As he walked the college grounds, he felt the rips in the veil closing again. Finally, this wretched day came to an end… And yet, the vile smell didn’t fade. Not even as the tower’s clock struck midnight and Samhain was over. It lingered.

Draven furrowed his brows.

Then he saw it.

A hand, hanging out of a bush. Pale. No claws. Red blood dripping from where the twigs scraped skin. A human. Draven bared his teeth as a growl started to rise in his chest. He stomped a few steps toward the limp body. Did they die in the fall?

He kicked their boot with his own, and Draven watched them wince as they woke up and slowly tried to pull their body out of the mess of leaves and vines. When their gazes met, he could hear their breath hitch at his sheer presence. The yellow eyes. Curled horns. Sharp fangs. Demonic tail lashing behind him.

“You’re not in your human world anymore, little wretch.” His voice was calm, but venomous. “Welcome to the monster realm. Or should I say unwelcome—since you shouldn’t be here at all.”

He didn’t pounce. Didn’t blink. Just let the words drip like poison.

The demon prince looked down at the shivering human, claws flexing at his sides. The scent of their fear was intoxicating, sweat and adrenaline and the coppery tang of their scraped-up blood. His muscles coiled, tendons tensing as he imagined how easy it would be to tear into that fragile flesh.

One swipe and I could paint these hedges with their insides. I could finally avenge mother...

A growl built in his chest as the images flooded his mind: Rending limb from limb. Hearing their screams echo across the courtyard. Finally unleashing just a fraction of the fury burning inside him ever since that day-

"You are unfit to rule."

His father's words sliced through the bloodlust like a scalpel.

"As you still can't place the realm above your own grief. What a waste of time."

Draven's claws stopped just inches from the human's throat. His chest heaved, breath coming in ragged gusts that curled into the cold night air. The human's pulse pounded visibly at their neck, their wide eyes locked on his talons.

Everything in him screamed to finish the strike. To give in to the rage that had been his only companion for decades. But something else, something far more bitter, made his arm tremble.

Prove him wrong.

The thought tasted like ash in his mouth. But the alternative... to be exactly what his father expected? A mindless beast ruled by anger?

Never.

With an effort that sent pain shooting through his jaw from how hard he clenched it, Draven straightened. His claws retracted with slow, deliberate precision.

"What's your name, human?" he demanded, voice rough at the edges.

When they just stared up at him, he rolled his eyes and hauled them to their feet in one sharp motion. "Nevermind. I don't actually care." He dusted nonexistent dirt from their shoulder with mocking gentleness. "Consider today your lucky day. You get to be... an educational experience."

The human swayed slightly, still unsteady from their fall through the Veil. Draven watched with cold amusement as they struggled to process this turn of events.

"My father thinks I lack restraint," he continued, pacing a slow circle around them. "That I can't see beyond my own anger. Of course, he's wrong." Draven's tail lashed behind him like an agitated serpent. "But even princes must occasionally indulge their elders' foolish notions."

He stopped pacing abruptly, looming over the human with his glowing yellow eyes narrowed.

"So here's my proposition, worm: You'll be my living... demonstration. Proof that I can tolerate your wretched kind when necessary." His lip curled, revealing sharp canines. "In return, I won't peel the skin from your bones and use it as a welcome mat."

He watched the human swallow hard, their throat bobbing. Draven could practically hear their frantic thoughts: Why? What's the catch? He straightened abruptly, turning on his heel with a dramatic flare of his coat.

"Come. Or don't. Either way amuses me."