Chapter 3

At eight o'clock that night I sat in the dorm and dug the black soul-reaping robe out from under my bed.

This run-down school had put its dorms up on top of an old graveyard, and after dark the drafts came through everywhere.

I was just clipping the god-striking whip onto my belt when footsteps came up outside the door.

Mervyn's voice carried through the panel.

"Christina, you're in there, right?"

I said nothing and tucked the soul-binding cord up my sleeve.

"I know you're in there." Mervyn laughed twice through the door.

"The bus is about to leave. We talked it over. We are all classmates, after all."

"Cheryl said she was a little rough on you this afternoon, so she went and bought you some fried chicken. I'm here to drop it off."

A weasel wishing the chickens a happy new year.

I walked to the door and had just closed my hand around the handle.

Metal scraped and clanked outside, and then someone yanked the handle taut from the other side.

"Merv, get it tight, these pliers really work!"

"Quit talking and twist it. Three loops of wire!"

I pulled the handle inward. It didn't move. The latch bracket outside was already lashed shut with thick wire.

"What are you doing?" I asked through the door, my voice flat.

Mervyn patted the door.

"Christina, don't blame us for this."

"We've got livestream link-ups lined up with a bunch of big platforms tonight. Tips alone are estimated in the tens of thousands."

"You've got that dark streak in you, and if you slip off to the police while we're gone and tell them we broke into a condemned building and filed a fake report to cause trouble, our whole livestream is finished."

Cheryl's voice drifted over too.

"Christina, just tough it out for one night. Get a good night's sleep in the dorm."

"First thing tomorrow the cleaning crew will come around and let you out. Once we've made our money, we'll come back and buy you a new phone."

"Don't worry, I bought the thickest wire they had. You can't cut this without hydraulic cutters." Mervyn added from outside.

"And if you dare start screaming in there to bring the dorm supervisor over, I promise you, when I get back I'll make sure you don't even walk out of here with a diploma!"

There was some laughter outside, then several sets of feet clattering quickly down the stairs.

Soon the engine of the bus rumbled to life below.

I stood behind the door, looking down at the handle. Ordinary iron like this would shatter with the smallest touch of yin.

But I didn't touch it.

I dragged over a chair, sat down, and opened the projection of the Underworld performance-review dashboard I carried with me.

A panel glowing with blue light rose into the air.

Objective: apprehend malevolent spirits / rogue cultivators / murderous fugitives lingering in the mortal world who have escaped judgment, thirty in total.

I looked at the panel and my mouth twisted.

I'd worn myself out trying to talk them out of going, and not only did they refuse to listen, they locked me in the dorm over a little vanity and a garbage livestream.

I'd actually been worrying about those thirty desperate men, how, if they fought back, one person couldn't cover every direction at once.

Now it was handled. This pack of college students had run off to plant themselves as live bait.

I opened my backup phone and dropped into Cheryl's livestream. The comments were already flooding in, the numbers climbing fast.

"Fine. Since you're so set on making me work for free, I'll just sit here and watch."

Once they'd been beaten by the killers and gotten a taste of what real hardship felt like, there'd still be plenty of time for me to close the net.

I hoped Mervyn and Cheryl could keep their mouths this tough once they were staring down the butchers' blades.