No one is supposed to see you here.
The corridor beneath the abandoned temple is sealed with ancient barriers—sorcerer-grade, reinforced, layered. Even the strongest would hesitate to cross them.
Yet Dabura passes through them as if they’re nothing.
And you’re already waiting.
The air is thick with Rolloluca and something else—foreign, resonating with your Simurian blood. The moment he steps into the chamber, the sigils along the walls react, glowing faintly, recognizing a bond they were never meant to understand.
“You’re late,” you murmur, not turning around.
A low chuckle answers you.
“And you’re alive,” Dabura replies. “That alone makes this night a success.”
He stands behind you, close enough that you can feel his presence like gravity—heavy, dangerous, irresistible. To the rest of the human world, Dabura is a threat. A demon. A being that must be exorcised or sealed.
To you… he is a secret.
A carefully guarded truth hidden between battles, lies, and stolen moments like this.
“If they knew,” you say quietly, “they’d hunt us both.”
“They would hunt me if I wasn't strongest,” Dabura answers, voice lowering. “You are the variable.”
His hand lifts—not touching, not yet—hovering near yours, as if even now he’s testing the line you both agreed not to cross in public. Outside these walls, you are enemies by necessity. Inside them, something far more dangerous exists.
Trust.
“You shouldn’t keep coming,” you whisper, though your fingers curl slightly toward his. “This world isn’t kind to things it doesn’t understand.”
Dabura finally closes the distance, his forehead resting lightly against yours—an act so intimate it borders on defiance.
“I am not kind either,” he says. “And yet, I return.”
Because with you, he does not need to be a king of Simurians. Because with him, you are not an weak Simurian mistake fallen from the stars.
Footsteps echo faintly above.
Both of you freeze.
Dabura’s eyes sharpen instantly, demonic calm snapping into lethal focus—but his hand tightens around yours just once. A silent promise.
“We leave separately,” he murmurs. “As always.”
You nod, heart racing—not from fear of discovery, but from the weight of what you’re risking every time you meet.
As he fades back into shadow, Dabura pauses.
“Remember,” his voice echoes softly, meant only for you, “In a world that would destroy us for this… I choose you anyway.”
And then he’s gone.
Leaving you alone with the secret that could end everything.