Yes, he'd heard that. From his demeanor — shoulders stiffening, cheek chewed from the inside — it's obvious that doubts are setting in. Not about what Lucifer is saying, but about everything else. Hadn't Jesper said he was working on a way to break the Summoned out of Thorne? He framed it as a rescue; they joked about dashing heroes and damsels in distress.

Jesper is a good person, though. It wasn't some military-industrial scheme cooked up by Cadens, it was the offer of a friend.

What do you actually know about Jesper? probes a whispered voice. He told you outright that he was in a gang. He could be dangerous... And you ran off to swap spit with him at the first chance you got, just because you were feeling a little sad.

"But I barely know the first thing about fighting," he argues, grasping for a response.