The fog outside the Keating residence grew even thicker. Looking down from above, something felt off about the entire house, as if it were hiding secrets deep within its walls. This feeling intensified after Aria mentioned the existence of a third evil spirit. The three priests immediately turned as pale as death. One of them muttered nervously, "Everyone who's called a soul or checked the esoteric patterns of a house knows the worst nightmare is running into a soul you can't track down. "The problem is that no one knows which person it's currently possessing, and there's no way to predict what it might do next. Arcane implements and stuff like that have no effect on it whatsoever. But as an evil spirit, it can leave its host or kill someone at any moment." His words sent chills down everyone's spine. There were dozens of people in the Keating residence. If the spirit kept its spectral aura hidden while possessing someone, they'd have no way to identify who was harmless and who
In the moonlight, nobody could see Vulture's face, but he knew he'd walked into a trap. He spoke in a low voice. "People in my line of work call me Vulture. And you are?" "Hmm, a vulture? I wonder if that's edible." The figure stepped closer, letting the moonlight reveal his face. It was Sam. Sam had been lying in bed, ready to sleep, when he caught a whiff of something metallic—the kind of smell that clung to people who killed for a living. He'd gone to Sawyer's room first to tell him, then headed to the cellar. When Sam found the two guards unconscious at the entrance, he immediately knew why the intruder was here. Vulture looked at Sam, and his brow relaxed. He'd thought some dangerous expert had shown up, but it was just a little kid. "Get lost if you don't want to die. I've got business to handle." He started dragging Wyatt toward the exit. As he passed Sam, Sam spoke up. "You can't take him. And you're staying too." Vulture burst out laughing. "Are you going to ma
Ever since Sawyer had heard about how Torven betrayed his own wife, he wanted to destroy that scumbag more than anything else. Sam stood there, clearly reading Sawyer's mood. "Mr. Pratt, there's no need to rush. We'll hit him when he's on top of the world and thinks he's untouchable. Then, we'll knock him down so hard he'll wish he were dead." Sawyer cracked a smile. "That sounds good." He ruffled Sam's hair. "You know, seeing you is like looking in a mirror from 50 years ago. I had that exact same personality and attitude back then. It's almost scary how similar we are." Barron had said the exact same thing about Sawyer way back when. He was straight as an arrow and couldn't stand even the tiniest bit of corruption. Not many folks could turn down power when it came knocking—the ones who could were all special in their own way. Meanwhile, Damian's driver was taking him back to the Delaney Group. Halfway there, the driver hit the brakes. Damian looked up—a massive truck was
Kelsier asked, "How could outsiders possibly get buried in our family cemetery?" The three arcane priests looked at each other, fingers moving as they did some quick calculations. "The Keating family's fortune would be affected when burial sites mix like that. It's really bad for the living family members." All three had studied this stuff in depth. It was too bad they'd only learned the by-the-book version. Unlike them, Aria learned her arcane knowledge through other ways, so she immediately thought of something. "That so-called priest wanted them to feed off the Keating family's offerings and steal their fortune." Aria knew this kind of sneaky method too well. After all, someone had pulled the exact same thing on the Carver family. The Carvers had lost ten years of stolen fortune. She looked at Kelsier. "Sorry to bring this up, Mr. Keating, but when exactly did your family start having problems with heirs?" Kelsier didn't answer. His hands balled into fists, radiating pur
The chair Landon was sitting on might as well have been a throne of bones. He didn't need to say anything. He just rested his chin on his hand, and countless vengeful spirits would surge from behind him, ready to rip Jarold to shreds. Every single one of them was stronger than Jarold, and they could all finish him in one or two bites. Jarold lifted what was left of his arm, blood and tears streaming down his face, desperate to beg for mercy. But he knew Landon had never been the merciful type. Besides his arm, his entire left side had already turned to black goo. Just when he thought he was toast, a calm voice floated down from upstairs. "Landon, don't kill him. I still need to ask him some questions." Jarold recognized it—that was Aria, the female arcane seeker with the Soul-Summoning Plaque. He couldn't wrap his head around what these two had going on. But the next thing he knew, all the nightmare fuel in front of him just disappeared. He could finally breathe again. And La
Indeed, the Keatings had killed a lot of people in the past for the sake of Farshya. But Kelsier never thought Betty—his innocent little girl—would be the one bearing the karma. He'd rather take the hit himself. Even the gossip rags in Portfall knew how much he cherished his daughter. Hearing those words from her mouth hit differently. However, as one of the key leaders in the Portfall state government, he knew how to make the tough calls. "Push her away," he told Audrey. Though Audrey's face was wet with tears, she knew what mattered. She reached out to shove Betty back. Except Betty's grip was insanely strong. There was no way a little girl should be that powerful—most adults couldn't match it. "Mommy, you're so mean! You say you love me, but look what you're doing! What, would you guys be happier if I were a boy?" Betty's words cut deep and were filled with a creepy sense of resentment. She wouldn't let go, so the three priests couldn't use arcane techniques on her. Whil