MBUS Book II : Nahat Adelaidein Roosevelt

FRAGMENTS OF JASS

WARNING: BRUTAL SCENES, HARSH WORDS, ANGER ISSUES, KILLING, DEATHS AND TRAUMA ARE PARTS OF THIS STORY.

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'·..➭ chapter thirty three
⇉ demon march arc

P E T O X E R A  C A S T E V E R O N

The rain had already begun to drown the city when Jinling's voice cut through my distracted silence.

"You're thinking about Jass again."

I looked up from the sheen of water sliding down the café window, managing a thin smile before a sigh tugged itself out of my chest. The storm outside reflected every thought I'd been trying, failing to swallow.

"Maybe I'm just worried too much," I said quietly. "I dropped her home just yesterday. Shouldn't you and Green be the ones panicking more? We're talking about Jass here."

Thunder rolled somewhere above the restaurant; the lights flickered, dimmed, then steadied. We had stepped out earlier thinking the weather was decent hoping sun struggling behind clouds, wind calm, sky soft. But in a matter of minutes, the heavens opened like something had been split apart.

Jinling Blacksin, right hand of Jass Callenreese herself, leaned back in his seat. Candlelight flickered against the sharp lines of his face, the tension around his jaw unmistakable even in the dimness. We'd been seeing each other for a while now, and he had always been effortlessly gentle, one of the few who knew how to anchor me even when everything else felt like quicksand. Falling for him had felt reckless at first, but not once had I regretted it.

Still... none of that mattered when Jass was sinking.

"You know us, Xera," Jinling murmured, voice dropping a shade darker. "We look calm, but deep down? We're mad. All of us. Angry and helpless. We don't know what's happening to her. She came back looking like there's no soul left in her."

His fingers curled around his coffee cup, knuckles paling. His next words were low, edged with a grief he rarely allowed anyone to hear.

"And there's someone else inside her. I didn't realize a blackout would turn into... that. Another personality. But losing Achilles—" he shook his head, exhaling hard through his nose "—that was the last straw."

The weight of his voice pressed down like a cold hand on my spine.

Anonymous Gang.

Everyone talked about them like a myth, but I knew the truth more intimately than most. They are loyal beyond reason, vicious when provoked, and impossibly tender when it came to Jass. She was their law, the order. A single command from her could send all of them sprinting into hell without hesitation.

But now?

There was no command.

There was no direction.

There was only silence.

I took a sip of my iced coffee, forcing the tightness in my chest to loosen at least enough to speak.

"We really did lose her this time," I admitted. "If this doesn't end soon, even for a moment... I'm scared she won't just disappear mentally. I'm scared we're going to lose her physically."

Jinling didn't reply. He didn't need to. We were both thinking the same thing that even the strongest people eventually break.

Several seconds passed, heavy and unmoving, before my phone began to ring.

Walter's name flashed on the screen.

Something inside me dropped.

I answered immediately. "Walte—"