Chapter 99: In The Hands

Midworld had become absolute chaos.

Thousands of clan members flooded every part of the streets, searching for Jamie with alarming urgency.

Whether it was on top of buildings or down on the ground, no matter where you looked, you were bound to spot one of them somewhere.

At that point, Jamie was being treated like a terrorist threatening their peace, and they were willing to use every page in their book to shift the odds in their favor.

And the fat shop owner saw it all.

He was peeking through a small opening in the wall of his flower shop.

The moment Jamie had entered, they had shut the place down immediately, flipping the OPEN sign to CLOSED. Curtains had been drawn over every window so no one could see inside, leaving the shop dim, almost like something out of a horror movie.

“You’ve been busy lately, kid. You’ve got everyone against you.”

The fat shop owner started the conversation as he lowered himself into a chair, placing himself face-to-face with Jamie.

“Are you one of those people?”

A cup of tea sat near Jamie, steam slowly rising from it.

“Nah. I wouldn’t be, we are actually on your side . That’s why my family and I agreed we shouldn’t join the war. We’re happy the way we are.”

The shop owner’s family hierarchy was weird.

There were three adults in total, and now with the child, that made four people living under one roof. The first was him. The second was his wife. And the third was another woman who, if Jamie remembered correctly, seemed to be the wife’s sister. But surprisingly, that woman wasn’t in the shop right now. Jamie wanted to ask, but he figured it would look like he was poking his nose into other people’s business.

The wife’s mouth moved a little, and Jamie caught it.

She wanted to speak.

Something was just holding her back.

But after gently rocking her baby daughter a few times, she finally gathered the courage to say it.

“You’ve grown a lot, Jamie. You’ve become taller now.”

“Thanks for the compliment … Is she the child you were talking about?”

The shop owner’s face immediately flushed pink, and he scratched the back of his neck with his right hand.

“Yes, hahaha, I almost forgot. Her name’s Shira.”

The shop owner carefully took the girl from her mother’s arms, handling her like a delicate piece of glass that might shatter from the slightest careless movement.

The child was cute.

She had dimples in her cheeks. Even in her sleep, there was the faint shape of a smile resting on her little face. Her hands looked soft as cotton, tiny and fragile and warm.

Everything you’d want your child to be.

Just looking at her made something inside Jamie go soft, his insides turning to jelly as the hardness in him melted away. The feeling stirred a memory deep in his consciousness.

No matter what happened, they had to create the best possible conditions for the next generation.

Because that was what mattered most of all.

“She looks incredible. She looks like shira’s mother too.”

The couple looked at each other with amused expressions, like they’d already had that argument many times before—whether Shira looked more like her father or her mother. And judging by Jamie’s words, it seemed the mother had just gained a point.

Suddenly—

The footsteps outside the shop grew louder with every passing second.

Everyone inside turned their eyes toward the door to see if someone was coming in.

No one entered.

I would like to use teleportation now, but I can’t just leave the energy source untouched. And with the way things are going outside—and my physical state—I can’t say for sure I’d even be able to fight if it came down to it. My best option is to hide until things cool off.

Jamie thought that while keeping his eyes fixed on the door, even though no one was coming through it.

“I shouldn’t be here. I’m just putting your lives in danger.”

Jamie said it suddenly, and everyone froze before turning toward him in surprise.

“You think we don’t know that? Let us worry about that. You should drink the herbal tea and recover.”

“You know I’m injured?”

“Yeah. Apart from the dark ashes covering your body, you really look like you’re in rough shape.”

Jamie lowered his face in shame.

If he could heal himself, he would’ve already done it. But the damage was internal. Trying to force recovery right now would just be a waste of power. The only thing that could heal him better than anything else ever could was time, just like kasa and Sandra told him before he took off on his journey.

And time was the one thing he didn’t have.

“Thank y—”

Ring!!

The little bell attached to the door that signaled if someone was entering rang out sharply, echoing through the room.

And then Fiona stepped inside.

The same girl who had cut Jamie’s clones down into chunks of meat.

“I’ve arrived at the place you were talking about.”

She spoke to someone through the screen in her hand.

“Yeah, that’s the place.”

Another voice replied, but this one only she could hear.

She clearly had never been inside this store before. The way she looked around like a lost girl made that obvious enough.

Luckily, Jamie had somehow disappeared into the back room of the shop. He had made his presence fade so completely it was like he had never been there to begin with.

The shopkeeper and his wife couldn’t believe what had just happened right in front of them, but they swallowed the shock and forced themselves to act like the tension in the room had only come from Fiona’s sudden entrance.

“How may I help you?”

The shopkeeper walked toward Fiona like she was just another customer. It was the best approach—act normal, act natural, act like nothing was wrong, so she wouldn’t have a reason to dig deeper.

“Let’s cut to the chase. I know you’re keeping Jamie inside this shop, so I don’t want to waste my time searching for him. Just tell me where he is, and I’ll leave you in peace with your family.”

Eva spoke with the kind of confidence that only came from already believing she was right. Her words immediately shifted the entire conversation into something more dangerous, more tactical than simple questioning.

She’s trying to trap every answer I give. I have to reply smart, or we’re finished.

“I’m sorry if you think that about us, but my family and I are not keeping Jamie. We wouldn’t dare defy the goddess.”

The shopkeeper answered without missing a beat, throwing every bit of caution and calm he had into his voice. But judging by Eva’s expression, she wasn’t convinced.

Not even a little.

And everyone in the room—including Jamie, hidden in the back—could see it.

So Eva began to move.

Slowly.

Carefully.

Her eyes swept across the flower shop, reading it like a page.

She looked over the flowers covering half the store. She studied the chairs. The counter. The curtains.

Then something caught her attention more than anything else.

Two cups of tea.

Both still hot.

Both still steaming.

Thin trails of vapor curled up from them into the air, quiet and accusing.

“So I guess the other cup is for your wife, right?”

“Yeah. It is for my wife.”

The shopkeeper didn’t hesitate.

The way he kept answering Eva’s questions with steady confidence was almost impressive. It was the kind of smoothness shaped through years and years of handling customers, arguments, and uncomfortable situations.

Eva turned around and started walking toward the door like she was finally leaving.

The tension in the room loosened.

Relief crept into their chests.

For one fragile second, it felt like maybe they had made it.

Until—

She stopped.

Then turned back around.

And this time, her eyes landed fully on the baby in the shopkeeper’s wife’s arms.

“I heard that the goddess gave you that, so you wouldn’t mind if I used her for the goddess’s glory, would you?”

The words dropped into the room like poison.

It was the last thing any of them ever wanted to hear.

She knew exactly what she was doing.

Eva understood the kind of love parents had for their children. And she knew that trying to separate them from that child would awaken something primal inside them—a desperate, animal-like instinct that would make them do anything to protect what was theirs.

Jamie’s eyes twitched the moment he heard those words.

Shit. This is too far. I have to get out there.

Every muscle in his body screamed at him to move.

With how things were going, nothing good was about to happen next.

And just as he was about to force himself up—

The mother secretly waved one hand in denial.

Telling him not to come out.

Jamie couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

His eyes widened with pain.

With helplessness.

With something that felt dangerously close to guilt.

His heart twisted hard in his chest.

Shira’s mother began to sob, tears spilling down her face as she looked at her daughter. Shira’s father simply looked away in shame, his jaw tight and trembling.

This was their daughter.

The child they had thought they would never have.

For years, nothing had happened for them. Then finally, four years ago, luck had turned in their favor. And just last year, the baby had finally been born.

And now—

To hand her over like this—

It was the cruelest thing anyone could ever be forced to endure.

But the mother did not waver.

Even with tears covering her face, she slowly extended the child toward Eva’s hands.

But Eva didn’t carry Shira with the care her parents had shown.

She grabbed her by the neck.

Not tight enough to kill her immediately.

But not gently enough to show even a trace of humanity.

She held the baby like some small animal she could carry however she pleased.

“I’m going to ask again. Where is Jamie hiding?”

The parents stared at their daughter as tears streamed down their faces without stopping.

They hesitated for only a split second.

Anyone would.

Anyone would break seeing their child held like that—used as a tool, an object, a threat.

“No… we don’t.”

The words came out shattered by sobs.

They knew Eva was going to do something.

And whatever it was—

It wouldn’t be good.

“Suit yourself.”

Suddenly, fire ignited in Eva’s hand.

It spread into Shira’s blanket first, catching onto the fabric before beginning to crawl slowly toward the baby in her grasp, the flames crackling hungrily as they started to consume her.

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