Suzi spent what felt like hours trying to rouse Darcy, shaking her gently, rubbing her shoulders, even pinching her arm at one point—but the girl stayed limp as a ragdoll. Time in this half-real, half-limbo place seemed even more fluid than the Ether. Eventually, Suzi gave in to the weirdness and let Darcy sleep, settling on the spongy, not-quite-floor beside her.

“Judas?” Suzi called in her head—but here, the thought formed as a softly echoing voice in the strange air.

“Yes?” came Judas’s reply, issuing right from Suzi’s mouth.

“What the hell did Darcy do? How did she help me take that demon down? I felt it winning.”

“It was beating us,” Judas corrected. “In this limbo pocket, there’s no separation between us. Darcy effectively bound her will to ours—gave us her will and her ability.”

Suzi stared at the sleeping form. “So that means…we can skip limbo, right?”

“Limbo Skip,” Judas said, like a teacher correcting a student’s grammar. “Yes. We should be able to, now.”

Pulling herself upright, Suzi scanned the area. The boundary of this pocket looked so thin, like plastic wrap hanging loose. She approached it, feeling static prickle her fingertips as she reached out. It felt almost like tissue paper. Tentatively, she tugged on the edge, and it peeled back just a hair.

She stepped forward, and her vision shifted. She could still see the hazy outline of her bedroom’s walls, only now blurred and duplicated, like an image seen through warped glass. But unlike the Ether, she could see her own arms and legs, outlined by a faint golden glow—just like Darcy’s. A slight hum buzzed against her skin, an electric charge.

As she focused on Aiden, her surroundings lurched; suddenly, the ICU flickered into view, an odd, washed-out version of it. She could see Aiden lying in his bed, intubated, casted limbs unmoving. She reached for his foot, but the farther her hand pressed, the more the fabric of space thickened like a balloon stretched too far. By the time she was an inch away, the force pushing back on her hand felt bone-cracking.

She jerked back, her limbs trembling with the strain. Aiden’s aura flickered in the periphery, and she fought the urge to try again—it was pointless. She took a moment to linger, watching his breathing, then tried to focus on Darcy.

Nothing appeared. No vision of her. Just empty space.

“That’s weird,” she muttered.

“Darcy isn’t in the Ether or in Reality,” Judas explained from within her. “She’s in that limbo pocket. You can’t just think of her and pop over. You need a direct route.”

“She’s still in my apartment, in that pocket,” Suzi said firmly, remembering where she left Darcy.

Her bedroom blinked back into focus, but with a jarring shift that sent Suzi stumbling. She recognized it as Reality now—no soft golden outline to her body, no warp in the corners of her vision.

“Where the fuck is the seam?” she muttered aloud, spinning in a slow circle. She saw only ordinary walls, ordinary furniture. Darcy was nowhere to be seen. “Judas, are we in limbo or reality?”

“This is reality,” Judas replied in her head.

“How does that help me get back to Darcy?” Suzi asked, frustration creeping into her voice.

“You stepped through the veil between Limbo and Reality, when you should have pulled it back,” Judas tried to clarify. “It closed behind you.”

Scanning the space, Suzi saw no rift or tear, nothing to grab onto. She crawled onto her bed, closed her eyes, and centered herself, searching for that golden cord she used to pull herself into the Ether. Instead, she found something else—a golden knife. It glowed in her mind’s eye with a resonance that reminded her of the Dagger of Roanove Darcy kept.

Surrendering to the pull, she let the sensation envelop her. Instantly, she felt the shift. When she opened her eyes, she was in the Ether again, shimmering with the golden dagger in hand. Each movement made the Ether ripple, like pressing through invisible curtains that slapped against her skin.

“Darcy’s in a pocket between here and Reality. How the hell do I get in?”

She knew Darcy was in a pocket between the Ether and Reality.

She knew there had to be a way to get to her, but she couldn’t find a way from reality.

She thought she might be able to do it from the Ether.

She fully transitioned now—no half-and-half blend. She needed to find a way into limbo from the Ether, but she was stuck, clueless.

“Lahabiel,” she thought. Her voice boomed in the emptiness, echoing weirdly.

Almost at once, a staticky presence formed, light pulsing around it. “Demon Reaper.”

She swallowed. “Look, I know you don’t like me—”

“I like you fine. I just don’t trust you yet. You’re chaotic and impulsive,” the angel retorted, the glow shifting in time with its voice.

Suzi pushed her annoyance down. “Darcy bound herself to me, giving me her ability. I left limbo to come here, but now I can’t get back to her. She’s alone in that pocket. I need to return, but I’m stuck.”

“She will reappear once she’s rested,” Lahabiel offered, maddeningly calm.

“Yeah, but I—” Suzi began.

“She is safe in her limbo pocket.”

“Damn it, Lahabiel!” Suzi snapped, temper flaring. “Look, I want to do the right thing, I don’t want her thinking I abandoned her. Will you please help me?”

A pause. Then Lahabiel sighed. “Yes, Demon Reaper. You’ve personified your newly gained power as a replica of the Dagger of Roanove, a link to Darcy. Limbo is both Ether and Reality, but it’s also neither. Does that help?”

She repeated his words under her breath, trying to glean sense from them. “No,” she finally admitted. “No, it doesn’t.”

The angel’s light flickered in what might have been exasperation. “Picture a doorway between two rooms, say a dining room and a kitchen. Which room are you in if you stand in the threshold? You could argue for either, or both, or neither. That’s limbo.”

“Limbo is a doorway between the Ether and Reality?” she ventured.

“In the simplest layman’s terms. Yes.” A hint of condescension colored the angel’s tone.

Suzi scowled. “But whenever I go between Ether and Reality, it’s instant. I don’t pass through any in-between.”

“Then clearly, I’m wrong, and you’re right, Demon Reaper.” Lahabiel’s voice dripped sarcasm. “Far be it from me to suggest otherwise.”

“Thanks, Lahabiel, I can really feel how much you ‘like’ me,” she fired back.

Stolen novel; please report.

“You’re welcome,” the angel said tersely. For a moment, the glow remained, not vanishing as she expected.

Suzi realized her thoughts were audible again. “So…there has to be a way to pause mid-transition. Like…pausing in a doorway, right?”

“When you open a door, what do you do?” Lahabiel prompted.

“Step through!” Suzi tried lunging forward, but nothing happened.

“Before that,” Lahabiel chided.

“Turn the knob? Push or pull the door open?” She frowned. “I just pull on my golden cord to enter the Ether.”

“Yes. And now that cord is a knife,” Lahabiel reminded her.

Suzi held up the golden blade, noticing how it cut through the Ether, leaving small slashes that sealed themselves almost immediately. She tried a larger sweep. For a split second, an opening formed, like plastic wrap in the wind, and she scrambled to grab the edge. It buzzed under her fingers, thick with energy.

“Son of a bitch,” she breathed, awed.

“Anything else you require, Demon Reaper?”

She took a shaky breath. “Lahabiel?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you.”

“Always a pleasure to witness personal growth,” the angel quipped. Then the light blinked out.

Suzi slipped back through the veil of the Ether, returning to her bedroom in a whirl of disorienting light and shadow. The moment the partition of reality sealed, the golden knife in her hand vanished into nothing. Her gaze snapped around, and it took mere seconds to find the seam—this weird, tissue-thin membrane that led into Darcy’s pocket dimension. She pulled it open, half expecting the demon to jump out, but found Darcy still sprawled on the floor, fast asleep.

Weariness pooled in Suzi’s limbs like lead. A heavy ache behind her eyes warned her she was running on fumes. She considered lying down next to Darcy—it looked damn inviting—but some glimmer of protective instinct wouldn’t let her leave Darcy lying on that not-quite-floor. She scooped the younger girl up instead, pressing back into the real world. Her bedroom sprang into focus: Ygritte dozing on the bed, the faint glow of her alarm clock. Carefully, Suzi laid Darcy beside the dog and tugged a blanket over her. Then she tumbled in herself, the mattress enveloping her with a deep sigh.

Exhaustion hit like a train. She dropped off to sleep, and for the first time in a week, her mind gave her mercy.

No nightmares.

No screaming.

No cold-sweat episodes.

Just peaceful oblivion, broken only by an unladylike string of drool she realized, upon waking, did not belong to the dog. She smacked her alarm off and blinked at the electric-red numbers: 5:45 a.m. A too-early groan stuck in her throat. She stretched out her legs—only for her foot to collide with something at the foot of the bed. A clatter followed, with smaller items scattering across the floor. With a grunt, she hauled herself upright, mind still groggy from the best sleep she could remember having in ages.

“What the hell was that?” Suzi mumbled, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

“Damn it!” Darcy hissed, bursting out of the bathroom in a towel, water droplets still clinging to her bare shoulders. “You knocked all my shit over, man!”

Suzi stared, confusion dulling her brain. “Darcy?” It came out as more of a question than a greeting.

Darcy gave her a sass-laced look as she bent to gather the scattered stuff. “Suzi?”

“What are you doing here?” Suzi demanded, mind swimming. She remembered drinking. The rest blurred.

Darcy paused, standing at the foot of the bed with her arms full of toiletries. “What do you mean, what am I doing here? Are you okay?”

Suzi pressed her palms over her temples. “I…” She fumbled for a memory and came up short. “I don’t remember anything after you mentioned dating Taylor Swift.”

The look on Darcy’s face spoke volumes. She lowered the toiletries onto the corner of the bed. “We had a lot to drink, Suzi. You seriously don’t remember fighting Urzobach?”

“Urzobach?”

“The nightmare demon that’s been after you.” Darcy’s eyes narrowed, as if gauging Suzi’s reaction. “Which reminds me— you need to relinquish my will. Now that it’s morning and all. Also, where do these demons go when you bind them? I thought you needed an object.”

“I… bound a demon?” Suzi echoed, brain spinning.

Darcy’s expression shifted from concern to realization. “Shit.” She dumped her toiletries and vanished in a blink, leaving Suzi alone.

Rude. Suzi shook off the shock and reached inward. “We fought a demon last night?” she asked the mental crowd, voice tight in her own head.

“We must have,” Judith said calmly. “Come see for yourself.”

Suzi propped her pillows behind her back, closing her eyes. In the time it took for one deep breath, she slipped seamlessly into Guillermo—her internal realm.

Immediately, she spotted a glowing red-gold cage. Within it, a writhing, oily mass that seethed and lashed, occasionally forming a mouth of needlelike teeth. Its aura screamed hostility. The creature smashed against the bars, sending pulsing waves of dark energy through the cage.

“That’s new,” Suzi said, staring alongside the other personas.

“Urzobach is powerful,” Judas muttered. “We’re pushing our will to its limits to contain him. We need to bind him soon, or he’ll wear us down and possibly take control.”

Suzi pressed her lips together. “Even if I bind him, it’s still my will holding him. He could break free one day.”

James cleared his throat. “Not entirely. Right now, Darcy is voluntarily bound to us. If we tap her will as well, he’d be facing two celestials’ combined power. I doubt he can shatter that.”

All eyes in the mindscape flicked to James, even Judas. He sounded too certain.

“How’d you know that?” Suzi asked.

He shrugged. “I don’t know. It just came to me.”

A sudden shriek pulled their attention across Guillermo’s ‘foyer.’ Annie stood trembling, blanket clutched to her chin, pointing at a vacant room. Within, a hazy outline of someone flickered, too faint to identify. The instant Suzi and the others focused on it, it vanished.

“What was that?” Suzi demanded, turning to Judas.

“I…honestly don’t know,” Judas replied, tension creeping into her tone.

“That’s not good,” J snapped. “You’re supposed to know everything, aren’t you?”

“I serve my purpose,” Judas bit back. “Same as the rest of you.”

“Leave her alone,” Annie chimed in, hugging her blanket. “She’s the newest and probably the strongest.”

“That’s bullshit,” Judy spat. “Everything went to shit after she got here.”

“Guys—” Ralph tried to cut in, only to be ignored.

James insisted, “She’s here to protect us, clearly. She’s our celestial side.”

“Maybe we were better off before,” Judith said.

“Guys—” Ralph repeated, louder.

Suzi gripped the sides of her head in frustration. “I don’t think we can just return Judas. There’s no cosmic receipt.”

“Maybe we can ask,” Spike muttered.

“She’s part of us now!” Suzi shot back, exasperation roiling in her gut.

“GUYS!” Ralph bellowed, finally catching their attention. “Look!” He pointed at the cage.

Urzobach no longer slammed the walls. Its body stretched, soaking in the swirl of negativity bouncing around inside Suzi’s head. Each harsh word they’d hurled at one another vibrated around the demon like a tangible feast. It crouched, soaking up the tension, gurgling with pleasure.

Suzi locked eyes with Judas. “Let’s not fight with company here. Let me get to work on binding this asshole.”

A collective murmur of agreement rippled through them. Suzi slipped out of Guillermo, returning to her senses. She jolted to find Darcy standing at the foot of the bed, arms crossed, head cocked at an inquisitive angle.

“Jesus!” Suzi yelped.

Darcy smirked. “Not quite.” She patted her chest with both hands. “Dar-cy, remember?”

Suzi dragged a hand down her face, still half in a daze. “Did you catch the demon?”

Darcy’s lips twisted with annoyance. “No. He’s slippery as hell. The closer I got, the foggier my brain got, and I lost track. Then he vanished.”

“Seriously?” Suzi felt irritation spike. “You just left me here and—”

“Hey, I yelled at you for like a full minute. You were zoned out, meditating or something.”

Suzi sighed and swung her legs off the bed. “I need to bind that demon. He’s in me, and I can feel him trying to claw his way out. It’s like he’s tugging on my brain.”

Darcy raked her fingers through her damp hair. “Me too. He’s testing my will through you. Let’s do it now.”

“Bind him to what?”

A little shrug. “Anything solid. We like to use metal pipes or rebar when we can.”

Suzi’s mind flashed to the memory of the steel rebar in that damned factory. Suspicion flickered in her eyes. “Why metal?”

“It’s sturdy,” Darcy said with a casual wave. “Bear or Everett can explain in detail, but basically, you don’t want a flimsy binding. So, what do you have around here?”

Suzi shrugged. “Last time, I used my necklace and Rogziel’s Blade.”

“Necklace might be too fragile. A heavy purse?”

A perplexed laugh huffed out of Suzi. “Purse? Why the fuck would I need a purse for a demon?”

Darcy rolled her eyes. “We’re talking about a Nightmare Demon. If you bind him to something you can put over someone’s head, you can give them nightmares whenever you want. At least in theory.”

“You’re serious,” Suzi murmured, letting the idea sink in. She recalled what it felt like being in the same room as the Rage Demon bound to the Terror Blade. The pressure, the fear. Maybe this would be similar?

Darcy nodded. “He affects the mind. Putting that mind-affecting object around someone’s head is logical.”

“A hat, then?” Suzi offered weakly.

Darcy made a so-so gesture. “Could work, but hats are too flimsy.”

“What about a crown?”

Darcy grinned. “That’s a step up, but still not super secure. If people thrash in their sleep, it falls right off. A bag with a drawstring won’t just slip off.”

Suzi felt a wicked idea spark. “What if it’s something they can’t shake loose, no matter how hard they squirm?”

Darcy’s eyes shone with intrigue. “Like what?”

Suzi hopped off the bed and dove into the closet, rummaging through clothes, shoes, props. Tossed items flew out like she was frantic. Finally, she emerged, hands hidden behind her back. A slow grin spread across her face. “Don’t judge,” she warned. “It was for a costume. A friend made it—it’s top-notch quality.”

Darcy arched a brow. “Show me.”

Suzi revealed a leather bondage hood, complete with a zippered mouth, a thick, adjustable neck strap, and detachable blinders with solid steel fasteners. The leather gleamed with heavy stitching.

Darcy snorted, then burst into laughter. “That is fucking perfect!”