“There’s surveillance here. Everything you just did was recorded. Let’s see what the police say.”
Tony burst out laughing.
“Surveillance? This street’s mine. One call and the footage is gone.”
He dialed.
“Yeah, it’s Tony. Wipe all tonight’s feeds on 18th Street.”
The woman draped on his arm smirked down at me.
“See? The evidence is gone. Go ahead, prove my man ran you over.”
She tossed her hair, sneering.
“We told you to take the payout. Instead you crossed Tony Moretti. Now look at you. Next time, open your eyes—his car isn’t one just anyone can touch.”
I’d grown up reckless, never knowing when to back down.
At eighteen, I became a psychopomp, dealing with death daily.
I’d never learned the rules of the living world—or how to bow my head.
All these years, Dad only taught me how to communicate with vengeful spirits. When it came to dealing with mobsters, I honestly had no idea how to handle them.
Tony Moretti mistook my silence for fear. He slapped me hard across the face.
“Don’t play dumb with me, kid. You were pretty cocky a minute ago, weren’t you?”
A woman leaning on his shoulder laughed.
“Babe, you don’t think this kid got knocked stupid when you hit him, do you?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Emily Carter in the back seat. Crimson fangs were already sprouting at the corners of her mouth—signs she was about to transform into a vengeful spirit.
I checked the time. Less than thirty minutes before the Gate of the Underworld closed. Time was running out, and I could no longer afford to waste it.
“You dared to smash into a psychopomp’s car? Looks like your reign as the Midwest’s underworld kingpin ends tonight.”
Tony didn’t take my warning seriously.
“Psychopomp’s car? Kid, you must be hallucinating from the crash. Let me tell you something—across the entire Rust Belt, there isn’t a single car I, Tony Moretti, wouldn’t dare ram.”
I nearly laughed out loud. Ignorance wasn’t scary—what was scary was when someone didn’t even realize they had already sealed their own fate.
While Vince Moretti wasn’t looking, I secretly pulled my phone from my pocket.
“Dad, it’s me, Ethan.”
Hearing my voice, Gabriel Hale immediately asked,
“Why are you calling now? Weren’t you on assignment tonight? This spirit isn’t ordinary—you can’t afford a single mistake.”
I glanced around and lowered my voice into the receiver.
“Dad, I’m stuck on the road. And… there’s something else you need to know.”