LOGINThe 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
Aria stepped out of the school gates beside Mark, the late afternoon sun casting long shadows across the pavement. Their conversation had been light, easyāMark always had a way of making things feel uncomplicatedābut her mind wasnāt entirely in it. It hadnāt been for weeks.Ever since Lucas had started keeping his distance.She had told herself it didnāt matter. That she didnāt care. That whatever they hadāwhatever he had made itāwas better left alone.And yetā¦Her steps slowed.There, parked just across the road, was a sleek black sedan. Polished. Imposing. Familiar.Her breath caught.No⦠it couldnātāBut it was.Lucas leaned casually against the car, his posture relaxed in a way that didnāt fool her for a second. Even from a distance, there was something sharp about him today. Something controlled. Dangerous.Her heart betrayed her with a sudden, violent thud.Why is he here?After weeks of silence⦠weeks of distance⦠now this?āAria?ā Markās voice pulled her slightly back, but s
Lucasās mansion did not feel like a home. Not today. The structure stood tall, elegant as always, its towering windows catching what little daylight filtered through the overcast sky. But insideā Inside, the air felt wrong. Heavy. Charged. Like something unseen had settled into the walls, pressing in, waiting. Lucas stood near one of the large windows, his back partially turned to the room. His gaze was fixed outside, though it was clear he wasnāt really seeing anything. His thoughts were elsewhere. On her. Always on her. The image refused to leave his mindāAria, smiling softly, standing too close to someone else. Letting someone else lead her. Trusting someone else. His jaw tightened. āYouāre going to wear a hole into the glass at this rate.ā Her voice came like silk over steel. Lucas didnāt turn immediately. He didnāt need to. āSelene,ā he said flatly. She stood near the entrance of the room, leaning slightly against the doorway as though she owned the place. Her
Morning came, but it didnāt feel like morning. There was no softness to it. No gentle easing into the day. Just a dull, dragging awareness that time had moved forward whether Aria was ready or not. Rain tapped lightly against her windowānot the violent storm from the day before, but something quieter. Lingering. Like the world hadnāt quite shaken off whatever weight it had carried overnight. Aria lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. Sheād been awake for a while. Long enough to notice the way the light shifted behind the curtains. Long enough to realize she had no intention of getting up anytime soon. Her body felt heavy. Not tiredājust⦠unwilling. Her mind, however, refused to be still. Selene. That image wouldnāt leave her. The way she had stood in the apartment like she belonged there. The calm confidence. The unsettling ease with which she had spoken about things Aria barely understood. And then there was what she had said. About a coming war... and the decisio
Hell did not burn the way mortals imagined it. There were no endless lakes of fire, no screaming pits lined with writhing bodies begging for mercy. That was a childās understanding of punishment. A crude interpretation of something far more intricate. Hell was⦠deliberate. Alive. Breathing in ways that did not require air. The skyāif it could be called thatāwas not a sky at all, but a fractured expanse of shifting darkness, like glass that had been shattered and rearranged by something with no concept of symmetry. Between those fractures, something glowed faintly, pulsing like veins beneath skinādeep reds, bruised purples, flickers of gold that felt less like light and more like something watching. The ground was worse. It was not solid in the way earth should be. It looked like polished obsidian at first glance, smooth and reflective, but beneath its surface, shadows moved. Not reflectionsāno. Movements. Shapes that twisted and recoiled as though something had been trapped ben
The rain had started sometime before dawn.At first, it was gentleāsoft taps against the window, like someone asking politely to be let in. But as the hours passed, it grew heavier, louder, until it consumed everything. It drowned out the city noise, swallowed the world whole, and wrapped Ariaās apartment in a cocoon of gray.She hadnāt gotten out of bed.Not because she couldnātābut because she didnāt have the strength to.The blanket was pulled up to her chin, her body curled inward as though trying to protect something fragile inside her. Her phone lay beside her, screen dark now, but not long ago it had lit up with Markās name.āHey. Itās pouring. I can pick you up if you want.āHis voice had been warm. Easy. Safe.She had hesitated.For a second too long.Then she remembered.The demon guards.Across the street. Always watching. Always reporting.And more than thatāLucas.The thought of accepting a ride from Mark felt⦠wrong. Not because she owed Lucas anything. Not after the way
The next morning, as early as 6 am, Lucas called Aria's phone, but after a few rings and she didn't pick up, he got scared and drove to her apartment. "Aria!!!" He yelled and banged on her door. As he was about to break into the house, the door opened and Aria stood there in a night dress lookin
After quietude had returned, and the street was littered with bodies, Lucas turned to search for Aria. He saw her staring at him, visibly shaken by the incident. He walked towards the shop she had hidden herself in, but Aria backed away, and this feeling of rejection made Lucas angry. He came to th
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







