By the time they cleaned up and left the gym, the day had settled into late evening. Jordan took them both to a nearby diner, where the three of them ate in relative silence underneath harsh lights and the background noise of a football game playing on one of the mounted TVs.
Jordan ordered enough food for someone who had just competed in a full track meet and then fought her rival in a kickboxing ring. Magnus worked through a burger and tried very hard not to think about tomorrow night. Alex ate quietly without looking at either of them much.
Afterward, Jordan drove them back to campus and got out first, apparently deciding that facing her parents and whatever came with it was tomorrow's problem.
Magnus and Alex climbed out after her. They looked at each other briefly. Neither of them reached for the other. They didn't kiss or hold hands like back when they were happy, but they also didn't immediately flee in opposite directions like they had after the fight two days ago. It was strange and fragile: somewhere between ceasefire and reconciliation. Then…
"Well then, bye!" Alex said.
"Goodnight, then!" Magnus said at almost exactly the same time.
They both stopped, then stared at each other awkwardly.
"Goodnight to you too," Alex tried again.
"I guess I'll see you tomorrow," Magnus said simultaneously.
Alex sighed, apparently giving up entirely, and headed toward her dorm. Magnus turned and walked toward his own building.
***
When Saturday came, it came like a twist of the knife for both of them.
For Magnus, he woke up at the same hour as usual despite how exhausting the previous day had been. He stared at his ceiling for a few minutes, then sighed and got up.
Mercifully, Jordan had been kidding when she mentioned "superhero training" after sex last night. The training session was still brutal, just not any more brutal than usual. He wasn't sure how he felt about his definition of "usual" changing like that, but he didn't — or rather, couldn't — dwell on it. Jordan knew just how hard to push him so that he didn't have the time or strength left for useless thoughts.
The original reason he had started training with her in the first place had technically already been resolved. The monthly quest tied to Jordan was completed as of yesterday. Still, abruptly disappearing from her training sessions immediately after sleeping with her felt like the kind of behavior that got people rightfully punched. Also, Magnus still needed to do the System's daily exercise quests anyway, so at this point the sessions mostly just felt like killing two birds with one stone. He was choosing to ignore the fact that the daily quest was barely half of Jordan's training these days, of course.
Jordan, meanwhile, was true to her words. She acted completely normal: she insulted his footwork, corrected his stance by physically shoving him into place twice, threatened violence when he missed a timing cue, then casually handed him a sports drink afterward like she hadn't participated in a threesome with him and her rival less than twelve hours earlier. Honestly, Magnus was beginning to suspect Jordan compartmentalized emotional experiences the same way military organizations handled classified information.
Observation training with Tony went about as well as it had every previous time. Which was to say it was torture, and Magnus was questioning every decision that had led him to accepting life advice from a raccoon by the end of it. Tony, meanwhile, had apparently taken a liking to Sofia, calling her his "new assistant," after whatever happened between the two of them yesterday after she left Magnus and Alex alone together. It probably had something to do with the increasingly unhinged texts Sofia kept sending him about condiment fraud, but Magnus was too afraid to ask.
He spent the rest of the morning and afternoon catching up on coursework. The last week of the term would start in two days. And that meant: presentations, final exams, and the accumulated weight of ten weeks compressing into a handful of deadlines. If tonight went badly and he died, then admittedly all this studying would end up being pretty pointless. But if things somehow worked out with Harper… then the last thing Magnus needed was to survive a supernatural death game only to get taken out academically by late submissions and the lack of exam revisions.
So he focused on studying. Or at least, he tried to.
And it worked adequately well, for the most part. But every once in a while, his thoughts still drifted. To tonight. To Harper. And to all the hopes and consequences tied up in it.
Alex, meanwhile, woke up to cramps and the realization that her period had decided to arrive ahead of time. She wasn't entirely surprised, though, given everything that was happening lately.
The stress of the past two weeks had been considerable even by the standards her life had apparently decided to set for itself lately. Jordan's quest and Alex's own decision to mess with the Hales family's status quo. Harper's quest and the subsequent fight with Magnus. On top of those, she also had finals, deadlines, other responsibilities — the invisible pressure of trying to stay on top academically despite everything. The sabotage investigation, then the emotional rollercoaster the Hales, Magnus, and Harper put her through yesterday. And then finally, the flood of relief when her gamble actually worked and they completed Magnus's monthly quest after she had spent the past month secretly terrified they'd fail. And after she had spent that entire time forcing herself to stay confident in front of Magnus because they couldn't both spiral at the same time.
Yeah, it'd be weirder if her hormones weren't thrown off. Still, this complicated things tonight, as if the situation tonight weren't complicated enough already.
Alex rubbed a hand down her face then forced herself out of bed. As much as she would love to take the day easy, there were still obligations.
She attended yoga class despite the cramps, because routine helped her think and because missing it would only make her feel worse physically. After that, she handled the most urgent assignments she needed done before the weekend ended.
But that was it. She spent the rest of the afternoon trying to relax instead of thinking about anything else.
That worked out for her about as well as it did for Magnus. Her thoughts still circled to Harper, to her boyfriend, and to the increasingly frustrating realization that despite everything, despite how angry she still was at him, part of her also understood exactly why he had made the choice he did. And another part of her was secretly thankful he had made that choice thinking about both Harper and herself. Which honestly made staying angry significantly more difficult and significantly more annoying.
By the time they met that evening to go to Harper's, things were still awkward between Magnus and Alex. Neither of them had officially called off their truce, but neither of them was really trying to maintain it anymore either.
They understood each other now. That was part of the problem. They were both too exhausted to keep fighting, but neither of them knew how to resolve the underlying issue between them yet, and neither of them was willing to pretend everything was okay before it actually was. Which was how they ended up sitting close but silent during the cab ride to Harper's apartment: not trying to put as much distance between themselves as before, but not actually touching either.
***
Danny wasn't home. Harper had arranged it that way.
She met them at the door, let them in, and got straight to business. She sat down across from them in the living room and looked at Magnus directly.
"Tell me from the start," she said.
So he did.
He told her how it all started two months ago — the menus, the powers, the quests, and their targets: Alex, Lila, professor Marquez, and every other target leading up to Harper herself.
He told Harper he had no idea how and why Alex had decided to take a chance on him, and didn't notice the knowing look she had given Alex then. He told her about failing and dying during that disastrous third week with Elena Marquez. And about the doll with the 0.5% drop rate that had miraculously brought him back to life, which he hadn't gotten again since. He even told her about Jordan and the monthly quest that they had somehow managed to complete yesterday.
Harper raised an eyebrow, then studied Alex for a while, but didn't make any comment. In fact, aside from a handful of times when she interrupted to ask clarifying questions, Harper mostly just listened.
When he finished recounting everything, silence fell over the room.
After a while, Harper finally spoke:
"Okay, let's say I believe you."
Both Magnus and Alex turned towards her. Harper continued calmly:
"But from what you've told me so far, to keep yourself alive, you just need to sleep with me. No actual requirement for a threesome?"
Magnus hesitated and instinctively glanced towards Alex, but she didn't look back at him. He turned back to Harper and started cautiously:
"Technically, yes, but—"
"Then that's my condition." Harper's tone was matter-of-fact, not unkind. "No offense, Alex. But having sex with you is just too weird for me."
"Wait a minute—" Magnus started.
"Fine," Alex said. "If that's what it takes."
"Wait a minute!" Magnus stood up. "I did not agree to this!"
That finally made Alex turn towards him.
"Magnus." Her voice came out tired. "Be reasonable. This is your life we're talking about."
"I know that, but I'm not—"
"What? Let me guess, you're not comfortable cheating on me?" She stood too, facing him. "This is not cheating on me. This is you doing what you need to survive. You have my permission."
He blinked. Then slowly shook his head. "No. I'm not asking for permission. I'm saying this feels wrong."
Alex scoffed. "There it is again. You're trying to throw your life away over principles."
"That's not—"
"It is, though!" Her voice rose without her meaning it to. "You tried to do it Wednesday and you're trying to do it again now!"
Magnus opened his mouth but Alex pointed at him sharply, stopping him in his tracks.
"And fine! Fine, maybe telling Harper the truth was the right decision since we're sitting here right now. I can admit that. But this?" She gestured between him and Harper. "This is different! She gave you a way to survive and I agreed to it, but you're still fighting it because what? You don't want to cheat on me?"
Then she turned toward Harper.
"You see what I'm dealing with here?" she demanded, gesturing at him. "I keep trying to keep this idiot alive and he keeps trying to die every chance he gets over his stupid principles!"
"They're not stupid!" Magnus snapped back. "And it's not just that!"
Alex threw both hands up. "Oh, then what is it?"
"You told me yourself you weren't comfortable with our situation!" Magnus shot back.
Alex blinked once. Magnus pushed forward before he lost momentum.
"And now suddenly you're willing to just… what? Pay the price for me?" His voice tightened. "It's my life, Alex. I should be the one paying for it, not you. I don't want you sacrificing yourself for my sake."
Alex stared at him for half a second like she couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"Look who's talking!" she said incredulously. "It's okay for you to sacrifice yourself for my sake but not the other way around?"
"That's not the same thing—"
"And I'm not even sacrificing anything!" Alex snapped, cutting him off. Then, like she was too frustrated to care anymore: "I'm on my period, Magnus!"
That silenced him immediately as his brain scrambled in real time.
"…What?" he finally managed after several seconds.
"It came early because of all the stress from you trying to get yourself killed!"
He stared at her.
Alex groaned into her hands. "So would you please just shut up and sleep with Harper already?!"
"But—"
A burst of laughter cut him off.
They both turned. Harper had a hand raised, shoulders shaking, the laugh escaping her in the way laughs did when they'd been held back too long and finally gave up.
"God," she said, between breaths. "I almost forgot what it was like to be twenty. You two are so dramatic. Taking everything so seriously like every little thing is life-or-death."
They stared at her.
Harper shook her head slowly, still smiling. "I was testing you, you idiots. You both passed, by the way."
Silence.
Then Harper pointed at the couch.
"Come sit back down," she ordered. "And we'll talk through boundaries and arrangements like normal people until everyone's comfortable before we go any further."
Somehow, Magnus recovered first. Probably because instinct kicked in before embarrassment could.
He burned a charge of Affective Discernment toward Harper. The emotional reading returned almost immediately:
Exasperation. Fondness. Amusement. Trust.
Magnus immediately turned toward Alex before he could stop himself.
"See?!" he blurted out. "I told you! She read you like a book! None of your plans were ever gonna work on her!"
Alex whipped toward him immediately.
"Oh, like you were doing so much better?" she snapped back. "You keep gambling with your life and just get lucky afterward, that's all this is! Mr. I-won't-cheat-on-my-girlfriend-even-to-save-my-life!"
Harper cleared her throat meaningfully. Both of them shut up instantly and sat back down.