Nikolai was Chase's distant cousin.
With his rebellion in full force, he hadn't seen most of his extended family, who always tried to force him to return.
Chase, buried in his own life, hadn't kept in touch with his mother's sister, Alina, and her husband, Anatoly, either.
It wasn't until a week ago that Aunt Alina called out of the blue to tell him that they were coming to Eldwych.
With free time on his hands, he figured he'd stop by and say hello.
He hadn't expected to walk into a scene that nearly gave him a heart attack.
Nikolai, his cousin, his childhood partner-in-crime, looked like a corpse with breath.
If that wasn't scary enough, Niko grinned at him before going ballistic the moment they shook hands.
When no scientific explanation could explain the disease, there was only one option left to consider. Possession.
With the way his aunt and uncle immediately tied Niko up, they sure had experienced a hell of a lot of trouble before coming here.
"We are here to meet the priest," Uncle Anatoly said, trying to keep the thrashing Niko in chains.
But priests could only bless.
The only time they were allowed to perform an exorcism was by taking special permission from the Bishop, and for that, they needed a psychological report along with evidence of signs of possession.
Which meant it would take much longer for them to act.
If Chase hadn't been involved with Elijah, he wouldn't even know so many details.
Nikolai's condition obviously didn't allow them to wait.
With no other choice, Chase called the only person he could trust.
They were about to drive over when the car engine refused to start.
Under normal circumstances, it would've been annoying—not a red flag.
But when all their cars failed to turn on at the same time?
Yeah. That was a warning from above, or below.
Thankfully, Alexei had arrived just then to meet Uncle Anatoly for something Chase hadn't been nosy enough to ask about.
Apparently, whatever spooky spell was in the air didn't apply to Vetrov engines.
Now, here they were with their knees digging in the dirt, trying to hold bony ankles, while Alexei tried his best to hold down Nikolai's flailing arms.
It was as if Niko were some kind of rabid animal. The thought made his lips purse into a thin line.
The floral scent lingering in the night's cold air did nothing to suppress the bitterness rising in his mouth.
If it weren't for his own cousin, he would have been even thrilled to finally see the exorcism live.
But this wasn't how it was supposed to be.
While Chase panicked for his cousin's well-being, Elijah remained focused entirely on the boy beneath him.
As soon as he pressed a cross dangling from his wrist onto Nikolai's forehead, all the struggle ceased.
Nikolai lay there with his eyes closed, and for a second, he appeared to be asleep.
Eli gently pushed up the thin eyelids with his thumb, staring at the erratic pupils before finally halting.
"You..." Nikolai let out a strangled voice.
Their gazes met, and the dark pupils dilated until they filled the entire white of the eye.
A storm of emotions and stories poured directly into Elijah's mind.
Thrill, or fear, or maybe both coursed in Nikolai's veins.
A dreadful silence stretched on as their gazes silently clashed in the air. Then, a flash of recognition lit up in Nikolai's dark eyes.
"Elijah? Is that your name?"
There was a strange rhythm in his chest that seemed to thrum violently the moment Eli placed both of his hands on the frail chest.
"Brother Nikolai," Eli said his name while combing through the heavy memories, causing a wreck in his brain.
"Elijah," Nikolai, or rather the entity inside him, seemed to coo at Eli. "What a pretty name for a pretty boy."
That sinister voice slithered through the boy's throat like honey over broken glass, wrapping temptation with a weapon hidden in it.
Elijah didn't react to it, chanting a silent prayer under his breath.
The demon tilted its head, studying him with surprising curiosity. "Elijah," it said again, savoring each syllable like a secret.
"So full of fire. So righteous. Yet so alone. Ah, what a miserable child you are."
As Elijah studied the entity, the entity was studying him as well.
If there was one thing that allowed spirits to root themselves inside humans, it was obsession.
A fixation so deep it bent the soul inward. And it was exactly that thread Elijah was searching for now. The obsession that bound this malevolent spirit to the boy.
But in hindsight, obsession wasn't exclusive to the possessed.
The spirits clung to names, to stories, to the scent of guilt on a man's skin.
If the possessed hid shame in silence, the spirits would dig until they found it.
And once they did, they would widen the wound.
With their whispers, they would carve out space within the psyche, a hollow just large enough to plant a doubt that would soon grow into a tree of darkness.
Just like right now.
Something like pity settled in its dark eyes, but the warmth was counterfeit, sickly sweet.
"Humans," it sighed in a new voice that was far too old to be of Nikolai. "Such wretched things. Always bleeding the innocent to fatten the guilty."
How much had this spirit figured it out? Eli wondered as he fumbled to open the buttons of the shirt, baring his chest to the chilly air.
The sight was scary to say the least, with ribs jutting out beneath the sickly pale skin.
Right where his heart should be was a dark patch of purple spreading like a spider web to his entire body.
However, it was invisible to normal humans, so the couple couldn't find the reason for the sudden pain their dear son had to bear while thrashing around like a madman.
He traced the pattern with his fingertips, making the entity shudder.
A groan that sounded almost like an erotic moan escaped Nikolai's gaping lips. "More, give me more. Worship me, Elijah. Then I shall take revenge on all those who have wronged you."
That speech was far too formal for Nikolai's usual tone.
When it didn't get any reaction from Elijah, who was still studying the marking, a deranged smile appeared on Nikolai's face, making him look more bizarre.
"Your dear adoptive mother sure liked to use you. Ah, poor little Elijah, trapped in a room with no food for days."
The grin widened before it leaned toward Elijah, reaching for the exorcist, but failing under the restraints.
"What was that word again…?" it asked softly, "Ah… yes."
A wicked glint flashed in his dark eyes.
"Waste, wasn't it?"
Laughter like a cracking bone echoed in the silent night.