LOGINThe rain had started sometime before dawn.At first, it was gentleāsoft taps against the window, like someone asking politely to be let in. But as the hours passed, it grew heavier, louder, until it consumed everything. It drowned out the city noise, swallowed the world whole, and wrapped Ariaās apartment in a cocoon of gray.She hadnāt gotten out of bed.Not because she couldnātābut because she didnāt have the strength to.The blanket was pulled up to her chin, her body curled inward as though trying to protect something fragile inside her. Her phone lay beside her, screen dark now, but not long ago it had lit up with Markās name.āHey. Itās pouring. I can pick you up if you want.āHis voice had been warm. Easy. Safe.She had hesitated.For a second too long.Then she remembered.The demon guards.Across the street. Always watching. Always reporting.And more than thatāLucas.The thought of accepting a ride from Mark felt⦠wrong. Not because she owed Lucas anything. Not after the way
Distance, Lucas had learned, was a discipline.Not weakness.Not surrender.But discipline.And he was very, very good at it.******Weeks had passed since the argument.Not resolved.Not forgotten.Just⦠left where it had fallenālike broken glass neither of them wanted to pick up.Aria hadnāt come to him.That, more than anything, was what lingered.She hadnāt come back to explain herself.Hadnāt reached for him the way she used to when something unsettled her.InsteadāShe continued.Living her life.Going to school.Laughing.Smiling.And increasinglyāSpending time with him.She had chosen to spend time with her new found friend, than to come to him.As she should have.******Lucas had not interfered.Not once.Not openly.Not in a way she could see.Because he had made a decision.If she needed himāShe would come.And when she didāHe would be there.As he always was.As he always would be.But that didnāt mean he wasnāt watching.He had instructed the demon guards to watch her
The morning felt⦠different.Not like other mornings when Aria would lay in Lucas's arms, talking about random things. Or the mornings when she'd wait patiently while Lucas made breakfast.This morning was too different.Justāoff.Aria moved quickly around the room, her energy lighter than usual, almost buzzing beneath her skin as she pulled on her shoes and reached for her bag. There was a quiet excitement in her chest she hadnāt felt in a long time.Something simple.Something normal.And she liked it.A lot.āI donāt like it.āLucasās voice cut through the space before she even reached the door.Aria paused, her hand hovering midair before she slowly turned to look at him.He was watching her.Not casually.Not the way he usually didāwith that quiet, steady calm that made everything feel grounded.This was different.His gaze was sharper.More focused.Suspicious.āā¦Donāt like what?ā she asked carefully.āThe way youāre eager to leave.āHer brows pulled together slightly. āIām not
Time had never moved this slowly before.Aria stared blankly at the board, her chin propped against her palm as the instructor went over something she already knewāsomething she had perfected days ago.Measurements. Ratios. Techniques.All of it felt⦠repetitive.Familiar.Too familiar.A quiet yawn slipped past her lips before she could stop it, her eyes watering slightly as she blinked away the heaviness pulling at them.Lack of sleep.That was Lucasās fault.Her lips twitched faintly at the thought.He had been particularly unreasonable the night beforeāpersistent in that calm, unshakable way of his that made it almost impossible to argue.Or leave.Or sleep.She exhaled softly, shifting in her seat before finally giving in, letting her head fall forward onto the desk.Just for a moment.Just to rest her eyes.The faint hum of the classroom blurred around herāvoices, movement, the soft scrape of tools against surfacesāall blending into something distant.Muted.Safe.It was barely
Peace, Aria realized, was a dangerous thing.Not because it was fragileābut because it made you forget.And she had forgotten.Not entirely, not in a way that erased what Selene had said or the weight of it⦠but enough that the sharp edge of it had dulled. Enough that the fear no longer sat in her chest like something alive.Days had passed. Then weeks.Nothing happened.No looming threat. No whispers in the dark. No signs that anything had shifted beneath the surface of their world.And somehow⦠life had continued.Better than continued.It had bloomed.Lucas had a way of making everything feel⦠effortless.He showed up without warning, sometimes with nothing but that quiet, knowing look in his eyesāand other times with things that made no sense coming from someone like him.Flowers. Books. Jewelry he claimed was āinsignificant,ā though Aria was fairly certain entire fortunes had been spent on them.And then there were the days he took her out.Not extravagant in the way that would'
Aria hadnāt opened the door in hours.At first, it had been angerāsharp, defensive, hot in her chest like a shield she refused to lower. But anger was a short-lived companion. It burned fast, bright⦠and then it left.What remained was something colder.Quieter.Something that sat in her ribs and refused to move.She stayed curled on the edge of the bed, still dressed, still unmoving, staring at nothing in particular. The curtains were drawn, the room dim, but not dark enough to hide from her thoughts.Seleneās voice hadnāt left her.YOU DONāT BELONG HERE.YOU'RE DESTROYING EVERYTHINGYOU WILL BE THE REASON HE FALLS.A knock came again.Soft this time.āAria,ā Leviās voice filtered through the door, smooth, careful. āYouāve been in there all day.āShe didnāt answer.There was a pause, then a quieter addition, almost reluctant."You shouldn't be like this... he's worried."Her fingers tightened slightly against the fabric of the bedspread.Still, she said nothing.Footsteps retreated.
The massive gates of the throne room closed behind Lucas with a thunderous boom that echoed through the dark corridors of Hell.For a moment, he simply stood there.His chest burned where Lucifer's power had crushed the air from his lungs. The pain in his ribs throbbed with every breath he took, bu
Aria felt it before she heard anything_the suffocating presence of Selene. She didn't need to be told before she knew that the goddess was back from the witch haunt. She stepped out of the room to see her walking down the corridor like a storm that had learned how to wear skin. There was a wild spl
The chamber was unnervingly silent. The kind of silence that presses against your chest and makes every heartbeat feel like a warning. Lucas stood by the tall arched window, his back rigid, shoulders tensed. Moonlight poured in, painting his form in silver, and shadows highlighting the taut muscles
After quietude had returned, and the street was littered with bodies, Lucas turned to search for Aria. He saw her staring at him, visibly shaken by the incident. He walked towards the shop she had hidden herself in, but Aria backed away, and this feeling of rejection made Lucas angry. He came to th







