"Grimm asked me if I would fall," Jade said, voice low but steady. "He said my answer would fulfill a prophecy."
The room changed at once, as if someone had drawn a curtain over the warmth that had been building at the table. Zeth's shoulders stiffened. Levi's gaze sharpened, the smallest tell that Jade had said something that mattered more than she realized. Across from them, Luke went still in a way Jade had never seen. Even Oz, who had been lounging like the world owed him entertainment, stopped smiling.
Jade swallowed and pushed forward anyway. "He also said no mortal could touch Aamon without being burned. And that I have an immortal bloodline."
Luke's mouth opened. Closed. Opened again, like his pride couldn't decide whether to be confused or fascinated.
Oz's eyebrows rose slowly, delighted horror flickering across his face. "Sleeping Beauty," he breathed, "what—"
Levi cut him off with a look that could have frozen the ocean. Oz shut his mouth with a theatrical sigh, as if silence was an unreasonable request.
Levi leaned back, rubbing a hand over his jaw as if the words tasted wrong. "I was there," he admitted. "When you spoke to Grimm."
Jade's eyes snapped to him. "You were there?"
"Grimm asked me if I would fall," Jade said, voice low but steady. "He said my answer would fulfill a prophecy."
The room changed at once, as if someone had drawn a curtain over the warmth that had been building at the table. Zeth's shoulders stiffened. Levi's gaze sharpened, the smallest tell that Jade had said something that mattered more than she realized. Across from them, Luke went still in a way Jade had never seen. Even Oz, who had been lounging like the world owed him entertainment, stopped smiling.
Jade swallowed and pushed forward anyway. "He also said no mortal could touch Aamon without being burned. And that I have an immortal bloodline."
Luke's mouth opened. Closed. Opened again, like his pride couldn't decide whether to be confused or fascinated.
Oz's eyebrows rose slowly, delighted horror flickering across his face. "Sleeping Beauty," he breathed, "what—"
Levi cut him off with a look that could have frozen the ocean. Oz shut his mouth with a theatrical sigh, as if silence was an unreasonable request.
Levi leaned back, rubbing a hand over his jaw as if the words tasted wrong. "I was there," he admitted. "When you spoke to Grimm."
Jade's eyes snapped to him. "You were there?"
"I followed," Levi said flatly, as if stalking through a realm of dead fog was just an errand. "I wasn't sure if I should tell you what Grimm said. He made it sound like it was something you were meant to conclude on your own. In those riddles he told you, it was laced with warnings that I heard very clear."
Jade nodded slowly. That part rang true. Grimm's meaning had been clear: the answer had to be hers.
Zeth exhaled, the tension draining from him in a reluctant wave. "So you also had to have immortal blood. That makes a lot more sense."
Jade's fingers tightened around the edge of the table. "I'm not sure what the prophecy is," she said, the words catching on her tongue, "but I think I understand the falling part now."
Her gaze dropped, then lifted again like she had to force her courage into place.
"It's not that I must be pure of heart," Jade said. "It means I have to choose Aamon. I have to trust him. I have to…"
Her voice faltered. The room waited.
And then Oz, of all people, spoke softly, without a joke in it.
"You have to love him."
Jade froze.
Luke clapped his hands once, the sharp sound breaking the tension like a whip. "So," he said briskly, as if it were a lecture and not someone's heart on the table, "a mortal with immortal blood must go through a hard life, see Aamon's true form, maintain sanity, and fall in love with him. What sort of prophecy does that fulfill exactly?"
No one answered. Jade could hear her pulse. She could feel the weight in her stomach turning heavy and cold. They knew now. The thought that had been hers alone, the confession she hadn't even wanted to admit to herself some days, was sitting in the open air between them.
Aamon would know soon. And what if he didn't feel the same?
But.
What if he did?
A future stretched out in her mind like a long hallway: the Soul Shift ending, the demons leaving, her standing in silence again, alone with the memory of what she'd wanted and couldn't keep.
"The Queen," Zeth said quietly.
Luke's expression sharpened into recognition. Oz's eyes widened with an audible oh, as if he'd stumbled into a story bigger than flirting and gifts. Levi didn't look surprised at all.
"Queen?" Jade repeated, the word foreign in her mouth.
Zeth sighed like someone opening a door he'd hoped would stay shut a little longer. "It was an old prophecy," he said. "One the higher deities all knew. One that eventually became a ghost story. Grimm said long ago there would be one who would stand by Aamon in the Dark Realm as his other half."
Zeth's eyes held hers, careful and honest. "As his Queen."
The room tilted. Jade's chair scraped against the floor as she pushed back so quickly it nearly toppled.
"No," Jade blurted, hands flying up to cover her ears as if she could physically block the words from entering her. "That's ridiculous, I'm not—"
Her breath came too fast. The air in her lungs felt thin. She couldn't let herself hear more. Not yet. Not without knowing if Aamon's kiss had been real. Not without knowing if the warmth she'd chased through the dark had been him or just the desperate shape of her own hope.
She couldn't build a castle on a maybe because it was too easy to crumble. Everyone watched her in silence as she lowered her hands, her eyes stayed shut for a long moment as she took a deep breath. Then she opened her eyes and looking to each of them, she spoke again.
"I can't hear this now, not from you." Jade said, voice small but firm. Then she turned and fled up the stairs. The house swallowed the sound of her footsteps. For a long moment, no one moved.
Luke stared at the staircase, stunned. Oz sat unusually still, the key on his arm chain glinting as he shifted his wrist. Levi's expression was unreadable, but his fingers tapped against the table as if his mind was already calculating consequences. Zeth looked like he'd just watched someone step onto a bridge that might collapse under them.
Jade's door shut upstairs, soft but final.
Elsewhere, in the Mortal Realm
Aamon and Zoe sat in a small coffee shop that smelled like burnt espresso and cheap sugar.
The place was quiet, the kind of quiet that let people pretend their lives weren't balanced on invisible knives.
A map of the city lay spread across the table between them. Zoe stirred her cup lazily, her elbow propped, her posture far too casual for someone who ran foster homes and watched over children with the vigilance of a storm.
They had two months before the Soul Shift started. Two months before the remaining princes had to be gathered, the judgment chambers prepared, and the inevitable arrival of Zadkiel and the other angels forced everything into tighter rules and sharper eyes.
Zoe dragged her spoon around her cup. "I'm telling you," she said, exhaling. "The underground club at the bar. It's the perfect place for the remaining four. It's loud, it's human, it's indulgent. It's practically a beacon."
Aamon stared at the map as if it had personally insulted him. His eyes were steady, but there was a distant edge to him Zoe didn't like. Not rage. Something new she couldn't place.
"We've crossed off every other option," Zoe added, softer.
Aamon didn't respond. Behind him, something crunched. Loudly. Aamon's fingers tightened around his coffee cup. Zoe saw the tension climb his shoulders like heat. He turned. And the anger evaporated before it could ignite.
Beelzebub stood behind them with an armful of food and a face full of it. Orange hair slightly wild, cheeks puffed with a bite he had no intention of chewing quietly, eyes bright with a sort of chaotic hunger that never slept.
"What are you doing?" Beelzebub asked around his mouthful. "Research?"
Zoe shot to her feet with a grin that looked like relief. She thumped him on the back hard enough to jostle crumbs. "Belz! Good to see you again!" She laughed. "It's been a while!"
Belz coughed, swallowed, and grinned like he'd been rewarded. "It's been forever."
Aamon stood, folding the map with crisp precision. "That's one more off the list."
Belz blinked. "Am I early? I thought I was late. Do I get the first house this shift? I hope it's by a lot of restaurants." Belz shoved another mouthful of snacks in his face.
Zoe's smile went a little strained. "Well, about that, we are all in a house together this time." she said quickly.
Belz frowned mid-bite. "Together?"
Aamon's gaze slid to Belz's hands, then to his mouth, then back to his eyes. "If you must eat," Aamon said flatly, "can you do it quietly?"
Belz paused. Then narrowed his eyes and hugged his bag like a dragon guarding treasure. "Don't tell me how to eat, Aamon."
The air sharpened. Aamon stepped in and placed a hand on top of Belz's head, forcing his feet back on the ground with just enough force to make the point. Not violent. Not theatrical. Just dominance, old and absolute.
"Then stop hovering," Aamon said, voice calm and cold. "You won't need as much energy is you stop floating like a lazy slob."
Belz straightened, wiping crumbs on his shirt like an insult. "What's his problem?" he muttered to Zoe as they followed Aamon out. "He doesn't actually expect me to walk, does he?"
"It's been a strange week," Zoe said carefully. "Aamon's under stress this shift."
Belz shoved a handful of cookies into his mouth, eyes narrowed with suspicion. "That's not an explanation."
Zoe sighed, keeping her voice lower as they trailed behind Aamon. "Like I said. We're all staying in the same house this shift."
Belz stopped chewing.
Then he choked. "Wait, you're serious? Is he insane? You know we don't all get along! Some of us don't even get along with furniture."
"That's not all," Zoe said, because there was no gentle way to bring it in. "We met a mortal. A girl. Jade."
Belz shrugged. "So? Aamon makes deals all the time."
"There's no contract," Zoe said, letting the words land.
Belz stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, eyes wide. "What do you mean no contract?"
Zoe grinned, because she couldn't help herself. "No deal. None of us have a deal with her, actually."
Belz stared at her like she'd just spoken in a language the universe shouldn't allow. "None of you? Wait. A mortal girl made friends with you and Aamon? And the others too?"
Zoe nodded, less amused now that she saw his mind starting to turn. "She caused… complications." Zoe quickly gave Belz a rundown of what had happened.
Belz went pale. "She helped Levi and Zeth without a contract? Levi did something nice? For a mortal?"
Zoe gave him a look. "Levi saved her."
Belz's mouth opened as if shocked, then he shoved another bite in to buy time to think.
"I don't like it," he said, swallowing hard. "No way I'm living with a mortal. She's going to eat all my food."
Zoe patted his shoulder like he was a sulking bear. "The house is unified on Jade living there."
Belz clutched his bag protectively. "If she touches my snacks—"
Aamon's head turned just enough for the death-stare to find him. Belz's words died instantly. They reached the house. Aamon paused, waited until Belz was close enough. Belz went still, food forgotten.
"Understand this, Belz," Aamon said, voice low. "Jade is off-limits. No deals. No harm. If she wants to share your snacks, then share your damn snacks. Got it?"
Belz swallowed, eyes wide. Aamon's mouth curved into a cold, humorless smile.
"Good." Aamon gave Belz a single pat on the head before walking into the house as if nothing had happened. Belz stood there a moment, blinking. Then he shuffled behind Zoe like a scolded child.
"I know you said he's fond of her," Belz whispered, "but seriously? I've never seen him like that."
Zoe's expression softened, just a fraction. "There's more to it than friendship," she murmured, and winked.
Belz's eyes grew even wider. "More? Does she cook good food? I would be protective of her too then."
Zoe snorted. "You're always eating, Belz. It never occurs to you that those of us not chained to a sin might still want things?"
Belz stared. Then slowly popped a chip into his mouth like he needed it to survive the thought. Zoe started to explain, and as she did, Belz's face shifted from disbelief to calculation. The longer she talked, the less he ate.
By the time they stepped into the kitchen, he hadn't touched the bag in his hands for several minutes. Zoe reached up and pressed the back of her hand to his forehead. "You're looking a little pale. Want a donut?"
Belz swatted her hand away. Zoe stopped smiling.
Belz looked at her with a seriousness that didn't match his constant hunger. "I need to know who else is here? Tanner? Monty?"
Zoe took a cautious step back. It had been ages since she'd seen Belz's mind fully awake. When the Lord of Flyers started thinking, things tended to move.
"Hey, calm down," Zoe said quickly. "This isn't something to raise an army over."
Belz waved her off. "Let me think."
His gaze sharpened, cutting through her story like a blade. "Aamon and the rest of you befriended a mortal with no contract. She lives here. No one has killed her. Aamon defends her. That's the gist?"
Zoe nodded. Belz groaned like thinking physically hurt. He turned for the hall.
"Hey," Zoe grabbed for his arm. "Don't do anything extreme."
Belz looked down at her hand, then up at her face. "Tanner is vengeful. Revenge needs knowledge. Monty wins because he understands odds better than anyone else in the Dark Realm."
Zoe swallowed.
Belz's eyes narrowed. "Do you know what a winning gambler has, Zoe?"
She answered cautiously. "Intellect."
"Exactly," Belz said. "I have a suspicion about this human. And until it's confirmed, my mind won't rest."
Zoe stared at him, unsettled. "How could you know anything about her? You haven't even met her."
Belz's mouth twisted. "That's what makes it irritating."
He turned without another word disappearing up the staircase. Zoe stood at the threshold a moment longer, watching him go, the hairs on her arms lifting. It was easy to forget what Beelzebub was, when he acted like hunger had replaced his brain.
Then Zoe exhaled slowly and followed him, because whatever this shift had become, running away from it wasn't an option.