The devil's little bride

he Fire Bene

hadn'

tr

the velvet weight of darkness, waiting for something to move,

asn't

arden posted o

s whispering dreams

scent still clinging

ched-not from fear exactly, but from the not knowing. It ate at her. Every moment here stretched too

the floor, the door groaned

on the ot

the

is sh

ts. Tall as the doorway, its body cloaked in thick shadow that mov

requests you

efore she thought.

d slowly. "The

ask what

re she needed to impress. She wasn't here to seduce or survive through grace. She wasn't the pret

eded to su

owed the

that had rearrange

thing. Doors blinking. Lamps that lit themselves when

n this palac

she had never fel

wasn't a thron

d shi

nto void, endless and crawling. Beneath that black sky, dozens of beings knelt.

ard

round him. His horns curved around his head like a crown, his hair long and ink-black. He was dress

lsed when he

forward, uncertain whether

said. His voice carried lik

you asked for me. So I sup

something cur

om

e ember pit, her skin began to sting. It wasn't just heat. It was memory

in," h

apped up. "

who you are," he said.

it bur

es

idn'

n't co

wai

looked

sses at a trial. She wasn't just a bride.

ed into t

't the ri

in like a bl

s awa

es watered, but didn't boil. The fire didn

ed into her l

her lips to a baby's forehead. A name whispered under a moon split in two. A han

choed in her skull.

ed her e

wasn'

of him-ever sinc

ge. She had seen him in candlelight. Heard him in t

fice," he murmured. "The fi

pit, panting, her body

her before

n't cold, lik

were

iv

ve you known

?" he said. "From the mo

ked up

y m

. "Because you

last

dn't

gently, reverently-and carried her

her c

h

t what sh

cha

wea

ken clocks, and a garden of withered roses that never bloomed. A great bed

her down

didn't

ked up

man once," s

dy wen

se to

finally. "And

was soft. "Yo

dded

ave. She wanted to love the darkness o

aned

elene. Only you. And you b

ched hi

une that pulsed li

t want to save

uth tw

y survive th

did somethin

is lips to h

osses

cr

dema

evi

dy knew she w

moment-for just a

away, his voi

training

ked. "Tr

will learn the ancient languages. The magic of blood and

" she as

, he told

. Because your blood sings. Because when the fire

tur

into th

bed, staring at the sk

here to

end

rt of her already a