It was amazing, really.

I’d only been out here for, what, an hour? Two? Less than half a day before, I’d been going about my business, doing the things a normal college-grad kid did. The high point of my night was probably going to be sitting down in front of the TV with a beer - maybe something stronger, if I was feeling really adventurous.

So little time had actually passed, and yet, my mind was treating all of this as...well, not normal, but I was coping a bit better. The fact that there was a man on the ground in front of me, bleeding and hurt with my new friend standing on his wound, didn’t shock me the way it should have. The fact that there was another man lying dead a few paces away should have sent me screaming from the clearing.

But those few hours that had passed were important ones, dammit. And with things beginning to quiet down for god only knew how long, my mind focused in on Aedan’s words like a beacon in the night.

“Answers, please,” I said, nodding vigorously.

He chuckled. “Right. Well, then, Jake.” He crouched down, sliding his standard issue no-skid shoe free of the man’s arm. The man whimpered, shuddering in pain at the motion. Aedan didn’t seem to notice. “You good and awake? Ready to chat?”

“Fucking hell,” Jake said, his eyes flicking up to Aedan’s.

Aedan chuckled. “Good. Glad to hear it, Jake.” He glanced over to me, his eyes dipping to the dark, shadowed shape of the gun lying in the leaves. “Come on, Jon. Don’t litter. It’s rude.”

I gaped for a single second, staring at him, but he only jerked his chin towards the gun. His intent was clear.

I really, really didn’t want to have my fingerprints all over a gun. Not with the trail of bodies we were beginning to leave. Every fiber of my being screamed that this was a horrible, horrible idea.

But every second I waited, he looked a little more irritated. His eyes narrowed as I hesitated.

I picked up the gun, settling it into my hand gingerly. My finger burned still, aching. I tried to ignore it, to mixed results.

I’d shot rifles before - I’d been in the Boy Scouts just like every other kid in town - but pistols were new. Pistols were for killing people. I mean, sure, Jake had tried to shoot me, and I could understand Aedan wanting to make sure he was as under-control as we could make him. I did feel a little better, knowing I had a gun of my own just in case those other crazy assholes came back.

I still didn’t like it.

“Bet you already know what I’m going to ask, don’t you, Jake?” Aedan said. His tone was bright and cheerful, but there wasn’t a trace of good humor in his smile.

I could see Jake swallow hard as I stepped away, going for one of the flashlights they’d dropped. Paul’s body was a dark mass alongside me, one I was doing my best to pretend didn’t exist.

“I-I...I don’t-”

“Come on,” Aedan snapped, his voice losing all of its friendliness abruptly enough that a shiver ran down my spine. “You tracked us to that shithole, didn’t you? I’m not stupid.”

“L-Look, I just joined, and-”

“Where are they?”

I stepped up beside Aedan, trying to watch as closely as I could without looking too eager. He was still crouched down alongside Jake, who had clearly figured out that lying still was better than trying to run. Aedan had pulled another knife from somewhere - I had no idea how many of the things he’d stashed on his person, and I really didn’t want to know.

Jake swallowed hard. “They’re n-not really…” He shook his head. “There’s no one…”

“Who, now?” I said quietly, glancing between Aedan and Jake. “What’s going on?”

Aedan sighed, glaring up at me. “It’s simple, Johnny.”

“It’s Jon.”

If Aedan heard me, he didn’t so much as hesitate. “There’s a whole cluster of these fuckers, right?” He raised one hand, ticking off fingers. “You’ve met Paul there. Jake. Dan and Christian, back at the store - and Matt.” He grinned. “Can’t forget Matt, can we?”

I eyed him. “What do you mean-”

“Matt’s been on my ass for almost five years now,” Aedan said, rolling his eyes dramatically. “Guy just can’t let it go. Doesn’t know when to quit. Thought he’d give up after the last time he sent his thugs after me - I cleaned his crew out just to be sure.” His nose wrinkled as he eyed Paul’s body. “Well. I thought I cleaned him out.”

“Yeah, still not making sense,” I muttered.

Jake snorted from his place on the ground. “Holy shit, man. Never pictured you as the type to shepherd a new-blood. Stories really didn’t-”

Aedan cast me a tolerant look, even as his foot tamped down on the man’s arm. Jake shuddered, hissing in pain. “Yeah, well. Shit happens, Jake.” He glanced back up at me. “Anyway. It’s simple, Johnny. These guys keep following me. That means they have to have some way of finding where I am - and unfortunately for you, you were unlucky enough to get caught in their net too.”

I leaned back, my stomach churning. That much had been obvious. They’d only been interested in Aedan, after all, until they got that phone call. From-

“Recon,” I said abruptly, my eyes snapping over to Jake. “They said Recon told them it was me.”

“Yup,” Aedan said, grinning again. We’d both seen the way Jake’s face had hardened, his guard rising. “They always have one - a finder. Someone who can distill the information they need.” He tapped Jake’s knee with his free hand. Jake shuddered. “Try and run without taking out the finder, well.” He shrugged. “You won’t be getting too far.”

“So you want to know where they are,” I said, nodding slowly. “So we can-” I stopped, the words dying on my lips.

Great. More killing. Just what I wanted.

“Relax, Johnny. You’re going to be fine,” Aedan said, chortling.

“I can’t go to jail,” I mumbled, shaking my head. “I can’t-”

“No one’s going to jail,” he said, laughter rippling through his voice. “Calm the fuck down.”

“How can you say that, when-”

“Where are they, Jake?” he said, ignoring me completely.

Jake swallowed hard. He was trembling, more than just from pain. “Can’t. They’ll-”

“That Paul guy already tried to kill you, didn’t he?” I interrupted, the memory flashing into my mind. Me, on top of Jake - and both of us being slowly crushed by gravity, like an invisible hand slamming into my back. “What, you’re worried they’re going to take it out on you?”

“Kid’s right, Jake,” Aedan said, nodding. Again, with the kid thing. I glared at his back, but knew it wasn’t exactly the time to argue it. The man continued on, completely unaware of the look I was giving him. “Seems like they already decided you’re not up to snuff. They’re going to want their relic back.”

“I- That’s-” Jake started, but the fight slipped out of him almost immediately. He wilted like a flower, letting his head fall back into the dirt and leaves. “Assholes.”

Aedan shrugged. “Pretty much. Not really worth protecting - and, I might remind you that they’re not here.” The knife in his hand scraped against the dirt idly. “We are. Pick your battles, Jake.”

The man eyed us a moment longer, tight-drawn and trembling. “Fine. Sure. Fuck ‘em,” he finally said, the words falling out of him in a rush. “Just- I’ll tell you what you want, ok? And then-”

“We’ll see,” Aedan said.

Jake’s eyes tightened, like he was thinking about arguing the point, but he drooped again a moment later. “Ok. Ok. Recon’s set up in a truck. She was supposed to stay just outside the park, ready to go if she felt you pop up somewhere else.”

Aedan stared at him, expressionless. “You can do better than that, Jake.”

The man on the ground swallowed. “R-Right. Uh. Well. That way,” he said, pointing out into the darkness after a moment’s hesitation. “I think, anyway. East side, there’s-”

“There’s a little parking lot there,” I said quietly, glancing at Aedan. “For the trailhead. You know. A trash can, water fountain.”

“I know what a trailhead is,” he said. I could hear him roll his eyes, even if he didn’t look back at me. “How’s she work, Jake?”

“I-I don’t know,” he said shaking his head violently. “Really. I don’t. They wouldn’t even tell us her name.”

His back arched as Aedan leaned on his arm again, a pained gasp slipping out of him. “P-Please! I’m serious! I don’t know!”

“Aedan,” I said, staring at Jake as my pulse thundered in my ears. “Stop it.”

“He might be-”

“He’s telling the truth, ok?” I said, tearing my eyes off him. “So lay off.”

Aedan eyed me sidelong. “Jon, look. The world is an ugly place, and I know you-”

“Just trust me, all right?” I snapped, glaring at him. “Move on.” I didn’t know why I was so confident on the matter - something about the tension in every line of Jake’s body, the sheer terror and pain in his eyes...I knew he wasn’t lying, and I couldn’t bear to see Aedan hurt him right in front of me.

My new friend hesitated a moment longer - and then he drew back ever so slightly. Jake licked his lips, gaze flitting between the two of us.

“Who’s she got with her, then?” Aedan said, tapping his knife on the ground impatiently. “I know Matt’s probably breathing down her neck, but he can’t be-”

“She’s got a bodyguard,” Jake said hurriedly, as though he was trying to reinforce how helpful he was being. “Came with her. Uh. Name’s Clark. H-He’s an energy-shifter.”

My mouth was hanging open, I just knew. Aedan glanced back at me, a smile tugging at his lips. “A healer,” he said. “Usually. Or a vampire.”

“Don’t let him touch you,” Jake said, grinning uneasily. His humor died as Aedan turned back to him with a glare.

“And has Matt-”

“Oh, uh, Matt’s not there,” Jake said, reddening gently as he interrupted Aedan.

Aedan stopped, freezing in place. For once, he actually looked surprised. “What, now?”

“Matt’s not-”

“I heard you the first time,” Aedan snapped. “Jesus fucking christ. After what I did to his finder the last time he rode my back, he’s leaving this one out to hang in the breeze? Why? What’s so important that he’s run off?”

Jake faltered, brow furrowing as he tried to piece together an answer. “W-Well, he said there was somewhere in town he wanted to check out. Thought you might have a backup plan, since you had an ally this time.”

“An al-” Aedan began, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Fuck. Great. No, this asshat’s not my ally.”

“Matt seemed to think he was,” Jake said softly.

“Where did he go?” I heard myself say. The words sounded hollow, like it was someone else speaking. “Where is he?”

“Said there was an apartment on the outskirts of-”

“Eastwood Cove?” I said, interrupting him. “4811, unit-”

“I don’t know,” Jake said, beginning to whine. “Something like that. Didn’t really hear.”

Aedan was watching me. “You did leave your car right where-”

“Fuck,” I said, running my hand through my hair. “Jesus. I- What does he-”

“He’s probably going to toss your apartment to see if you have anything on me,” Aedan said, his voice oddly gentle. “I’m sorry. It’s a pain, but it’ll be fine.”

“It’s not fine,” I snapped. “I have a roommate- god damn it, Aedan.”

He paused. “A roommate.”

“My little sister,” I said, shaking my head. The panic was rising hot and furious with every second that passed. Shit. It was bad enough that my whole world had been thrown into chaos by the events of the night. I didn’t have words to express exactly how little I’d wanted to be assaulted and attacked and to have fingers broken and to be shot at.

All of my anger at the matter was a pale shadow of the rage that blossomed at the thought that the people who did that were in my apartment - that they were in my apartment with Keira.

“Well….shit,” Aedan muttered. “Let’s pick up the pace then, shall we?”

“You think?” I snapped.

“All right, Jake,” Aedan said, turning away from me. “Let’s see. You already told me where your finder is, I already know Matt’s a dick…” He paused, lips pursing as he seemed to stew on things in his head. “How’d you guys find me, anyway?”

I glared at him, all of my patience gone. “You just explained to me-”

“Their finder would have sealed the deal,” he interrupted, looking back over his shoulder. “If there’s a finder out there that could track me across the continent, I’d have heard of them by now.”

“Y-You’re not exactly hard to find,” Jake said, stammering again. “H-He’s been tracking rumors and reports going out from the passive finders whose territories you’ve crossed.”

Aedan’s scowl deepened. “See, I’m pretty sure I made certain-”

“Rumors said you went south to cross the border into Mexico,” Jake said. “When Matt heard that, he turned the crew north. Took a little bit, but…” He shrugged. “Found the trail again.”

Why was Aedan such a big deal? I stared at the back of his head, my eyes boring holes in his skull. I filed it away as yet another question that needed an answer - but if Keira was in danger, I couldn’t very well wait for him to get around to answering it. With how things had gone, it would take days to get a straight answer out of him.

“Right. Last thing, then,” Aedan said, patting his knee. “Relic. Now.”

Jake stiffened, going pale. “No.”

Aedan snarled. Actually growled at the man. “Fucking hell, Jake, I do not have time for your bullshit. Show me your Relic, right now.”

The man’s jaw was set stubbornly, even though his lip was trembling. “N-No. I won’t. I don’t want to-”

“Just give it to me,” Aedan hissed, lunging for the man. Jake rolled, covering his head. I watched the two wrestle, my mind racing still.

“Both of you stop right now,” I finally bellowed, my voice echoing through the darkened forest. “We don’t have time for this.”

They froze, as though my voice had shocked the fight right out of them.

“Jake. No one is going to hurt you. Right, Aedan?”

Aedan hesitated, shoulders rising as my eyes settled on him. “Now, Jon, you have to understand. He’s seen me. I can’t-”

“I-I won’t tell anyone,” Jake said, pushing himself away from my newfound ally. “Serious. I won’t. Dead silent. I didn’t even want to chase you in the first place.”

A humorless grin tugged at Aedan’s lips. “Right.”

“I’m serious,” Jake said, shaking his head. “It’s Matt’s game, not mine. I-I didn’t want to wind up- you know. Like all the rest. Dead. I-If you just let me go, I’ll never tell a soul.”

Aedan flipped the knife still clutched in one hand, settling his hand around the hilt. “I’m sure. If you won’t give it to me, then I’ll-”

“Aedan, let him be,” I snapped, one foot tapping anxiously.

The man paused, his arm relaxing, and glanced back over his shoulder. “Oh?”

“I think we can trust him,” I said. “Stop killing everyone. He said he won’t tell - he won’t tell.”

“You think?” Aedan said. I would have expected the words to be sarcastic, and there was definitely that rough, abrasive tone to his voice, but there was also a sincerity there. I hadn’t expected it.

I eyed Jake again, hesitating a long moment before finally looking back to Aedan. “I think. Come on. We don’t have time for-”

“All right. Jon says you’re cool,” Aedan said, tapping his knife against Jake’s leg. “How about you just show it to me, like I asked, and we’ll see about letting you walk away with it at the end of the night?”

Jake froze. “W-What….really?”

“Hurry the fuck up,” I spat.

He burst into action, as though my words had snapped him back to wakefulness. His hand snapped over, pushing his sleeve up until we could see-

A bracelet. That was all - a bracelet, wrought from silver chain and gold discs. Was that it, then? A Relic, or a Focus? That was what all of this was about?

I realized my fingers were brushing against my necklace again. Was all this because of a stupid necklace? Really? What were they, exactly?

“Let me see it,” Aedan said, his fingers wiggling with impatience.

Jake hesitated. “I don’t-”

“I’ll give it back.”

Jake still didn’t look happy about it, but Aedan had a knife, after all. Slowly, cautiously, he held his hand out.

Aedan had the bracelet off and in his grasp in an instant.

I straightened, glaring at him. “So now what-”

“Quiet,” Aedan breathed, not taking his eyes off the piece of jewelry in his hands. Jake watched him, lips tight and arms crossed.

For a long, still moment, there was only the quiet sound of the forest around us.

And then Aedan crumpled, just a little bit. “Damn.”

I resisted the urge to stamp my foot. “Are we about done here?”

Aedan thrust the bracelet back into Jake’s hands. “We’re done,” he said sourly.

Jake blinked, surprise written across his face. “W-What? That’s it?”

“Get out of here before I change my mind,” Aedan said, pushing himself upright. “If I hear a single word about anything that happened here tonight, I’ll know-”

“No, no,” Jake said, shaking his head so hard I thought he might hurt himself. “Not a word! Really. Not a word. Not one.” He pulled his sleeve down even as he stepped away. His eyes darted to the gun I still held in my hand, but he seemed to know better than to ask for it back.

Aedan and I stared as he vanished into the night. He didn’t look back.

“So…” I began, glancing sidelong at him, but he groaned, running a hand back and forth through his hair.

“Fuck.”

I stopped, waiting, but he didn’t say anything for the longest time. Finally, right when my impatience was ready to burst again, he glared at me. “Come on. We’ll have a quick lesson.”

I furrowed my brow, confused, but he was already walking - towards Paul’s body.

“Aedan, hurry up. We have to-”

“Get over here,” he snapped, already crouching down.

We should be moving. Sitting down was not what I wanted to be doing. Sitting down next to a dead guy was the very last thing I wanted to be doing. But he had that irritated, stubborn look to him again, like he was on the edge of exploding again.

I sat down.

“Right. Crash course in Relics,” he said, spitting the words out as fast as he could. “They’re all different, each and every one.”

“And they give us magic,” I said, resisting the urge to snort.

Aedan glanced over at me. “Well, something like that. It’s a crude comparison, but sure. It’s very straightforward, Johnny.”

“Jon.”

“They’re old, see. Very old. And they have a way of changing the people who bond with them.”

“Bond,” I said dryly.

He smiled crookedly. “Right. It’s a matter of finding a Relic a person is compatible with - past that, it’s all up to what the person wants, and what their Relic can provide.”

“So, what,” I said. My hand was trembling. I was high enough on adrenaline that even my broken finger was quiet. “This Paul guy has some sort of gravity charm?”

“Probably,” Aedan said, reaching for the dead guy’s hand. I drew back, cringing as he lifted his arm. “For Paul here, anyway. Someone else, maybe...fuck, I don’t know. Maybe it would have made people depressed or something. But for Paul it was gravity.” He pointed to Paul’s hand. I didn’t need the help. I could already see the fat, ugly gold ring squeezed around one of his meaty fingers.

“And that’s it,” I said.

Aedan grinned, reaching for the ring. “Pretty much. You get one Relic, kid. That’s the one big rule of the world. It changes you - try for two, and you’ll just break.”

“And you think mine is something about languages.”

He pursed his lips, struggling with the man’s finger. “Probably? It’s not an exact science, and what you put in determines what you get out. So. Probably. But, more important than that-”

“What exactly do you think is more important than-”

The ring came free with a pop, flying free of the man’s skin all at once. Aedan landed on his ass, wincing, but hardly seemed to notice. He was too busy staring down at the ring, lost in his own thoughts.

I had other things on my mind - staring at Paul’s body in horrified fascination, for one. The instant the ring had left his skin, his whole form had...shuddered. Shivered. And now it almost looked like-

I inched closer, eyes widening. No, it didn’t just look like it. There were...cracks. Spreading across his body like wildfire.

“Damn,’ Aedan said, making like he was going to throw the ring aside before stopping himself. Almost absentmindedly, he started digging through his backpack.

“Uh.” I managed, seeing the cracks deepen.

He glanced up, a crooked smile touching his lips again. “Right. So. Watch close. Once you’ve bonded with a Relic, or a Focus, or whatever you kids are calling them these days, it’s done. Permanent. No take-backsies.”

Something was happening. He was...Paul was glowing, like there was a faint magenta light down at his core finally revealed by the cracks running through his body.

“What the hell is-”

“It changes you, Johnny. You can’t un-change. And if the owner and Relic are split for too long-”

Paul shattered. I fell over myself in my need to get away, gasping as his form just crumbled in front of my eyes. Within seconds, the fragments of...of him were falling apart further, until he was just a pile of rapidly dispersing dust.

“Any questions?” Aedan said. I glanced over to him, wide-eyed and staring. Questions? Did I have questions?

“What the hell just happened? Is that going to happen to me? What the fuck, Aedan?”

“Calm down,” he said with a sigh. He was pulling something from the depths of his bag - a box, steel-sided and utilitarian, maybe a hand’s breadth across on each side. It looked heavy, more than anything else. He pulled the top free, tossing the ring inside a moment later and closing it right back up. “You’ll be fine. A Collapse only happens if you’re separated from your Relic for long enough for your bond to decay, or if you die. It’ll happen eventually, after the wielder passes. We just sped the process up a little by separating them.”

“B-But you took Jake’s and he didn’t-”

“You’re not going to die the moment you stop touching it,” he snapped, glaring at me as he zipped his bag back up. “Don’t be stupid. Normally it would take a day or two.”

“Oh, that’s so much better,” I hissed, doing my best not to scream.

“Would you calm down?” Aedan said, standing. Paul was already mostly gone. Now I knew why he wasn’t worried about going to jail. There wouldn’t be any evidence of a crime in the first place. “Do you want to stay here, freaking out, or do you want to go take care of things?”

Keira. My mind latched onto her like a life raft keeping me afloat in the shitstorm things had become. Before I even realized I was moving I was on my feet, still glaring daggers at him.

“Fine. Let’s get moving,” I said, spitting each word out. “But keep talking. You’re not done yet.”

He chuckled, shaking his head. “Yes, yes. All right. So.” He glanced out into the dark, gripping his knife again.

I waited patiently as he stared out into the night, his mind clearly working through something. As much as I wanted to be moving, to go, I knew we had to be smart about things. Finally, he nodded.

“Here’s what we’re going to do.”