Chapter 10: Don’t make me look bad, Elias.

Elias didn't forget about the phone or Ruo.

He just hadn't had time.

Classes bled into meetings, meetings into lab hours, and then it was suddenly dusk again, the sun slipping behind the high windows like it didn't want to witness any of it. He told himself he'd go back for it tomorrow. Then the day after. Then the next.

And still, the phone sat untouched in Ruo's room, in the apartment that no longer felt like his or Ruo's.

The lab was quiet, the kind of quiet that echoed in the vents and made the soft hum of the ether channels sound louder than it should.

Elias was locking up, pulling files into cold storage, and running one final systems check before powering everything down for the weekend.

He moved through the motions like muscle memory, methodical and precise, but a fraction slower than usual. The fluorescent light overhead buzzed faintly. Someone had left a thermos on the far counter, forgotten next to a stack of printouts that looked too crisp to matter. Elias ignored it.

His fingers skimmed the touch interface, trailing commands across the smooth glass. Green confirmed. Blue confirmed. The terminal dimmed.

Done.

And still, something didn't sit right under his skin.

He leaned forward, both hands braced on the lab bench, breath shallow in the chilled air. He hadn't eaten since morning. Hadn't really slept the night before either. Too much on his mind. Too much he was refusing to admit was on his mind.

The phone. The wallpaper. The message Ruo never sent. The possibility that someone else wanted him to find it. And now his family too. 

He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand, eyes drifting to the wall where the clock ticked past 21:00. Too late to start something. Too early to stop worrying.

Then his own phone vibrated.

Once.

Then again.

He glanced at the screen and stilled.

A voicemail… from Ruo. 

Not the name, just the number. But he knew it. I knew the cadence of those digits like most people knew their own birthdays.

His thumb hovered above the screen.

A tight pulse started in his throat, then in his chest.

A voicemail. After all this time. After days of silence and static and that single black folder no one was supposed to open.

"What the fuck is going on?" Elias whispered, the words dry and low, like speaking them too loud might break something.

His hand tightened around the phone, and for a second, he just sat there, the buzz of the lab like white noise in his ears.

Did Ruo reach for him from the mansion? Or someone is royally fucking with his mind?

The phone felt heavier in his hand, like it had absorbed the weight of her voice. Elias stared down at the screen, his thumb still hovering like it might rewind time if he pressed just right.

"Don't trust the Gods."

"Do not trust him."

Her voice was clear. Too clear. No distortion, no hesitation. Like she'd said it into a microphone in an empty room, like she knew it would be recorded. Like she knew he'd hear it.

The thud at the end of the voicemail stuck with him. Not a dropped phone. Something closer. A chair, a footstep, maybe even the mic itself being covered. Whatever it was, it sounded final.

Elias closed his eyes for a second, dragging a hand through his hair. He couldn't go to Matteo. Not again. Matteo had already done more than he should've, and this… this wasn't something he could explain without sounding like a lunatic spinning conspiracy theories off a scratchy voicemail and a phone that never should have existed.

But there was someone else.

He pulled up his contacts and scrolled past names he hadn't used in months—collaborators, advisors, former classmates—until he reached it.

Professor Stone.

Technically his research mentor. Realistically, a name on paperwork and an occasional voice when funding was needed. But the man had connections. More importantly, Stone had doors Elias couldn't open on his own.

He hit call before he could second-guess it.

"Elias, my boy!" The voice boomed through the speaker with too much cheer for this hour. "I haven't seen you in so long."

Of course he hadn't. Elias practically lived in the lab. And Stone only showed up when grant money was on the line.

"Can I ask a favor?" Elias said directly, keeping his voice measured. Polite. Just interested enough to hide the tightness in his chest.

"Anything. What do you need?"

"I… I want to make RuoXi Numen a surprise. You know how close we are, and I thought maybe her family might want to see her too." He winced even as the lie left his lips. "Can you help me meet her brothers? Or at least Samael Numen?"

There was a short pause. Not suspicion, just the kind of silence that meant Stone was calculating what he could get out of it.

"That's a big favor," Stone said finally, the weight of it exaggerated. "Samael Numen doesn't usually take surprise meetings."

Elias held his breath.

"But, luck's on your side. I have a meeting with him tomorrow. You can go in my stead. Present some of the research results from last quarter; charm him a little. He likes pretty words and prettier slides."

Elias muttered a curse under his breath.

This wasn't a favor. It was a swap. Stone offloaded work; Elias got a name on a door.

But it was also the only door left.

"I'll do it," Elias said. "Send me the location and time."

"Done. I'll forward the brief, too… don't make me look bad, Elias."

The line clicked dead before he could answer.

Elias lowered the phone slowly, the pressure in his chest coiling tighter with each beat of his heart. He didn't know if Ruo had sent the message herself or if someone was pulling strings, but he knew one thing:

If he wanted answers, he'd have to walk straight into the house that raised her and figure out if destruction ran in the walls, too.