The Reaper didn't move when Jade shouted. It didn't flinch. It didn't breathe. It simply froze, as if her certainty had struck it like a physical blow.
Jade stood with her fists clenched at her sides, chest rising and falling too fast. The gray fog curled around her ankles like cold smoke, and behind the Reaper, the dead land stretched on forever, flat and colorless. Everything here was meant to swallow people. Swallow thoughts. Swallow names.
The Reaper slowly rotated to face her fully, its hood tilting downward. Jade got the unsettling sense it was studying her, not with eyes, but with something older. Something that measured souls like weights in a palm.
"Are you certain?" the Reaper asked.
Its voice no longer came in a chorus. The layered whispers had thinned, condensed, until it sounded almost singular and careful.
Jade nodded hard. "I didn't die. You brought me here."
The Reaper held still for another long beat, as if debating whether it believed her.
Then, quietly is responded, "Then the time is now. Come." And it turned away slowly floating forward as if pulled by a string Jade could not see.
Jade followed, jaw tight, irritation building under her fear. It wasn't just the kidnapping. It wasn't just the fog and the faceless souls drifting through it like broken toys. It was the way every deity, even the Reaper, every creature with power kept treating her life like a board game. Moving pieces around without ever bothering to ask whether she wanted to play.
They passed through the Village of Reaperlings. The Reaper stopped at the edge. A long arm extended, pointing down into the void.
Jade stared into it, then looked back up, crossing her arms. "No."
The Reaper didn't react.
"I'm not going down there until you give me a straight answer," Jade snapped. Her voice echoed faintly, swallowed almost immediately by the fog. "I'm sick of all of you messing up my life and not telling me why."
The Reaper's arm lowered slowly. It stood silent for longer than Jade's patience could tolerate.
Jade took a step closer, anger sharpening her courage into something reckless. "Tell me why I have to be judged by Grimm. Then I'll go."
The Reaper's hood tilted, a slight lean to one side. If Jade didn't know better, she'd have said it was conflicted.
Finally, it answered. "Mortals who help demons without contract do not exist. Aamon cannot touch the living without consequences. Grimm must provide clarity to this circumstance."
Jade's mouth tightened. It wasn't an explanation fully, but it was something. And it told her one important thing: this wasn't about condemning her. They were trying to understand why she broke a rule of their reality.
She exhaled sharply. "Fine." Before her courage could evaporate, Jade stepped forward and dropped into the pit. Darkness swallowed her instantly.
Levi had already arrived and was waiting.
He'd reached the chamber below Interstice's village and slipped into one of the empty cells, hiding behind bars that stank of old moss and old judgment.
A Reaper manifested near the threshold, gliding through the prison-like corridors. And then the fog twisted again, and Jade appeared, stumbling only slightly before squaring her shoulders like she was trying to prove herself.
Levi's throat tightened. To his amazement, she was still holding on. Interstice was trying to drink her dry but she still carried herself like she was ready for a fight. Levi almost envied her strength. He would, if he didn't despise her so much for being the reason he was here in the first place.
The Reaper led her down a long corridor toward a doorway that seemed darker than the rest of the chamber. Levi waited until they passed out of sight, then followed at a distance, careful to remain quiet and out of sight.
Ahead, Jade walked with her fists clenched, shoulders rigid. Every so often she would mumble words to herself, not loud enough to make out, but loud enough to be noticed. She was angry, and strangely, the anger seemed to keep her going. Like it gave her something sharp to grip in a place designed to make people forget they ever existed.
The corridor opened into a vast stone-gray room. There was only one chair in the center. And on that chair sat something enormous, cloaked in ragged black robes. Its head leaned against an exposed upright bone-arm resting on the chair's armrest, as if the figure had been waiting for centuries and had grown bored. It looked lifeless, like a corpse propped up for a Halloween decoration.
Jade hesitated for only a heartbeat. If this was Grimm, then Grimm was the one person here who might give her answers. She strode forward, head high and ready to confront whatever was about to hit her.
Behind her, the Reaper bowed low, then floated backward out of the room, leaving Jade alone with the Master Reaper.
Grimm stirred.
The sound was wrong, something ancient pulling itself apart and reassembling. A creak, a crackle, a slow scrape of bone against bone. She grimaced, despite herself.
Grimm sat upright, the clattering of its body shifting into place made even Levi's hair stand on end. The hooded robe didn't reveal a face. Only darkness, and the impression of depth. Like staring down a well that stared back.
Levi paused at the doorway, pressed into the shadows. He could leave. He was still unnoticed here, he had time to go back. He could explain to Aamon that Grimm had taken her, that it was over. Things would carry on with the soul shift and everything would go back to normal.
But Jade was here. Right in front of him, only a few feet away. Levi wanted to hate her. Wanted to forget her, but the look on her face when he failed to save her. He could not shake it. Could not let that be the end of this. He would save her, in doing so balance would be put back and this would all be over.
Jade took a deep breath before asking the question she wanted to know most. "Tell me why you brought me here."
Grimm leaned forward, the motion subtle but heavy, as if the room itself shifted under the weight of his attention.
"Child of mortals," Grimm said. His voice was not one voice. It was made of thousands of whispers braided together, forming words. The sound whipped about the room like a light breeze, floating past Jade and chilling her to the core.
"You have befriended demons, have you not?" Grimm straightened slightly, as though satisfied with showing Jade a glimpse of his power.
Jade swallowed and nodded. "I was told that doesn't break any laws."
Grimm's laughter hissed through the room, ancient and sharp. "'Tis not laws you are breaking," he replied. "But the order."
Jade's sighed, she was becoming fed up with riddles. "Order of what?" Jade glared at Grimm now, directly at the pit of blackness where she was certain his face would be.
Grimm ignored the question, waving his hand as if Jade was a small annoyance. "You do not burn," he said. "Mortals all burn. Why is this?"
Jade threw up her hands, frustration surging. "How am I supposed to know? I've been asking the same thing and no one will tell me anything. It's all riddles and non sense." Jade wrapped her arms around herself as she thought back to everything that put her in this place.
Grimm sat back, as if she'd confirmed something he already suspected. "It cannot be told. It must be discovered."
Jade's eyes narrowed. "Like I said, it's all riddles and nonsense."
Grimm leaned forward again, giving her a small nod as if to acknowledge her for the first time. "From whom do you come, Jade?"
She blinked. "Do you mean who are my parents?"
Grimm's nods again once, slow and deliberate.
Jade's throat tightened. "I was adopted. I don't know."
For the first time, Grimm's laughter changed. It still hissed, still echoed, but it sounded pleased. Like a lock clicking into place.
Grimm raised one skeletal arm and swept it through the air. The fog in front of Jade parted like curtains. An image formed. A baby. Wrapped in a thin blanket. Left on the steps of a modest home, under a sky that looked warm and alive compared to Interstice's gray.
The image shifted.
Two people appeared. A man and a woman, their faces young, terrified, and painfully familiar. They had Jade's eyes. Jade's nose. Jade's mouth.
My birth parents.
A Reaper stood before them, taller and more solid than the one that had dragged Jade here. The voices in the scene were muffled, but Jade understood: the Reaper was demanding to know where they had hidden the child of immortal blood. The couple shook their heads, clutching each other, refusing. The Reaper's shadow fell over them like a blade.
The image vanished.
Jade stood frozen, heart pounding, skin prickling.
Grimm's whisper-voice filled the space. "This is the prophecy proposed long ago and forgotten."
Jade's mouth went dry. "Prophecy…?"
"All mortals burn," Grimm repeated. "Yet you do not. Why is this?"
Jade's mind spun. She didn't know. But the image had given her something.
It had said a child of immortal blood.
Jade's eyes widened as the pieces slammed together. "My bloodline is," Jade swallowed hard and lifted her gaze. "Immortal?"
Her voice steadied as she said it, as if her body recognized the truth even if her mind was still catching up.
"I have immortal blood," Jade said. "That's why I don't burn, even though I'm mortal."
Grimm leaned forward, the air seeming to tighten around Jade like a fist. "This is the answer I seek," he said. "And the truth you must realize for the prophecy to be met."
Jade's anger flared again. "What prophecy?" she demanded.
Grimm shifted, seeming to be waiting for her to make another choice, to provide an answer to something he had not asked yet.
"That is still for you to decide." Grimm finally replied, leaning back in the giant chair again.
Jade's hands trembled. "Decide what? I don't understand any of this."
Grimm shifter slightly, the massive hood tilting to the side. "Did you fall?"
That same question again. The same question the Reaperlings had thrown at her. The same whisper that had chased her through darkness. The same thing the reaper who brought her here had asked. But what were they asking?
Jade frowned, shaking her head. "I don't understand."
Grimm leaned toward her, and although his face was still hidden, Jade felt the pressure of his attention like fingers at her temples.
"I see," he murmured.
He sat back, as if satisfied despite her lack of answer. Then he asked, and the words struck deeper, sharper.
"Will you fall?"
Jade's brows furrowed, the question still not making sense. "Fall from where?"
Grimm's laughter hissed again, faint and humorless. "Not from a place, child."
Jade hangs her shoulders, she was more confused now than ever. Where was she supposed to fall from? Why would she choose to fall? Was it some kind of trick question? Was falling a good thing, or bad?
Grimm's whisper-voice cut through her thoughts. "This is the choice you will be faced with, Jade. No one can provide you answers. But your answer will fulfill the prophecy."
Jade stood there, jaw clenched so tight her teeth ached. "You're speaking in riddles again."
Grimm lifted an arm. "Leave," he commanded, and the fog in the room stirred. "Find your answer. But be warned."
Jade braced herself.
"Though I forgive this time," Grimm continued, "do not interfere with the Shift again. Next we meet, there will be no reprieve."
Jade's stomach dropped. She still didn't understand what Grimm was forgiving her for. She didn't understand how she was supposed to "choose" something she couldn't even name.
But Levi did. From the doorway, his expression sharpened. Grimm's warning was simple: no more favors. No more accidental debts. No more bending the universal law and calling it kindness. Because next time, Grimm would not just question her. Next time, he would keep her.
Grimm swept his arm again. Jade's body jerked, weightless. She began to slide backward across the stone floor as if the world itself had decided she was done being allowed to stand in it.
"No!" Jade snapped, digging her heels in, but it didn't matter. The pull was absolute.
Her mind whirled with questions: Immortal blood? Prophecy? Fall? None of it made sense. None of it was fair.
"Wait," she yelled. "You can't just—"
A hand caught her wrist. Hard. Warm. Real.
Jade's eyes widened. "Levi—?"
The wind snapped up around them like a living thing. The world ripped. Sound exploded and collapsed at once. Fog became black. Black became salty air and sky.
Jade found herself cradled in Levi's arms above an endless stretch of sea, the water below dark and violent. The shift between realms hit her like a hammer. Her stomach lurched. Her head pounded. Her body felt like it was trying to tear in half and stitch itself back together incorrectly.
"Levi?" she whispered, barely audible.
He didn't answer. Her eyes fluttered. Then everything went white.
Jade went limp in his arms. Unconscious.
While Levi had been tearing through Interstice, Aamon had been tearing through the Mortal Realm. He found Luke at the museum as the morning light slanted across stone and glass. Luke, immaculate in his dark royal blue suit, bowed low as Aamon approached.
"I was wondering when you would show up, sir," Luke said smoothly, like this was a scheduled meeting and not the aftermath of chaos.
Aamon scanned the area. "Where are the other two?"
Luke lifted both hands. "About that…" And Luke explained.
He told Aamon about Jade running. About the apartment. About Ms. Berkins and the distraction. About the cloaked figure at Jade's door. About Jade being swallowed by shadow.
The more Luke spoke, the more the air around Aamon changed. At first it was subtle. A heaviness. A pressure that made Luke's instincts scream to take a step back.
Then Aamon's shadow began to move. It danced, twisting around him like it had its own rage. Aamon's deep brown eyes darkened, then flared. Embers ignited behind them, glowing like coals inside a furnace. He dropped his head, breath shaking.
He had sent Levi and Jade away because he needed distance, clarity of the situation. Because he couldn't bear the sight of Levi near her. Because he'd felt something he wasn't supposed to feel and didn't know what to do with it. And now Jade was gone.
Taken by the one force in the all the Realms even he did not casually defy.
The prophecy.
Aamon had heard whispers of it long ago. A rumor from a time when the realms were younger. A "child of immortal blood." A mortal who would not burn. A mortal who could stand beside him, king of demons, without turning to ash.
Aamon had believed it was no longer a possibility but then, Jade had appeared. He had tried to be careful. Tried to be controlled. Tried to keep the balance. Now he'd missed the moment the prophecy spoke of.
And the one thing in the realms he wanted, the thing he had never allowed himself to want, had been torn away.
Aamon lifted his head. The more he seethed with rage the more his demonic form took over. His body flickered, flesh unraveling into shadows. His wings erupted, vast and black, splitting the air behind him. Fire like ember-snakes whipped around him, hissing and curling, hungry and violent.
"Sir—" Luke's efforts to calm the Sovereign did nothing but anger him further.
Aamon moved. Trees at the edge of the museum grounds wrenched from the earth as shadow-coils wrapped around their trunks. They melted into ash before they could even hit the ground. The soil beneath Aamon bubbled. Magma bled upward, turning earth into molten ruin.
Luke stumbled back, horrified as his pristine, expensive car sank at the tires, then at the chassis, then began to warp and smoke. Luke falls to the ground reaching for the vehicle he knows is already lost as Aamon lets out a thunderous growl.
"Aamon," Luke tried again, voice trembling now. "Balance—"
Aamon ignored him, instead turning toward the tree line, wings flaring. He would burn the Mortal Realm if he had to, balance be damned. He would rip open every border. He would drag Interstice itself screaming into the light to find Jade.
The air screamed. A tornado of water and wind erupted nearby. Levi appeared, soaked and furious, Jade cradled in his arms, lifeless.
Aamon, lost in rage, didn't even register him at first. He surged forward again, fire snapping—
"LUKE!" Levi shouted.
Luke sprinted to Levi's side, eyes wide as he took Jade's face between his hands, shaking her gently. "Jade! Jade, wake up!"
Jade's brow twitched. Her lips parted in a faint grimace. Her eyes fluttered halfway open. And she saw hellfire. She saw shadow-wings. She saw Aamon's demonic form, the one he'd shown her on the night they met, now fully unleashed and devouring the world around him. nPain lanced through her head. Her vision blurred in and out, barely able to hold the scene steady.
"Aa…mon," she breathed, her voice struggling to work. Her hand lifted weakly toward him.
Levi caught her wrist and lowered it. "Jade," he hissed. "The way he is now, he'll kill you."
Jade turned her head, barely able to focus on Levi's face. A faint smile touched her lips, small and stubborn even through exhaustion.
"I…trust…him," she whispered. And then she slipped back under.
Luke's voice cracked. "Shit. Now what are we supposed to do, Levi? He's going to destroy everything!" Luke looked up at Aamon as he was drifting closer to his beloved museum.
Levi stared down at Jade's slack form, then up at Aamon's rampage. And in his mind, Grimm's words finally made perfect, infuriating sense.
Did you fall? Will you fall?
Not falling from a place. Falling into something you couldn't control. Falling for the Sovereign himself.
Levi's mouth twisted. "I've had enough of this nonsense."
He shoved Jade carefully into Luke's arms. "Hold her."
Luke clutched her tighter, panic flashing in his royal blue eyes. "What are you doing?"
Levi stepped forward, shoulders squaring, envy sharpened into a weapon. Wind and water surged around him, forming a violent spiral that snapped at the air like teeth. Then Levi lifted his hands, a moment latter, thousands of pounds of water rain down over Aamon in a crushing deluge.
The fire hissed, snapping and recoiling. Shadow flinched. Steam exploded outward.
"Enough!" Levi roared.
Aamon whipped around, fury spiking hotter. His ember-eyes locked onto Levi like a predator sighting prey. For one terrifying second, it looked like he might tear Levi in half just for existing.
Then his gaze flicked. He saw Jade in Luke's arms. His rage faltered like a flame starved of air. The ember-glow in his eyes dimmed, flickering. Aamon took one step. Then another, slow and unsteady, like his body was remembering how to be solid again.
Shadows collapsed inward. Wings withdrew. Fire died down into faint heat. Aamon reformed, appearing so close Luke jolted.
"Jade?" Aamon said, voice suddenly quiet, and far too gentle for the Sovereign.
He took her face in his hands and brushed her hair back. Luke went rigid, waiting for smoke, waiting for screams, waiting for her skin to blister under the Sovereign's touch.
Nothing happened. Jade didn't burn. Not even a singe. Luke stared, speechless. Aamon's breath shook. His thumbs traced her cheekbones as if he didn't trust the world to keep her real.
"It's been settled," Levi announced, voice clipped.
Aamon's head lifted sharply. The ember-glow returned faintly, not rage now but power held tight under the surface. Luke braced, expecting a fight. Instead, Aamon stepped toward Levi and placed a hand on his shoulder.
It was a gesture so unexpected Luke thought he'd imagined it. Levi stiffened, then scoffed and brushed the hand away.
"Appreciation isn't a good look for you, Sovereign." Levi folded his arms, but he couldn't conceal the small smile on his face. Aamon didn't argue.
Levi exhaled and spoke. "Grimm forgave her favor to me and let me take her out of Interstice." His eyes narrowed. "But he warned us too. We cannot let her make the same mistake. Next time—"
Aamon nodded once. He didn't need the rest said aloud.
"Looks like our plan will change yet again." Aamon says, turning and reaching for Jade but Luke stiffens and holds her tightly.
Luke swallowed, finally finding his voice. "Hold on," he said, stepping back. "I mean…maybe you got lucky once, but you expect me to just hand her to you and watch her burn in your arms?"
Levi sighed, exhausted. "Luke, this is a matter that has no answer," he said coldly. "But Jade will not burn."
Luke stared at Jade, then at Aamon's hands in her hair. Luke slowly releases his grip allowing Aamon to lift Jade into his embrace.
His expression shifted from fear to fascination, like a scholar watching a law of nature break in real time.
"See?" Levi says but Luke can only stare in disbelief.
"Impossibly," Luke murmured. Then, with a slow, delighted smile: "Interesting."