Chapter 60: Jess

Jess hated not knowing things. Unfortunately, the last two weeks of her life had apparently become a masterclass in exactly that. She stood barefoot in the middle of the luxury apartment someone had moved her into three hours earlier, staring out at the city skyline through massive floor-to-ceiling windows while trying very hard not to spiral. The apartment itself was beautiful in an aggressively expensive way. Dark wood floors. Soft lighting. Furniture that looked like nobody was actually allowed to sit on it comfortably. Safehouse chic. Which honestly sounded like something Rowan would say sarcastically before stealing all the expensive snacks. Jess missed her already. Her phone sat on the kitchen counter nearby. She had checked it at least twelve times in the last five minutes despite the fact Rowan had texted her less than an hour ago.

Rowan:

Still alive.

Still dramatic.

Will explain later.

Jess had immediately replied:

Jess:

That explanation better include why supernatural stalkers apparently know where I live.

No response yet.

Rude.

Jess crossed her arms and stared harder out the window like that might somehow make the situation feel less insane. It did not. Nothing about this felt normal anymore. Not Rowan suddenly developing supernatural political problems. Not Corvin appearing everywhere like a beautifully dressed cryptid. Not Taryn casually relocating her between buildings with the energy of someone changing dinner reservations. And definitely not the feeling that had started following Jess around over the last few days. The awareness. At first she thought it was anxiety. Stress. Adrenaline. Now she was not so sure. The apartment felt wrong in subtle ways she could not fully explain. Not dangerous exactly. Just heavy. Like the air carried pressure beneath it. Every once in a while she caught herself noticing things she should not have noticed at all. The shift of movement in the hallway outside before footsteps reached the door. The strange pulse behind certain lights. The way some rooms felt colder even when the temperature never changed. Jess rubbed both hands over her face.

“Cool,” she muttered to herself. “Love whatever supernatural mental breakdown this is.”

A knock sounded at the door. She jumped hard enough to swear immediately afterward.

“Jesus Christ.”

The knock came again. More patient this time. Jess walked toward the door carefully, irritation slowly replacing surprise. Nobody had actually told her whether she was supposed to answer the door in the supernatural safehouse situation. Excellent security system. She checked the peephole first. Then immediately regretted it. Malric stood outside looking completely relaxed, like he had not personally contributed to most of the stress currently ruining her life. Jess opened the door halfway.

“No.”

Malric blinked once.

“No?”

“No. Whatever this is, I’m emotionally unavailable for it.”

A faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

“You sound like Rowan.”

“That’s because she raised me emotionally.”

“I’m fairly certain that’s not how friendship works.”

“You’d be surprised.”

Malric leaned lightly against the doorframe.

“You’re adjusting well.”

Jess stared at him suspiciously.

“That sounded dangerously close to a compliment.”

“It wasn’t intended that way.”

“See, that somehow made it worse.”

To her annoyance, he actually laughed quietly. Jess opened the door slightly wider, mostly because curiosity kept making terrible decisions for her.

“You know,” she said, “every time you appear unexpectedly, my life gets significantly more complicated.”

“That seems statistically unfair to me.”

“You are literally a demon.”

“Half demon.”

Jess pointed at him immediately.

“That clarification does not help.”

Malric’s attention shifted slightly then, subtle enough most people probably would not have noticed. Jess did. His expression changed. The humor faded first. Then his focus sharpened completely onto her. Every instinct in Jess’s body tightened unexpectedly.

“What,” she said slowly.

Malric studied her in silence for one long second.

“Well,” he said quietly, “that’s inconvenient.”

Jess folded her arms automatically.

“You people say things like that entirely too often.”

“You’re changing faster than expected.”

Jess stared at him.

“Nope. Absolutely not. That is Rowan’s storyline. You do not get to put supernatural mutation energy on me too.”

A faint smile returned briefly, though this one looked distracted.

“I’m serious.”

Something colder moved through Jess’s stomach. Not fear exactly. Awareness. Like some buried instinct recognized the tension underneath his voice before her brain caught up. The apartment suddenly felt quieter.

Jess frowned slightly.

“What’s wrong.”

Malric looked toward the windows overlooking the city.

“You feel it already, don’t you?”

Jess hated that question immediately.

“Feel what.”

Instead of answering, Malric walked slowly into the apartment past her. Jess shut the door behind him, more unsettled by his silence than anything else. He stopped near the center of the living room, attention shifting toward the skyline outside. Jess watched him carefully. For the first time since meeting him, he looked genuinely focused instead of theatrically annoying.

That felt significantly worse.

“Malric.”

“There’s pressure moving through the city.”

Jess crossed her arms tighter.

“That sentence sounds fake.”

“It isn’t.”

He finally looked back toward her then.

“And the fact you can feel it at all is the problem.”

The room fell silent. Jess opened her mouth to argue. Then stopped. Because beneath her irritation sat something uncomfortable. He was right. She had felt it. But something in the city had felt wrong since she arrived here. Like static building before a storm. Jess looked away first.

“I hate this.”

“I know.”

“That answer was way too gentle. Don’t do that again.”

To her surprise, his expression softened slightly.

“You’re frightened.”

“I’m trying not to be.”

The honesty slipped out before she could stop it. Malric stayed quiet for a moment.

Then:

“You’re doing better than most humans would.”

Jess narrowed her eyes slightly.

“That’s a weird way to phrase that.”

Malric’s attention sharpened almost immediately.

Jess sighed softly and crossed her arms.

“Fine. This conversation is about to get weird.”

“That’s rarely new.”

She walked toward the windows before continuing.

“When I was younger, something happened. I got scared and…” She hesitated briefly. “I ended up in the air.”

The silence behind her was immediate.

Jess glanced back.

“…Yeah. That reaction is why I don’t talk about it.”

“You flew,” Malric said carefully.

“Apparently.”

Jess leaned against the counter.

“My parents had no idea what I was. They just knew I wasn’t normal.” A faint smile touched her face. “Some one saw me. They told me I had angel blood.”

Malric stayed completely still. Jess rubbed a hand over her arm.

“My parents basically decided the safest thing was pretending I was as normal as possible.” She shrugged lightly. “So that’s what we did.”

“And you never met anyone else like you?”

Jess shook her head.

“No. Mostly I ignored it until recently.”

His expression shifted slightly.

“Recently.”

“Yeah,” she admitted quietly. “Things are getting stronger.”

The apartment fell silent again. Jess frowned at him.

“Okay, now you’re doing the creepy quiet thing.”

Malric looked toward the city lights before answering.

“There’s something you should probably know.”