He shook, lips parting — but no words came. Just blood, and fear, and then… silence.
I dropped his body. Let it hit the floor like the truth it was.
The second one tried to run. He got three steps.
“You hurt what was mine… and now I’ll hurt you.”
My blade slid through his back like silk. She fell into my arms like she belonged there — even if she hadn’t realized it yet.
“I told you to stay away,” Seori whispered, her voice hoarse.
I cradled her face, wiping the blood from her cheek with shaking fingers.
“And I told you… Idon’t let goof what’s mine.”
Her breath hitched. And despite everything — the death, the fire, the ruin — she leaned into me.
Like she knew I’d never let the darkness take her alone.
Tonight, the Guild learned that demons don’t beg.We break. We burn. And we protect.And for her… I’ll destroy everything.
Rheon
The Second Flame
She barely weighed anything in my arms. Seori’s head rested against my chest, her breath shallow, lashes dark with soot. I could feel the mark pulsing between us — still warm, still alive. But she was exhausted. Magic-drained. Shattered. I adjusted my grip, holding her closer as I stepped over the blood-soaked stairs of the Guild’s sanctuary.
“She’ll be alright,” Jisoo murmured, wiping his blade clean beside me. “But they’ll come for her again.”
“They can try,” I muttered.
We stepped into the clearing where Taeyang had taken down an entire row of silver guards on his own. Smoke still drifted from the bodies, but my attention wasn’t on them.
It was onhim.
Taeyang stood frozen — mid-step, mid-breath.
In his arms was Yuna, wrapped gently in his jacket. Her hair was tangled with ash and blood, her face bruised but defiant. And Taeyang… Taeyang wasn’t blinking.
His hand pressed against his chest — right over the place where a demon’s mating mark would burn if awakened.
I knew the feeling.
I’d lived it.
“Taeyang,” I said softly, “what do you feel?”
He flinched. His jaw clenched.
“Nothing.”
Liar.
I could see it in his eyes — the flicker of something ancient andterrifyingly real.His fingers brushed her cheek like it might destroy him. Like her skin was flame.
“I can’t,” he whispered, so quiet only I could hear. “She’s fae.”
That doesn’t matter,I wanted to say.The bond doesn’t care what you want.Only what you need.
