Aria's POV
The red eyes blinked.
Then something stepped out of the shadows.
He was the most beautiful and terrifying thing I'd ever seen. Tall, with silver-white hair that seemed to glow in the darkness. His skin was pale like moonlight, and those burning red eyes watched me like a predator watching prey.
He wasn't human. Couldn't be human.
"A deal?" His voice was smooth and dangerous, like velvet covering knives. "How amusing. Do you even know who I am, little lamb?"
"No," I said honestly. My heart pounded so hard I thought it might break through my chest. "But I know you're powerful. I can feel it."
That was true. Energy rolled off him in waves that made my skin tingle. This creature radiated more power than every tamer in Spirit Hall combined.
He circled me slowly, looking me up and down. I forced myself not to move. Not to run.
"You're soaking wet," he observed. "Crying in the rain like a pathetic romance novel. Let me guess—someone broke your heart?"
Heat rushed to my face. "That's none of your business."
"Oh, but it is." He stopped in front of me, so close I had to tilt my head back to meet his eyes. "You came into my prison. That makes everything about you my business. So tell me, girl—what tragedy sent you stumbling into the one place in Tokyo that will definitely kill you?"
I swallowed hard. "I need power."
He laughed. Actually laughed, throwing his head back. The sound echoed through the chamber like thunder.
"Power! That's what they all say." He leaned down until his face was inches from mine. "But you... you don't even have spiritual energy. I can barely sense anything from you. You're like a candle trying to compete with the sun."
The words should have hurt. They should have made me feel as worthless as everyone at the ceremony had made me feel.
But I'd already hit bottom. There was nowhere left to fall.
"I know I'm weak," I said. "That's why I'm here. I want a contract."
His red eyes widened slightly. Then he smiled, showing teeth that were just a bit too sharp.
"A contract? With me?" He straightened up, crossing his arms. "Do you know what I am?"
"Something powerful enough to be sealed in a forbidden shrine."
"I'm a demon, you foolish girl. The Demon King, to be precise. Locked away here for a thousand years by fifty master tamers who feared I would destroy the world." His smile turned cruel. "And you want to contract with me?"
My legs shook, but I didn't back down. "Yes."
"Why?"
"Because everyone who was supposed to love me threw me away tonight." The words tumbled out before I could stop them. "My fiancé left me for my sister. My parents disowned me in front of hundreds of people. The entire tamer world laughed at me. They called me defective. Worthless. A disappointment."
My voice cracked. "They're right. I am worthless. I can't contract with even the weakest spirit. I have nothing. I am nothing."
The demon's smile faded. He studied my face with those burning eyes.
"So you came here to die?"
"No." I lifted my chin. "I came here to become something they'll never forget. I want power. Enough power to make them all regret what they did. Enough power to prove I'm not worthless."
"Revenge," he said softly. "Now that's a motivation I understand."
He walked around me again, but this time his gaze felt different. Less mocking. More... interested.
"Even if I agreed to contract with you—which I haven't—you'd need to offer me something in return. Contracts require balance. What could a powerless little human possibly offer the Demon King?"
I thought about everything I'd lost tonight. My family. My love. My future. What did I have left?
Only one thing.
"My soul," I said. "Give me the power to destroy everyone who destroyed me, and you can have my soul."
The demon stopped walking. The entire chamber went silent.
Then he appeared right in front of me—so fast I didn't see him move. His hand grabbed my chin, tilting my face up to his.
"Your soul," he repeated quietly. "Do you even know what you're offering? A soul isn't something you get back, girl. Once I take it, you're mine. Forever. Even after death."
"I don't care." And I didn't. What good was my soul anyway? "At least I'll have power before I lose it. At least I'll make them pay."
Something flickered in his red eyes. Something that looked almost like... respect?
"You're either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid," he said. "I haven't decided which yet."
"Does it matter?"
"No. I suppose it doesn't." He released my chin and stepped back. "Fine. I'll make a contract with you. But I should warn you—most humans who contract with demons go mad within days. The power burns through their minds like fire through paper."
"I'll take that risk."
"And when I consume your soul, you'll cease to exist completely. No afterlife. No reincarnation. Just... nothing. You'll be erased from existence."
Each word should have terrified me. Instead, I felt something like relief. At least erasure meant no more pain.
"I understand," I said.
The demon studied me for a long moment. Then he smiled—a real smile this time, not cruel or mocking. Almost... sad.
"You remind me of someone," he said quietly. "Someone I lost a very long time ago. She had that same look in her eyes. Like she'd burn the whole world down just to feel something other than pain."
Before I could ask what he meant, he raised his hand. A mark appeared on his palm, glowing with dark red light.
"Last chance to run, little lamb. Once we do this, there's no going back. You'll be bound to me until I decide to devour your soul. Could be days. Could be years. But it will happen."
I looked at his glowing hand. Then I looked back at his face.
"Do it."
"Your name first. I should know the name of the soul I'm taking."
"Aria," I said. "Aria Nakamura. Or just Aria, I guess, since my family doesn't want me anymore."
"Aria." He said it like he was tasting the word. "I am Kael. And you, little storm, are about to become either my greatest triumph or my biggest mistake."
He extended his hand toward me.
I reached out and grabbed it.
The moment our skin touched, pain exploded through my entire body.
I screamed.
It felt like lightning was pouring through my veins, like fire was eating me from the inside out. My knees buckled, but Kael's hand gripped mine harder, not letting me fall.
"Don't pass out," he commanded. "You need to stay conscious for this part, or the contract will fail and kill you."
I tried to focus, but the pain was too much. Something was breaking inside me—no, not breaking. Shattering. Like chains wrapped around my chest were exploding into pieces.
Light erupted from my body. Purple light so bright it filled the entire chamber.
Kael's red eyes went wide with shock.
"Impossible," he whispered.
The light got brighter and brighter until I couldn't see anything else. Power flooded through me—so much power I thought my body would rip apart trying to contain it.
Then everything went black.
The last thing I heard was Kael's voice, shocked and almost... afraid?
"You're not human. What are you?"
Then nothing.
I woke up screaming.
My eyes flew open, and I found myself staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. White paint. Normal lights. Not the dark chamber.
"Easy! Easy, you're safe!" A woman's voice.
I turned my head. Luna sat next to me on a bed—my best friend who I'd pushed away at the ceremony. Her face was pale with worry.
"Luna?" My voice came out rough, like I'd been screaming for hours. "Where—"
"My apartment. I found you collapsed in an alley near the shrine." Her hands shook as she grabbed mine. "Aria, you were glowing. Actually glowing purple. What happened to you?"
I tried to sit up. My whole body ached like I'd been hit by a truck.
Then I saw them.
My hands.
They were covered in glowing purple marks—swirling patterns that looked like tattoos but moved under my skin like living things.
"What..." I whispered.
"Those appeared about an hour ago," Luna said. "Along with these."
She held up a mirror.
I looked at my reflection and almost didn't recognize myself.
My eyes had changed. They weren't normal brown anymore. They were violet—bright, glowing violet with hints of purple fire deep inside.
And I could see things.
Spirits. Dozens of them. Floating around the room, through the walls, everywhere. I'd never been able to see spirits before. Now I could see them all.
A small ghost floated near the window. It turned and looked at me.
Then it bowed.
"Master," it whispered in a voice like wind.
More spirits appeared, pushing through the walls. Ten. Twenty. Fifty. All of them staring at me. All of them bowing.
"Master. Master. Master."
Luna's face went white. "Aria... what did you do?"
Before I could answer, shadows gathered in the corner of the room.
Kael stepped through them like walking through a doorway.
He looked at me with those burning red eyes, and this time, there was no mockery in them. Only shock. And something that looked like fear.
"We need to talk," he said. "Right now. Because what I felt during that contract... what you are..." He ran a hand through his silver hair. "Aria, you're not a defective tamer. You never were."
"Then what am I?"
Kael's expression turned serious.