“I can’t carry it alone. This sedan needs two people to get it up the mountain.”
Traditional sedan carriers always need two people, but our profession is different—we can carry alone.
It’s just that one person doesn’t carry the living… they carry the dead.
The moment I said that, Victor Hughes’s lackey quickly set the sedan upright, grinning obsequiously at him.
“Mr. Hughes, add me and we’ll make two. Come on, sit down. I’ll carry you up the mountain.”
Victor nodded with satisfaction and lifted his foot to get in.
Panic shot through me, and I rushed forward.
“No!”
The word had barely left my mouth before Victor was already seated.
I stared at the sedan, now lifted halfway off the ground.
Damn it.
In our line of work, there’s a rule—
Once the sedan is lifted, it cannot be set down again.
Otherwise, it brings bloodshed and disaster.
Victor looked at me smugly.
“Tonight I’m sitting in this chair whether you like it or not. If you refuse to carry me, I’ll make sure you disappear from Riverdale forever.”
I exhaled in resignation, glancing at the half-lifted sedan.
“You chose to sit in it yourself. If something happens, it’s not on me.”
I had warned him.
Victor smirked.
“What could possibly happen from just sitting in a sedan?”
Bella Moore gave me a shove with her foot.
“Stop wasting time. Carry Mr. Hughes up the mountain and you’ll be well rewarded.”
I said nothing more, took hold of the carrying pole, and lifted it onto my shoulder.
“Once you’re seated, the sedan must not touch the ground. And the passenger must not set foot on the ground.”
Victor laughed loudly.
“And who the hell are you to make rules for me? I’ll get down whenever I feel like it.”
Then he yanked off his belt and cracked it across my back.
“Move! If you ruin my mood, you’ll regret it.”
A fiery sting spread across my back. I didn’t reply, just started walking.
It was still early; if I moved quickly, I might make it back in time.
I quickened my pace.
But a second later, the belt lashed across my back again, hard.
“Do you even know how to carry? Are you trying to shake me to death?”
I glanced at the deepening red of the horizon, my face growing cold.
“It’s almost midnight. If I don’t deliver you to the top and return to pick up my client before twelve, we’ll all be in serious trouble.”
Victor sneered and struck me again.
“I’m just going to watch a sunrise. Stop trying to scare me. In Riverdale, I make trouble for others—no one dares make trouble for me.”
My back was already flayed and raw, each step pulling painfully at the wounds.
Bella looked at my pale face, and though she tried to sound concerned, her tone was more patronizing.
“Ethan, those who offend Mr. Hughes in Riverdale never meet a good end. Do whatever he says if you want any reward.”
I checked the time—only thirty minutes left.
If I missed the appointed time, no one here would escape a grim fate tonight.
I was born with a rare fate: half in life, half in death, able to walk freely between the worlds of the living and the dead.
Gabriel Reed, my master, had told me since I was young that this was why both realms recognized me as a mediator—a diplomat between worlds.
But even the greatest diplomat fears vengeful spirits.
Because once dragged into Hell… there’s no return for all eternity.
