INICIAR SESIÓNSTELLA The morning sun burns against my eyelids, but sleep remains farther away from me. I had spent the entire night tracing the cracks in the ceiling, listening to the echo of Luca’s voice. A distraction is what he calls me. That was all I was to him. I couldn’t help but notice how he hadn't even blinked when he tore my world apart. My skin still hums from the heat of our last kiss, but his words now act like ice, freezing any warmth left in my chest. I move through the bedroom, slumped and exhausted to even exist. My feet feel heavy, dragging across the plush carpet as I pull my suitcase from the closet. I reach for a floral dress, the one I wore on one of those nights he actually looked at me. A sharp pain tugs at my heart and immediately, tears are drawn into my eyes. But I won’t let the tears fall. It’ll only prove Luca right. I simply fold the fabric, smooth out the wrinkles, and tuck it away. With every shirt and skirt I tuck away, a memory of a man who no longer
LUCA I stand over the man, my shadow swallowing his broken form as sirens wail in the distance. I have already arranged the files. Every document and digital trail points directly to this "shifty-eyed worm" as the sole architect of the fraud. He shakes on the floor, making wet, gurgling sounds. I look down at my red knuckles and feel nothing but a cold, empty hole where my divinity used to be. "Luca, stop! You’re going to kill him!", Stella’s small voice cracks with fear. I turn slowly, my eyes burning with a rage I couldn’t even understand. I want to tell her that this man is nothing. I want to tell her that I have already agreed to a much worse death. I want to tell her she has no idea how much I hate what I’m about to do to her. But her fragile self needn’t know that yet. "He's still breathing,", I snap, wiping the blood onto my slacks. "Be grateful for that." When the police burst through the door, I grab her arm. It isn't gentle. I can feel that damn terrifying fragi
LUCA The rhythmic thumping beneath my ribs feels like an insult to my very existence. The Devil? With a heart? I snickered half heartedly, disbelievingly. Every beat is a countdown, reminding me that the divine ichor in my veins is thinning into something as common and as fragile as water. I am rotting from the inside. I am becoming a creature of seasons and expiration dates. I know Stella, her eyes glued on my slumped form, could feel frustration radiating off my skin. The air tenses. “My people think I’ve abandoned them,”, I say, the words feeling like shards of glass in my throat. They say I’ve traded my throne for a silk robe and a mortal’s breath.” “My court is in shambles because I am here, playing at domesticity.” I don’t look at Stella. I can’t. If I do, I’ll see the light in her eyes. I’ll see the very thing that is acting as a parasite on my divinity. “But they have no idea that the punishment is heavier. I know it too, no matter how much I pretend to not care.”
Stella lays awake just as the first weak light of dawn bleeds through the curtains. Stella stretches, feeling an unfamiliar mix of deep physical satisfaction. She stares at the pile of clothes on the floor, brushing through her messy hair with her fingers. A sudden realization crushes her. Then comes the dread. She needs an after pill. But she hasn’t packed any. I mean, who prepares for sex when everything is already a mess? She quietly slips out of Luca’s warm embrace and pulls out a thick terry-cloth robe from Zane’s wardrobe. She steals a glance at Luca, finding him deep in sleep. It’s the first time she’s seen him fall asleep like everyone else. She pads across the living room floor, ignoring Luca’s soft expression as he sleeps. She makes her quiet exit, and assumes the door next to Zane’s must be Kiki’s bedroom. Pausing, she takes calming breath before knocking softly on the closed door. Zane yanks the door open, his eyes were bloodshot and ringed with dark shadows. His h
WARNING! SMUT AHEAD! The verdict has been delivered, though delayed. As Zane stands paralyzed by the door for a moment, his heart pounds with rage and disbelief. Couple’s business? He wants to laugh. What partner endangers the life of his significant other, not once or twice but many times? He turns from the door, his hard eyes sweeping the room with unfocused gaze. He takes slow strides to the living room table. Snatching up his phone, he scrolls through news headlines and social feeds, frantically trying to ignore Kiki who’s eyes never leave his hunched framed. He needs the distraction, needs to connect to the network of his normal life before this entire night becomes real. He hopes Kiki won’t question him further. Kiki approaches him cautiously. Her earlier elation is completely replaced by practiced, soothing concern. “Zane, please, don’t let him get to you,”, she murmurs, placing a hand on his arm. “He’s just trying to cause a scene. You did the right thing bringing Ste
Luca exhales heavily and breathes in the suffocating air of Zane’s room. It smells faintly of clean laundry and Zane's subtle cologne. Luca’s lips twitch, the scent only fueling the churning rage inside Luca. He stands over the bed, his imposing figure casting a long, dark shadow over the sleeping woman. For a moment, the storm raging inside him comes to a complete still. He sees the faint purple smudges beneath Stella's closed eyes. Noticed the way her grip on the comforter tightens even in sleep. And the slight tremor in her hands as she rests them on her chest. In sleep, she isn’t defiant. She’s just utterly spent. This isn’t a deliberate move to spite him. It’s the reaction of a woman who’s broken down. The rage doesn’t disappear just yet. it simply crystallizes within the pits of his cold heart. It isn’t the blind fury of a betrayed lover. But the cold, disappointment of a man whose protégé, his one weakness, has chosen the wolf's den over the supposed safety of his side.







