Roderic had been dead for about a month, and District 2 still treated his gate differently. Broken shutters, split boards, and warped bits of furniture had been stacked against half the walls along the lane. Nothing leaned against theirs. Even the snow in front of the gate had been cleared wider than the path needed.
Two residents carrying a cracked window frame stopped before Averik and Evelyn reached them. The older man shifted his end toward the snowbank and opened the cleaner side of the lane without being asked. "Morning, Averik."
Averik answered with a short nod and kept walking. He had no reason to pretend the deference bothered him. Evelyn came with him, pale coat closed to the throat and silver hair tied back against the cold. Snow stayed behind at the house.
District 2 was still cleaning up after the Blood Moon. A woman swept glass from a doorway into a wooden pan. Two men argued over a bent metal hinge while a third ignored both of them and kept hammering a shutter back into place. Farther down, a Unit pair crossed an intersection carrying ruined bedding toward a cleanup cart.
A crowd narrowed the lane ahead. Three Unit members had cleared the space outside a narrow stone house, keeping residents well back on both sides. One man remained at the doorway while the other two brought a low sled across the threshold. The body strapped to it was still recognizably human beneath what Corruption had done to it. Frost crusted the skin around its jaw, blue-cyan lines showed through the exposed side of its face, and frozen dark-blue blood marked the torn collar of its coat. The men handling it kept their gloves clear of bare skin even after death.
The Unit man at the lane edge recognized Averik and lifted a hand. "Averik. Stay by the wall a moment." He pointed him toward the cleaner side instead of sending him back with the residents. "We’re bringing it through."
Averik stopped there, Evelyn beside him. "Frost Zombie?"
"Yeah." The man’s tired face tightened as he glanced at the house. "Found it inside during the sweep. Put it down before it got out here."
That was enough. Averik watched the sled scrape over packed snow while one handler tightened a strap before the corpse could roll when a runner caught in a rut. Nobody in the crowd stepped forward to help, and nobody needed reminding to stay away.
His interest sharpened. He’d been waiting for a reason to test Soul Affinity outside the house. A freshly killed Frost Zombie under Unit control was better than staring at empty walls.
"Stay close," Averik told Evelyn. "Watch the lane."
Her gaze swept the Unit men, the residents, then both approaches behind them. "Go on. I’ve got your back." She lowered her voice. "If you need space, say the word."
Averik looked over the scene once more: the sled runner pressed into snow, the torn coat and blue-stained collar, the Unit man’s shoulder beyond it, and the chipped wall at his back.
He gathered a measured draw of Essence and let Soul Affinity take hold of his perception. The change came at once. His eyes kept the corpse, sled, man, and wall exactly where they were, but his awareness no longer stopped at the physical scene. Beside the sled, something else was suddenly there.
Averik’s breathing slowed as he held the new perception steady. The presence had shape, though not enough detail he trusted as a human face or body. His new sense held it more clearly than his eyes did, but it gave him nothing he could use to identify whoever or whatever it had been.
He knew what he was looking at: a Spirit. That was about all the certainty the sight gave him. One Unit member crouched to free the sled runner from the rut. His shoulder passed near the Spirit and he never looked up. The second man complained about the weight, then turned his back on the presence entirely. A woman beyond the cordon leaned sideways for a better view of the dead Frost Zombie, grimaced, and tucked herself behind the person next to her.
Nobody reacted to the Spirit, and Evelyn didn’t either. Her attention stayed where Averik had put it, on the living people around him. When two residents began edging around the crowd, she adjusted her stance enough to keep them and the nearer end of the lane in view.
"Averik?" she said under her breath.
Averik watched the Spirit instead. "Keep watching."
"Already am." She left it there and kept scanning the lane.
Averik studied the Spirit again. It stayed close to the corpse, which made a connection likely without telling him what that connection was. He moved a little farther along the safe edge of the lane and watched from the new angle. The presence remained distinct and gave him nothing he knew how to read as communication.
Essence continued to bleed away while Spirit Sight remained open. The cost was light, but the scene had stopped giving him anything new. Averik shut the perception down and the extra presence dropped out of his awareness, leaving only the corpse, the Unit crew, and the residents watching them work.
The Unit man checked on him again. "We’re taking it off the lane. Give us another minute."
"Fine." Averik turned away before his attention to empty space became anyone else’s question. Evelyn matched him immediately.
They waited until the bend hid the house and sled. Wind pushed loose snow along the base of the quieter walls, soft enough that their boots were louder than anything else around them.
Evelyn broke the silence first. "Whatever you were looking at, I couldn’t see it."
"A Spirit," Averik said.
Her expression tightened with concentration. "By the corpse."
"Close to it." Averik glanced back toward the bend. "They’re probably connected. I can’t tell how."
"Did it notice you?" Her voice stayed low.
"Couldn’t tell." Averik kept walking.
Evelyn didn’t press. After a few steps she said, "Averik... Please tell me first next time. If you want me watching everyone else, I’ll do it. Just don’t make me guess what you need covered."
Evelyn kept her eyes on him and waited for his answer. Averik met her gaze. "You’ll know next time."
The small tension around her mouth eased. A few steps later Evelyn asked, "Could you tame it?"
Averik shook his head once. "Not with Beast Tamer."
Her mouth curved when he glanced over. "You were already deciding whether to keep it."
Averik gave her a sideways look. "Of course."
Evelyn’s brows lifted. "I know that look. You’ve had it since we were kids."
The rest of the walk gave Averik no reason to reopen Spirit Sight. Cleanup crews repaired doors, shifted debris, carried food, and made room for Unit work where they had to. He didn’t intend to burn Essence searching every wall just because the first use had shown him something new.
Snow met them at the inner door. The wolf drove her shoulder into Averik’s thigh the instant he stepped inside, tail striking the wall with a heavy thump before she crowded him for attention.
"Greedy beast." Averik planted a palm against her chest and held her off enough to see her face. Snow answered with a warm huff against his coat and immediately tried to nose under his wrist.
Evelyn shut the door and pulled off one glove. "Look at her. She missed you."
Averik kept one hand against Snow’s chest. "We were gone for one walk."
"Tell her." Evelyn’s eyes softened as Snow pushed against Averik’s hand again. "Maybe she’ll believe you."
Averik’s gaze settled on Snow. "Tomorrow, you’re coming with me." Snow’s ears rose at once.
Evelyn glanced toward the door they had just closed. "District again?"
"Same district," Averik said. "More noise."
"I’ll have her ready." Evelyn was already loosening the fastening at her throat.
Averik squeezed Snow’s shoulder once and released her. "Good. We leave after breakfast."