Three days.
It's already been three days since Jordan fell asleep, and it doesn't seem like he has any intention whatsoever to wake up any time soon. But at the same time, it feels like he could open his eyes at any given moment, too.
His face looks so peaceful… It's deceiving. On the bright side, he's not suffering.
"If you keep clenching your jaw so tightly, you're going to crack your teeth. Sweetheart, relax. Jordan will be fine."
Will he, though?
I'm unsure whether to believe Eve's words or not. I don't think she's lying, but I also don't think she's being fully truthful with me, either.
"That doubtful look of yours is hurtful." Oh, really? Good, then. "Lucy said he should wake up in a week, so Dandan will wake up in a week or so. Her assessments are rarely off the mark. She's an excellent doctor, even by angels' standards."
So what? You guys were at war for millennia until just recently, and your species are still not exactly on the best of terms! How can I trust the words of an angel, then?!
"Oh, stop it with the glare. Really, don't worry too much. He'll be fine."
"I'm not worried."
"Uh-huh."
…To be fair, even I can tell there's not much conviction in that statement. I guess I am worried.
"How are the children?"
Whatever. Let's just change the subject for now. Better for my mental health.
"Not very energetic, but James is doing wonders to keep them distracted."
"I see."
Poor guy. The kids have taken a liking to him, and I doubt he'll be able to escape them any time soon.
But sending James back to his clan when he's in the middle of recovering didn't seem like the brightest idea. The children are keeping him busy, yes, but he's safe here.
Three days ago, Eve and I tacitly decided to bring James home while he was still unconscious, as Lucy couldn't take care of him forever. She's been very clear on that point—she doesn't run a charity and only helped because her lover asked.
…There's a reason Eve and Lucy were acting so intimate, I guess.
Anyway, there are plenty of guest rooms available, and I believe Jordan wouldn't mind if we allocated one to James. So, we did just that.
Thankfully, the vampire woke up fairly early, compared to Jordan at least. Still, it might be a bit too soon for him to entertain the kids.
"Talking from experience, I know how tiring your gremlins can get." A scoff instinctively leaves me at the fleeting thought—these children are way too raucous. "I just hope they won't go overboard and exhaust him. James is better, sure, but he's still in convalescence."
"Who do you take me for?" Eve winks, and I refrain from answering that question. "I've told them to be kind to their new friend, or I won't bring any gifts next week. It should do the trick."
Essentially, she's blackmailing her kids. How nice of her.
But it might be necessary. Even if James has woken up and he's well enough to move around, it doesn't mean he's out of the woods. And he needs rest.
Whatever James might think and say, his heart will need time to fully heal, even with Lucy's treatment. If it had only been the injury, it wouldn't have been that problematic, but the blood of the dead has circulated throughout his body for too long, and parts of his organs, including the already damaged heart, have quite literally rotted and turned into mush.
"Again, don't worry too much. Vampires are sturdy."
"Sturdy or not, they can still die."
"You're quite the pessimist, aren't you?"
"Realist, not pessimist."
"Is that so?" Eve doesn't believe me, does she? "Anyway, give James some time, and he will be back in peak health soon enough. The same goes for Jordan."
Oh, really?
"Unlike James, I don't even know why my husband is bedridden."
I throw an accusatory gaze at Eve, who responds by averting her eyes. I guess she still won't tell me. It's annoying.
All I can do is sit on the chair beside Jordan's bed and wait.
"Oh, alright, fine! I think I can at least tell you that." She heaves a deep sigh as she comes inside the room, leaving the doorframe, to sit on the bed. She stares at Jordan's sleeping face for a second before resuming, "You're aware of the restrictions your realm puts on us, I presume?"
Of course, I am.
If there weren't any restrictions imposed on otherworldly beings, all hell would have long broken loose. Some still slip through the cracks and do whatever the fuck they want, but most can't and are restricted to a certain area in this realm, aka my homeland.
Even though there have been sightings of supernatural beings in the outside world throughout the ages, humanity doesn't know much about beings from the other realms, and has filled the gaps of their knowledge with imagination.
I mean, even in my country, people have started to forget about supernatural beings despite living alongside them for millennia. The foreigners who immigrated to our lands believe in them even less, save for those who married into hunter clans.
Not like there are many pure blood natives left nowadays, but the point still stands.
All of that is due to the restrictions applied to otherworldly beings.
These have been reinforced over centuries, ensuring balance between the realms. Almighty beings can tap into their innate powers to a certain degree, but not too much, or it would disturb the universal law of this world, and it would try to expel them, perceiving them as a threat.
Thanks to that, noble demons do get some restrictions. But even then, from a human perspective, they're still monsters through and through, things you'd rather not meddle with, if possible.
Usually, it's the weaker beings that cause problems because the restrictions are lighter on them. They still pose a threat to humans, but not enough to be considered a source of worry for the realm's stability.
If anything, our realm only really cares for ancient species that can overturn the natural law with the snap of their fingers. These get slapped on the wrist for even using a tiny bit of their—
Wait.
No fucking way.
I hear myself laugh. You've got to be shitting me. But it makes sense.
Now I can understand why Todd has been serving Eve and Jordan despite not knowing they were a patriarch and a matriarch. And the dunce that I am should have connected the dots sooner, like, when Todd told me these two were older than the current demon king.
What else could be older than his Majesty if not members of an ancient species? Noble demons? Nah, they're beneath the demon king. Small fries.
Oh my gosh, has being married off fried some of my brain cells and turned me silly? If not, how the fuck didn't I realize this sooner?!
Then again, I understand even less why Jordan went through that farce of a wedding with me.
"So, what did he do?"
I look straight at Eve, and she smiles back before tapping her forehead, where her third eye would be if she were in her true form.
"He pushed himself too far."
"I thought you weren't endowed with clairvoyance abilities?"
"Well," Eve chuckles, "it's a little greyer than that. I told you that most of the time, what we see and feel isn't something we can control, didn't I?"
Yes, I remember that part.
So, I nod.
"That's a half-truth."
Half-lie, you mean.
"You see, some of us, and let me insist on the "some of us" part, can force ourselves to get a clearer picture of events in the not too distant future. But peeking into events and, let's say, tweaking people's fates isn't something your realm loves all that much. Neither does ours, to be frank."
"Tweaking people's fates…?"
Eve doesn't say more and only smiles. The next instant, I can hear my heart beating in my ears. It's hard to breathe.
Jordan's worried attitude pops back into my mind. I thought it was over the top at the time.
But what if it wasn't?
What if what he had seen in those visions were—
"I should have died, shouldn't I?"
—visions of my corpse.
No answer comes.
Instead, Eve stands up and moves to my side. She bends over to kiss my forehead, saying in that gentle voice of hers, "Don't think too much and rest."
…Don't ask for the impossible, not after dropping that bomb on me.