Arianna sat frozen, her hands clenched into fists on the smooth black table. Damien's words echoed in her mind.
"And you, my dear, are my wife."
A title she never chose. A bond she never wanted.
Her heart pounded violently against her ribs as she forced herself to breathe. She had to think. She had to find a way out of this nightmare before it was too late.
The silence between them was thick, charged with an invisible force she couldn't name. Damien watched her with an amused expression, swirling the dark liquid in his glass as if she were nothing more than a fascinating game piece on his board.
Arianna swallowed hard, pushing away the fear clawing at her throat.
She wouldn't be another one of his victims.
"I assume you'll want an explanation," Damien finally said, his voice smooth, unhurried.
Arianna exhaled sharply. "An explanation? You mean for the fact that I've been forced into a marriage with someone who isn't even human?"
A wicked smirk curled on his lips. "Flattery will get you nowhere, little wife."
Arianna's nails dug into her palms. "I want answers."
His silver eyes gleamed. "Then ask the right questions."
She hated the way he always seemed in control, the way he held all the power. But she refused to let him see how much that terrified her.
"Fine," she said, her voice like steel. "What exactly am I bound to?"
Damien leaned back in his chair, resting an elbow on the table. "My soul."
Arianna's blood ran cold.
His soul?
He watched her reaction with a slow, satisfied smile. "Surprised?"
Her stomach twisted. This is worse than I thought.
Magic contracts were dangerous enough, but a bond woven into the soul itself? That meant—
She sucked in a sharp breath.
"That means if you die… I die too."
Damien's smile widened. "You're quick."
Arianna's breath turned shallow. She had hoped the contract was something that could be unraveled, a deal that could be broken. But this—this was deeper. More absolute.
It meant there was no simple way out.
Damien drummed his fingers against the table. "Now, you see why running is useless."
Arianna's stomach churned. She had been so focused on escape, on fighting back—she hadn't truly understood the depth of the trap she was in.
He owned her. Not just in name, not just by some contract signed in ink—but in a way that bound them on a level far more intimate than she ever wanted.
Her pulse quickened.
No.
There had to be a loophole.
There always was.
She forced herself to breathe, to shove down the fear and focus.
"What happened to the others?" she asked, voice steady.
Damien's smirk faded slightly. "Ah."
For the first time since she had met him, she saw a flicker of something behind his cold silver eyes.
Regret?
No.
Something darker.
He tilted his head. "You're very curious, aren't you?"
Arianna didn't move. "Curiosity keeps me alive."
Damien exhaled, swirling his drink once more. "They weren't strong enough to handle the bond."
Arianna's chest tightened. "Meaning?"
He regarded her for a long moment before answering. "They broke."
Her fingers trembled slightly as she curled them into fists.
"They tried to resist?" she asked.
Damien's smirk returned, but it was different this time—colder. "They tried. And they paid the price."
Arianna's throat went dry.
They hadn't just died.
They had been destroyed by the very magic that bound them to him.
She clenched her jaw. "Then why not just let them go? Why keep them trapped if you knew they wouldn't survive?"
Damien's expression darkened. "Because the contract doesn't allow it."
Her breath caught.
"What?"
Damien's eyes glowed faintly under the dim candlelight. "The contract isn't just my doing, little wife."
Arianna's entire body turned to ice. "Then whose is it?"
Damien studied her for a long moment before speaking. "My father's."
Silence.
The words hung in the air, heavy and suffocating.
Arianna barely managed to find her voice. "Your father."
A muscle in Damien's jaw twitched.
The air in the room shifted.
Even Lilith, who stood silently in the background, stiffened slightly at the mention of him.
Arianna swallowed hard. "You mean—"
"Yes." Damien's voice was quieter now. "Lucifer."
The Son of the Devil.
The words slammed into her like a physical force.
Her fingers trembled against the table.
She knew she had been trapped in something dark, but this?
She was married to someone born of Hell itself.
Her stomach twisted violently, nausea creeping up her throat.
Damien watched her reaction with quiet amusement. "Scared?"
Arianna forced herself to lift her chin. "No."
His smirk returned, slow and predatory. "Liar."
Her heart hammered against her ribs, but she refused to let him see her crack.
"You don't want this marriage either," she said, carefully watching his reaction. "So why don't you break the contract?"
Damien exhaled, tilting his head slightly. "You still don't understand, do you?"
She narrowed her eyes.
"This contract isn't just about me," he said, his voice lower now. "It was forged in blood—by my father."
Arianna's breath caught.
"You're telling me even you can't break it?"
Damien's gaze darkened. "Not without consequences."
Arianna's fingers curled against her lap. Consequences.
She had no doubt that whatever punishment Lucifer would unleash upon his son for breaking this marriage would be worse than death.
The realization sent a sharp wave of dread through her.
She had spent every second trying to find a way to break free.
But now she saw the truth.
Damien was trapped too.
She inhaled shakily.
This wasn't just a fight for her freedom.
It was a battle against something far greater.
The Devil himself.
Arianna's pulse thundered as Damien leaned closer, his voice dangerously soft.
"So tell me, little wife—"
His silver eyes burned into hers, something dark and unreadable flickering behind them.
"What exactly do you plan to do now?"
She held his gaze, heart pounding.
Because she did have a plan now.
If this contract was forged by Lucifer himself—
Then she would find a way to use it against him.
Even if it meant destroying Damien in the process.