DARK'S POV
The first time I felt the pull of the Soul Anchor, the Pure Realm nearly paid for it with its existence. They were only lucky because I was sealed away. For centuries I had felt nothing but absence. A hollow space where power used to live. A vast emptiness where my strength had once burned like a sun. The Pure Realm called my imprisonment, justice. Balance.
I called it violation.
They had sealed me away piece by piece until nothing remained but awareness trapped in darkness. I could not move. Could not touch the world. Could not reclaim what belonged to me.
But I could wait. And demons are very patient creatures. So when the pull came— I felt it instantly. A pulse. Faint. But unmistakable.
The Soul Anchor had awakened. Mine. Hope had erupted through me like a storm tearing open the sky. For the first time in centuries, something inside me moved again. Something powerful. Something alive. The Anchor was calling. Calling me.
I could almost feel it stretching across realms, searching for the part of itself that had been ripped away. For a moment, I thought my imprisonment was finally ending. Then the second realization hit. The Anchor was not in my realm. It was not in the Dark Dominion. It was not even hidden somewhere within the Pure Realm.
No.
It was somewhere far worse. The human world. Rage tore through me instantly. The guardians had hidden my power inside a mortal body. A human. The most fragile, temporary creatures in existence. Their lives burned quickly and ended even quicker. The moment I realized that truth, my fury nearly shattered the prison that held me. Because I could feel it. The heartbeat. Weak. Fragile. Human.
The first host didn't last long. The human died. Just like that. The moment the body failed, the Anchor tore itself free and began searching again. Another human. Another fragile vessel. Another death. Again. And again. Each time the Anchor settled somewhere new, I felt the pull grow stronger… clearer... Then it vanished.
Over and over. It was like being starved while someone dangled food inches from my mouth only to rip it away again. Eventually my Sovereign came to me. Even through the barriers that separated us, his voice reached me clearly.
"Allow me to retrieve the human for you."
It would have been easy for him. The Soul Anchor recognized the Sovereign as well. He could have taken the human host and delivered them to me without resistance. A simple solution. But I refused. Because I knew the Anchor better than anyone. It was not simply a container for power. It chose its host. And by the time it had settled into its newest vessel, I could already feel how deeply it had attached itself. If we tore it away by force….It would resist.. And if the human died before I reclaimed it properly… The Anchor might search for another host. Or worse... Disappear forever.
Neither outcome was acceptable. So I waited. And watched. Then one day… The pull changed. It stabilized. Stronger. Clearer. The Anchor had chosen again. But this time… it wasn't drifting anymore. It had bonded. That was the first moment I felt her.
Iryna Grey.
A human girl whose heart had become the prison for the most dangerous power in existence. The moment I realized the Anchor had settled inside her permanently, everything changed. My plans had been simple. When she finally came to me, I would reclaim what was mine. Touch her. Pull the Anchor from her body. Become whole again. That was how it was supposed to happen.
Instead… Only half of it returned. The moment I connected my original form with my anchor in her heart, my physical form stabilized immediately. Strength flooded back into my limbs like lightning racing through a dead sky. I could breathe again. Move again. Exist again. But the rest of the Anchor... The most important part of it… Refused to leave her. That was when I understood the truth. The Anchor had bonded to her soul. And worse—
To her heart.
Which meant something deeply inconvenient. I needed her alive. The realization filled me with such violent rage that the Pure Realm itself trembled beneath it.
A prime demon.
The most feared creature in existence. Reduced to depending on a mortal girl. Pathetic. And yet… When I held her earlier, something unexpected happened. Power returned. Real power..The kind I had been denied for centuries. But the moment I let go— It vanished. A sharp, hollow pain ripped through my chest as if part of me had been torn away again. I hid it well. She never noticed. But I felt it. The Anchor demanded closeness. That was why I told her the half truth. That her pain would stop if she stayed near me.
It was true.
But not entirely. Because it wasn't only her body that suffered when distance grew between us. It was mine too. Still….She truly would not survive without me. When the reclamation finished, I would leave a sliver of my essence inside her—a thread of demonic life force strong enough to keep her fragile heart beating long after it should have stopped. But the cost…
Demons would scent that power on her. The Pure Realm would hunt her. They would see her as abomination. As weapon. As the thing that should never have been born from me. And when that day came, I would be too consumed with reclaiming my throne to shield her.
Selfish? Of course.
I have always been selfish.
The rattle of metal dragged me from the memory. Iryna stood at the door, yanking the handle with both hands, fury and desperation in every violent pull.
"Open this god-damned door!"
Her voice cracked against the stone.
"Let me out!"
Palm slammed against metal.
"I want nothing to do with you, you bastard!"
I remained by the window, arms folded, watching her. Humans are endlessly fascinating in their futility.
"The human world looks so… small from here, so pathetic." I murmured.
Her head whipped toward me.
"What?"
She stepped away from the door.
"We're in the human world?"
I turned just enough to meet her gaze.
"Where else would we be?"
She faltered, eyes darting around the room—the floating bed, the too-bright window showing an impossible blue sky.
"I thought…" Her lips twisted. "I thought we were in your dark place. Where else would suit a monster like you?"
The barb landed. I almost smiled. Instead of answering, I watched as realization dawned on her face. Her eyes suddenly darted toward the floating bed. Then she ran toward it. I already knew what she was searching for.
Before she could panic further, I raised the small device in my hand.
"Looking for this thing?"
She turned sharply. Frowning.
"It's called a phone, you ancient relic."
She marched toward me and snatched it from my hand. I almost smiled.
"You would be surprised how much I know about the human realm, little mortal." I said.
"My name is Iryna!" she snapped.
She immediately dialed a number and pressed the phone to her ear. Seconds later she groaned loudly. Pulling it away.
I shook my head slowly.
"Are you trying to call your mortal police friends?"
Her eyes widened.
"How… how did you know?"
I scoffed.
"You are very predictable, little mortal."
She tried again. And again. Each attempt ended the same way. Finally she looked up at me in frustration.
"Why isn't it working?!"
"Even if you could reach them," I said calmly, "they would think you had lost your mind."
I turned toward the window again.
"They would never find this place."
She stomped toward me, fury blazing in her eyes.
"Let me go!"
Her voice shook with emotion.
"I don't want to survive with you. I want to be with my family!"
Before she could step back, I caught her waist and pulled her against me. She fought instantly—fists striking my arms, body twisting. Of course she did.
I tightened my hold until she had no room left to struggle.
"Listen carefully, little mortal," I murmured against her ear, letting my voice drop to the register that made most creatures still.
"I am an exceptionally selfish demon."
Her nails dug into my forearms.
"So understand this clearly."
My grip flexed—just enough to remind her how easily I could crush bone if I chose.
"I do not care about your family."
Her breath hitched.
"I do not care where you want to be."
She thrashed harder.
"You will remain with me whether it pleases you or not."
I leaned closer, lips brushing the shell of her ear.
"Because you are necessary to me."
The moment I released her she spun, eyes blazing.
"You are a fucking bastard."
I let the slow grin spread across my face.
"I know."
I stepped forward again, closing the distance she'd tried to create.
"I have been one since the moment I existed."
Her chest rose and fell in sharp, angry bursts.
"Now," I continued softly, gaze dropping to the place above her heart where my Anchor lived, "whether you choose to live longer is your decision."
My voice turned velvet.
"But you will stay by my side…"
I lifted my hand—slowly—until my palm hovered just above her sternum without touching.
"…until every last fragment of what belongs to me is returned."
The air between us crackled. She did not step back. She did not look away. And beneath my palm—unseen, untouched—her heart answered mine with a single, traitorous beat. Loud. Clear. Unmistakable.
I smiled. She hated me. Good. Hate was honest. And honesty was the only thing I trusted.