KAIDA POV
The numbers appeared the moment I opened my eyes.
Floating above Finn's head as he paced our hideout: 3 YEARS, 2 MONTHS, 7 DAYS.
Above Rook, calmly sharpening knives in the corner: ERROR.
Above Lyric, who was tuning her lute: 47 YEARS, 3 MONTHS—but the numbers kept flickering, changing to 2 HOURS then back again, like a broken clock.
I squeezed my eyes shut. Counted to ten. Opened them again.
The numbers were still there.
"Kai?" Finn stopped pacing. "You okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."
More like I've seen your expiration date, I thought but didn't say. My hands were shaking. I shoved them in my pockets.
"Fine. Just tired." I forced myself to look at him without staring at the countdown hovering over his head. "We need to figure out how to get to Vex's stronghold before midnight. That's—" I checked the clock. "—eleven hours from now."
"Eleven hours to plan a rescue mission into the most heavily guarded fortress in the Crimson Markets," Lyric said, her voice tight. "Against a blood mage who knows we're coming. This is insane, Kai."
"I know." I rubbed my temples. The death dates were giving me a splitting headache. "But Mira—"
"Will die if we charge in unprepared," Rook interrupted quietly. His ageless eyes studied me. "You're seeing them now, aren't you? The death dates."
Everyone turned to stare at me.
"How did you—" I started.
"Your eyes. They're different." Rook tilted his head. "Darker. Like looking into deep water. That's what happens when Death's power transfers to a new vessel."
Finn stepped closer, concerned. "What does mine say?"
I didn't want to tell him. Didn't want to see the fear on his face. But through the bond, I felt Azrael's certainty: lying won't protect them. Truth might.
"Three years, two months, seven days," I whispered.
Finn went pale. Then, surprisingly, he laughed—a bitter, broken sound. "Three years. That's longer than I expected, honestly. Given our lifestyle."
"What about mine?" Lyric demanded, trying to sound brave but her voice cracked.
I looked at her countdown again. It flickered: 47 YEARS—2 HOURS—47 YEARS—1 HOUR.
"I don't understand it," I admitted. "It keeps changing. One moment you've got decades, the next moment you've got hours."
Lyric's face went white. "That's... that's not normal, right?"
"Nothing about this is normal," Rook muttered.
I needed air. Needed to get away from their faces, their numbers, their futures written in glowing countdown clocks I couldn't ignore.
"I need a minute." I headed for the bathroom, ignoring Finn's protest.
Inside, I locked the door and leaned against the sink, breathing hard. My reflection stared back at me—same dark hair, same sharp features, but Rook was right. My eyes looked different. Deeper. Like something ancient was looking out through them.
And floating above my own head, clear as day: 30 DAYS.
Thirty days until I became Death. Thirty days until I lost everything that made me me.
The number ticked down while I watched. 29 DAYS, 23 HOURS, 59 MINUTES.
I couldn't breathe.
My vision blurred. Was this a panic attack? I'd pulled off impossible heists without breaking a sweat, but seeing my own expiration date was destroying me from the inside out.
I'm going to die. Or worse—I'm going to become something that can't die. Trapped forever, alone, watching everyone I love turn to dust while I remain.
A sob ripped out of my throat. Then another. I slid down the wall, knees pulled to my chest, crying so hard I couldn't see.
The bathroom door opened even though I'd locked it.
Azrael stood there, shadows pooling around his feet. His star-filled eyes glowed softly in the dim light.
"Get out," I choked. "I can't—I don't want you to see me like this."
"Too late." He closed the door behind him and, awkwardly, sat down on the floor beside me. Not touching me, but close enough that I could feel the coldness radiating from him. "Through the bond, I felt your panic. Your fear."
"Good for you." I wiped angrily at my tears. "Is this fun for you? Watching me fall apart?"
"No." His voice was quieter than I'd ever heard it. "It's familiar. I remember my first day seeing death dates. I locked myself in a temple for three days, screaming."
Despite everything, I almost laughed. "You? The great and terrible Death, screaming in a temple?"
"I wasn't always this broken." Azrael stared at his hands—pale, elegant, inhuman. "Once, I felt things as intensely as you do now. The first thousand deaths nearly destroyed me. I didn't know how to turn it off, how to build walls, how to survive the weight."
"How did you learn?"
"Trial and error. Centuries of it." He paused. "You don't have centuries. But you have me. And I'm a much better teacher than the void of silence I had."
I looked at him properly. Through the bond, I felt his emotions—guilt, yes, but also genuine concern. He didn't want me to suffer the way he had.
"Thirty days," I whispered. "That's all I have left."
"I know."
"And you're okay with that? With me losing everything?"
Azrael was quiet for a long moment. "No. I'm not okay with it. But I don't know how to fix it." His voice cracked slightly. "For five hundred years, I've known how to solve every problem by being patient. By outlasting it. But we don't have time for patience now, and I don't know how to be anything else."
The raw honesty shocked me. This was Death himself—ancient, powerful, eternal—admitting he was helpless.
"We're both screwed, aren't we?" I said.
"Completely."
We sat in silence for a while. My crying had stopped, replaced by empty exhaustion.
"Finn's going to die in three years," I said suddenly. "Lyric's countdown keeps glitching. And I can't do anything about it. I'm connected to Death itself, and I'm still powerless to save the people I love."
"That's the cruelest part of this power," Azrael said softly. "You can see exactly when everyone will die, but you can't prevent it. You can only bear witness."
"That's a terrible superpower."
"I tried to warn you."
I almost smiled. Then a thought hit me. "Wait. You said Lyric's countdown is glitching. What does that mean?"
Azrael frowned. "Show me."
I led him back to the main room, where the crew was still planning. Lyric's countdown flickered above her head: 47 YEARS—45 MINUTES—47 YEARS—30 MINUTES.
Azrael went very still. Through the bond, I felt his shock.
"What?" I demanded. "What does it mean?"
"It means she has two possible futures," he said slowly. "Two distinct paths. One where she lives decades. One where she dies tonight."
Everyone froze.
"Tonight?" Lyric's voice was barely a whisper. "As in... the rescue mission?"
Azrael nodded grimly. "The flickering stops when the path becomes fixed. Right now, your future is undecided. But the moment we commit to rescuing Mira, one of those timelines becomes real."
"So if we go after Mira," Finn said slowly, "Lyric dies?"
"Maybe. Or maybe she survives and the long timeline locks in." Azrael looked at me. "This is why I tried to stop you from choosing the rescue. The death dates don't lie—they just don't tell you which choice leads where."
My stomach dropped. I'd chosen to save Mira, but that choice might kill Lyric instead.
"We could still call it off," Finn offered weakly. "Start the heists like Azrael wanted. Keep everyone safe."
"And let my sister die." I shook my head. "No. We already decided."
"Even if it kills Lyric?" Rook asked quietly.
I looked at her. Really looked. She was twenty-two years old, talented, beautiful, with her whole life ahead of her. And I was potentially sending her to her death for my sister.
Through the bond, I felt Azrael's certainty: this is the weight I've carried for five hundred years. Every death that could have been prevented if I'd chosen differently. Welcome to the burden.
"Lyric," I said, my voice shaking. "You don't have to come. I won't force you to—"
"I'm coming." Lyric's jaw was set. "Mira's one of us. Family. I'm not abandoning her because I'm scared."
"But you could die—"
"We could ALL die!" Lyric snapped. "That's what happens when you're mortal! We die! At least let me choose to die for something that matters!"
The room fell silent.
Then Rook stood up, weapons ready. "She's right. We made our choice. Now we live—or die—with it."
Finn nodded slowly. "Together."
I felt like I was breaking apart inside. But there was no time for more doubts, more fears. Mira's countdown was racing toward zero at midnight.
"Okay," I said hoarsely. "Then let's plan this properly. If we're walking into a trap, we do it smart."
As we spread maps across the table, Azrael pulled me aside.
"You did the right thing," he said quietly. "Letting them choose."
"Did I? Or did I just drag them into a suicide mission?"
"Both." His star-eyes met mine. "That's leadership. You make the call, then live with the consequences."
Before I could respond, the communication stone blazed to life again—blood-red and pulsing frantically.
I grabbed it. "Mira?"
But the voice that answered wasn't my sister's.
It was Lord Vex himself.
"Hello, little thief." His voice was smooth, amused, like a cat playing with a mouse. "I understand you're planning a dramatic rescue. How touching."
My blood turned to ice. "If you hurt her—"
"Hurt her? My dear girl, she's the guest of honor at tonight's ceremony. I wouldn't dream of damaging my sacrifice before the blood moon rises." He paused. "But I thought you'd want to know—your sister has been asking for you. Crying for you, actually. It's quite pathetic."
"I'm coming for her," I snarled.
"I'm counting on it." Vex's voice dropped to something darker. "You see, I know about your little divine passenger. Death himself, bonded to a mortal thief. Do you have any idea how valuable that makes you? If I sacrifice you AND your sister under the blood moon, I won't just get immortality—I'll become a god."
The stone went dead.
For three seconds, nobody moved.
Then Azrael said, very quietly: "He knows. About the bond. About everything."
"How?" Finn demanded.
"Someone told him." Rook's voice was grim. "Someone close enough to know our plans."
We all looked at each other. The crew. The only people who knew about the bond, about Mira, about tonight.
One of us was a traitor.
And we had nine hours to figure out who before we walked into Vex's trap.
Lyric's countdown flickered above her head: 27 MINUTES.