Dyren held the baby close, bouncing him slightly, his expression softening with a surprising… gentleness.
A strange warmth filled Blood Reaper's chest at the sight.
Dyren smirked.
Winked.
She looked away fast.
Everyone rushed out.
Kenna practically tackled Dyren to grab the baby.
Blood Reaper nodded, allowing it.
Kenna ran inside crying, holding him tight.
Constant walked up behind Blood Reaper, brushing her hand with his fingers.
She jolted—
Then gave him a tiny, shy, unsure smile.
Constant smiled back.
Until—
Dyren licked his lips.
Then bit them flirtatiously.
"Did you get to first base like I did?" Dyren said loudly.
"Maybe second?"
Constant froze.
Blood Reaper froze.
The entire yard went silent.
Even the wind paused.
Constant turned slowly, eyes glowing, jaw clenched so tight it cracked.
Blood Reaper felt something for the first time:
Pain.
Fear.
Heartbreak.
Not hers.
His.
Constant looked at her like he'd been stabbed straight through the soul.
Blood Reaper's heart hammered.
Dyren smirked, unbothered.
The tension skyrocketed.
And then—
Matthew, Joseph, Big Jim, Cyrus, Benjamin, Destiny, Keuirseu, even Kenna (still holding the baby)—
all sat down on the steps like it was a TV show.
Popcorn.
Actual popcorn.
Keuirseu whispered loudly:
"I swear if she picks the demon I'm gonna scream."
Matthew nodded. "Team Constant."
Dyren rolled his eyes. "You mortals have no taste."
Blood Reaper stood between Dyren and Constant—
Two hands reaching for her.
Two hearts pulling her apart.
Two futures impossible to choose.
And somewhere deep inside her chest—
something powerful cracked open.
Something terrifying.
Something she had never felt before.
Dyren leaned casually against the porch railing, arms crossed, smug grin carved on his face.
Constant stormed toward him, wings flaring, eyes glowing a dangerous, hurt blue.
"STOP treating this like it's a game!" Constant yelled.
Dyren blinked innocently.
"A game? My dear angel—this is war. I'm just winning."
"Winning WHAT?!" Constant snapped, fists shaking.
"When did ANY of this even happen?!"
Dyren smirked wider.
"Oh, when you were asleep. She came to me first."
Constant looked like he physically split in half.
Blood Reaper's head snapped toward Dyren.
"That's not what happened—"
Dyren interrupted, shrugging.
"Details."
Constant's voice cracked.
"You're doing this on purpose."
Dyren grinned, stepping closer.
"Oh absolutely. Watching you suffer is delicious. You're adorable when you panic."
Constant lunged—
Benjamin grabbed him.
Cyrus grabbed Benjamin so Benjamin wouldn't hit Dyren too.
Keuirseu screamed from the roof,
"FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT—"
Destiny threw a rock at him.
"SHUT. UP."
Kenna saw the energy boiling off Blood Reaper —
anger, fear, hurt, love, confusion, ALL of it she wasn't built to feel.
"Come on—NOW!" Kenna yelled.
She grabbed Blood Reaper's cold hand and pulled — hard.
Blood Reaper let her.
Kenna shoved her gently into the front seat of Big Jim's truck and shut the door.
Blood Reaper stared at the steering wheel, silent, hands shaking just slightly.
Kenna climbed into the passenger side, soft voice breaking the chaos:
"…Talk to me."
Blood Reaper closed her eyes.
For a moment, she didn't speak.
Then—
For the first time in her existence—
Her voice cracked.
"I think… I think I have feelings," she whispered.
"For both of them."
Kenna blinked.
"You WHAT?"
Blood Reaper leaned forward, forehead against the dash, hands gripping the wheel.
"I don't know what this is. Love? Attachment? Panic? Hunger?
I don't know what to do or who to trust or why they look at me like I'm… important."
She swallowed hard.
"I wasn't built for this. I wasn't made to feel.
I don't know how to choose."
Kenna reached over, squeezing her arm.
"You don't have to choose. Not right now. Not today.
But you DO need to understand what you want."
Blood Reaper's voice trembled.
"What if choosing one destroys the other?"
"Then," Kenna said softly, "we deal with that when it comes."
Blood Reaper turned her head, eyes glowing faintly.
"I'm scared."
Kenna nodded.
"You're allowed to be."
Silence fell.
Outside the truck, Dyren and Constant argued louder than thunder.
Sparks and flames clashed.
Benjamin tried to mediate.
Cyrus tried to strangle Dyren.
Keuirseu yelled, "ROUND TWO!" from the shed.
Inside the truck—
Blood Reaper whispered:
"I don't want to break either of them.
But I might."
Kenna nodded slowly.
"That's what love does sometimes."
Blood Reaper's eyes dimmed.
"I don't even know if I want love."
Kenna whispered:
"That's okay. But they love you.
And that means something."
Blood Reaper stared out the window at the two idiots fighting over her.
Her heart pounded painfully.
Two boys.
Two souls.
Two futures.
And she—
A weapon.
A killer.
A being never meant to feel anything at all—
was caught between them.
"I don't know how to choose…" she whispered again.
Kenna took her hand.
"You don't have to.
But you DO need to talk to them."
Blood Reaper closed her eyes.
The truck rumbled.
Chaos erupted outside.
And for the second time in her existence—
She felt something warm slide across her heart.
Something terrifying.
Something she did not understand.
Blood Reaper stepped out of the truck.
Kenna stayed behind, watching nervously.
Constant and Dyren were still arguing — Cyrus gripping Dyren's collar, Benjamin holding Cyrus back, Keuirseu cheering like he was ringside at a wrestling match.
Blood Reaper raised her hands.
"STOP."
Everything froze.
The forest went silent.
Even the wind paused.
Both boys turned toward her.
Constant's eyes full of hope and fear.
Dyren's full of hunger and certainty.
Blood Reaper took a slow breath.
"I need to talk to both of you."
They stepped forward.
And immediately ruined it.
Constant reached for her hand.
Dyren grabbed her waist.
Blood Reaper stiffened.
"DON'T TOUCH ME."
Both jumped back like lightning struck them.
She looked at Constant first.
"I care for you," she said softly.
Constant lit up—
Dyren smirked.
She glared at Dyren next.
"But I also feel something for you.
And I hate it."
Dyren gasped dramatically.
"Be still my heart."
Constant's face fell.
Blood Reaper continued:
"I don't know what love is. I don't know what I want. I don't know how to—"
Dyren leaned close, voice like fire:
"I miss the taste of your neck."
Constant froze.
Blood Reaper froze.
Everyone froze.
Then—
Constant turned around.
And walked away.
Not storming.
Not yelling.
Just… walking.
Crushed.
Broken.
Silent.
Blood Reaper's stomach dropped like she'd been stabbed.
Cyrus snapped.
"OH YOU DID NOT JUST SAY THAT—"
UPPERCUT—!!
Cyrus PUNCHED Dyren so hard sparks shot off his knuckles.
Dyren flew backward into a tree.
Keuirseu screamed:
"DO IT AGAIN! DO IT AGAIN!!"
Benjamin and Destiny rushed to hold Cyrus back, but he was fuming, trembling with rage, lightning sparking off his shoulders.
"You don't talk to her like that—!!"
Dyren rubbed his jaw.
Grinning.
"Oh, I'm sorry—
did the angel get jealous?"
Cyrus lunged.
Everyone tackled him.
Chaos exploded.
Billy ran through the dark forest, poison burning through her veins, skin cracking.
"Help… help me…"
Her voice was warped, spider-like.
Her bones shifted.
Her eyes blackened.
Her veins glowed purple.
The venom was turning her into something new.
Something monstrous.
Something that should never exist.
She collapsed to her knees, choking.
"Please… someone… anyone…"
A shadow moved behind her.
Heavy.
Silent.
POWERFUL.
Billy weakly looked up.
A tall, dark figure with no face lifted a hand and pressed it gently to her forehead.
Billy gasped—
and the venom evaporated out of her skin like steam.
Her wounds closed.
Her bones cracked back into place.
A whisper echoed around her:
"Not your time."
When she blinked—
the figure was gone.
Billy crawled backward, trembling.
"…What… saved me…?"
Back at the house—
Birds ERUPTED from the forest, hundreds of them, shrieking in terror.
They fled above the tree line, flying away from the orb as fast as their wings could go.
Everyone stopped fighting.
Everyone looked up.
Benjamin whispered, voice shaking:
"That's… not normal."
A massive shadow dragged itself through the trees like smoke made of ash.
It was shaped like a creature—
but also like nothing at all.
Tall.
Gaunt.
Eyes glowing like dying stars.
It stepped toward the clearing.
Dyren, who feared nothing, immediately panicked.
He backed into the orb.
"Nope. Nope. NOPE—
I know what that is—
NOPE."
Nobody had ever seen Dyren afraid.
Ever.
Blood Reaper's eyes widened.
Because she knew.
She felt it in her bones.
This was not demon.
Not angel.
Not celestial.
Not spider.
Not moon queen.
This was older.
This was wrong.
And it stared straight at her.
Its giant ash-like eyes blinked once.
The orb trembled.
Cracks of light flickered.
Blood Reaper whispered:
"This place…
is no longer safe."
The shadow stepped closer—
The forest died around its feet.
And the war truly began.