"Shove her into the realm or kill her."

Avery snickered. Oh, he knew which of those options Ada preferred, and it rubbed him the wrong way.

"Killing her would be best, according to you, I presume?" He narrowed his gaze as he approached her; she inched backwards, her limbs curling inward in apprehension. She'd never feared him before, nor should she have, as there was nothing he could physically do to hurt her.

But if he'd somehow intimidated her, made it clear to her he wasn't messing around, then that was enough for him. For now.

"It's more final," said Ada, muttering her words. She zoomed out of Avery's way and reappeared to the side of him, but out of reach. "I understand the difficulty, I do. But if you want to help, like you said you did, then this is how you do it. Be reasonable, Avery. She's one woman, and though I see you care for her, you were never meant to develop anything more than a supernatural bond formed by a prophecy. You and her, you're not..." Ada winced, and turned away. "Not soulmates. That's not what this link between you means."

His jaw clenched, his fists tightened, his feet planted hard to the ground—but he didn't have a verbal response to offer her.

He did nothing to counter Ada's words, because deep below his rage, his disappointment, he knew she was right. Were soulmates even a real thing? Care for Jessamine as he might, they weren't meant to be. He wasn't meant to be with anyone, he thought. And Jessamine was meant to unleash chaos, or die trying.

He pressed a tightened fist to his mouth and closed his eyes. "I know. I know and still it fucking hurts."

He recalled Jamie's warnings the night before, his threats. He recalled the gun, the fight in front of the car, and Jessamine's figure in the night as she walked towards the house, leaving them both behind. That had been his opportunity—shoot her in the back, tackle her, tie her up, throw her in the trunk of the vehicle and take her away. He hadn't reacted fast enough—he hadn't reacted at all. No, he'd been too soft, too absorbed in his growing feelings for her. And that had given her time to destabilize him, to nearly neutralize him, and enter the house.

He could have entered it, too. But he'd been so stunned, stuck on the ground and watching her go fulfill her destiny. Jamie was partially knocked out, but he'd been waving at Avery, yelling at him to do something, now!

Avery did nothing. What would come next, whatever was in store for the world, it was on Avery's shoulders. His weight to bear, his responsibility to carry.

He had been hoping to throw her into the realm, though. Killing her was final, like Ada said, and he didn't want that. What if there was a possibility she'd rid herself of the demons once in their dimension? What if there was a way to then get her out, demon-free, back to her normal self?

He'd also thought being in the realm itself might kill her. That it would attack her for showing up, for failing. Then again, he'd gone into that world with opposite intentions, and he'd survived. He, a regular human, hadn't died from his time in the demonic realm, so maybe she wouldn't either. And maybe the demons wouldn't leave her body, but they'd relentlessly seek a means to escape again, to resume their actions where they left off—

No, he had to end her. A bullet to her brain, a slice of a machete across her throat, plunging a knife into her belly. However he could, with whatever force he could muster, he had to kill Jessamine.

How do you kill a woman who's a container for thousands of overpowered, incredibly intelligent demons?

Visions of blood pooled into his mind. His blood, Jessamine's, Jamie's, even Amy's. Gushing down the dusty stairs inside the house, dripping from the ceiling, magically rushing up from the basement. Swirling down door-frames, skidding along floor-boards, pouring out the front door and staining the front lawn. The horror of it all, pulsating, shooting out, bursting and blasting all over the walls—

"Avery," said Jamie, his voice coming from far, far away. "Avery, dude, snap out of it."

When Avery opened his eyes—he didn't even realize they were closed—he was on the ground. Curled up, aches flaring up and down his spine, his arms and legs tense, rigid.

"What the—" he unfolded his limbs and stretched out his legs with a grimace. "What the fuck happened?"

"You were standing there, muttering to yourself, or to Ada, I couldn't tell," said Jamie, his kind face coming into focus as Avery rubbed his eyes. He was hovering over Avery, blocking out the sky overhead.

Avery was on his back, gritting his teeth, readjusting his jaw as if it had become unhinged. "Help me up," he said, extending his arm.

He flinched as Jamie's beard scratched his cheek when he grabbed Avery under the arm-pits to heave him up. He'd forgotten how weirdly strong Jamie was, and stood dizzily in front of him as Jamie ensured he was stable.

"You good?" He had an analytic look in his light eyes, one that he'd only had when he'd visited Avery in the hospital after a bad fall in a place they'd been investigating. Or like the times he'd checked in on him after being possessed. "I know you think you're going to die and all, but Jessamine isn't even here yet, man. Don't die on us before that, hm?"

Avery waved him off. Had he blacked out? Or been so absorbed in his dreadful thoughts that he'd zoned out and dropped to the ground? Had his thoughts been so scary that they'd knocked him out?

He only remembered admitting to Ada that she was correct. Next he knew, his senses had turned off and he'd gotten lost in his visions of blood, of death.

Speaking of Ada, she appeared in his field of vision, having been levitating nearby while Jamie helped Avery.

"You're all right?" She didn't get close, but he could see the worry in her features from a distance.

"No," said Avery with a scoff. "I will not be all right ever again. You're correct—killing is the only way. But I don't want you to be correct, Ada." He scowled at her, getting the strangest of sensations that she'd been the one to cause his blackout. He'd been stiff, growling at her, and she'd slithered out of the way from him as if he were about to strike her. So had she used her powers on him in self-defense? In fear that he'd been about to hurt her?

I can't hurt her, she doesn't have an actual body! Why would she use her abilities on me?

"I don't want you to be right, because I think you're a sneaky creature who only reveals the truth when it benefits her. You have ulterior motives, I know it; I just can't prove it yet." She glared at him, likely in offense; but he returned her glare with matched, if not more, intensity. "Don't try to deny it, it's a waste of time. We have other things to focus on, don't we?"

Did he want to ally himself with something he couldn't trust? No. But what other choice did he have?

He brushed Jamie off—he'd gripped his arm, trying to tug him away from Ada. But Avery wasn't going to launch on her, nor was he going to back down.

"If I do have to kill her," Avery shuddered at his millionth usage of the atrocious word, "then how? Where? When? Like you said, we need to brainstorm. We don't know where she is, and I can't confront her until we're one hundred percent sure of our plans, of how things need to go. Everything has to go precisely as we plan it, or else she'll kill me before we can even execute whatever we come up with. I won't get much of a chance to finish her off. So what the fuck are we supposed to do?"

"Yeah, especially the where," said Jamie, stuffing his hands in his back pockets. "Because we can't summon her here, right? Like Avery said, she'll know it's a trap. She'll come prepared and fuck us up before we even get a shot to stop her."

Ada's face grew taut as she looked down at the ground. "I know. I know all of this, and I promise you I'm working on it. I told you I had to consult with my other Guides, which I did... but now I must speak with other Guides at other portals."

Jamie's eyebrows raised, and Avery squinted at her. "More Guides? So, more delays, right?"

She raised a finger to the air. "Not purposeful delays. But it's going to take a moment to do this, because I need a lot of energy for it. I'm only now refilling my tank, you see," she spun on herself, arms up, "because we Guides nourish ourselves with darkness. With the sun having set, I can finally restore my reserves. But it'll still take a lot from me to communicate outside of my perimeter."

Avery hadn't paid much attention until then, but the darkness had fully settled over the clearance. Yet it wasn't actually dark—blobs of white littered along the forest line, and glowing blue orbs had been floating about. He watched them, seeing that they were cleaning up the mess from the explosion. Some were carrying items out of the area, and others were finding treasures in the rubble, picking things up with their energies. Some were stacking what looked like bricks near where the front door used to be, and others were gathering the pieces of a broken couch and attaching everything back together.

Are they rebuilding?

"Why so much energy?" Jamie had also realized what was going on, gaping in awe at the orbs coming from all over the place. "Why not just, I dunno, travel there?"

"It doesn't work like that," said Ada, turning to gaze in the same direction as Jamie—a blue mist had hefted up a large, shiny board that resembled a table-top. "We don't travel to other portals; there's decorum and rules to follow. First, we contact other Guides. That contact involves using the portal itself to communicate. Kind of like a... what do you humans call them? Ah, yes," she scrunched her nose, "a phone call. But it goes straight to the portal closest to us, nowhere else. There's no chance of mis-dialing the wrong number."

Avery fixated on two small blue blobs using their energies to pick up a pulled-apart box spring. A mattress with strings and wires protruding from it had been in the way, and they tossed it far off to the side, in what appeared to be a pile of discarded, unsalvageable junk.

"And where is that closest portal?" He couldn't stop watching as groups of Guides came together. They'd been silent, hiding who-knew-where until Ada had pointed them out. Or had they been there the whole time, but he'd been so consumed by his own emotions, he hadn't noticed them?

"Nevada," said Ada, scooching out of the way as another Guide passed her, carrying boxes of belongings into the forest. "Somewhere between Las Vegas and Reno. And yes," she held up a hand before Avery could speak, "I know that's a huge distance and much too vague, but that's all I know. I don't have the exact coordinates; I'm not allowed to. All we know is that there's one ghost portal per state, and its location is only known by its assigned Guides."

She, too, seemed captured by the work her fellow Guides were busy with, though she didn't make a move to help them. One of them approached her, inclining its head as it offered her something. Avery tipped sideways and realized it was a brick.

"Would this be appropriate?" The Guide kept his gaze averted, not looking directly into Ada's eyes. "We were able to replicate it from the bits and pieces of the former fireplace. It feels sturdy, heavy."

Ada lowered her face to the brick and sniffed at it. "Brick, yes. Smart. Continue to replicate it, and use it for the exterior walls. It's sturdier, hopefully less flammable than our old facade was."

The Guide bowed, then scurried off to a cluster of other Guides who'd been waiting for him.

Avery wanted to watch their process, but he didn't have time—none of them did.

He gestured at Ada. "Okay, fine, do your communication thing then, yeah? I don't want to face Jessamine, but I'll take the risk since I'm the only one who can."

Ada frowned, but not at him; she wasn't looking at him, but at a scorched spot a few feet away from her.

"Ada?" He waved at her, demanding her attention. "Yo, what's the hold up? We need to hurry before she comes up with her own plans that involve assassinating all of us at once."

Wringing her hands, Ada accorded Avery a gaze. A hesitant one, much unlike her overconfident self. "Well, like I said, I need energy." She gulped, and Avery could have sworn he saw the movement of her throat as it swallowed—

Air? Nothingness? She doesn't have saliva, so what is she even swallowing?

"Human energy." She switched her gaze to Jamie, who was startled backwards by the sudden attention. "I obviously can't take any of Avery's energy. He needs all his strength for confronting Jessamine. And in any case, he's not replenished from his stint in the demonic realm, and his other confrontation with the demons."

It took him a second or two to process what was going on, but when he got it, Avery growled as she slid in front of Jamie, arms outstretched, becoming a blockade. "No," he said, nostrils flaring. "You can't use Jamie for your communication shit. You can't use any of us. Find another way."

Jamie nudged him out of his way. "Dude," he winced at him, shaking his head, "stop it. If she says that's how it works, then that's how it works."

"I don't trust her," Avery whispered, barely parting his lips. "And you shouldn't, either."

"I don't," said Jamie, matching Avery's voice's lower level. "But she's right; you can't lose any energy, not while you're still recovering from whatever the fuck happened to you down there. I'm helping you fix this mess, remember? This is the least I can do."

Avery grabbed his arm, but Jamie ripped free of him. "Jamie, don't. You don't need to do this, and you don't need to let her rope you into all this—"

"—I do." Jamie spun to Ada, perked up and prepared for whatever she'd ask him to do—or so Avery thought. Jamie had no clue, no clue what a being like her might request from him. "Yes," he said, "you can use my energy."

Avery tutted and kicked at some rubble at his feet. "Fucking moron," he said under his breath.

Jamie—who'd heard him—cleared his throat. "Use as much as you need, but hurry and get this over with, will you? Avery is on the verge of throwing a fit, and I'd rather he do that after we save the world, yeah? And I also want to be conscious when Jessamine shows up, because I want to see her, them, for myself."

Avery again seized Jamie's arm. "Trust me, you don't want to see her. You don't want to be here, you shouldn't—"

Jamie rounded on him, his eyes turning a deep shade of gray that Avery had never seen them turn before. It caught him by surprise, and he tripped backwards as Jamie raised a fist at him.

"I'm a fucking adult, Avery, and if I want to be here, I will. Someone has to keep an eye on you," his nose twitched, "and you need to stop being so goddamn bossy. I told you I want to help, and I will." He reverted to Ada. "Don't listen to him. I consent to you using my energy, no matter how badly he doesn't want me to."

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