When Jade returned to the lab, Zeth was spinning in a stool like a bored child waiting for dinner.
"Oh! You're back!" he said, jumping up and brightening instantly. Jade stared at him for a moment, the dingy grey hoodie he now wore made his deep blue eyes stand out.
Jade blinked, forcing herself to search the room. "Where's Aamon?"
Zeth shrugged. "I kind of lost track of him in the city."
Jade frowned. "You lost him?"
Zeth smiled at her, too friendly, too cheerful. Jade felt something deep down breaking again. She stared at him for a long moment, trying to decide if being friendly was the right choice. She still had no idea why demons were running free in her town, but she knew they would leave eventually, and when they did, she would be alone again.
"Did you really loose him or, did he just not want to come back?" Her voice came out softer than she'd meant. Zeth's smile faltered. It was so slight that Jade would have missed it had she not been focused on him. Zeth brightened again so quickly, Jade wasn't sure she had seen the change at all.
"Jade, we might be demons, but we're not jerks." Zeth tilted his head slightly, trying to find the right words to explain the situation. "If a demon gives their word, they will keep it at any cost. Consider it an absolute law." Zeth smiled again, giving Jade a moment to digest his words.
Jade let her gaze fall. "Aamon said he would bring food."
Zeth smiled. "Exactly. And that is a promise you could bet your life on."
Jade sighed heavily, grabbed her things, then hesitated. "What about Dr. Foster? The guards?"
"We took care of it." Zeth said casually.
"Thank you. I hope this wasn't too much trouble for you two." She said simply; Her mind was too tired to pick apart how, why, and what they had done to cover things up.
Zeth waved dismissively. "Oh, I had nothing to do with it. Aamon did all the work, really!" His smile was bright again as he spoke. Jade could tell that he thought highly of Aamon. "I've never seen him work so hard. Normally he makes Lucifer..." Zeth suddenly clasps his hands over his mouth, his eyes wide as he stared at Jade. He'd exposed another secret.
"Ah, so each of you do have a different abilities." Jade spoke as if she hadn't noticed the slip of information. If she had been surprised, she hadn't let it show. "That's what I thought but Aamon wouldn't give me a straight answer when I asked him earlier." Jade closed her eyes and shakes her head. "Is he always like that? The riddles and whatnot?"
Zeth slowly lowered his hands, looking at Jade with equal parts confusion and astonishment. He was starting to understand why Aamon had taken such an intense interest in her.
"Are you really ok with all of this? I mean, none of this freaks you out?"
Jade shrugged. "I work in a lab that deals with aliens. If you ask me, it's just another day in the office."
Zeth nodded after a moment of thought. "Sure, when you put it like that I suppose none of this is weird for you at all." Zeth paused, trying to pick his next words carefully.
"He's not trying to speak in riddles. He's just worried your brain will explode if he tells you too much information at once." Zeth smiled, feeling confident that he'd done a good job explaining things clearly. He had started to feel something akin to empathy for Jade. He could understand how being left out of the know could make someone feel crazy especially when they had the capability to understand things.
"Anyway, Aamon is probably waiting for us. Shall we head home?" Zeth hooks elbows with Jade and drags her along with him. She could hear him, but her mind was working, unaware of what words Zeth was saying. They were halfway across the parking lot before Jade finally snapped out of her haze.
"Wait. Zeth." Jade pulled back, causing Zeth to stop and look at her, but he refused to release her arm.
"When you said we can go home," Jade asked carefully, "are you planning to stay with me too?"
Zeth smiled like she'd offered him candy. "Well, if you insist, yes."
"I didn't—" Jade began but Zeth was already marching forward again, dragging her along with alarming strength for someone built like a sapling. Jade gave up resisting quickly and instead, let her eyes outline Zeth. His curled hair bounced like a sandy-blond cloud, and he smelled faintly like the sea. She noticed again the jacket he now wore, and she recalled how cold his skin had been. Jade robotically responded when Zeth asked for directions. His presence felt like waves: persistent, gentle, impossible to stop. Just like the sea.
Jade had been so lost in thought, she didn't realize they'd reached her apartment until Zeth had released her arm. It was almost like she'd suddenly woken up. She blinked, looking around and then her shoulders sank. Across the small lot, she could see her landlord peering at her through the slit in her blinds. Jade groaned. She completely forgot the rules about having guests inside the complex.
"You going to stand there all day?" A voice called from above, disrupting Jade's thoughts.
Aamon was draped over the balcony railing, expression bored, eyes faintly glowing, a bag of food dangling from one hand. Relief and irritation hit her at once. She hurried up the stairs with Zeth behind her.
"See?" Zeth said brightly, waving at Aamon. "Told you he'd be waiting."
Jade opened her mouth and words started spilling out immediately. "Zeth said you got lost and I was kind of—" Jade stopped short, took a breath, considering exactly what she'd say. She needed to tell him about what Luke had shown her, but what exactly was she supposed to say she saw?
Aamon watched her intently, he could see the different emotions on her face, but he was not familiar with humans so he could not place what the expressions meant. Finally, thinking he understood that Jade was concerned about having a cold lunch, held up the bag of fried chicken.
"Don't worry, I kept the food hot." Aamon said flatly.
Jade looked at the bag and then back to Aamon. Her mouth opened, then closed and opened again but she could not find words.
"You were worried? About cold food. Right?" Aamon said as if it made perfect sense.
"No," Jade said slowly. She held back the smile struggling to spread across her face. Something about the way Aamon tried to guess her emotions was endearing. She felt something warm stir in the pit of her chest, and it took all she had in her to ignore it.
"Something happened, I think there might be more trouble soon." Ammon lowered the bag slowly and nodded. His eyes stayed on Jade, and she thought for just a moment, he looked disappointed. Or maybe he was just annoyed that trouble was following her once again. Jade sighed and dropped her gaze, suddenly feeling like a burden again.
Aamon took a sharp breath when Jade's gaze fell. He couldn't understand why she would suddenly look so sullen, but it bothered him; and it bothered him, that he was bothered by a human at all.
"Inside." Aamon said deadpanning, not trusting himself to say anything more in the moment.
Jade huffs as she unlocks the door, allowing the demons into her home. Aamon, already familiar with her home, heads straight to the kitchen.
Zeth takes in the sight of the small apartment and lets out a whistle, turning slowly as if he expected the walls to apologize for existing.
"It's… cozy," he said, which would have sounded nicer if his face hadn't clearly read tragic.
Jade kicked the door shut behind them. "It's nothing extravagant, but it's enough. I work a lot, so a big house would just be more to manage." She set her bag down and shrugged. "This was the closest place to the lab. Walking distance. No car needed. For me, it's perfect."
Aamon shot Zeth a warning look. "Don't be ungrateful."
Zeth scoffed. "That's rich, telling a demon to be grateful." He glanced around again, unimpressed. "We're not seriously staying here, are we?"
Jade's head snapped toward him. "Who invited you to stay here?" She crossed her arms. "And I'm willing to bet this is still better than whatever pit you crawled out of in Hell."
Zeth opened his mouth, then shut it again. He rubbed his arm awkwardly and looked away, as if he were suddenly very interested in the carpet.
Truthfully, his quarters in the Dark Realm were anything but a pit. Compared to them, this apartment might as well have been a storage closet with plumbing. Still, the insult had landed, and Jade's glare suggested she would happily throw him back outside if he tried to push it.
Aamon, already ignoring the argument, moved through the kitchen with practiced familiarity. He opened the same cabinet Jade used, pulled plates without hesitation, and set them down like he belonged there.
Zeth watched him do it, brows lifting. "You've been here before?"
Aamon didn't bother answering.
Jade's face warmed and she hated it. She walked to the small table, pulled out a chair, and sat with an exhausted sigh as Aamon unpacked the food. The smell of fried chicken filled the apartment almost instantly.
For a moment, it was almost normal.
Then Jade remembered the slide.
Her appetite vanished like someone had flipped a switch.
"I need to tell you something," she said.
Aamon paused mid-motion. Zeth stopped fidgeting. Both turned their attention to her at once.
Jade stared down at her plate, pushing a fry back and forth as she tried to decide how to phrase it without setting fire to the wrong person. She didn't want them to hurt Luke, but she also didn't want Luke to cause any trouble. If she flat out told Aamon that the museum keeper possessed a slide with something that looked like his eyes, he might charge straight to Luke and there would be nothing she could do to stop him.
"When I went to the museum earlier," she began carefully, "the curator showed me something strange."
Aamon leaned forward slightly, interest sharpening his gaze. "Strange how?"
Jade hesitated, then forced herself to say it plainly. "He showed me a microscope slide. There were… microorganisms. They glowed." Her eyes lifted just long enough to meet Aamon's. "The color was the same as your eyes."
Jade braced for the reaction. For anger. For a sudden decision. For Aamon to stand up, head straight to Luke and destroy the entire museum. Instead, Aamon leaned back in his chair, expression flat, as if she'd told him the museum served weak coffee. Zeth let out a breath that sounded suspiciously like relief, then chuckled.
Jade blinked. "Why are you acting like that isn't a big deal?"
"It isn't," Zeth said casually, picking up a piece of chicken and taking a huge bite out of it.
Jade's brows drew together. "There's someone outside the lab who has something connected to you. That means someone else knows something, and you're just… eating?"
Aamon lifted his eyes to her like she was being dramatic for no reason. "It's not an immediate threat."
Jade slumped back in her chair, frustrated and tired and suddenly feeling fourteen again in a room full of adults who refused to treat her like she mattered.
"I don't want to lose the only friends I have," she muttered before she could stop herself.
The words hung in the air. Zeth froze mid-bite. Aamon's gaze snapped to her with a sharpness that made Jade's skin prickle. For a long beat, none of them spoke. In all of time, no mortal had ever regarded them as friend.
Zeth lowered the chicken leg slowly, his usual cheer dimmed by something that looked like genuine concern. "We can't seriously be the only friends you have." Zeth attempts to make light of it but quickly regrets it when he sees the sadness on Jade's face.
Aamon's voice was quieter when he finally spoke. "You told me before that no one visits you." His eyes narrowed, studying her face like a problem he didn't understand yet. "Am I correct to assume you don't even have family over?"
Jade clicks her tongue; a flash of rage crossing her features. "My parents were terrible." Jade spits the words out before she realized what she was saying.
"Mom was never around," she said, voice flat. "My dad was an abusive drunk. If they weren't blaming each other for their misery, it became my fault." Her fingers rubbed an old scar on her forearm without thinking.
The apartment felt smaller. Aamon's hands curled on the edge of the table. The air around him warmed by degrees, subtle but noticeable. Jade glanced at him and immediately regretted speaking at all.
"Anyway," she added quickly, trying to shut the door she'd opened, "it's a long and unpleasant story."
"We don't have anything better to do." Aamon held her gaze. Neither of them moved. Jade sighed, angry at herself for feeling obligated, and continued in a voice that tried to stay clinical.
"I was adopted. I think that's why they were so cruel." She swallowed. "It was bad at first, just arguing. Then my mom stopped coming home. She'd stay away for weeks at a time. Then for months." Her eyes unfocused, staring past the table. "That's when the physical part started. If she was there, he took it out on her. If she wasn't…" Jade's mouth tightened. "It was me."
Zeth's face had gone pale. Aamon's expression looked carved from stone. Jade forced herself to keep speaking, because stopping meant sitting in the silence with them watching her like she was breakable.
"By the time I was eight, I understood she was seeing someone else. There was no love between them. Eventually the new guy left too, but not before getting mom hooked on heroin."
Jade sighed. Dragging up past trauma was not something she was ready for tonight. It was not something she'd ever be ready for and yet, here she was, showing a couple of strangers the deepest wounds she had.
Aamon shifted, the chair creaked under the pressure of his posture. He'd met plenty of mortal souls in the dark realm who deserved punishment, but this was the first time he'd ever heard testimony from a victim. Jade's words sat in his chest like a weight he was desperate to remove. Zeth stared at his plate, looking equally bothered by the information.
"My dad tried to sell me off, and he succeeded when I turned thirteen." Jade said softly, but the paid was clear in her words.
"This is the part of the story when things get better for you. Right? Adopted by some sweet old couple who gave you candy and love." Zeth's gaze flicked back to Jade, hopeful that there was a silver lining, but Jade shook her head, not meeting his eyes.
Jade shook her head. "It almost got better."
Aamon had a sudden urge to hug her. He'd been curious as to why she was alone, but now he regretted asking. His blood seethed in his veins. Humans had to be the most vicious beings in the world, to treat their own children in such a way. Even wild beasts know better than to mistreat their own young.
"What happened after that?" he asked, voice low, careful. He didn't ask because he wanted to know but he asked because he felt like Jade's story needed to be heard. She deserved to be seen.
Jade swallowed. "He wanted to adopt me. He wanted to help me, but I didn't know. So I ran. I messed everything up." Jade's voice became quiet as tears threatened to spill over. "I always mess everything up." Her eyes dropped.
She let out a short breath. " After that, I got picked up by a group home. I didn't tell them my real name. No one came looking." A bitter little laugh slipped out before she could stop it. "I left the home pretty quickly too. Kids can be cruel, even when they're hurting. Sometimes especially then."
Aamon looked away, a harsh exhale escaping him like he couldn't keep it contained. "Mortals can be disgusting," he said, quiet with rage.
Zeth nodded slowly, his usual brightness muted. Jade's spine stiffened. Her defenses snapped up.
"I don't need pity," she said sharply, pushing her plate away. "So what if I had a ruff start, I'm doing just fine now. I'm not a charity case."
Aamon's eyes trail back to her. She'd been broken long ago and by her expression, it was clear to him she'd never fully recovered. She may be moving forward, and those people have nothing to do with her now, but the damage was there, and the scars left were old and ugly.
"We don't pity you," he said. "Pity is useless." His gaze held hers, steady and blunt. "But I do respect survival."
Jade blinked, caught off guard.
Aamon continued, voice controlled. "Despite everything you described, you are here. Educated. Standing in front of demons with that sharp mouth of yours." A faint, reluctant curve touched his mouth. "That isn't weakness."
Jade stared at him as if she didn't know what to do with respect.
Zeth poked at his food without eating. "It's strange," he murmured. "We know stories like this exist. But hearing it from you…" His jaw tightened. "It's hard to stomach."
Then, because he couldn't help himself, he asked the next question before thinking through the damage it would do.
"How did you survive after you left?"
Jade's gaze dropped again. Her voice went quieter. "I just… kept going."
She hesitated, then added, "For a while, I basically lived at school. Slept where I could. Used the gym showers. Tried to disappear."
She stopped there, shoulders tensing, like the memory had teeth. Zeth's hand found hers, taking it gently and squeesing. Aamon's fingers dug into the table so hard the wood creaked.
Jade swallowed. "Someone found out," she said, voice flattening. "An adult. He recorded me in the shower one day. Sold the videos." Her eyes shut briefly. "People assumed things about me. No one believed me when I tried to explain." The words came faster, like she wanted to get them out before she could feel them. "I got blamed for it. Like I was the problem. I got kicked out."
Silence.
The air was hot enough now that Jade could feel it against her cheeks. Aamon shut his eyes, jaw clenched, as if restraining something violent. When he spoke, his voice was clipped.
"My apologies," he said, and Jade could hear how forced the control was. "I didn't expect it to be that grotesque."
He lifted a hand as if he might reach for her, then stopped himself. His fingers curled into a fist instead. He felt helpess again. Despite all the strength he had, there was nothing he could do to resolve her pain. Aamon pushed back from the table so abruptly the chair scraped.
"I'm going out," he said, and stood. "I need… a moment." He left before Jade could respond. The door shut behind him with a quiet click that sounded too polite for the fury he'd carried out with him.
Jade sat frozen, staring at the space he'd vacated, heart thudding. She felt tears building in her eyes. Watching Aamon leave suddenly after she had been so raw with him felt more unbarable than the things that she had survived. Jade's lip quivered uncontrolably, and all at once, the tears spilled over.
In the same instant, Zeth had shoved his chair back, standing and yanking Jade into his embrace. Jade stiffened, surprised by his sudden action and a moment later, she broke completely. She pressed her face into his shoulder and cried like her body had been holding it back for years.
Zeth held her tightly, one hand smoothing over her hair in slow, steady strokes. His fingers cool, and soothing. When her sobs finally began to slow, Zeth tried to speak like himself again, like he could joke a way out of her sadness.
"Shh," he said softly. "You're ruining your image, you know." His voice wobbled with the attempt at humor. "You survived, and demanded no pitty, remember? You can't say that, and then cry like this." Zeth kept his voice soft, lightly poking fun in the hope that Jade would return to her normal self. He hated seeing her sad, and he hated that he couldn't understand why he disliked seeing her this way.
Jade let out a broken laugh that was more breath than sound. Zeth pulled back enough to look at her face, wiping her tears with his sleeve like he didn't know what else to do. When the tears didn't stop, he drew her in again. Jade's fingers curled into the fabric of his hoodie as if she could anchor herself there.
"When things are too good to be true, they ussually are." Jade murmered into his chest.
"It's not too good to be true," Zeth responded, more serious now. "You're not going to lose us. We're demons. We're stubborn."
After a while, Jade moves away from him. She placed her finger tips on her tempes, eyes shut tightly, exhausted, head pounding from the tears.
"Are you… okay?" Zeth asked quietly.
Jade blinked at him, eyes red. "That's kind of a stupid question." A breathy laugh escapes her lips to both of their surprise. Zeth nodded, greatful to see that Jade still had a sense of humor.
Jade wiped her face again, dragging in a shaky breath. "After I got kicked out," she said, voice quieter, "I met Dr. Foster in a coffee shop. He was reading ancient scripture." She gave a faint, tired smile that didn't reach her eyes. "I've always liked puzzles. I asked him about it."
Zeth listened, intent. Hope that this was her silver linning, the one she'd missed.
"He was shocked I could read it," Jade continued, a faint smile on her face. "He offered me a job. Just like that." Her shoulders lifted slightly, then fell. "And… I took it."
Zeth's expression softened. It wasn't pity. It was admiration for her strength.
Jade glanced toward her bedroom door, suddenly aware of how heavy her body felt. "I'm tired," she said, rubbing her temples. "I have a headache."
"Go lie down," Zeth said immediately. "I'll clean this up."
Jade hesitated, then nodded, moving to her room, she lingered in her doorway for a moment, watching Zeth clean off the table.
"Thank you. For listening. Sor staying. For everything." She said and closed the door behind her.
Zeth stood in the quiet kitchen, staring at the door a moment longer than necessary. The apartment felt smaller now, not because of the walls, but because he could finally see how alone she'd been inside them. He looked down at the untouched food on Jade's plate with a slow exhale.
Then, in the privacy of his own thoughts, Zeth made a silent promise: if those souls ever ended up in the Dark Realm, he would remember Jade's name.
And he would make sure they did too.