The next day, Cassie sat curled up on the ratty couch in the living room, the soft flicker of candlelight barely pushing back the shadows that clung to every corner of the apartment. The light in the building had went off suddenly, further making her situation worse.
Her eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep, nerves raw from days of ghostly whispers, shifting reflections in the mirror, and the feeling of being watched at all hours.
She was speaking to Janey on the phone. She hadn't told Janey yet about her ordeals. Especially the one from last night.
How could she?
How could she explain that last night, a ghost; tall, drenched, and hollow-eyed had tried to climb into her skin while she was too exhausted to fight it off?
Her body still felt cold where its fingers had touched her.
She was still shaking from the fear.
A sound quiet, like the hush of fabric over wood made her head snap toward the window. But it wasn't the window.
He was inside.
Adrian.
He stood in the middle of her living room like he had always belonged there, shadows trailing off him like mist off a blade. His silver eyes locked with hers, unblinking. Cold. Unreadable.
Cassie instinctively pressed herself back against the couch cushions.
"You could knock, you know," she snapped, voice brittle with fear. "Or wait for an invitation like a civilized person."
Adrian said nothing. He stepped forward.
Cassie stood too quickly and swayed, nearly losing her balance. "If you're here to collect another ghost then fine. Just don't touch me again."
Still silent, Adrian reached into the folds of his coat and withdrew a small black velvet pouch. He placed it gently on the coffee table between them, the movement smooth and deliberate.
"What's that?" she asked, eyeing it suspiciously.
"Protection."
His voice was quiet, but it held the weight of authority like an ancient verdict carved into stone.
Cassie blinked, startled by the answer. "Protection? From what?"
Adrian tilted his head, and his gaze sharpened.
"From what's coming."
That sent a chill down her spine.
She reached out and opened the pouch with cautious fingers. Inside was a pendant on a silver chain, a teardrop of black obsidian encased in a delicate web of runes etched in silver. It pulsed faintly, like a heartbeat or a whisper of magic.
Cassie picked it up slowly. The moment her fingers touched it, she felt it a rush of warmth that chased away the residual cold lodged in her bones. Her breath caught.
"What is this?"
Adrian's voice was low. "A ward against spirits who attempt possession. Especially those drawn to your newly opened sight."
Cassie looked up sharply. "You mean there are more coming?"
He didn't answer.
"You knew, didn't you?" she accused. "That this would happen. That I'd start seeing more of them."
He held her gaze, unmoved. "You touched the relic. The seal was broken. Now, the veil between you and the dead is thinner."
Her heart pounded. "So I'm just… a magnet now? For angry ghosts who want to crawl into my skin and wear me like a coat?"
Adrian stepped forward. "This will keep them out. As long as you wear it, no spirit can enter your body."
Cassie clutched the pendant tighter, staring at it like it might shatter. "Why are you giving this to me?" she asked. "Why help me?"
For the first time, Adrian hesitated.
A long, still silence stretched between them.
"Because it's too late to undo the connection between us," he said, voice colder than before. "But that doesn't mean I'll let you become a vessel for the damned."
Cassie looked at him, trying to read his expression. But Adrian's face was stone, unreadable, remote.
Still… she caught something. A flicker. Not warmth, but something close to it.
Pity, maybe.
She slipped the pendant around her neck. The chain settled coolly against her skin, and the obsidian drop fell just above her heart.
Instantly, the air felt different and lighter. The ever-present chill around her spine faded, and the walls no longer seemed to close in. Even her breath came easier.
"Thank you," she whispered. "For this. Even if you are a pain-in-the-ass reaper with a god complex."
Adrian's lips twitched slightly, almost like a smirk but it was gone before it could take shape.
He turned to leave, shadows curling around him.
Cassie called after him, her voice softer this time.
"Do you ever get used to it? Seeing them. Hearing them."
He paused in the doorway.
"No," he said. "But you learn to endure it."
And then he vanished.
Cassie stood alone again but now, with a small weight around her neck pulsing with quiet power.
And for the first time in days… she felt safe.