Shane couldn't breathe. It felt like the light of the moon was burning his skin. And his sister's words made her his spin. This couldn't be right. This story he'd never heard, but it felt so familiar he ached.
'I remember once there was a fight between Loralie and your father.' Eamon told Shane and he'd thought he meant something petty, a dispute between parents and their kid. Not attempted murder.
Shane's world became awash in fog as he remembered his dream. The running water, the flooding bathroom. And he finally saw what was inside. An infant with skin so pale it was blue. The reason she was afraid of water. Because it had already tried to kill him once.
His head hurt from the memory. There was a shuffle of movement behind him, and Shane whipped around. Eamon there, his face shrouded in shade.
"I wish you hadn't heard that."
Pain cracked through Shane's skull and he fell into dark.
***
Jihoon couldn't quite grasp Loralie's story. It didn't make any sense. Death had wanted to kill his own child?
It wasn't true. Loralie was a liar; she would do anything to get what she wanted.
"So are you saying that your step dad is behind all of this? He's the reason you're going to kill me?" Jihoon needed to keep her talking;
maybe if he bought himself time, Miyoung would find him.
"I'm not here to kill you, but to deliver you."
"What?" Jihoon took a step back, looking for a good escape. He knew it would be useless to run; Loralie would overtake him in seconds.
But he had to try.
He'd backed up a full three meters before he realized she was not following. In fact, she'd stood in the same spot the whole time he'd been there.
"Why aren't you attacking?"
She scowled.
""Did Death instruct you?"
"Such a smart boy," Loralie said. "Yes, he was the one who commanded me to bring you here. And he instructed me not to hurt you."
Jihoon started to flee. Then blinked in confusion at the sight of Eamon walking toward him with Shane in his arms like a limp doll.
Loralie let out a low growl behind him.
"She's not hurt." Eamon laid Shane in the middle of the clearing, between Loralie and Jihoon. He ran a gentle hand over Shane's pale forehead, pushing back her hair.
"What's going on here?" Jihoon asked. "What happened to her?"
"Many things. But I'm about to fix it all." a voice came from the background.
"You're insane," Loralie said, hatred lacing her voice. She seemed to have recognized who was it.
"I'm righting a wrong. One that was my fault. So it falls on me to fix it."
A white figure emerged from the forest behind the detective like a ghost bleeding out of the trees. As he drew closer, Jihoon recognized Death, his steps kicking at hem of his robe around him.
"Loralie, I can honestly say it's a pleasure to see you again." A wide grin stretched Death's paper-thin cheeks.
"Your search for revenge is tiring, father," Loralie said. "And your lies have finally caught up to you."
"What are you doing?" Jihoon asked.
"I'm saving you." The old man's maniacal grin was that of someone about to taste victory.
Jihoon stayed in place, fear holding him still. This man or being whatever with his vendetta scared him more than Loralie with blood on her teeth. Because, he realized, Eamon had been right. Loralie was driven by her love of Shane. Death was driven by hate.
Jihoon glanced at Death "Did you use me this whole time?"
"Of course not." "I was saving your soul from the damnation that comes from association with demons. You were supposed to be dead a long time back. Surprisingly you always manage to avoid me. Trust me when I say this is for the best."
Death sang a low, guttural chant. His body swayed. He held up a white paper and set it aflame. Jihoon remembered his grandmother talking about this part of the process and their powers. White was for the purity needed to connect to the gods.
Ice clutched him. It started at his toes, freezing them so he couldn't feel his feet. Then rose up his legs, turning his veins to shoots of ice. He gritted his teeth against the pain, so cold it burned. His fingers and limbs bent in wretched agony. He dropped to his knees and the ground rose up to meet him as his body seized.