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There was nothing else I could say to reassure him. I just needed to do what I was here for. So, kneeling outside the circle, I removed the first sigil charm, the one around my neck. “If you see me move in an odd way, don’t be alarmed. When souls are unable to pass over, they learn to move things, or touch, which is why you’re feeling them. They can get angry, and they can become physical.”

“I don’t like this,” he said and looked as if he were about to stand.

“This is what I do, Ren. Do you trust me?”

He stared at me, his fox swirling in his eyes. “I trust you, but—”

“I’ve done this before, many times.” I undid one of my cuffs and set it on the ground with my necklace. “My eyes will look strange; that’s normal as well.”

He nodded again, but his entire body was tense.

I took off the second sigil cuff and placed it with the other two. As soon as I did, they were there. The souls rushed forward, faces contorted with anger, the injuries that caused their deaths gaping, festering. Flesh rotting, bones exposed. Their souls were decomposing the same way their physical bodies had…and they were scared and confused and filled with rage.

They shoved at me, yelling, roaring, begging me to help them, to make Ren set them free. Ren may have found the strength to come home, to live in his human form again, but he’d far from forgiven himself. These tortured souls, still stuck here with him, told me that.

They screamed louder, shoved harder. There was nothing I could say, nothing I could do to help them, only Ren could do that, he had to make the choice, but I tried anyway. They were in pain, afraid, going insane. They desperately needed help. They pushed and pulled, yanked my hair, roared in my face. I let them, focusing on remaining calm in the face of their fury.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m so sorry you can’t leave.”

They slapped and punched me, screaming in agony.

“I’ll do whatever I can to help you,” I said. “I promise.” They weren’t listening, and the longer I sat with them, the angrier and more violent they became. “I’m sorry,” I said again and snatched up my necklace and cuffs. The moment they were in my hand, the souls receded. Their energy was still there, violent and twisted, but they couldn’t do as much damage. Although I wasn’t sure how much longer that would be true. Their anger had reached a point that finally allowed them to break through, which was why they were able to touch Ren now. Left like this much longer and they’d become even more dangerous.

“Jasmine?” Ren snarled.

He sat up, about to get off the mat. “Don’t move.”

“Fuck that. You’re hurt.” He got to his feet.

“Stay where you are,” I snapped.

He paused, breathing heavily, his face lined with concern.

“They’re stronger right now, and you’re their number one target. So sit down until I say you can move.”

There was a bruise already showing on my shoulder and one on my hip, red handprints all over my body from their slaps and my scalp stung from the hair pulling, but I was okay.

“It’s them, isn’t it?” Ren said. “The people I…I tortured and murdered. It’s them.”

“You didn’t do anything to them. It was Edward who did those things. Only him. You were the vessel he occupied, nothing more, and the sooner you believe that, the sooner you can forgive yourself, and they can move on.”

He shoved his fingers in his hair. “I can’t. I can’t fucking do that.”

“You have to try. All that you’re feeling, the guilt you carry, the intensity of it, is making it impossible for them to go where they need to. And right now, they’ve never been more drawn to you.”

He lifted his head. “Why?”

I didn’t want to scare him, but he needed to know. “They’ve been with you for so long, Ren, but their anger has reached a new level, and the angrier they get at being trapped here, the deeper they slip into insanity, and the more desperate they become, the more harm they want to cause you. It’s tipping them into darkness. You’ve been a vessel before, and those scars are still on your soul. It makes you a target. They’ve reached a point that if they’re given the chance, they will possess you.”

“And the scars on my…on my soul, that’ll make it easier for them to do that?” he asked, voice raw.

“Yes. If they can’t leave, that’s the next best thing.” I slipped my necklace over my head and secured my cuffs. I motioned to his shirt. “Can I?”

“Yeah…of course.”

I quickly pulled his shirt on to cover my nakedness, and when I looked up, he was watching me intently, his fox back in his eyes, the amber and gold swirling as he took me in. I pretended I didn’t notice.

He cleared his throat. “So what can I do?”