Chapter 3

I glanced at my reflection in the lake, then hardened my resolve. I pulled out a simple, aged coin on a crimson thread and turned to Damien.

"Mr. Thorne, do you have a picture of Miss Hayes? I'll need it."

"Pffft! So much fuss. With your amateur skills, you dare call yourself the best medium in the country? Aren't you afraid of getting laughed out of town?"

Damien didn't ask further. He immediately pulled a casual photo of a woman from his wallet and casually tossed it in front of me.

Before I could even pick it up, the woman in his arms frowned, her voice a sugary whine. "Damien, you're secretly keeping photos of Evelyn from me, Brittany? I'll punish you! No saying you're tired tonight! You have to dote on me until I'm satisfied!"

"Alright, alright, anything for my little darling. I'll make sure my greedy little kitten is well-fed."

At his words, the same people who had just been yelling at me to get out of the city suddenly understood, cheering them on.

Leaving me with goosebumps all over.

But the next second, when I clearly saw the face in the photo, cold sweat broke out on my back.

"Your fiancée... she doesn't seem to have a complete soul. I can't sense any consciousness in her."

At my words, several people looked at me with disdain and mockery. "Retrieving a few bodies and you think you're some kind of deity? Do I look like I have a complete soul to you? Just spouting superstitious mumbo-jumbo, wasting our time."

"Damien, she's been trying to scare us with all this hocus-pocus from the start! It's so annoying! Since she's so convinced there's something weird in this lake, why don't we just throw her in and see if she's still so stubborn!"

Damien listened, and a hint of playful amusement actually crept into his stern expression.

I instinctively turned to run, but just as I did, several burly men grabbed my arms, pinning me in place.

They dragged me in front of Damien, and then, a burning slap landed across my face.

"Open your eyes and see! Whose turf are you trespassing on! This entire city is mine, Damien Thorne's! Where do you think you're going to run?"

Then came another two brutal slaps, leaving stinging red marks on both sides of my face.

Just as my head spun, and I was about to pass out from the burning pain across my entire face, the next second, a powerful sense of suffocation flooded my chest.

"You're the city's best medium, aren't you? Today, I'll make an exception and let you retrieve yourself!"

They grabbed my hair and forced my head underwater. The icy cold lake water choked my windpipe, making it impossible to breathe.

Rage surged through me. I suddenly ripped free from the thick arm and snapped, "Do you have any idea that trespassing on someone else's forbidden ground will cost you your life?!"

"Since good advice can't save a doomed soul, tonight, you're on your own! Your life or death has nothing to do with me! Just don't come begging at my feet when things go wrong!"

Laughter boomed through the forest like thunder. The male assistant, Marcus, pointed a finger at me.

"How arrogant can you be? You messed with Mr. Thorne! You might just end up dead in this city tomorrow, and no one will even bother to pick up your corpse!"

Seeing Damien's contemptuous and dismissive expression, I sneered.

"Oh really? I'm more worried Mr. Thorne won't live through tonight and *I'll* have to retrieve *his* body."