Back at Kian's house, he stared at the white thread around his wrist. The glow had dimmed to barely visible, like a dying ember. His plan was working. Xal was doubting him, probably considering alternatives, getting ready to walk away from this wild goose chase.
Kian was supposed to feel content with his accomplishment.
Instead, he felt emptier than usual. The silence pressed against his eardrums. He'd gotten used to Xal's presence these past two days, the glares, the curses, the complaints that at least proved that he was there. The loneliness that usually wrapped around him like a second skin had lifted, just slightly, and now it was creeping back.
He looked at the thread. The white one meant that he had met a person whom he could trust at anytime with anything.
Nothing more, nothing less.
If Xal decides to step away, it would be for the better. He repeated it like a mantra.
He couldn't drag him into this.
Wouldn't.
The thread dimmed another shade.
✦ ✦ ✦
Morning arrived faster than Kian needed. He dressed in his usual baggy clothes, tying his hair into a careless, small, messy ponytail. Outside, he waited by the patio, scrolling through his phone without reading anything on the screen.
Xal arrived exactly on time. When he got in the car, he didn't greet him.
His mood instantly soured. The silence felt wrong, though he had no right to expect anything different. This was what he'd planned, after all.
"Let's go." His voice came out sharper than intended.
The client's house sat on a quiet street, very ordinary from the outside. But the moment Kian stepped through the door, the presence of the rogue spirit slammed into him like a truck. The air tasted damp, thick, rotten. Negative energy pulsed from upstairs in waves that made his bones ache.
Behind him, Xal tensed. He must have felt it too, though he probably couldn't identify what "it" was, but still, he hadn't uttered a single word till now.
This was supposed to be a weak possession. A routine job he had to take outside of what he had planned for Xal because the possession involved a child. The parents had said their son was acting strange for a few days, nothing serious.
They were wrong.
Very wrong.
Kian's mind raced through calculations. The spirit inside the child was strong, angry, and had a death grip on his soul. This would take everything he had and more from nature's energy.
Which means he can't protect Xal; he stupidly did not give him any protection amulets, nor the vision, so that he could emphasize the 'I don't care about your well-being' act, and he certainly could not hand over his own protection amulet for one reason.
He made a split-second decision. Reached out to the spirit he'd contracted with, the one he'd sent to "carefully harass" Xal in the past two days. Shared more of his own core energy, guided it to stay close to him, keep him safe from anything that might try to use him as a vessel or weapon, or worse, hurt him.
Focus, Kian. Get this done fast.
After guiding the parents not to interfere, he walked upstairs. Placed binding talismans on the outside of the door before entering, and more around the corners of the room. Drew a barrier so that the spirit couldn't escape once extracted. As he worked, he felt Xal's eyes on him, watching every movement with that bodyguard analysis stare.
The possessed kid sat on the bed. Too still. Too quiet. Eyes tracking Xal's movements, aiming for a chance to possess him, because he was unprotected, and worse, held higher core energy than Kian.
Right now, in its eyes, Kian was the weaker one.