A night of passion

Dyvian's POV 

He was there.

Standing at a distance, locking up one of the stores. My fingers twitched at my sides. 

Something roused within me, an excruciating pain I had been attempting to ignore for the past two weeks. I wanted to go to him, to reach out and grab his wrist, to pull him into my arms and feel something other than this godforsaken emptiness.

But I couldn’t move.

Silently, I observed Avaris turn the key to make sure the lock was secure, then take a step back, his eyes lingering on the door as though he was deep in thought. Then, he walked away, blending into the moving crowd. Alone.

I followed.

Avaris never looked back, but I could tell he sensed something. His shoulders stiffened for a brief moment before he subtly turned his head, eyes scanning his surroundings. 

I scampered quickly, evading him by disappearing into the darkness. It was pathetic, this cowardice, but I wasn’t ready. 

Not yet.

He finally stopped in front of a house, smaller than most nobility estates but elegant in its own way. 

There was something about it that just screamed Avaris. It wasn’t grand, but it had character. He pushed the gate open, stepped inside, and vanished beyond the doors.

I let out a slow breath. This was the first time I had seen him in two weeks. Two weeks of silence. Two weeks of aching to be near him and knowing I had no right to be.

As I turned to leave, I caught movement at the corner of my eye. My body tensed, instinct taking over, until I recognized who it was.

I almost hissed when i realized it was Xaren.

He appeared equally shocked to see me, but his astonishment changed to something more akin to fear. It was there for just a flicker of a second before he let out a sharp laugh. “Well, well, well. Look who’s here. The jackass of the year!”

I rolled my eyes. “You’re sick.”

He smirked. “And you’re lurking outside your ex-lover’s house like a lovesick idiot.”

“He’s not my ex-lover,” I snapped. “We’re just going through a rough phase.”

Xaren raised an eyebrow. “A rough phase? You think that’s what this is? So you plan to get back together with him? Ruin his life all over again?”

“That’s not what I meant—” I started, but the realization hit me. He was messing with me.

I threw a punch at him, more out of irritation than intent, but Xaren sidestepped easily, laughing as he called me a bastard. I huffed, shoving my hands into my coat pockets. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Xaren suddenly looked awkward, scratching the back of his head. “I, uh, feel bad for Avaris, you know? Poor guy got abandoned by a loser like you, so I check in on him once in a while.”

I narrowed my eyes. “You sound like you’re stalking him.”

He grinned. “Maybe I am.” Then, his expression shifted as if he had just remembered something. “Oh, by the way, I saw something interesting today. Three men standing outside Avaris’ shop, looking very cozy. They seemed close.”

I felt something churn in my stomach, but I didn’t say anything.

Xaren, of course, took that as an opportunity. His eyes widened dramatically. “Oh gods, is Avaris about to try a foursome? Best way to get over heartbreak is to have a crazy night of passion you’ll never forget.”

Everything in me stiffened. “Avaris would never do anything like that.”

“Why wouldn’t he?” Xaren asked, tilting his head. “He’s not tied to you anymore. He can do whatever he wants.”

The words hit me harder than they should have. Of course Avaris could do whatever he wanted. He owed me nothing. I had no claim to him. 

Still, something gloomy and unsightly coiled inside of me at the idea of someone else touching him, someone else witnessing what only I had seen.

Before I could say anything, the night sky lit up.

Over the city, fireworks burst, spewing a stream of red and gold through the night.

I felt my heart tighten.

That was the signal.

"My father is here."

Xaren's typically smug amusement was instantly replaced by a different expression. “Wait—Lord Azrakel is here? Why? I didn’t even know he was back.”

I didn’t look at him. My fists clenched at my sides. “You aren’t more of a demon anymore, Xaren. There’s a lot going on that you don’t know.”

There was a time when he would have known—when we both would’ve stood side by side, bracing ourselves against the storm that came with Azrakel’s presence. 

But things had changed. Xaren had turned away from all of it. And yet, even now, even after all these years, the mention of my father still drained the color from his face.

He swallowed, watching me carefully. “What does he want?”

I looked up at the fireworks, which exploded and crackled in dazzling, short-lived red and gold streaks against the sky. I used to love fireworks when I was younger, before I understood what they meant in our world. 

A signal. A warning. A declaration of war.

“He’s trying to awaken Lucifer,” I said.

There was silence. A beat too long. 

Then... Xaren took a step back, and for the first time in this entire conversation, I saw something raw in his face. His voice, usually so laced with mockery, was deadly serious. “What?”

I forced myself to say it again. “He wants to wake him.”

Xaren's breathing became labored. His fingers twitched, as if some old instinct told him to reach for a weapon he no longer carried. “He can’t do that,” he stated. “If Lucifer awakens, he’ll find Nana. He’ll find all the witches. He’ll kill them all.”

My jaw tightened. I knew that. I knew the consequences. But I also knew my father. He wasn’t one to be stopped by reason, nor by fear.

Xaren’s stare burned into me, his usual amusement completely gone. “Dyvian, you can’t let that happen.”

I exhaled slowly. Everything coiled around my lungs like chains, pressing against my ribs. “That’s why we need to plan. Before my father gets his hands on the only thing that can wake Lucifer.”