Chapter 4 The Day I Met the Devil
RAVIEL
“I saw the star when it was born. How delightful that it’s come to me at last.”
Raviel stood at the altar, the blindfold hiding secrets no mortal could see and live. Yet he saw everything. Always.
The doors opened.
She appeared.
Leitana walked down the aisle, trembling. Each step made her glow, faint at first, then brighter, a star wrapped in fragile human skin. To everyone else, she was a trembling bride in white. To him, she was a celestial flame pretending to be human.
How ironic, he thought. I, once the Morning Star, cast down and fallen, now stand in a house of God, claiming one of His stars for myself.
Her pulse, her fear, her soul beating like a caged bird… Beautiful. Perfect. Each tremor sang to him like music only he could hear.
No one dared meet his eyes. Rumors whispered about the blind billionaire, aloof and untouchable. None guessed the truth: his eyes were the abyss itself.
She neared the altar. He tilted his head, lips curving. Every tremor in her spine made him smile darker.
Oh, little star… you shine so bright, and yet you are mine to claim.
The ceremony began. He listened, silent, calculating, savoring every flicker of her hidden power. One day she might burn.
But tonight… Tonight, she would kneel willingly, unknowingly already lost.
Tears slipped down Leitana’s cheeks behind the veil. She stood beside the stranger she knew nothing about, the man with a black blindfold that somehow made him more terrifying. Why did he wear it?
The question itched at her mind, but not enough to stop the ache in her chest. The pain of betrayal ran deeper.
She looked up at the crucifix.
“Have you forsaken me, my Lord?” she whispered, fingers brushing the rosary hidden in her gown.
“...Sorry, what was that, child?” the priest asked gently.
Leitana flinched at the sound. The murmurs of the crowd buzzed behind her like whispers of judgment. Before she could speak, the man beside her said, voice low and cold,
“Repeat. She didn’t hear you.”
His tone sent a shiver down her spine. So deep. So calm. So dangerous.
He didn’t even look at her.
The priest cleared his throat. “Do you, Avery Hale, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?”
Leitana’s lips parted. No sound came. Her heart slammed against her ribs. She glanced at him, the stranger she was about to marry. The blindfold was smooth, silky, black. His face, sharp jaw, high cheekbones, lips curved in a hint of dark amusement. Power clung to him like a shadow.
Her throat tightened. Memories of Vanuatu, of sunlight, laughter, Marita, and the chapel crashed over her. She pressed her fingers to the rosary and whispered a broken prayer.
The priest waited. “Do you…?”
Her voice cracked. “I… do.”
“You may kiss the bride.”
Her heart dropped. Every instinct screamed to pull away. But she couldn’t move.
Raviel’s hands lifted her face. Slowly, he removed the veil. She looked up at him, the blindfolded man whose stillness was more frightening than rage.
For a heartbeat, everything stopped.
He hadn’t expected her. The golden warmth of her skin, the quiet glow that surrounded her, caught his attention, subtle yet impossible to ignore.
The priest gasped. The crowd murmured.
Tears streaked down her cheeks, glistening under the light.
Raviel smiled. A thin, cruel curve of his lips. Then he leaned in.
His lips brushed hers.
Her first kiss.
Her heart slammed. It wasn’t gentle. It wasn’t sweet. It was claiming. Cold and burning at once like being kissed by shadow and fire.
Her body froze, even as her mind screamed to run. Why did it feel like something inside her had awoken? Like a thread pulling her somewhere dark?
He pulled back. She gasped, breathless. Her chest burned, and her legs felt weak. Fear tangled with something she didn’t understand.
Raviel’s smile deepened, slow and predatory. The blindfold hid his gaze, yet she felt it, heavy, consuming, watching her like prey.
She blinked through tears, hands trembling. Why did her chest ache like it could both break… and ignite?
The priest coughed softly, snapping the world back into motion. But Raviel didn’t look away. His hand brushed her golden skin, voice low against her ear.
“You’re mine now, little star.”