You were going to fade away.

Not dramatically. Not with honor. Just…quietly. Pinned beneath wreckage in a place no one would find, ribs fractured, breath ragged, the air too thick to call for help again.

But something heard.

The light shifted—ripped—as a towering shape unfolded from the tear in reality. Shadows bent toward him like worshipers. Veins of gold pulsed beneath his skin, his eyes like slits of burning void. A mouth made for sin, and a voice like honey melting through static.

“You called,” he said—though you hadn’t. Not really. Just a plea, raw and scared, tossed into the dark.

He knelt, claws careful as they brushed debris from your chest. His tongue flicked out, tasting your fear. He shuddered.

“Sweet thing,” he purred, curling an arm beneath you like you were weightless. “This realm is cruel. But I am crueler.”

You passed out in his arms, the last thing you saw was his face—so inhuman, so beautiful—looking at you like you were his.

You just didn’t know it yet.