Suzi’s head snapped around at a burst of flame. Darcy appeared in a swirl of heat, holding an incandescent fireball in her right hand, eyes scanning the scene. She took one look at Suzi bound naked on a mattress, Doyle collapsed on the floor, and gave her wrist a small flick. The flames vanished, leaving a small crystalline ball that she shoved into her pocket.

Darcy asked, shooting Suzi a searing look. “Suzi? What the hell is going on here?”

Suzi’s tone dripped sarcasm. “I’m baking a fucking cake. What does it look like? For God’s sake, untie me?”

Darcy gave Doyle a quick once-over, kneeling to check his pulse. “Your ‘boyfriend’ here is still alive, but barely. We’d better get him to a hospital,” she decided, stripping the hood from his head, only to notice a nasty slash across the front of the leather. She seemed to take in the scuffed-up room: the bolted chair, the plastic table stacked with Suzi’s belongings, the IV lines. “Kinky,” she muttered.

“It’s not fucking kinky,” Suzi spat, tears threatening her eyes again. “He kidnapped me. Drugged me, raped me, tortured me. Let him die for all I care.”

A shadow flickered across Darcy’s face. “No. He’s human—and you used a demonic artifact on him. You can’t just let him die; you’ll face serious consequences.”

Suzi wrestled against her restraints, voice cracking with anger and humiliation. “He put that demon-laced hood on himself! Now, can you please untie me?”

Darcy studied her a moment, then crouched to undo the straps. “Isn’t this the asshole you and Jo work with?”

“Yes. His name is Doyle. Can you please untie me now?” Tears began to fill Suzi’s eyes.

“Baise-moi! You are having sex with this piece of shit? He’s not hideous, but he sounds like a real piece of work.”

“Not consensually, no. Now, can you please untie me?” Suzi asked, her aggravation steadily increasing, now openly crying.

Darcy bent and tapped him on a small, non-bloody part of his forehead, and he disappeared. “I heard he’s quick on the draw if you know what I mean.” She stood holding up the mask, sticking her other hand through the gash in the face of the mask. “Urzobach is gone too.” She surveyed the room's setup, examining the chair bolted to the floor, the plastic table with Suzi’s belongings, and finally, the IV device with a secondary vial of tranquilizer. “Kinky.”

As she tugged the Velcro free, Darcy asked, “What’s up with your tattoos?”

Suzi grimaced, hastily wrapping her dislocated arm in the satin blindfold as a makeshift sling. Her gaze trailed down the glistening ink smears across her arms and chest. “I don’t know,” she snapped, pressing a hand to the peachy fresh skin exposed beneath the fading designs. “It’s like they’re dissolving.”

Darcy perched on the plastic table, hands in her lap while Suzi painstakingly tried to get dressed. She twitched at every movement of her damaged arm. “I thought you’d run off again with your buddy,” Darcy explained, “but it looks like they were screwing you over here with electricity and sedation. That’d hide your aura.”

Suzi shuddered, pulling on the jeans Darcy had retrieved. “He said someone told him to do this. Pretty sure it was the demon in Jo’s body.”

“Shit. Did he say where she is?”

“Not that I recall.” Suzi zipped the pants, breathing in the sweet relief of being clothed. “I was in and out most of the time. What day is it, anyway?”

“Wednesday morning,” Darcy said. “December…uh, something. You’ve been MIA for three days, meaning we’ve got maybe two left to save Jo’s body. Where’s her essence?”

“In my fucking head,” Suzi ground out.

Darcy’s eyes flickered. “Uh-huh. Right.” She slid off the table. “I’m taking Romeo to the hospital, then heading back to HQ. Meet me there, pronto, oui?.”

Before Suzi could speak, Darcy stepped and disappeared. Suzi exhaled, annoyance flaring. She tried the same trick—step out—but nothing happened. No flicker, no swirl.

“What the—?” she repeated, her mind searching Guillermo for answers. She summoned the Dagger of Roanove, conferring with the other voices stirring restlessly behind her exhausted mind.

“Judas—why can’t we skip?” she demanded internally.

“I do not know,” the warrior persona admitted.

J snorted. “Lots of fucking help you are.”

Judas pressed on. “but it is possible that Judy somehow harnessed that ability. When she was impressed into Jo’s body, the ability transferred with her, and that is what gave the demon the option to use it.”

“Wasn’t it the ring, though?” Judith pressed.

“Unlikely. It is believed that the ring can only store one ability at a time and that was captured from the good doctor—his Death Reading,” Judas explained. “However, it is possible that the ring could have absorbed both abilities, and the Limbo Skipping is a lesser ability that would still allow us to store and summon the ring, but the addition of the Death Reading took it over the threshold that our body could store.”

“Either way, the ring or Judy, one was the reason we could Skip. We lost both simultaneously, so we need to get both back,” Suzi said with a sharp sigh.

“What happens if we somehow store too much power or will within us?” Ralph asked.

“We can’t. Our vessel prevents this to preserve itself. Otherwise it would be an explosion from which we would never recover.”

Darcy reappeared, brow drawn with effort. “What’re you waiting for? I’m burning serious will power skipping onto holy ground again.”

Suzi shrugged helplessly. “I can’t skip. My ability is gone.”

Darcy cursed under her breath. “Dammit.” She stretched a hand out. “Come on then. This is draining me, so don’t fuck around and drag your feet.”

Suzi clasped Darcy’s hand, and in a swirl of pressure, they landed in the training room at HQ. Darcy staggered from the energy expenditure, pressing a hand to her forehead. “Whoo,” she breathed. “I’m shot. The guys are in the relic room—head on through.”

“You okay?” Suzi asked, tucking her broken arm close.

Darcy just waved her off. “I’m fine. Go.”

Suzi hopped the broken threshold into the next space. She recognized the room: previously, there’d been a musty, bloody glyph. Now it was strewn with bizarre setups of rice in precise patterns, a chair in the center, and Bear hunched over a pile of grains with tweezers.

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“Please keep your distance,” Bear warned without looking up. “One misplaced step undoes hours of my work. Don’t cause me that grief.”

“What exactly are you doing?” Suzi asked, stopping short.

He let the tweezers sink a grain into place. “Setting a trap for the Chaos Demon. Each cluster is exactly ten thousand grains. They line up at twenty-seven point seven degrees around the center, where you’ll sit.”

“Why a Chaos Demon trap?” Suzi frowned.

Dr. Everett’s voice echoed from above. “It’s what we do,” he said, leaning over the railing of the loft. “We lure them, trap them, and re-purpose them.”

Suzi glanced up. “Repurpose, huh?” She trudged carefully around the rice lines to ascend the stairs. The doc looked exhausted, hair askew, elbows on the desk.

“You look like shit,” she said bluntly as she approached. “I feel like shit. I’ve gotta go check in at work. What’s your problem?”

Everett rubbed his temples. “Rough few days,” he admitted, standing up. “Haven’t slept.”

Suzi’s chest tightened in a wave of surprising empathy. “I’m flattered, but I’m okay now.”

His gaze flicked up, confusion crossing it. “You—? No. This is about Darcy. Tomorrow is—” He trailed off, looking deeply troubled.

“Tomorrow is what?” Suzi demanded, her words coming out too sharply. But Dr. Everett’s expression—it explained everything. Her stomach twisted in realization. “Oh. Shit.”

The day of Darcy’s death. She felt her bruised heart clench, remembering how Dr. Everett had once explained that everyone died eventually, and Darcy’s time was fixed.

“Yeah, obviously she doesn’t know.” Dr. Everett’s voice came out heavy, each syllable echoing the burden he carried.

Suzi sank onto the battered sofa, cradling her dislocated arm in a makeshift sling. The movement jarred her elbow, sending a piercing ache through her body. “And there’s nothing we can do to stop it?”

“No. Years back, I tried, but no matter what, it’s always inevitable.” Everett shrugged, but his eyes held regret.

“Does Bear know?” she asked numbly.

“Yeah, I told him. We’ve gone through a few of these ‘events’ before with other Kindred and Celestials in our midst.”

Suzi’s jaw tightened. “And there’s really nothing we can do?”

He shook his head, gaze drifting. “Nope. Best you can do is stay calm, support her. If you’re panicked and sobbing, it’s harder on them.”

Her throat constricted. Darcy had turned into a thorny friend, but still a friend. She knew the pain that was coming. Silence spread between them, thick with unspoken dread.

Finally Dr. Everett straightened. “Anyway, we need to talk about something else.” He laid a hand on a strange red-leather box on his desk, but at that moment, a chime rang out from the lower level, followed by low male voices. He snapped the box shut and they peered over the balcony, seeing Kyle’s massive frame walk in beside a drained, hollow-eyed Ricky. Kyle and Bear exchanged a hug and a quick kiss.

“That’s new,” Suzi murmured, her mood momentarily lightened as she hurried down the stairs.

She circled her good arm gently around Ricky, whose blank, haunted eyes spoke of days without sleep. She gave Kyle a playful punch in the shoulder—his only response was to flick an irritated glance her way, like a mosquito had buzzed in.

“Any news?” Ricky mumbled.

Suzi frowned, eyebrows knitting. “News about what?”

Bear stepped forward. “He’s talking about Ellie. We said we’d do what we could to locate her. Nothing so far.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here.” Suzi’s heart ached. God, she wanted to tell him everything: that Ellie was an Ascendant, that she’d had to run, that she might never come back. “I got…sidetracked.”

Kyle eyed her suspiciously. “Where have you been? And what’s up with your arm?”

Suzi’s voice hardened. “Escaping some psycho. Ricky, are you okay? Do you need something?”

His eyes welled. “I just need Ellie back. My whole life’s collapsed without her. I haven’t slept or eaten in days. I just—I don’t know why she left.”

She squeezed his hand, tears blurring her own sight. “We’ll find her,” she promised, though part of her heart crumbled with guilt for withholding Ellie’s true reason for leaving. “We will. I…I have to go. I’ll catch you all later.”

“Suzi!” Dr. Everett called after her, but she didn’t stop. She was already jogging for the exit.

A frigid gust slapped her face the moment she stepped outside. Three inches of snow, swirling wind—she had no coat, no gloves, no plan. She cursed under her breath, turning back, and nearly collided with Kyle and Ricky at the door.

“You’re a damn genius,” Kyle teased wryly.

“Shut up. Give me a ride to the funeral home?” she asked, contrite and freezing.

“Where’s your truck?” Kyle raised an eyebrow.

Suzi paused, mind racing. “At the funeral home,” she lied. Better to keep it simple.

Ricky frowned. “Then how’d you get here?”

She set her jaw. “Does it matter? Darcy brought me, okay?”

“Whatever.” Kyle shrugged, unlocked his SUV. Suzi hopped in the back seat, grateful for the heat blasting from the vents. She closed her eyes, longing for a hot shower to wash away the last three days, wishing she could tell Ricky the truth but knowing Ellie’s choice was hers alone to explain.

The drive passed in strained silence. By the time Kyle parked outside Eternal Springs, Suzi’s stomach was churning with residual dread. She reached for Ricky’s shoulder. “Hey, Rick—” She almost told him about Ellie, but bit it back, whispering instead, “I’m here for you, okay?”

He patted her hand faintly. She hopped out, slammed the door, and raced for the warmth of the lobby. Her lungs seized at the cold, and her dislocated arm screamed in protest. Gracie Lynn stood at the desk, shock blossoming on her features the moment she saw Suzi.

“Suzi? Why—?”

“Is your dad in? I need to talk to him,” Suzi said, already beelining for Nick’s office.

She burst in, ignoring the surprise on Nick’s face, as well as Pankaj Singh’s presence—both men apparently mid-handshake, all smiles.

Nick cocked his head. “Suzi, come in. You here to clear out your things?”

Her confusion flared. “Wait, what? I just—”

“You resigned,” Nick said flatly, tapping his phone. “Via text message, no less. Not exactly professional.”

“I never did that!” she insisted.

Nick moved his phone to the center of his desk and opened his text app. Scrolling to Suzi’s name, he read: “Hey Nick, This is Suzi. I’ve decided that I no longer wish to work for you so consider this my resignation, effective immediately.”

“Nick, that wasn’t from me. Why would I tell you that it was me? We text all the time.”

But suddenly all the puzzle pieces clicked—someone texted from her phone or spoofed her number. She recalled the text that had lured her in Sunday also called out that it was ‘Nick.’

“Son of a bitch,” she mumbled. “I can show you on my phone—” she pulled her own phone out of her pocket.

Nick silenced her with a raised palm. “Suzi, we talked about this. Your attendance has been erratic at best. Now this. Not to mention Gracie Jo’s been a no-call for days, Doyle missing today too.”

“I know. And I’m sorry—”

He cut her off again. “Sorry doesn’t keep my funeral home open. I tried to be patient, but I can only do so much.”

Her mind reeled: I can help you, Nick. I can cure your cancer. But if he wouldn’t let her, what else could she do?

“What about everything else? Your cancer? The business? My patent! Eternal Springs is the launch pad for 3D Reconstruction. It’s poised to make you millions. You could grow your business—”

He rubbed his temples. “It’s unfortunate, but PJ and I reached an arrangement. After I’m gone, he’ll be the sole proprietor of the business.”

"Nick, this is your legacy! No offense to you, PJ, but he’ll sell out to one of those corporations that have been circling you.”

Pankaj lifted his finger in protest and began to speak. Suzi glared at Pankaj, and she snapped, “Zip it, PJ.”

Nick stood, frustration shaking his voice. “He’s run my West location twenty years. If he wants to sell to those underselling, mass marketing, discount mother—” Nick’s emotion got the better of him and took a deep breath.

He sat and continued, “Look, Suzi. I cannot pretend to know what you are going through, but I think you need some counseling. If you say you did not resign, fine. But you are not fit to run my business. I need you at work, or I need you to get your things and go.”

“Nick—” Suzi sighed in defeat.

She swallowed the urge to scream. Because everything he said was true. He had a business to run. She had other priorities. She had to find Jo. She knew Doyle wouldn’t be working, and a lengthy prison time was possible. Her celestial duties quickly took over her life, and she had not gotten to see Aiden in almost a week. She did not need the money, but she loved the work. She gave up her life with her husband to pursue her career, and Nick gave her that chance. She loved Nick like a father. His terminal diagnosis—the fact that she could save him weighed heavily.

“You are right. I’m not fit. I’m not in a good headspace right now. If you would please consider the continued sponsorship of the 3D Reconstruction prototype, until I get the patent approved. I can still come in and do those, or Jo can take—”

“Jo is fired, Suzi. She’s not come to work. She’s not called. I know she was your protégé, I just hope you haven’t gotten her into whatever the hell you are into as well.”

Suzi hung her head because she knew she had gotten Jo into the same hell, possibly worse, as what she was into.

Suzi’s shoulders sagged in defeat. “All right,” she mumbled. “I’ll pack my things. Thanks for everything, Nick.”

His sigh echoed sorrow. “I’m disappointed, Suzi. You had so much promise. If you get your head on straight and I’m still around, maybe there’s a place for you here again.”