Chapter 3
My best friend’s date was at five.
We took one of those sketchy unlicensed cabs from campus, and traffic was awful. By the time we got there, we were already late.
Normally, I would have felt bad.
But watching her panic over being late to meet a potential creature from the underworld only made me more annoyed.
“You really need to stop saying things like that,” she said earnestly. “I swear, he’s actually handsome.”
I thought about the photos.
The not-quite-human ones.
I tightened my grip around the glutinous rice in my pocket.
The restaurant she picked was a nice little Western place with private rooms upstairs. Clean lighting. Soft music. Slightly overpriced.
Room 203 was right in front of us.
My best friend turned to look at me.
“Ready?”
I grabbed a fistful of glutinous rice.
“Ready.”
She took a breath and pushed the door open.
“Baby—”
At the exact same moment, I swung my arm and hurled the rice into the room.
“I don’t care what you are,” I shouted. “Get away from my best friend!”
The next second, something cold slapped against my forehead.
And a man’s voice shouted right next to my ear, “I don’t care what kind of evil spirit you are, get away from my brother!”
My vision was blocked by a talisman stuck right between my brows.
All I could see was movement in front of me.
Something dark.
Maybe a string of black beads.
The entire room went silent.
Two seconds later, I reached up and ripped the talisman off my forehead.
At last, my view cleared.
There were two men standing in front of me.
Both handsome.
One taller. One slightly shorter.
I held the talisman between two fingers and asked calmly, “Who put this on me?”
The taller one looked dry-mouthed.
“Wait, miss, listen, this is a misunderstanding. A complete misunderstanding.”
I lowered my gaze to the paper in my hand.
Huh.
It looked familiar.
Then I looked at his bracelet.
Not black screen glare.
Not weird camera filters.
Just a normal black wooden bracelet.
My heart gave the tiniest, most ridiculous flicker of disappointment.
I narrowed my eyes.
“You’re my best friend’s online boyfriend?”
“No, no, no,” the taller one said, shaking his head so hard I thought it might come off. He pointed at the guy beside him. “He is.”
I made a thoughtful sound.
“So you’re the one here to cause trouble.”
He went silent for one second.
Then he rallied.
“You’re one to talk. You just threw rice at me.”
I turned to my best friend.
“Give me your phone.”
She handed it over at once.
I unlocked it, pulled up the lock-screen photo, and shoved it in front of the online boyfriend’s face.
“Look at this picture and tell me honestly. Should I have thrown the rice or not?”
He stared at the screen.
Then sucked in a sharp breath.
“Where did you get that weasel spirit?”
Behind him, his friend kicked him hard.
“That’s your girlfriend, idiot.”
The online boyfriend yelped, then immediately swung around and punched his friend in the arm.
“Don’t start with me in front of my girl!”
The room descended into chaos.
My best friend tried to mediate.
I stood there appreciating the drama.
And right when it reached peak stupidity, the chandelier overhead suddenly went dark.
Everything went black.
In the darkness, I felt something lightly brush my cheek.
Cold.
Soft.
And then, on the table beside me, the talisman I had set down burst into flame without warning.