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Voices drift through the fog.

Distant. Deep. Familiar.

Then—warmth.

Not heat. Not light. Just presence. Heavy and steady, like the air itself is holding its breath around me.

And then I do breathe.

Sharp. Shallow. My chest aches with it, but it’s real.

I stir. Something cool brushes my cheek. A shadow, maybe. Or a hand.

I blink.

Shapes blur and sharpen—three of them, crowding my vision. All different, all too close. A demon prince with fire in his eyes. A reaper wrapped in silence. A boy with bruised knuckles and soft worry etched into every line of his face.

Rad. Steo. Hudson.

All of them hovering like I might vanish if they look away. All of their presences humming in my chest like they’re part of me.

“…Hi,” I croak, my voice rough and small.

Hudson exhales a laugh that’s half-sob. “Jesus. Don’t ever scare me like that again.”

Rad just smirks, but his clawed hands tremble where they hover near mine.

Steo doesn’t speak. He only reaches out and touches my hair—so lightly I almost don’t feel it.

The room glows pink around us.

And somehow, I know I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.

The warmth of the burrow presses in around me—damp and pink and strange—but all I can focus on are them .

They’re so close. Too close.

I shift slightly, trying to sit up.

Three voices protest at once.

“Easy—”

“Don’t—”

“You should not move.”

I blink up at them, the ceiling pulsing gently overhead like the whole Evergloom is agreeing with them.

“I’m not dying,” I rasp, though my limbs feel like lead.

Hudson immediately reaches for me. “Here, let me?—”

Rad pushes in beside him. “You’ll drop her.”

Hudson scoffs. “I’ve never dropped her.”

“Not physically,” Rad says. “Emotionally? Jury’s out.”

Steo steps forward and kneels beside the nest. “Enough.” His shadows curl toward me like vines following a sunbeam. “She will rise when she is ready.”

I blink at all three of them, exasperated.

“God,” I murmur, “you all are worse than nurses.”

Steo tilts his head. “I do not know what that is, but I assume it is an insult.”

Hudson looks sheepish. “We were just... worried.”

And that melts me instantly. “I know.”

My gaze drifts over them—Hudson’s furrowed brow, Rad’s restless tail flick, Steo’s unblinking intensity.

It’s a lot.

But it’s mine.

And for the first time in what feels like forever, I let that thought settle in my chest instead of fighting it.

“Okay…” I say, breathy but firm. “But someone is helping me sit up. And if you all try it at once, I swear to god, I’m going back to sleep.”

Rad’s grin is slow and wicked. “I heard god , and volunteered as tribute.”

Hudson rolls his eyes. “No. Sit down, Satan.”

Steo doesn’t move—he only offers a single, steady palm and waits.

And I take it.

Because of course I do.

Steo’s hand is cool and steady as he helps me sit up. His grip is gentle, like he’s afraid I’ll break—like I haven’t already shattered and reformed in his arms more than once.

His shadows don’t press in. They hover. He sits beside me, offering support without crowding me.

Hudson props a pillow made of twisted roots and moss that somehow works behind me. He fluffs it twice before stepping back.

I sink into it with a sigh, glancing between the three of them. “What happened?”

Hudson kneels beside me, jaw tight, eyes wide with relief and lingering concern. “You almost exploded with Evergloom magic, Parker,” he says softly, brushing white hair from my face. “You scared the shit out of us.”

Rad grunts, folding his massive arms. “You would’ve leveled this whole fucking realm. And yourself along with it.”

Steo’s growl vibrates against my side. “The Gloom chose you. It recognized your worthiness but did not care for your mortal limits. We almost lost you.”

There’s an edge of fear in his voice—something I’ve never heard from him before, and it sends a chill down my spine.

“I’m okay now, though, right?” I ask hesitantly. “The power—it’s quieter.”

“For now,” Rad says, his gaze intense as he studies me. “But you’re bonded to the Evergloom. And us.”

I freeze. “Bonded? What do you mean, bonded?” But I already know what he means. I can feel it everywhere, in my veins, in my limbs, in my heart. It’s like a presence that isn’t entirely mine, but that feels like it belongs, like an extension of who I am, of who I was always meant to be. It hums, and responds, giving power to my every move. It’s strange… but also familiar.

There’s one thing I need to know however. “How?”

Hudson flushes slightly and looks down, I can feel embarrassment that isn’t mine spreading in my chest and I reach up to rub at it.. “It’s uh... sort of complicated.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Explain.”

Steo’s voice fills the silence. “When the Evergloom’s power threatened your life, the only way to stop it was for us—all of us—to anchor you. Hudson’s blood. My shadows. Rad’s demon essence. All bound together to keep you here.”

I look between them, heart skipping a beat. “So we’re… all connected?”

Rad growls softly. “In a way, yes.”

Steo’s shadows shimmer faintly—bright pink, as if to agree.

Hudson rubs at his chest where faint black veins mark his skin. “I guess we’re stuck with each other now.”

A hysterical bubble of laughter escapes me. Relief. Absurdity. Confusion. All tangled together.

But I feel it. I thought it was just the Evergloom’s power that was thrumming under my skin, but it’s obvious now, the different threads tying me to each of them.

They feel the same but also not. Nuanced like each of them—quiet acceptance, loving devotion, fierce possession. They’re braided and woven together like they are linked to each other too, filling my chest with emotion and warmth.

It feels foreign, and overwhelming, especially since I’m not entirely sure which of them are mine and which are a result of theirs, but they also feel comforting. Like they belong to me.

Hudson grins. “Not exactly how I pictured our future, but I suppose it could be worse.”

“Speak for yourself,” Rad mutters, though there’s no real heat behind it and I can feel devotion inching its way through the bond from him. Or at least I think it’s from him. That may take some getting used to.

Steo remains silent, but his arms relax just slightly around me.

My stomach chooses that exact moment to rumble.

Hudson snorts. “Your stomach has impeccable timing.”

I glance down, cheeks heating. “I’m also… naked. Again.”

Before I can finish the thought, Steo rises abruptly. “I shall fetch additional sustenance.”

I burst out laughing, the formality of it warming my heart at the same time as the determination hits my chest through the bond. “Steo, please. Just call it food.”

None of us have time to say another word before he returns with a solemn expression—and a fistful of mustard packets. Rad nearly chokes on a laugh.

Hudson, though, laughs outright. “Mustard? Seriously, dude? That’s usually Rad’s thing.”

Rad’s choking turns into a growl, but the bond betrays him, and I can feel amusement from two of the threads tethered to my heart. The third is unmistakable confusion.

Steo frowns, utterly sincere. “Human sustenance options are overwhelmingly complicated. I selected at random.”

My laugh bubbles over. Even Rad’s lips twitch.

The burrow glows brighter in response, the roots pulsing gently around us like they’re in on the joke.

“You know,” Hudson says, glancing around, “this makes us some kind of demonic breakfast club, doesn’t it?”

Steo blinks. “What is a breakfast club?”

I dissolve into helpless giggles.

Rad’s eyes glint. “Do not explain it to him.”

I lean back against the moss and shadow and root. Steo’s solid form supports me from one side, regaining his earlier spot, Hudson’s warmth brushes my other side from where he kneels on the floor, and Rad finally stops looming and sits at my feet, his tail curling lazily near my ankle.

For once, I’m not afraid of what comes next.

“So… are we always going to feel each other now?” I ask.

Hudson nods. “Seems like it.”

Rad sighs. “Unfortunately.”

Steo’s voice rumbles like distant thunder—low, steady, absolute. “We will adapt. You belong to us. And now… we belong to you.”

I stare at them—all power, shadows, and fire.

“So… no more death attempts, right?”

A beat of silence.

Then, impossibly, Steo exhales. Not quite a sigh. More like a long-suffering release of air, as if even he can’t believe how far he’s fallen.

“If I gave the order now, my shadows would refuse me. They answer only to you.”

His gaze doesn’t waver. “I no longer command them. Not where you are concerned.”

Warmth spreads through my chest, curling into the cracks like sunlight. But doubt still lingers. “This is completely insane.”

Rad huffs, his lips twitching upward. “Welcome to our reality, Beholden.”

Hudson snorts. “We’ve got… an understanding now. Sort of. No more soul-ripping. No more shadow-choking.”

“For now,” Rad adds.

Steo’s shadows twitch, but his voice remains quiet. “She commands. We endure.”

And somehow, in the soft, glowing heart of the Evergloom—surrounded by monsters I never meant to love—insanity feels like the safest place I’ve ever been.