted awake with a sharp gasp, almost making Evan’s soul flee his body. Coughing out wildly, Aaron cursed under his breath before passing out again. The puncture in his chest slowly knitted itself close as his soul unified with his body.

Everything happened so fast that Evan’s head swam uncontrollably, eyes darting all around until it started spinning in his sockets. He hadn’t expected things to fall into place in such a chaotic manner.

Aaron was alive, Knox was in Xen’s grasp, and…

He turned to Xen, who was already staring at him with those fiery eyes and blood-splattered, ever-impassive face. One might have found that face unsettling but to Evan, Xen seemed a little grieved, his brows drawn together.

Silence stretched between them and when Xen finally spoke, he sounded nothing like himself. “I never break my promise, Evan.”

Evan blinked, rearing back as if burnt. Zeev released him from his hold and stepped back, head lowered.

Evan tried to open his mouth to apologize for cursing Xen or to shout that he hadalmostkilled Aaron and broken his promise. But nothing made it past his lips.

What was this? This odd feeling churning in his gut? Aaron was safe, the abducted men were freed and Knox was captured, but the sense of foreboding had just deepened inside Evan. He wasn’t a clairvoyant who could foresee the future, but his intuition was rarely ever a false alarm.

With the purple orb in one hand, Xen raised his other, curling his fingers and beckoning, “Come.”

Reflexively, Evan stepped forward, his body moving on its own accord. But then he stopped.

Because Xen wasn’t callinghim.

The rumble that had ceased started quaking the earth again, more violently this time, and Zeev caught Evan’s shoulders to stabilize him when he stumbled.

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