Outside, night air rolled in cool and clean, carrying the faint damp scent of trees and distant pavement. The porch light buzzed above them, drawing moths that drifted in lazy spirals. For a moment, none of them spoke.
Aamon leaned his forearms on the railing and lit a cigarette with a snap of his fingers that was almost mundane. His eyes were unreadable in the dim glow, but the set of his jaw made it clear he wasn't relaxed. Zeth and Levi stayed a few steps back in that uneasy stillness one might get when they're about to say something that can't be unsaid.
Levi inhaled slowly and let the breath slide out of his mouth like a verdict. "You do know who she is," he said at last, voice flat, cold. "Don't you?"
Aamon's head tilted slightly. "If you're asking whether I've considered the ancient prophecy," he replied, "yes. I have." He glanced toward the dark yard as if the answer were written somewhere in the grass. "But that bloodline vanished centuries ago."
Levi's stare didn't budge. "No, Aamon. It didn't."
Aamon's eyes narrowed, not yet glowing, but sharper. Zeth shifted, watching them both like someone standing between two storms.
Levi continued, voice still low. "Grimm confirmed it. I was there. I heard it. I saw it."
Aamon's cigarette paused halfway to his mouth. His eyes sliding over to Levi, curious and sharp.
"In Interstice," Levi said. The word landed heavy, like a stone in water. "He told her she had immortal blood. Not a full-blooded immortal. A line. A stain. A thread." His lip curled, half-disgust, half-respect. "At first I thought that was the only reason you could touch her."
Zeth nodded once before adding. "But it's not only that. There are other factors." his gaze flicked toward the door behind them, as if Jade might somehow hear through walls. "All the requirements have been met, Aamon."
Aamon took a drag, then exhaled. Smoke veiled his expression.
Levi's spoke again, his words soft, but they didn't lose their weight. "Jade is your Queen."
Silence again. Not the comfortable kind.
Then Zeth spoke, quieter. "Do you think she's in danger from the Angels?"
That did it. Aamon's eyes flickered. For the briefest moment, embers glowed faintly behind the brown, like heat behind glass. Then he forced it down, and the glow faded. The question wasn't new. It had been creeping around the edges of everything since Grimm's name entered the room. Since Interstice. Since a prophecy that died long ago had suddenly breathed again.
Aamon stared up at the stars. "Long ago," he began, voice even, "when Nephilim bloodlines still existed openly, the Light Realm made vigorous efforts to collect them." His mouth twisted around the memory.
"Nephilim souls held more power than ordinary mortal souls. Since Angels despised visiting the Mortal Realm, collecting Nephilim souls meant they could sustain themselves longer without crossing back down here."
Levi's laugh was humorless. "They harvested more than their share. I remember."
Aamon didn't disagree. "The prophecy was meant to restore balance. Giving me a queen meant the light realm no longer had an advantage over the dark realm. They would have to go back to granting as many miracles as we provided deals." He tapped ash over the railing. "When the bloodline was believed eradicated, we increased the number of contracts to maintain order. The Angels grew confident. Lazy. They collected less, because they believed they could afford to."
"And now?" Zeth asked.
"And now," Levi said, voice tight, "if Jade becomes Queen, the Light Realm loses its advantage. They'll have to work again. They won't enjoy that."
Aamon's gaze sharpened. "Zadkiel will be here soon to check preparations. If he suspects anything, Jade becomes a target."
Levi stiffens. "She'd be in danger again?"
Ammon nods, his voice dropped. "I will not have that."
Zeth's brows knit. "None of us sensed the bloodline in her."
Aamon nodded. "Which means it's diluted." His jaw tightened. "The Angels may not sense it either."
Levi exhaled through his nose. "May."
Zeth let out a breath. "So we keep her away from them."
"We keep her away from them," Levi agreed, and for once his tone held no mockery.
Aamon's cigarette burned down as his mind moved faster than the ember at its tip. Jade was mortal. Jade was stubborn. Jade demanded answers like she had the right to demand anything from the universe. And somehow, the universe had started answering her back.
"She's going to have questions," Levi said. "She has lived by mortal law her entire life. She doesn't understand ours."
Aamon's eyes tracked down to his hands. The hands that had burned mortals for centuries without hesitation. The hands that had not burned Jade, not anymore. The hands that had started to feel wrong when they weren't touching her. As if the air itself was colder without her.
He hadn't wanted this to be real. Not because he didn't want Jade, but because wanting her created a problem that had no clean solution. Wanting her meant risking her. Wanting her meant risking balance. Wanting her meant becoming something he'd never been before.
Protective. Possessive. Furious over misunderstandings he couldn't justify with logic. It wasn't just human emotion forced on him by the Mortal Realm. It had depth.
Aamon looked back at them, and the embers in his eyes were gone again. "We won't speak of this outside this house," he said. "Not after today. Not in front of anyone who isn't ours."
Zeth nodded immediately. Levi nodded more slowly.
Aamon flicked his cigarette away into the night, where it died in the grass without a sound. "Anything else?"
Zeth hesitated. Levi spoke first, voice quieter than usual. "She's waking up. She'll push for answers. You can't keep dodging her forever."
Aamon's mouth twitched, the smallest sign of humor without warmth. "I'm aware."
Zeth watched him carefully. "What are you going to do?"
Aamon held Zeth's gaze for a beat, then Levi's. His lips curved, faint and knowing, but he gave them nothing. Then he turned and went back inside. Zeth and Levi stood in the hush he left behind. Somewhere in the house, floorboards creaked softly. The world kept turning like nothing was changing.
Levi exhaled. "Do you think he'll do it?"
Zeth's brows lifted. "Do what?"
Levi's eyes slid toward the window, toward the dim shape of the living room beyond. "Give up his heart."
Zeth let out a slow breath, remembering the sheer exhaustion of being inside Jade's mind. The storm of her thoughts. The raw edges of her fear. The way she clung to hope even when logic told her it would hurt.
Levi's cold smile returned, thin as a blade. "It's the best way to keep her safe." He tilted his head. "Pluss, watching him handle the human emotions that come with it will be entertaining."
Zeth shuddered. "He's going to lose his mind."
Levi laughed softly. "Ah, but this isn't your temporary heart-share. If she accepts, it won't be a flood. Not like your mistake." His eyes gleamed. "It becomes refined. Telepathy. Directed. A union."
Zeth stared, then barked a short laugh. "Lucky bastard won't have to hear every ridiculous thought in her head."
Levi's grin widened a fraction. "Oh, he will but not all at once."
Zeth huffs the words out under his breath. "Lucky bastard."
Inside, Jade blinked awake with the sensation of having been dropped into her own life halfway through the scene.
She was on the couch. The room was dimmer now, shadows pooling in corners as the sun sank. Her mouth tasted like stale panic and old tears. Her body felt heavy, like it still remembered what it meant to be dragged through Interstice.
Jade rubbed her temples and sat up slowly, letting her eyes adjust. She could hear muffled voices from outside. She huffed, half-irritated and half-ashamed. She'd fainted. Actually fainted. Like some helpless heroine in an old story.
"Stupid, Jade," she muttered, and smacked her cheeks lightly, as if she could slap the sense back into herself. "Now is not the time to fall apart."
She slid her feet under her and stood. Her knees complained, but she ignored them. She needed to stop letting fear make decisions for her. The patio door opened, and Aamon stepped back in. He paused when he saw her upright. A brief scan of her face, her posture, her steadiness. His expression held something guarded.
"Ah," he said calmly. "You're awake. How do you feel?"
Jade's throat tightened. For reasons she didn't want to name, hearing his voice again made her stomach twist. "Better," she lied automatically, then corrected herself. "Not… great. But better."
Aamon approached, studying her like she was a rare artifact that might crack if handled wrong. "You don't look as pale," he said, almost to himself. "Interstice took a lot out of you."
Jade swallowed and forced herself not to look away. "I have questions," she said. "A lot of them."
Aamon nodded, the motion slow. "I'm sure. We have many things to discuss." His gaze dropped briefly to the floor, then back. "More than you know, Jade."
The use of her name in his mouth took her by surprise in the moment. It told her something serious was coming, and Jade had to decide if she was ready for it or not. She shifted her weight, wrapping one arm around herself. She hated that she suddenly felt small.
"What more could there possibly be? Demons, Angels, realms, Reapers, Grimm, Interstice, and now I'm supposed to be a Queen?" Her voice rose slightly before she clamped it down again. "Honestly, what more is there?"
Aamon sat on the couch and patted the cushion beside him in a gesture that was far too gentle. Jade hesitated, then sat.
Aamon's fingers laced together on his lap, then unlocked. "I told you before; you wouldn't have to make a deal," he said. "But I'm afraid that has changed."
Jade's heart dropped like a stone. "No." She whispered.
"It isn't as bad as you think," Aamon said quickly, voice steady.
Jade looked down at her hands, then back at him. "Is that the price?" Her voice went quiet. "I have to give you my soul in turn for becoming your Queen?"
Aamon's eyes narrowed slightly, not angry. Searching. "In a sense, yes." he admitted. "But likely not the way you are thinking." He paused, as if the language itself was inadequate. "It's more like, we will be sharing a soul."
Aamon watched her carefully, and for a moment his expression softened. "Jade," he said, "I know this is a lot. You've been pulled into something larger than you should've ever had to be part of."
Her throat tightened. She'd spent so long being her own savior that she did not know how to trust his presence, and yet, she craved his presence more than she dared to admit.
"What happens if I say no?" Jade asked, the question slipping out before she could stop it.
Aamon's face changed. He suddenly pressed a hand to his chest as if trying to rub away something uncomfortable. Confusion flashed, then pain, then a flicker of anger he swallowed hard. He stood and turned away from her, shoulders stiff.
"I cannot force you," he said, voice colder than it had been. "But if you refuse, everything goes back to how it used to be." He didn't look at her as he spoke. "Everything you've learned. The friendships you've formed. All of it will be erased. You will return to your life before you met us."
Jade stared at his back, disbelief turning into a sharp, hot rage. "You'd wipe me," she whispered.
Aamon didn't answer. He moved toward the front of the house, leaving her on the couch like a discarded thought. Tears spill down Jade's face. The ugly kind. It wasn't fair. He was offering her companion ship at such a high cost, and threatening to take everything she'd grown to care about if she refused. Had he always been so cruel?
The front door clicked shut. Jade's fists clenched so tight her nails dug into her palms. A voice slid in beside her, too close.
"Well, Sleeping Beauty," Oz drawled, smooth as spilled liquor, "what are you so upset over?"
Jade jerked, startled. Oz lounged against the wall, his smile was lazy, flirtatious, the kind that made Jade feel like she needed a shower.
"Leave me alone, creep." Jade snapped, voice cracking.
Oz lifted his brows as if amused. "Temper. Cute."
She glared at him through tears. "Shut up."
Oz clicked his tongue. "I heard enough to know you're upset over a ridiculous choice. A pretty good choice, if you ask me. Super easy." He leaned in, just enough to invade her space, and lifted a matted strand of her hair between two fingers like he was inspecting a broken toy. "Still, you might attract the wrong kind of attention looking like this."
Jade's vision blurred again. Not from tears this time. From fury.
She stood so abruptly, her hands shooing Oz away. "Get away from me."
Oz smiled wider, like he enjoyed being hated. "Jade—"
"Shut. Up!" she repeated, louder, and shoved past him. The front door slammed behind her.
Oz blinked, then sighed as if she'd inconvenienced him. A heartbeat later, Zeth and Levi appeared in the living room.
Zeth's eyes scanned the room. "Where's Jade?"
Oz jerked his head toward it. "Running. Again."
Levi's expression darkened. "She left? Why?"
Zeth didn't waste time. He bolted for the door. Levi followed, moving fast in a way that contradicted his usual lazy disdain.
Oz stared after them, then rolled his eyes. "I don't see what the big fuss is about." He mused to himself as he slowly followed after them.
Jade moved through the darkening streets like she was trying to outrun her own thoughts. Her lungs burned. Her eyes stung. She wiped her face with the back of her hand and hated the smear it left. She didn't care. If Aamon erased everything, then what was the point of behaving? What was the point of being careful?
She headed toward the one place she knew would drown her brain out. The bar. Behind her, three shadows trailed at a distance. One quiet and watchful. One cold and impatient. One swaggering, like the world was a stage.
When Jade pushed through the bar's door, the warm stink of alcohol and old wood hit her like a blanket. The place wasn't crowded yet. Good. She didn't want noise. She wanted numb.
She claimed a booth near the back and ordered the first drink that came to the bartender's mind. When it arrived, she drank without tasting. The three men slid into her space soon after, standing at the edge of her booth like judges.
Jade looked up, eyes still red and puffy. "If you're here to drag me back," she said, voice flat, "don't bother. I refuse to go back to that house."
Zeth's expression softened. Levi's stayed cold. Oz leaned in slightly, smile curling.
"Actually," Zeth said gently, "we thought you might want a distraction."
"A distraction from the fact that my life is apparently a prophecy and my choices are either live in an eternal cage or get a memory wipe?" Jade scoffed and crossed her arms.
Levi's jaw tightened, but he didn't argue.
Oz tilted his head. "Look at you. So dramatic. I love it." He teased, eyes lighting up like this was a game he couldn't get enough of. "Say, Jade. You know, I could give you something else to help take your mind of things."
Levi held up a hand as if ready to smack Oz. Oz held his hands up in surrender, the first good choice he'd made today. "Fine. Fine." His smile didn't change. "But you really shouldn't go out looking like that. You'll attract unwanted attention."
Jade rolled her eyes, ignoring Oz and his sleezy flirtation.
Zeth's voice stayed calm. "We're not forcing you into anything. We're just worried about you. Came to keep you company." Zeth gave Jade a warm smile.
Levi nodded once. "We can talk later. After you've had time to think."
Jade stared at them all, suspicion crawling up her spine. Zeth looked genuinely concerned. Levi looked like he was calculating. Oz looked like he was enjoying her misery. Jade couldn't shake the thought: They want something.
A waitress dropped off another drink. Jade drank it in silence, then set the glass down hard enough to clink.
"All right," she said finally, voice rough. "What do you three really want?"
Zeth and Levi exchanged a glance. Oz winked, tapping his finger to his lips as if to say don't ruin the plan. Jade didn't miss it.
Zeth's smile returned, warm and careful. "Did you know this place has an underground club?"
Jade's eyes widened for the briefest instant, then she looked down at herself. Her tangled hair. The snot-stained shirt she hadn't cared about until now. Then she looked back up at the three demons watching her like wolves.
She suddenly felt cornered and she couldn't shake the sense that she had just become bait.