LOGINThe air inside Ariaās apartment felt wrong. Not silentāno, silence would have been kinder. This was heavier. Tense. Like the walls themselves were holding their breath. Lucas paced. Back and forth. Back and forth. His boots struck the floor in sharp, restless rhythms, each step echoing the storm building inside him. His jaw was tight, his fists clenched so hard the veins along his arms stood out, pulsing with restrained power. He had gone to Lucifer. Demanded answers. And what did he get? Nothing. Lucas let out a harsh breath, dragging a hand through his hair as frustration clawed up his spine. āThose dreadful demons are with her, and you wouldn't give me the answers I need,ā he had growled earlier, his voice low with threat. But Lucifer had only watched him with that same infuriating calm. āI will not interfere in matters between my sons.ā Lucasā eyes darkened at the memory. Sons. The word alone made something violent stir inside him. āI will tear apart everything yo
The address Mark had sent didnāt look anything like Aria had imagined.As the taxi slowed to a stop, gravel crunching beneath the tires, she leaned slightly toward the window, scanning the surroundings. The air felt⦠different. Quieter. Too quiet. No hum of distant life, no chatter, no movementājust an eerie stillness that pressed against her skin.Still, she shook it off.Maybe it was just one of those secluded neighborhoods.The taxi came to a halt, and as she stepped out, the cool air wrapped around her like a whisper. Her shoes crunched softly against the ground as she straightened, brushing invisible creases from her outfit.Thatās when she saw him.Mark leaned casually against a sleek black car, one foot crossed over the other, arms folded. He looked relaxedātoo relaxedāand when his eyes met hers, a slow smile spread across his lips.āAria,ā he called, pushing himself off the car.Her face lit up instantly, warmth flooding her chest. āMark!āShe walked toward him, clutching the
The morning came softer than usual.Sunlight slipped gently through the curtains, painting Ariaās room in warm gold, and for onceājust onceāher thoughts werenāt heavy.She woke before the alarm.No dread.No confusion.No lingering shadows of things she couldnāt explain.Just⦠excitement.Real, simple excitement.She lay there for a moment, staring at the ceiling, and a smile slowly spread across her lips.Today, she was going out.Not into danger.Not into secrets.Not into Lucasās world of warnings and control and things that made her feel like she was losing herself.But into something normal.Human.Her chest felt lighter just thinking about it.For so long now, ever since Lucas had come into her life, everything had changed. What used to be ordinary had become distantāalmost unreachable. Conversations felt layered with caution, days felt watched, choices felt⦠restricted.It was as if she had been dragged into a world that wasnāt hers.And somewhere along the lineā¦She had almost
The bell rang, sharp and sudden, snapping the class out of its dull rhythm.Aria stretched slightly in her seat, rolling her shoulders as she packed her books into her bag. Her mind wasnāt on the lecture she had just sat throughāit hadnāt been for a while now. Too many things had been happening lately. Too many things she couldnāt explain.Lucas weird attitude.Selene's warning about a coming war.The things she had seen⦠the things she had felt.She exhaled softly, shaking her head as if that alone could clear the weight off her thoughts.āAria, are you coming?āShe looked up briefly, offering a small smile to her classmate before nodding. āYeah, I am.āBut as she stepped out of the classroomā¦She paused.Mark was there.Leaning casually against the wall, one hand tucked into his pocket, the other holding a drink. He looked completely at ease, like he had been there for a while and didnāt mind waiting at all.Her lips curved into an automatic smile.āHey.āHe pushed himself off the w
Before Lucifer ever fell⦠Before Hell learned how to mock, how to tempt, how to play with humanity⦠There were the Five. They were not created. They did not rise. They simply⦠were. Ancient. Unnamed by time. Unbound by order. Hell did not rule them. Hell formed around them. They were not demons in the way lesser creatures crawled and clawed for power. They were principlesāembodiments of impulses so deeply rooted in existence that even gods had learned not to provoke them. And among them⦠The First. Incubus. He did not walk into a room. He entered the mind first. Desire preceded him. Longing announced him. By the time his physical form appeared, it was already too late. His victims did not resist himāthey welcomed him. Incubus did not simply seduce. He studied. Every flicker of emotion, every suppressed craving, every hidden weaknessāhe tasted them all. He knew what a person wanted before they admitted it to themselves. And when he gave it to them⦠He gave it perfect
The descent into Hell was not marked by fire.It was marked by silence.Lucas did not step through a gate, nor did he summon a portal. Hell recognized himāfelt himāand parted.The air shifted first.What little movement existed in that cursed realm stilled, as though the world itself had drawn in a breath it dared not release. Then the ground beneath his feet darkened further, veins of molten crimson receding like blood retreating from a wound.He had not been here in a long time.Not because he feared it.Fear was a language Hell understoodābut never dared speak to him.No⦠he had stayed away because this place remembered.Every scream. Every fall. Every moment of weakness.And worst of all⦠it remembered his father's humiliation of him.Lucas walked forward, his steps measured, unhurried, yet carrying a weight that pressed against the very bones of Hell. The corridor stretched before himāendless, suffocating, lined with walls that pulsed faintly, as though alive. Shadows clung to th
When two days passed without Aria getting a word from Lucas, she got worried and tried to pry out information from Levi, but he wouldn't give in to her demands, and she didn't make it easy for him either. "So you're seriously telling me that you don't know where Lucas is?" "Yes, Aria. I have no i
As Lucas prepared himself to meet with the dreaded sea beast, he wondered if it was a wise decision to make. Levi had tried to talk him out of it several times, but Lucas couldn't bring himself to listen to him, and give up on his quest. But now, the thoughts lingered, and he was confused on what t
Having known that Behemoth was on Earth to take revenge on him, Lucas feared for Aria's safety. He became uneasy, and he used his connections to see that the cop he had shifted into was dismissed. Lucas knew that dismissing the cop wouldn't make any difference, but he wanted to keep him out of his
Years ago during the time that Lucas had gone on a killing spree, destroying and killing creatures that wouldn't bow in submission to him, Behemoth had been the hardest to break.Legend had it that Behemoth was once the king of hell, thousands of years ago, even before the devil came into power. He







