"So, Jer's back," Jace said, smirking that annoyingly knowing smirk. "How long has it been? 15 years? Really damn convenient that he's back right when you need him." He feigned a gasp. "What does this mean for Gavin?"

"You know sometimes you're a real asshole." Roxy was busy going through the file Dave had given her, texting with Charlie to double down on the research.

"Didn't answer the question, though," he chuckled. "I know you had a crush on Jer when you were kids."

"Yeah, then he dropped off the face of the earth," she muttered. "Listen, this doesn't change anything with Gavin. He was there for me when I needed him."

"But not when you most needed him."

"Well, neither was-" Roxy looked up to yell at Jace, but he was gone. She looked around for where he might have gone, but she had no such luck.

"Who were you talking to?" Loki asked from the door. He looked more concerned than she was used to seeing him. He stepped toward her and put his hand to her forehead. She wasn't any warmer than she usually was.

This time, Roxy knew she'd been caught, so she decided to tell the truth. "I was talking to my brother."

"Jace?" Loki looked, somehow, even more worried. "Your younger brother Jace. He was here?"

"Yeah. Didn't you see him?" She shrugged. "He knows you don't like him. Maybe he hid before you walked in."

"Roxy…. He can't be here."

"Why not?"

"I know you know why." Loki brushed Roxy's hair out of her face. There was no easy way to say it. "He's been dead for three years."

Roxy blinked. That didn't sound right. At all. She just had a conversation with him. "He was just here." She looked around, but Jace was completely gone. "…. Maybe he's a ghost?"

"We burned his body. There's no way." He put a hand to her forehead and pulled forth one of her memories she had buried deeply.

By the time Roxy sped back to the nearly-empty diner, Dave was about ready to burst a blood vessel. Jace was unharmed, save for a small bruise that Lucy explained came about when he tried to get Dave to step outside for fresh air.

It was hard to tell, exactly, why their friend was so frantic. He wouldn't say why, but he refused to take a step outside. Lucy seemed to know what was going on, but it was hardly her place to spill the beans. A respectable enough stance to take, if it didn't potentially risk their lives.

When he'd calmed down enough, Roxy managed to convince him to say enough syllables to explain what trouble there was.

"All of the deaths in the area? The animal attacks?" He shuddered just thinking about it. "It wasn't the lion." Lucy put a hand on his shoulder and ran her fingers through his hair. It seemed to do the trick, to everyone's surprise. "It was a dog."

Roxy stared at him. She'd heard of people being afraid of dogs, but this seemed a little extreme. Especially for someone that wasn't the standard definition of human. "Okay. A dog." She nodded, expecting him to go on. When he didn't, she leaned in a little closer. "I'm guessing it's bigger than a Chihuahua?"

"Much bigger." He curled in on himself, shaking again.

Lucy sighed and picked up where he left off. "He thinks they're hellhounds. The beasts that come to collect souls for Hell."

"Why does he think that?" asked Jace. "That kind of seems like a giant leap in logic."

"Because this place had a sudden boom in talent and popularity about 10 years ago. That's how long demon deals last. More than that, just north of here is a dirt crossroads in a ghost town called Traverse. So, he's a little superstitious about the whole thing."

The siblings exchanged glances and thought on this for a moment. That might be why there had been demonic omens. It was worth checking out, at least. What was the harm?

"Alright, Dave," Roxy said, in as comforting a tone as she could manage. "We'll go to Traverse and check it out. If it's nothing, you can relax. Right?"

Dave slowly nodded, but said nothing. She had never seen him this terrified before, and it made her feel uneasy. With a nod, Lucy agreed to stay there to keep an eye on him, and the siblings piled into the car.

Thankfully, Jace was distracted from the teasing he had planned to visit upon his sister. Even he knew there was a time and place. When he learned that was beyond Roxy, but she decided to count her blessings anyway.

For the most part, the short drive to Traverse was quiet. Neither of them were sure what to say. If they were charging head first into a den of wolves, what was there to say? They slowly rolled into town and Roxy glanced around. It was all quiet. Very quiet. Not quite too quiet, but quiet enough for it to be uncomfortable.

There was no one around, which only made the town feel more like the set of a poorly thought out horror movie. Jace seemed to recognize the irony, and said, "Good thing we bump back, right?" He looked at his sister, a strained smile on his face. "Like, at the things that go bump in the night?"

"Jace, when you're stressed, you have the comedic equivalent of stabbing a weeping hobo to death in an abandoned boxcar."

Jace was about to retort with something Roxy was sure was going to be mediocre at best, but there was a sound from one of the nearby abandoned buildings.

They stepped out of the car and opened the trunk to fish out flashlights and salt. Every little noise was enough to make Roxy jump. Any pride she felt in killing the Nemean was gone, and in its place was only the same old fear of the unknown.

Once they were saddled up, Roxy began to replace all of their ammo with silver bullets. Jace took one look at what she was doing and laughed. "Do you really think that's going to help?"

"You got a better idea?" she snapped. "For the love of all that is holy, Jace! All you've ever done is criticize me! Ever think for a moment that I have no idea what I'm doing and I know it, but I'm trying like hell to avoid losing my only brother?"

Logically, the younger sibling knew she had a point, but that didn't stop the words coming out of his mouth. "I never asked for any of this! You dragged me along with you! I would like nothing more than to go home and forget the last three years never happened!"

"And leave you vulnerable to the demons? Are you kidding me?"

"Normal people don't have to worry about that!" They each knew this was exactly the wrong time to be arguing like this, but both of them had bottled it up for years. Roxy was trying to take deep breaths to put a cap on it until after they were safely out of there.

Jace refused to show the same consideration.

"Demons exist, alright? We know that. And you know what the world does? MOVE ON. Everyone else can find a life. Why can't you?" When his sister tried to walk away, he grabbed her by the shoulder. They weren't done talking yet. "I asked you a question! Why is it so impossible for you to let go? Mom's been gone for three years. If she's alive, she won't be for much longer. People lose parents all the time. I miss her too, but why do you have to turn this whole thing into this crazy obsession?"

"Because SOMEONE has to care!" She rounded on her brother and shoved him away, realizing too late that she'd laid a hand on her brother. True, it could have been much worse, but that didn't take it back. She just did something she promised she would never do.

But the bitch of it all was that he was right. Normal people can move on with their lives. Roxy had often wondered what a normal life would have been like. Then she remembered she had absolutely no concept of normal. Demons didn't reveal themselves to her because she was a hunter, and everybody else gets to spend Saturday at the mall. Demons were real for everyone, whether they knew it or not. The only difference was everyone else was helpless and she was not. She might as well have said "If only I could die screaming instead of kicking 17 kinds of ass."

"We're going to talk about this later," she growled, starting to turn away again.

But Jace was already angry. He grabbed her by the arm, a little harder than he intended. Roxy froze. Not willingly. She tried to move, but found she couldn't. She was scared. All she could hear was her father yelling at her.

Jace whirled her around and shook her. "Aren't you listening to me? What the fuck is wrong with you?" He reeled back and slapped her, only pausing to realize what he had done when she crumpled and fell to the ground. Even then, he didn't fully process it until he realized she was crying. And shaking. "Holy shit, Roxy…"

He had never seen her like this. That was by design. Roxy had struggled with her own hell of PTSD since the first time their father hit her. Frankly, it was a miracle she didn't fall to pieces every time she so much as bumped into someone.

Jace was completely at a loss for what to do. She was a wreck, but that didn't make the noises around them any less real. He could hear the hounds come to investigate, but he couldn't see them. What should have been comforting instead made his stomach churn. He had to think of some way to get Roxy to snap out of her daze, but nothing came to mind.

He knelt down to his blubbering mess of a sister and tried to gently put a hand on her shoulder. When she recoiled, he winced. It almost physically pained him to see her like this, and he knew there was nothing he could do to help her. But he had to try. If either of them were going to make it out of here alive, he had to do something.

The trouble was, he spent so much time goofing around, and it always was Roxy that came to the rescue. Not once had he ever considered the eventuality that he might have to pick up the pieces. But here he was; trying desperately to spot the monsters that were impossible to see so he could protect his sobbing sister.

The strain became too much and he knelt next to her, setting his gun to the side. If he triggered her, he had no idea what to do to bring her back. "Rox, listen, you're alright." He looked around frantically, hearing some of the growls get closer. If his sister was more stable, she might have quoted that goddamn book again to ease the tension. Maybe that could help.

"There are some dogs which, when you meet them, remind you that, despite thousands of years of manmade evolution, every dog is still only two meals away from being a wolf. These dogs advance deliberately, purposefully, the wilderness made flesh, their teeth yellow, their breath astink, while in the distance their owners witter, "He's an old soppy really, just poke him if he's a nuisance," and in the green of their eyes the red campfires of the Pleistocene gleam and flicker…"

It wasn't helping, and that nearly shattered his heart in two. He had never seen a Good Omens reference do so little for Roxy's state of mind, and it scared him. He had never been so unsure in his life, and it was the worst time imaginable for him to be so uncertain. Even now, he could feel the invisible eyes lock onto the back of his head.

This dog would make even a dog like that slink nonchalantly behind the sofa and pretend to be extremely preoccupied with its rubber bone. It was already growling, and the growl was a low, rumbling snarl of spring-coiled menace, the sort of growl that starts in the back of one throat and ends up in someone else's.

He wasn't sure what made him do it, but Jace grabbed his sister and held her close. He was almost crying. Crying in fear that they were going to die. Crying in knowing all of this fighting would lead to nothing. Crying that he was responsible for his sister's current state. Crying that there was nothing he could think of that could possibly help.

He hummed a melody, shutting his eyes tight against all doubt and burying his face in his sister's flaming red hair. Soon enough, the melodic humming shifted into words. He couldn't rightfully remember where they came from, but Roxy recognized them readily enough.

She's got a smile that seems to me, reminds me of childhood memories, where everything was as fresh as a bright blue sky. Now and then when I see her face, it takes me away to that special place, and if I stare too long, I'd probably break down and cry...

He hugged her tightly to his chest, tears lining his eyes. He was afraid. Not because he was surrounded by monsters that could easily kill him, but because for the first time since he could remember, he faced the very real possibility of losing his sister. Slowly but surely, though, Roxy stopped shaking. Whatever he was doing was working, by some stroke of luck.

She's got eyes of the bluest skies and if they thought of rain, I'd hate to look into those eyes and see an ounce of pain. Her hair reminds me of a warm, safe place where as a child I'd hide, and pray for the thunder and the rain to quietly pass me by…

Still crying, Roxy finally looked up at Jace. Just minutes ago, all she could see was her father when she looked at him. But now, she could see her scared little brother, quietly begging her to be okay. She was still every bit as terrified as he was, but she had to be strong. Like she always did.

She forced herself to her feet and shakily picked up her shotgun. She could hear the growling coming from every angle. There wasn't just one hellhound here. There was a whole pack. Three, at least, and she'd be damned if she was going to throw her brother to the wolves. Jace was still on the ground, having his own breakdown, and that was enough for her to push everything to the back of her mind to protect him.

She shot at every little sound. If she couldn't see the damn things, maybe she could focus her energy on hearing it. She emptied several shotgun shells tried to shoot at puddles and snapped twigs, and she didn't even know if she was hitting anything.

Her neck twitched as she, once again, heard a voice whispering into her ear that there was nothing she could do to save Jace, and it did nothing but fuel her anger. She refused to accept that. Even as the sounds got closer, she didn't stop shooting. Jace was still inconsolable. She had to keep fighting, even if it killed her. Though she was confident enough in her thus far immortality, she accepted the reality that she might not make it out of here alive.

She wasn't sure what possessed her to do it, but she found herself running. As fast as she could. The hounds followed her, which she guessed was her intended goal. She led them as far away as she could, but tripped. Her gun skidded several feet away, and all she could do was watch as it slowed to a halt just under a jutting root. The ground was far too slippery for her to gain her feet, so she tried to army crawl to her gun, but a hound ripped its claws into her back to keep her still. She cried out in pain and rolled onto her back, grabbing the invisible beast by the throat. She could feel its breath on her face. Hear it chomping, trying to reach her. Her fingers managed to curl around her bowie knife and she sliced it into the monster's throat. Blood rained down on her and she pushed its lifeless corpse to the side.

Alright, so they could be killed. That was miles ahead of where she was 43 seconds ago.

Before long, she could hear two more catch up to her. In a panic, she started waving her knife around as she staggered to her feet. The pain in her back shot up to her neck, but that couldn't stop her now. She refused to let it. Not with Jace ….

Wait. Where did he go? Did he run away? That was probably for the best. At least he would be out of harm's way.

While she was distracted, she watched paw prints charge at her. Not sure what else to do, she stepped to the side and stabbed downward. There was a yelp and a thud. Hopefully that meant there was only one more.

She didn't know where it was. She looked wildly around, panic starting to set in. Her heart was racing, and she knew it was going to make her sloppy. There was nothing she could do. She was far past the point of control. But at least Jace was out of danger.

But he wasn't. Jace was watching from nearby cover. Suddenly, he could see the monster. It was unlike any dog he'd ever seen. Four piercing red eyes sized up his sister. Why could he see it now? Why couldn't she see it? Didn't she know it was right behind her?

It started to charge at her.

"ROXY! WATCH OUT!"

He ran forward and shoved her out of the way, just in time for the hound's teeth to sink into his shoulder. He screamed in agony, clawing at the beast to try to get it off, but it was far too late for him. It clawed into his chest and stomach, ripping into him mercilessly.

Then, for no understandable reason, it stopped. Its eyes narrowed at him and it scampered off.

Roxy was completely in shock. She lurched forward and held her brother in her arms. Oh god, there was blood everywhere. Her voice caught in her throat. Terrified of losing him, she pressed her hand down on his wounds to stop the bleeding, but it was too late. Far too late. "J…Jace, I-"

"No chick flick moments," he croaked out. He managed a smile, hoping it would set his sister at ease.

She chuckled weakly. It didn't make her feel better, but there was the hope it might make her brother feel he'd done something good.

It didn't. He saw right through her, as he often did. He wanted so desperately to make light of the situation. To communicate to his sister that she did her best, but he wasn't fast enough. It wasn't her fault. It was his.

"Jace, I'm sorry," she finally managed. "We'll get you back to town. We'll find someone that can help you. You'll be okay. I promise. Just don't-"

"Die?" He winced. Suddenly, the pain stopped. If this was what dying was like, it was a lot less scary than he ever thought it'd be. "Hey, don't think of it as dying." He managed another smile. If his sister knew him, she'd never have seen this coming. "Just think of it as leaving before the rush."

This time, her laughter was more sincere. "Don't you dare use Terry Pratchett against me," she whined. Tears were streaming freely down her cheeks now. Both of them had resigned to this fate, but she wanted so much to believe this was all some kind of nightmare. Soon enough, she'd wake up, and he'd quip about how much she'd had to drink, and she'd tell him to go fuck himself. Just like old times. She'd wake up soon. She just knew it.

Jace curled closer to his sister, clutching at her shirt. Not because he was still scared, but because he wanted Roxy close. She'd always been there for him when he needed her, and he needed her now.

Roxy, still fully aware of his injuries, hugged her brother as tightly as she could manage. "I love you," she said, voice wavering through the tears.

"I love you too," he whined.

All at once, his body relaxed, a shuddering breath forcing its way out of his lungs as his ribs retracted for the last time.

Tears stinging her eyes again, she screamed in anger. No. This couldn't be happening. She shook her brother, trying to get him to wake up. It wasn't funny anymore. Wake up, you piece of shit. Come back to me! Don't leave me here! The words wouldn't come out of her mouth, but it wouldn't have made a difference if they did. He was gone, and there was no bringing him back.

Completely numbed, she cradled his body in his arms and carried him like a babe back to her car. She sat him in the passenger's seat and buckled him in, slipping into the driver's seat and driving back to meet up with Dave and Lucy.

She didn't have to say a word. One look at her, and they knew what happened. The hellhounds were gone, but at a price none of them were willing to pay. Even Lucy, that had never met Jace before today, and had no reason to mourn, found herself close to tears.

That night, as she sat in her motel room, alone, she reluctantly opened her laptop.

If Jericho was even reading his email, he needed to know. He and Jace always got along. He had a right to know.

All she could bring herself to type was: Jace died today.

Roxy blinked as she came back to reality, tears running down her face. Jace was gone. Truly gone. Remembering how he died reminded her of the funeral pyre. And remembering Lucy, even in passing, reminded her where she started. She was a pathetic excuse of a hunter that couldn't even protect her brother. Or her mother, for that matter.

She buried her face in Loki's chest and cried.

The worst part of this was that he wasn't even there in spirit. It was all in her mind. She knew she was sick, but she didn't know how bad it was. After a moment, she detached herself from her patron and pulled out her phone, dialing a number she really hated dialing.

"Dr. Livingston? Hey. It's me. Something's happened. I think I need to talk."