INICIAR SESIĂNDistance, 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 fallenâlike broken glass neither of them wanted to pick up.Aria hadnât come to him.That, more than anything, was what lingered.She hadnât come back to explain herself.Hadnât reached for him the way she used to when something unsettled her.InsteadâShe continued.Living her life.Going to school.Laughing.Smiling.And increasinglyâSpending 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 himâShe would come.And when she didâHe would be there.As he always was.As he always would be.But that didnât mean he wasnât 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.Justâoff.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 hadnât felt in a long time.Something simple.Something normal.And she liked it.A lot.âI donât like it.âLucasâs 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 didâwith that quiet, steady calm that made everything feel grounded.This was different.His gaze was sharper.More focused.Suspicious.ââŠDonât like what?â she asked carefully.âThe way youâre eager to leave.âHer brows pulled together slightly. âIâm 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 knewâsomething 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 Lucasâs fault.Her lips twitched faintly at the thought.He had been particularly unreasonable the night beforeâpersistent 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 herâvoices, movement, the soft scrape of tools against surfacesâall blending into something distant.Muted.Safe.It was barely
Peace, Aria realized, was a dangerous thing.Not because it was fragileâbut 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 eyesâand other times with things that made no sense coming from someone like him.Flowers. Books. Jewelry he claimed was âinsignificant,â 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 hadnât opened the door in hours.At first, it had been angerâsharp, 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.Seleneâs voice hadnât left her.YOU DONâT BELONG HERE.YOU'RE DESTROYING EVERYTHINGYOU WILL BE THE REASON HE FALLS.A knock came again.Soft this time.âAria,â Leviâs voice filtered through the door, smooth, careful. âYouâve been in there all day.âShe didnât 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.
âThe mansion felt different at night.âColder.âNot in temperatureâbut in presence.ââThe silence stretched longer, deeper, as though the walls themselves were listening. Shadows clung to the corners more boldly, shifting with a life of their own, bending around the dim glow of the chandeliers that barely pierced the darkness.ââBy the time Lucas stepped into the grand hall, the air already carried her presence.âHe didnât need to look.âHe knew.âSelene stood by the towering window, her back to him, her silver hair catching faint light as it spilled over her shoulders like liquid moonlight. Beyond the glass, the night stretched endlessly, the horizon swallowed in darkness.âShe didnât move.ââDidnât acknowledge him.ââLucas stopped just a few steps behind her.âSilence settled between them.ââHeavy.ââUnspoken.ââTime passed.ââSecondsâor minutes.ââThenââââYouâre unusually quiet,â Selene said at last, her voice smooth, almost bored. âI thought you would have come in here
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
Levi held the car door for her, and helped her get in. As the car doors clicked shut, and the engine came alive with Levi behind the wheel, Aria let out a breath. All these while, she had been worried that the witches would catch up with her, but now she was out of harm's way. What excited her more







