Shadow would never let himself be exposed. Never allowed his presence to be caught in the open.
Luke?
He’d let the illusion shatter, then dared me to look deeper. All to make me doubt him—to make me hate him.
But I couldn’t.
Not then.
Maybe never.
And that terrified me more than anything else.
I pressed a hand to my chest, gripping the fabric of my shirt like it might hold me together. I’d tried for so long to understand him—both the man and the monster. I didn’t want to believe I was the only one feeling this…pull. But if I were?
He would be my ruin.
Not because he meant to destroy me—
But because I would let him.
Even when the world shattered, I would still run toward him.
Across the room, he still hadn’t moved. He looked carved from obsidian, some ancient god awaiting a last command. The faint glow of the crack across his chest pulsed slowly, like a second heart beating beneath all that power. The way he sat—arms folded, jaw tense—said everything he wouldn’t.
He was thinking. Or fighting something. Maybe both.
I lowered my eyes, whispering to the space between us,“I wish you wanted me more than you wanted to escape.”
Because the truth was: I knew how it felt to be trapped.
My family protected me fiercely—sometimes too fiercely. My father especially. But I still had choices. I had windows, doors, the sky. Even when they tried to keep me safe, I could move, could act, could leave.
Luke had no such freedom.
No matter what he became—king, devil, monster—Hell always called him back.
And still…here he was. Sitting in silence.
Not sending me away.
Not dragging me to some deeper pit of fire.
Just…existing in the same space as me.
Maybe that was something.
Or maybe it was the cruelest thing of all.
A sudden sadness crept over me like a weighted blanket. My shoulders felt heavy. The truth had always been there: my life would never be enough. A mate could never compare to having freedom—or ruling over a mad world.
So, I had to stop him.
My family suspected that the Devil and Harvest would become mortal as they neared the portal. It was probably a test—one last trial before a new reign. It made sense that they’d experience mortality if we were turning mortal ourselves.
Our lives depended on their weakening. If they stayed immortal while we weren’t…
We wouldn’t stand a chance.
