Reiun City stirred under rumor, spreading like wildfire, markets carrying it first. A baker in Veyrun whispered to her neighbor, "they said he drained her, I guess that's what happens when you trust devil". A blood-smuggler in Hollowshade repeated it to her client, "devils can't be trusted", and by evening, taverns in Balthorne echoed with the same words.
"Ethan Cole's secretary collapsed", "Half-elf girl, wasn't she? Bright one, they said." "They say his aura is poison, a Devil's curse." No one claimed to know the actual truth, but everyone carried a version. The story bent with each telling, spreading across districts like smoke, and by week's end, Glimmer Heights itself hummed with it. Jason walked the streets like he owned them, he spoke little, but when he did, he placed words like knives under the skin. He leaned across a tavern counter, voice low. "You ever notice how the ones closest to him suffer? Strange pattern." The listener frowned, nodded, "funny how my daughter also wanted that same spot", "told her no though, we had a whole argument about it", Jason responded, "I can understand what you're feeling right now". The bartender continued "guess a parent really can see the future, and now I'm gonna serve her a big ol' slice of I told you so", he said with a subtle laugh. Jason never pressed, he only set thoughts loose. This was just the beginning of his betrayal arc.
At the hospital, Juliana's room became a contested ground. Jason entered one morning with a bouquet of pale blue orchids. The nurse looked at him with a strange curiosity, then stepped aside. He smiled as he walked in, his voice warm. "Julie, you should have more color around you, the room's too plain", "didn't know what kind was you favorite, so I brought mine", he said, seeing a bouquet of red middlmist flower already set, his grin fading away. Juliana smiled faintly, lifting her hand toward the flowers. "They're beautiful, I love them, thank you."
Ethan was already there, seated in the chair by the window, his coat draped on the back. His eyes didn't move from the book in his hands, though the pages hadn't turned for some time. Jason set the vase carefully on the bedside table, "I hear you're getting stronger each day, that's good, you've always been tough." Ethan closed the book, placing it on his lap. His tone was flat, "she needs rest", Jason chuckled lightly, as if brushing tension aside. "Of course, rest, and people who care", he glanced at Juliana, then back at Ethan. "Yeah read the room, she has both." Juliana looked between them, sensing the air tighten, but said nothing. "She has both? Just like with Rosette?", Jason continued, "oh yeah, and how was that my fault, I literally had nothing to do with what happened", "that sounds exactly like what someone that had everything to do with it would say". Jason left soon after, smiling as he closed the door. His hands slipped into his coat pockets, tightening only once he was in the hall.
Andy Jane's small studio smelled of paint and rain-soaked wood. She stood by the easel, staring at her newest canvas, deciding what to keep and what to remove. Jason knocked lightly on the doorframe, "you've been working late again", she turned, startled. "Jason? How did you—" "I asked the clerk downstairs," he said with an easy shrug. "You looked tired, thought you could use company." Andy frowned but didn't push him out, she wiped her hands on a rag, "anything specific you need?"
Jason stepped in slowly, eyes moving over the canvases stacked along the wall. He tilted his head at one showing broken glass and a figure bent in shadow, "you paint what you feel, that's rare." She crossed her arms, wary, "and?" He smiled softly "I worry about you, about the weight you're carrying", "you spend too much time with Ethan, he drags storms with him, trust me, been there to know enough to want you not getting caught in it." Andy's brow furrowed, "Ethan saved her, you weren't there." Jason's tone stayed gentle, never sharp, "I'm not saying he doesn't care, I'm saying… Devils don't leave clean scars", "I mean Look at him, he's always alone, always hiding something, you've seen it." "Weren't you guys like friends or something", Andy said, "you said it yourself" Jason replied almost instantly. Andy looked down at her rag, twisting it, her silence gave him enough. Jason smiled faintly, stepping back toward the door, "think on it, you're sharp Andy, don't let loyalty blind you." He left before she could answer, his words taking its space in her thoughts
That night, in the high glass towers of Glimmer Heights, Jason stood by the balcony of his apartment. The city stretched below, restless and alive, watching its lights with quiet satisfaction. The rumors he planted had taken root, Ethan was haunted by the fact that Juliana was fragile, and Andy was unsure of who to trust. His plan was falling into place slowly. Jason's reflection stared back at him in the glass, calm, steady, patient, his voice was a whisper meant only for himself. "Step by step, the city would do the rest".