But as I saw it, it saw me.
And suddenly it was right in front of me, its evil filling every breath, every fiber, until I couldn't think, I couldn't breathe, and all I wanted to do was run.
But I couldn't.
My limbs were shaking, my muscles weak with exhaustion, and they just wouldn't do what I wanted.
And that thing was reaching for me, its ghostly shroud forming hands that pierced my flesh and reached inside me. For the briefest of moments, I felt the power of the woman who had summoned and now drove it. I felt the depth of evil in her soul—a darkness that stained the very heart of me.
She was going to kill me—just as she'd killed little Hanna and Marcus Handberry. Not because she hated me, but because that was her task—to kill all those who stood in the way. Right now, the one standing in the way was me. And her creature was going to rip my soul from my flesh and consume it.
I screamed then. Screamed and ran.
Not physically, but psychically.
I ran into the gray fields, where the tenuous link between this evil and that woman would fade, as all things that stepped into the gray realm faded unless they had the skill and the power to traverse them.
I did.
This creature—no matter how powerful—didn't.
But on the gray fields, the invisible became visible. The real world might fade to little more than shadows, but those things not sighted on the living plane gained substance when viewed from here. The soul stealer was a dark and twisted thing, its body mutilated and limbs malformed. Its skin was black and leathery, its face all teeth and snout, and two long horns extended from the top of its head. The claws reaching into my flesh were viciously curved. It was like nothing I'd ever seen before, and it wasn't something I wanted to see again.
It shoved its claws deeper into my flesh, still seeking that energy, that spark, that gave me life and made me me. I was safe as long as it didn't find the delicate thread that connected my soul to my flesh. If it did …
As I battled to breathe, battled against the rising tide of panic, power surged from my flesh. The Dušan came to life, her lilac body exploding from my arm. Her energy flowed through me, around me, as her body grew and became so solid and real that I wanted to reach out and touch her warmth. She screamed as she whipped around me—a sound filled with fury and frustration.
Because the thing that was attacking me wasn't on the fields and the Dušan couldn't get at it. I needed help. We needed help.