DEVON'S POV 🩸

Demons didn't have emotions.

We were made to obey evil, to destroy, to survive-nothing more. So how could I explain what I felt for Kira?

It started with an act. I was supposed to gain her trust, stay close, keep an eye on her. Nothing personal. Just orders.

But then she smiled at me.

And somehow, I couldn't stop looking. Couldn't stop wanting.

I didn't even realize when it happened-when the act stopped and something real took over. Something warm and terrifying. She brought life to something inside me I didn't even know existed.

And I hurt her.

I pressed my hands to my face, fingers tangling in my hair. It was longer now, a mess, but I didn't care. Not when the memory of my claws tearing into her skin haunted me every time I blinked.

She'd looked at me with pain and terror, yes, but also with something else-something worse. Hope. She still believed I was good. Even after seeing me like that.

Later that night, I stood outside her room. Her roommate had fallen asleep, and Kira was sobbing-soft, muffled like she didn't want anyone to know. But I heard. Every broken breath. It gutted me. Worse than any wound I've ever had.

I wanted to go in, to fall at her feet and beg. I would've cut off the hands that hurt her. I would've kissed her. I would've told her I loved her.

But like always, I turned around and disappeared into the dark.

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Then came Rya.

When Kira said Rya had spoken to her, fear sank its claws into me. If I'd known that the Rya she met was the same Rya I once knew, I wouldn't have wasted a second. I would've hunted her down and ended her before ever going back to Kira.

Because Rya knew everything. The plan. What Kira was.

And if she told Kira the truth... they'd come for her.

I had gone after her. Searched everywhere. But she was already gone-vanished. She knew I'd kill her.

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The necklace.

That cursed necklace.

She wore it every day-close to her heart. It reminder of her father, of everything she lost. She smiled when she touched it. Said it made her feel safe.

She never knew it was a lie.

It wasn't a gift. It was a weapon. One they made me give her.

Through it, they watched her. Listened. Tracked her every move. And I let them. I watched her cling to something that was never really hers-something that betrayed her every time it touched her skin.

They used her grief against her. Twisted it into a weakness. And I stood by, pretending.

So when Rya appeared-when the truth threatened to unravel everything-I panicked. I didn't think. I lashed out.

I hurt her.

Not because I wanted to. God, never that. But because I was desperate. I needed to know what Rya told her-if she knew what the necklace they knew I was slipping.

But she didn't.

She looked at me with wide, broken eyes. And in that moment, I knew-I'd shattered her trust. Maybe for good.

And all for nothing.

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They planned everything-starting with the attack on her village. They brought her here. And me? I was placed here before she arrived.

The seer helped with that. And she made sure Kira stayed.

All of it was orchestrated.

The only reason they didn't move sooner was because her powers hadn't awakened.

Once they did... they'd take her.

And they'd destroy her-like they destroyed the others before her.

And it would all be my fault.

I didn't want to admit it at first, but from the moment I saw her, I didn't want them to take her. So I tried to help her see the truth, little by little. Left clues. Hints. Hoping she'd piece it together.

She never did.

Not that I blame her.

I could've told her everything. What she was. What they sent me to do. What they were planning. But if I did, they wouldn't just kill me.

They'd come for her.

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There's this insane theory-they believe that if she hears the truth, her powers might manifest right away, triggered by instinct or fear or some divine force. And if that happened, she could escape. Maybe even destroy them. And if her powers didn't manifest when she was told the truth, then maybe God would take her back, and they'd lose everything.

But if she found out on her own, it wouldn't trigger anything unnatural. Just a slow awakening. A manageable threat.

That's why no one could tell her. Not me. Not her mother.

Yeah. Her mother.

My chest tightened. What would Kira do if she knew her mother was alive? Not dead. Not gone. Just... with them.

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All this time, they believed placing Kira among her kind would speed up the process.

Her blackouts-her fainting spells-weren't part of the plan. When she collapsed in her bathroom and no one, not even the seer, knew what was happening, I panicked.

They told me the necklace lost connection with her. It was still on her neck, but it stopped working. They couldn't hear or see through it anymore. That scared them.

And that necklace...

I clenched my fists. If I could, I'd rip it off her with my teeth.

Now Kira had a copy of the Holy Book. She'd read it. They told me that much.

So she was close. Too close.

I miss her. I miss everything. I've stood outside her door so many nights, hand raised to knock. But I never do.

I'm not worthy. I've never been.

I exhaled, long and heavy.

Something is coming.

Demons weren't made to feel.

But I do.

And if I lose her, I don't know what that makes me.

A/N

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