Suzi’s eyes shot open, a dull ache blooming behind her skull, the sound of metal clanging against concrete just on the edge of her awareness. She was laying on a soft, cushioned surface, no restraints, no pain—nothing holding her down. Yet, a queasy knot twisted in her gut, like the aftershock of a motion sickness episode or trying to read while someone else sped down a highway.
She sat up slowly, blinking, trying to adjust her eyes to whatever unfamiliar place she found herself in.
“Good evening,” a voice called out, smooth and cool, coming from behind her. “There’s a can to your right if you’re about to lose your lunch.”
Suzi jerked her head in that direction, a quick “No, I’m not—urk.” The words barely formed before the rush of nausea hit. She fumbled for the trashcan, her stomach heaving as she emptied the contents of her stomach—chicken quesadilla, mostly.
The man’s laugh echoed, low and amused. “Everyone gets sick the first time.”
Suzi gagged one last time before wiping her mouth and spitting. “Their first time what?” she rasped.
“Limbo traveling,” he replied. “Probably for the best you don’t remember it all yet. Your body’s still reacting strongly, even though you were unconscious.”
A cool, damp hand towel appeared before her, and her gaze slowly trailed up the hand, the sleeve of a tweed jacket, a clean-shaven jaw, and then…a face she didn’t recognize. But something about him, something familiar about the tanned skin and athletic build, tugged at her brain.
“Thanks,” she muttered, then stared up at him. “Can you tell me why the hell I’m here? And more importantly, what the hell limbo traveling is?”
The man simply sat beside her, facing her fully, an easy smile playing on his lips. He didn’t say anything.
Suzi’s gaze sharpened, her irritation bubbling over. She raised an eyebrow, arms crossing over her chest. “Well…?”
He didn’t respond. Just smiled.
She looked him over: sharp jawline, a dimpled chin, golden-brown eyes that glinted with something like amusement. A hint of cologne teased at her senses.
Calvin Klein’s Obsession.
A sudden recognition struck her like a prod to her posterior, and Suzi shot to her feet, her heart hammering in her chest. “Dr. Adamson!?”
The man’s smile widened. “Hello, Suzi. I thought for sure the tweed jacket would’ve given it away.”
“You… You’re—young!”
He raised a hand, as if dismissing her surprise. “You don’t look like you’re 45 anymore, either.”
“46,” she corrected, staring at him, still in disbelief.
“Ah, right. It was the week of your birthday.”
She shook her head, her mind racing, but she steadied herself. “I’ve been looking for you. I need answers.”
“I know,” he replied, his smile softening. “That’s why I had Darcy bring you here. But first things first… It’s not Adamson anymore. You’ll call me Dr. Everett.”
“You changed your looks—and your name.” Slowly, realization crept over her, the pieces of the long game falling into place.
“Yes,” he agreed. “We celestials have to hop through time, lifetime by lifetime. We can’t keep the same names each generation.”
“I’ve been at this for two weeks. What the hell is going on, Everett? What do we do?”
The man sighed, something almost condescending in the gesture. “I thought you’d be further along by now.”
“I know I’m a celestial,” she spat, her voice tight with frustration. “An angel told me that. And I know I can capture demons—bind them to things.”
“Ah, a Binder,” Everett mused, intrigued. “That’s valuable. What else did your angel tell you?”
“Wait.” Suzi frowned, narrowing her eyes. “Why is that ‘valuable’? Can’t you bind, too?”
The door behind her opened, and in stepped a massive figure—a large Native American man, like a body builder, but not nearly as large as Kyle. His skin gleamed with sweat, shirtless, his muscles taut beneath the blue tattoos of animals that snaked across his body, with long black hair tied back. He wiped his brow with a leather-gloved hand, his chest rising and falling with each breath.
“The cage is ready for the bait, C,” he rumbled, his voice deep, gravelly.
Everett stood and offered the man a hand. “Suzi, this is Barron Whitecrow. Bear, this is Suzi Bachman.”
Suzi stood as well, extending a hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“The Demon Reaper in the flesh,” Bear said with a smile, his gaze lingering over her. “Heard a lot about you.” He raised his gloved hands, indicated towards his sweaty body, “You’ll have to forgive me.”
“Bear’s a Shapeshifter,” Everett explained. “Darcy, whom you’ve met, is a Limbo Skipper. I’m a Death Reader. Celestials all have unique skills. And no, we can’t all bind like you can—unless we use artifacts. But the core of our powers is the same: will and energy. We all have to exert our will to use our abilities.”
Suzi turned her gaze back to the massive man in front of her, still dripping with sweat, her mind trying to catch up. “You’re a shapeshifter?”
Bear raised his arms with a sigh. “Why do they always look at me like that? Like Limbo Skipping and Death Reading are believable, but shifting is a stretch?”
“I’m sorry,” Suzi muttered, awkwardly shifting on her feet. “I didn’t mean—”
“It’s okay.” Bear’s smile was sharp, showing off pointed teeth as he blinked—not with human eyelids, but with reptilian membranes that slid across his eyes. His tongue flicked out, long and forked.
A cold shiver crawled up Suzi’s spine, and her instincts screamed at her to run.
“Bleh…” her personalities groaned, shivering in disgust, but Suzi fought to keep her composure. She swallowed, forced a smile, and turned back to Everett.
“What the hell is a Death Reader, then?” she asked, trying to shake the image of Bear’s eyes from her mind.
“When I touch someone, I get a vision of how or when they’ll die. Sometimes, if there’s a culprit, I see who, why, or what method, too.”
Suzi raised an eyebrow. “So, what’d you see when you touched me?”
Everett leaned back, his gaze sharp. “Ah, sharing that information is unhealthy. It could drive you mad.”
Suzi laughed but couldn’t hide the knot tightening in her stomach. “Fair enough. Do you see your own death?”
That drew a hearty laugh from Bear, and Suzi blinked, confused.
“No, I don’t see my own death,” Everett said, his voice level. “Celestials can only die by one method, which is unknown to us. Anything else that would normally kill a human, we just heal from and then reanimate. Our minds never know or process the passages of time.”
Suzi furrowed her brow, turning to Bear. “Why’s that funny?”
Bear shot a sideways glance at Everett. “He spent, what?” Bear chuckled, eyes gleaming. “A thousand years trying to off himself. If he could see his own death, and he tried all those ways, he’d be a fucking masochist.”
The doctor glared at him, but his lips twitched.
“Anyways,” Everett cut in, “You weren’t there. You just heard the stories.”
“A thousand years?” Suzi gasped. “How old are you? How long have you been doing this?”
Everett gave a small shrug. “Been doing this for a while. You’ll get the full story eventually. But for now...” His eyes were back on her, calculating.
She wasn’t about to let it slide. “But you know how or when Bear and I will die, right?”
He stared at her, then looked away, nodding once.
Bear straightened up, clearing his throat. “I’ll wake Darcy and have her get ready.”
“Ask her to come here,” Everett said, his tone low. “I want her to meet Suzi properly now that she’s part of the team.”
Bear clasped his hands together and bowed deep. “Yes, master.”
Everett threw a book at him, but Bear dodged it with ease, laughing as he left the room.
Suzi blinked, unsure of the sudden shift in tension. “That reminds me,” she asked. “Why’d you send me Miraleth’s Pellet?”
Everett’s eyes lit up. “Oh, good! You mastered it. Honestly wasn’t sure you’d pull it off.”
Suzi’s mind started running a hundred miles an hour, trying to piece together what he was implying.
“If he knew we were Celestial, then he knew the only way out was to master it or retire willingly,” Judith’s voice echoed in her mind.
“Unless he didn’t know how to master it,” Ralph added. “Maybe the codex didn’t say it absorbs a Celestial. Judas said it’s just thrown and hits something, right?”
“Huh? What codex?” Annie chimed in, clearly lost in the conversation.
“We mastered it. So he sees us as worthy,” Judas added, her tone dry.
Everett’s grin faltered. “I hope you’ve got it somewhere safe. It’s a valuable artifact. Don’t tell me it’s just sitting on your coffee table.”
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“No way,” Suzi scoffed. “That’d be insane. Besides, I don’t even own a coffee table.”
“Didn’t we leave it on the kitchen counter?” Annie asked.
“Shut the hell up, Annie,” Judy snapped.
Suzi narrowed her eyes. “But seriously, why’d you send it to me?”
Everett’s face hardened, losing its humor. “Because it’s important to you.”
“Important to me?” Suzi snapped, her patience slipping. “What the hell does that mean?”
Before he could answer, the door opened. A young woman with strawberry-blond hair in a crew cut walked in, wearing a dark green hoodie with the hood pulled back. She froze, her eyes locking on Suzi. “How the hell did you get in here?”
Everett sighed, turning toward the girl. “Darcy, this is Suzi. Suzi, this is Darcy Jean.”
Darcy looked between them like she’d just caught a fly in the air. “Yeah, we’ve met.” She smirked. “The Demon Reaper. You don’t look like much, honestly. And if you ever come into my room without my permission again, we’ll have some serious problems, j'ai compris?”
Suzi blinked, utterly confused. “Uh... oui? But I haven’t left this room. I literally just woke up.”
“She’s been here with me, Darce,” Everett confirmed, his voice carrying a note of finality.
Darcy stared at them, clearly unsure whether they were fucking with her, then bolted out the door.
“What the hell was that about?” Suzi asked.
Everett, his brow furrowed, shook his head. “I’m not sure. Let me talk to her.”
Suzi glanced around the room, feeling out of place. “Hey, can you point me to the bathroom?”
“I’ll show you. It’s on the way,” Everett offered.
He led her to a washroom, then continued down the hall, knocking on the next door. Suzi splashed water on her face, still tasting the remnants of vomit. As she stared at her reflection, she could feel the weight of everything that was happening pressing down on her.
A knock at the door startled her. She gripped the sink, her pulse racing as she opened the door. No one was there.
“Hello?” she called, stepping into the hall.
She glanced left, toward where Everett had disappeared, then right, toward the room she had awoken in. Suddenly, a hand gripped her shoulder and shoved her hard. The world blurred.
Reality shattered. The hallway stretched, splitting into infinity. Standing face-to-face with Darcy,
“Where is it?” Darcy hissed, her eyes glowing wild, like a predator stalking its prey.
Suzi jerked, her voice shaking. “Let go of me!”
“The Dagger of Roanove,” Darcy growled, her voice low and menacing. “You took it from my room. I want it back. Now.”
Suzi’s confusion was replaced by rage. “I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. I’ve never even been in your room, let alone heard of the Dagger of Roanove.”
She expected Judas to rattle off the history and usage of the item, but the warrior was quiet.
Darcy’s lips curled into a wicked grin. “Fine. I’ll find it myself.”
She stepped back and disappeared into thin air, leaving Suzi alone in the surreal, twisting hall. The echoes of reality warped around her. The hall stretched further than she could fathom, and her body felt disconnected. She reached out, and even her arm seemed to separate the further she reached. She saw one arm, five elbows, twenty-five hands, although many of them overlapped a portion and hundreds of fingers.
“What the hell is this place?” she asked, her voice cracking in the void.
“Thin Limbo,” Judas’s voice answered, though it wasn’t in her head.
Suzi spun around, disoriented. She caught a glimpse of herself, her mind warping with the disjointed sensation. “What the hell is ‘Thin Limbo’?”
“It’s the veil between reality and the Ethereal Plane. A gap between space and time,” Judas explained, her tone detached.
“How the hell do we get out?”
“We can’t,” Judas’s voice echoed coldly. “At least not on our own. We find Darcy. She’s a Limbo Skipper. This is how she traps demons.”
Suzi pushed forward, her breath hitching with every step. The hallway stretched endlessly before her, mocking her efforts. No matter how hard she tried, her feet landed in the same goddamn spot, as if the ground beneath her was a cruel loop, erasing her progress with every attempt.
“Or we wait for her to find the Dagger of Roanove and free us,” Judas suggested.
“Fuck that,” Suzi muttered, eyes burning with frustration. “I don’t trust her. She’ll leave us here forever.”
Judas was quiet for a long moment. “You could meditate. Finish the transition into the Ether and return to reality.”
Suzi didn’t hesitate. She sat cross-legged on the ground, focusing on her breath, on the pull of the golden cord she knew would lead her to the Ether. The moment she made the connection, her mind exploded into a blaze of color and sensation.
As she always did once in the Ether, she thought of Aiden. She saw his pale blue aura, lying in a slightly elevated position, as he’d been in for the last week, although it felt much longer. Confident she had beaten the Limbo Skipping bitch at her own game, Suzi pulled the golden cord and felt her consciousness return to her body.
Suzi opened her eyes, blinking as her vision fought against the stretching, endless hall. Her heart sank. “God damn it!” She was still trapped in this never-ending space.
Frustration clawed at her chest, but she refused to stop. Her eyes locked onto the bathroom doorframe ahead. If walking wouldn’t work, she’d drag herself forward by sheer will alone. She reached out, fingers trembling, and gripped the frame like a lifeline.
The moment she pulled, pain exploded in her shoulders, radiating down her arms as if her muscles were tearing apart one fiber at a time. Her legs felt like lead, each step forward a battle against invisible chains trying to yank her back. She gritted her teeth, a guttural sound escaping her throat as she dragged her body inch by agonizing inch.
It was slow. Exhausting. Each movement cost more than she thought she had left to give. Her lungs burned as though she’d been running for hours, though she’d barely made it a few feet. When she finally reached the corner of the wall, it felt like a hollow victory—like she’d just crawled through hell and barely survived.
Suzi leaned heavily against the cold surface, her back pressed flat against it as she fought to catch her breath. Her hand clung to the corner, knuckles white with tension, unwilling to let go. Her heart pounded in her chest, every beat echoing in her ears.
Lying flat on the floor, her body screamed for a break, but there was no way in hell she was going to just sit there and waste time feeling sorry for herself. She needed to move. And right now, moving was everything. Maybe, just maybe, if she pulled herself a few feet closer to the corner, she could push off and launch herself further.
She dragged her body across the floor, her limbs heavy, each inch like she was fighting through molasses. Finally, her feet brushed against the corner, and she pushed—hard.
It felt like she was carrying a goddamn truck on her back, the wall should've crumpled under the pressure, but it didn't. The hall held steady. She gritted her teeth and pushed again, feeling her muscles straining, her breath shallow.
Minutes passed. Her arms were extended fully in front of her, her toes barely brushing the corner. She was stretched out as far as she could go, and yet, the damn doorframe was still a foot away. The wall, the space, the damn hall—it felt like everything was fighting against her.
Exhausted. She should’ve been drenched in sweat, but there was no sweat. No nothing. Just a dull ache in every joint, every muscle. She turned onto her back, heaving, but something felt off. The air wasn’t moving.
Testing it, she grabbed a coin from her pocket and flicked it. It felt too heavy—like a manhole cover, not a coin. The damn thing barely spun, but when it left her hand, it just hung there. Like time had stopped. Like nothing mattered.
“What the hell...?” Suzi muttered, staring at the coin suspended in the air.
“We are between space and time. Between reality and the Ether,” Judas' voice rang out from her mouth, calm but distant. She hadn’t even realized she was speaking. “Time doesn’t pass here. We only perceive it. What’s happening in the hall... it’s all happening in a fraction of an instant, to everyone else.”
“So, what? To everyone else, I’m just hugging the wall and pushing myself down the hall in a fraction of a second?” Suzi's voice felt too small, too quiet in her head, but the words still came out. She felt an annoying blush of embarrassment creep up her neck.
“Yeah. They probably wouldn’t even notice,” Judas said, unbothered.
“Then why the hell is it so hard to move?” She couldn’t stop herself from growling. Her entire body ached with frustration.
“Space doesn’t exist here. You’re trying to traverse something that isn’t even here. The wall’s just a thing you can grab hold of as a permanent structure. Without it, there’s nothing to move against.”
Suzi’s mind raced. She closed her eyes for a second, trying to pull it together. They were stuck. Completely fucking stuck.
“I can’t move off the wall any further,” she said, voice quiet, defeated. “I have nothing to grab, nothing to pull.”
Annie, the one who always had an idea, good or bad, piped up. “Sure we do. Grab the carpet.”
“Are you out of your mind?” Judy shot back. “That won’t work.”
Annie didn’t back down. “I’ve had enough rug burns to know better! Plus, the wall didn’t even crack when we pushed off of it. The pressure we’re feeling here isn’t the same that the wall felt, so I’m guessing the carpet will hold.”
“Worth a shot,” Suzi muttered. She turned to her stomach, hands scrabbling at the carpet’s knap, fingers digging in with everything she had.
An hour later, her fingers were raw, her arms shaking with the strain, but she was moving. Slowly. Painfully. Every pull felt like it was tearing her muscles apart. She reached the doorframe, something solid she could finally use for leverage. Every inch felt like it took forever, each movement slow, agonizing, but she made it.
She stood, barely. Her knees buckled beneath her as she braced herself against the doorframe, her body threatening to give out, but she pushed through, leaning on the handle. At first, she thought it was locked, but then she realized—it wasn’t locked. It just needed more pressure. Just like everything else here.
Finally, with a groan, she pressed her weight into the door, feeling it give. The sound of creaking hinges echoed, reverberating infinitely in the stillness. She squeezed her body through the gap, the air thick and strange, like it was pressing back against her.
She stepped into a room, a small living space. Books sat on a shelf, their spines worn and weathered. The corners of the room were twisted, warped, repeating on themselves in the same way the hall did—nothing made sense. A single bed sat across from her. Darcy, asleep, her figure glowing faintly, golden but not bright enough to be an aura. Suzi frowned.
She crouched low, pushing off the floor with her feet. This was easier, less painful. She moved forward, her foot landing on the bookshelf for leverage. She was close enough to reach the bedframe now.
Her hands slid under the frame, pulling herself forward until she was standing. Her pulse quickened. She wanted to wake Darcy up and scream at her, but there was something else, something pulling at her—a nagging, subtle pull to make this moment feel right.
Darcy had sharp features, a jawline so sharp it could cut glass, and her chest looked almost too flat—either a chest binder or wrap, Suzi guessed.
Suzi’s own body had regressed to her mid-20s with no effort. And Dr. Adamson—or Dr. Everett, as he now called himself—was around the same age. But Darcy? She looked like she was in her teens. By choice?
The urge to strangle her flickered, but Suzi stopped herself. No. This girl was asleep, calm, peaceful, and that pissed Suzi off even more. Suzi stared at Darcy’s sleeping face. Quiet. Serene. So fucking calm. There was a faint warmth about her, like she was hiding something, something that felt far too comfortable for someone in a goddamn dimension like this.
No. She wasn’t about to kill her. But she couldn’t resist waking her up. With a gentle poke to the shoulder, reality slammed into her. It hit her like a freight train. Her joints popped, her vision solidified, everything snapped into place—pain, excruciating but so fucking glorious.
She stood, groaning, her body instantly weary, but the sensation was... real. Like she was finally grounded in something solid. She wanted to crawl into that bed and sleep until the world stopped spinning.
She glanced around. The door was still shut. The nightstand near the bed held a book—well-worn, its cover falling apart. A drawer beneath it was slightly ajar, and something glimmered from the gap.
“What’s in there?” Suzi muttered, before Darcy stirred.
“Can I help you?” Darcy asked, sitting up, her voice smooth, calm, like this was a normal day.
Suzi clenched her jaw. “Surprised to see me?”
“Suzi, right?” Darcy didn’t seem fazed. “I assume you’ve talked with the ringleader?”
“Ringleader? You mean Dr. Everett?” Suzi snapped.
Before Darcy could answer, a knock on the door sounded.
“Yeah?” Darcy called.
“Darce. He wants to see you. We gotta get the trap ready,” came the deep voice of Bear.
Suzi’s confusion grew.
“Okay, I’ll be right out,” Darcy said, standing up.
Suzi’s head was spinning. There was so much happening at once, so much she didn’t understand.
“Are you okay?” Darcy asked. “Sit down. I’ll be right back.” She gently pushed Suzi onto the bed before walking out.
Wait a second, Suzi thought. Shouldn’t Bear have already taken Darcy? They’d been talking to Dr. Everett right after Bear left.
“And she told us the first time we met her that if we entered her room without permission again...” Judith’s voice echoed in her head.
Suzi looked around, her heart pounding. “Meaning we’ve been in here already,” she said aloud.
“Impossible,” James disagreed.
“Yet here we are,” Suzi muttered, glancing at the drawer again.
Excited, Annie’s voice rang out. “Did we find the Flux Capacitor?”
Her hand reached for the drawer’s handle. The glimmering object inside caught her attention—a small, golden dagger, its handle simple, unembellished, almost childlike in design, no larger than a letter opener, with a black, leather sleeve.
“The Dagger of Roanove,” Judas exhaled.
“So, she found it and left us in that pocket dimension?” Annie asked.
Understanding settling, Suzi replied, “No. For her, it’s not missing yet. She returns to the room to discover it missing.”
The ever-cautious J spoke up, “Simple enough. We wait until she returns and show her we don’t have it.”
“We have to take it,” Judas stated.
Judith agreed, “Judas is right. It'll create a paradox if it’s not missing when she returns.”
She pulled it out, the cold metal in her hand, and the instant the sheath fell away, a brilliant flash of golden light flooded the room, blinding her.
And then, everything changed.