The firelight in the Gamekeeper's hideout was dim, the single oil lamp swaying slightly, casting shadows that seemed to bend and crawl along the walls. His voice had been steady this whole time, spilling out pieces of history I hadn't asked for but couldn't stop listening to.
Still, I couldn't ignore the weight sitting in my chest—the gnawing question that had been growing louder with every word he spoke.
"Hold on," I said suddenly, raising my hand to stop him. My voice was sharper than I expected, and he paused mid-sentence, his golden eyes fixing on me. "You've been talking about them—your brothers, the gem, the throne—but what about you?" I leaned forward, narrowing my eyes. "What was your part in all of this? Did you just stand there and watch it all happen?"
For a moment, there was only the quiet hiss of the lamp's flame between us. His gaze didn't waver, but I saw something shift in it—like the faintest ripple across still water.
"No," he said at last, the word heavy. "I didn't just watch."
I crossed my arms. "Then why does it sound like you did?"
His jaw tightened. "Because my role was… complicated."
I arched an eyebrow. "Complicated how?"
His gaze flicked briefly to the side, as if the dark corners of the room might be listening. "I couldn't interfere the way you imagine. Zareth and Vaelthor were direct brothers. I…" He stopped, his lips pressing into a thin line before he spoke again. "I was born to a different mother. I'm half-demon. Half-supreme."
I blinked at him. "Half… demon?" The words felt strange on my tongue, like they didn't belong in this conversation but somehow fit all too well.
He nodded once. "Yes."
I shook my head slowly, trying to process. "And your tribe… 'Supreme'… why call yourselves that if—"
"Because we rule the other realms," he interrupted, his voice carrying the weight of something ancient. "That name has nothing to do with who holds the greatest raw power. Without the golden gem, no one—Supreme or otherwise—can claim the ultimate power. The gem binds and balances the realms. Without it, chaos is inevitable."
So, titles without power. My lips pressed together. "Still doesn't explain why you didn't help."
His gaze hardened. "Because if I moved against either of them, it would have broken more than blood ties—it would have shattered alliances between realms. And the throne… was never mine to claim."
I stared at him, searching for any crack in that cool, stoic mask of his. "So you let them fight?"
"Zareth couldn't kill his brother," he said flatly. "Not even after Vaelthor turned against everything we stood for. So he did the only thing he could—he put Vaelthor into a long, dreamless sleep."
A shiver crawled up my spine at the way he said it. "And then?"
His eyes locked with mine. "Then… he gave me CODE."
My heart skipped. "Wait—what?"
"CODE didn't just appear," he said, leaning forward so the shadows caught the sharp lines of his face. "It was already bound to Vaelthor's essence. Zareth couldn't destroy it without destroying him. But he thought it could be contained. Controlled. And he gave that responsibility to me."
I let out a dry laugh, shaking my head. "Yeah, that went real well, clearly."
His mouth curved downwards slightly. "It worked… for a time. Until Natalie came."
That name was like a pebble dropped in still water—small, but I could feel the ripples spreading inside me. "Natalie? Wait—the Natalie?"
"Yes," he said without hesitation. "A witch. And Vaelthor's most devoted follower. She believed in him, even in his madness. When Zareth put him to sleep, she made it her mission to ensure CODE kept running."
I could feel the cold curl of dread settling in my gut. "So she's the reason—"
"She's the reason souls kept entering CODE," he said, cutting me off. "I became the Gamekeeper, but my role was limited. I couldn't destroy the game—Vaelthor was still alive. Dormant, but alive. I didn't know that every soul entering was still feeding him, keeping his strength growing."
My throat tightened. "You mean… all those people…"
"All these years," he said, and there was something in his tone that almost sounded like guilt, "I kept the gates. I saw the players come and go, but I couldn't stop it. I didn't know the truth until far too late."
The room felt smaller suddenly, the air heavier.
And then his gaze sharpened on me. "But when I saw you, Harper… I knew."
"Knew what?" My voice came out quieter than I meant.
"You're not from the human realm."
I froze, my pulse loud in my ears. "…What?"
"I don't know where you're from," he said, watching me closely, "but you don't belong to them. Your energy is different. Your presence is different."
I swallowed hard, my thoughts spiraling. Not human? Then… what am I?
The memory of my dreams came rushing back—those flashes of the future I could never explain, the way my chest sometimes ached before something terrible happened. Could that be why? Could that be the reason I could see what others couldn't?
He must have seen the flicker of realization in my face because his voice softened. "You've suspected something."
"I…" My voice faltered. "I've wondered if maybe the visions were… not normal. But I never—"
He didn't give me the chance to finish. "After the fight, Zareth disappeared. I thought the seal on Vaelthor would hold forever. But I was wrong. Every soul in CODE was going to him. And when you entered…"
I leaned forward without realizing it. "What happened when I entered?"
His gaze held mine, unblinking. "Instead of your soul being taken into him… you began to take his energy. And part of his soul."
My stomach dropped. "What?!"
"You heard me," he said, his voice quiet but sharp as a blade. "From the moment you stepped inside CODE, the balance shifted. Something in you reached out and drew him in. Piece by piece."
I stared at him, my thoughts splintering in every direction. Me? Taking part of Vaelthor's soul? What does that even mean? My chest felt tight, my breathing shallow.
And then his voice dropped even lower, almost like a warning. "That's why the rules of this game are changing. That's why things are unraveling. Because Vaelthor… has woken up."