Chapter One

She opened her eyes to an awful white light and gasped in pain as she realized what was happening. She was surrounded by people staring at her, caressing her, and even hugging her.

Stop rubbing my thigh! Every touch physically burnt her skin, and she began to convulse.

Suddenly, someone was right before her, so she yanked her chin back.

"Calm down, Lanaya," he tells her. The order slashed through the air.

The effect on her body was immediate, no matter how small the room she was in. She ceased her struggle and lay motionless on the ground. She turned her head to meet the Devil's icy, harsh gaze.

Oh my God!

After yet another fight, she began to choke on her vomit. She gritted her teeth and kept her mouth shut to avoid drawing attention. The Devil's attention quickly shifted from her to another target, and he pinned them with his angry look.

Why is she so depressed? His singing voice was sophisticated and silky, and it was really lovely. Similar to the voice of the Devil.

"She has a lot of internal wounds to deal with. Now, I think it's acting up.

She's supposed to be dead according to these scans."

"Guessing?" He had a whip-like tone to his voice.

"Yes, I'm speculating. Exactly how long she's been going through this is a mystery to us. These injuries aren't going to be easy to cure because they've been slowly killing her for years now." The man let out a sigh.

The Devil shifted his gaze back to her and made direct eye contact with her. Lanaya had come to a complete halt. Her chin was held between his fingertip and thumb as he drew closer.

No matter what happens, "You won't die." The Devil's command was brutal, lethal, and scary. The look in his eyes was so horrible that she had to go before he could see into her soul. Tears welled up beneath her eyelids as she tightened her grasp on her chin.

As she continued to stare at him, his gaze drifted to something out of her peripheral vision. He left the grip on her chin and straightened up entirely.

There is a good chance we will spend a long time in the operating room with her.

After that, everything went dark.

Lanaya was gliding serenely through the pitch-black depths of space. Why was this her first visit? It was lovely and silenced her racing thoughts and ominous inner monologue.

The voices had finally stopped berating her for being alive for the first time in a long time. She wanted nothing more than to stay here indefinitely and never return to the place she had left.

All of the events of the previous few days came flooding back to her like a truck plowing into a wall. Lanaya shut her eyes to keep the anguish away, and she saw his face behind her eyelids. Was the demon disturbing her tranquility? Can't we just let her be for a while?

As if her whole existence was an insult, the Devil's eyes, merciless and sharp, peered at her from beneath inky lashes.

No! What was it about her that made her a letdown?

The gloom began to fade, becoming lighter in the process. As she struggled to keep her eyes shut to alleviate the excruciating pain, the brown eyes only became larger and more menacing.

Reopening her eyes just served to make the image appear even more real. She shrugged and blinked her eyes a few times to eliminate the vision.

Her response was a slow blink. She had woken up.

As she slept, the Devil was seated by her side.

Why she wondered in a stutter, "am I-I-" His eyes were ice-cold and unwavering. A chilly flame burns in their cores, the only thing keeping them alive. In a split second, Lanaya realized that she had offended him. The ember was extinguished as she gave an internal shake of her head. She may have made it up.

"Alive?" He had a refined, slightly accented tone to his voice. Could it be Italian? You owed us money, so we went to collect it and saw your parents beat you.

They owe you money. However, she had no recollection of any debt. Their drug and alcohol abuse may have been a contributing factor.

Instead, why should I be saved? Stumbling and losing her breath were two things she dreaded.

"We were short on cash, but you'd be a fantastic replacement."

An alternative? She has no intention of escalating her misery. She had been abused by her foster parents for years, and she would not allow her savior to take her to another, no matter how beautiful he was.

He was a monster in flesh and blood!

"Adulthood has arrived for me at the tender age of eighteen. Y-you can't possess me as other people do."

"Puppet?" He guessed, raising his left brow to see what he was thinking.

It softened his features and gave him a more secure appearance while also drawing attention to his prominent jawline and a snub nose. The impression is that he's spent his entire life sneering at everyone and everything around him. "Is that what you meant? What about your dog or cat? I can't make a choice."

Lanaya's eyes widened. That's good news, isn't it? Isn't this guy going to have sex with whoever he is?

"However, you will not leave." His demand was unwavering.

"I'm an adult! I'm a grownup!" She was about to burst into tears, but she held it together.

Lanaya's flaw was that she was a sweet, quiet, and timid young lady who would break down and cry whenever she felt the need to do something violent. This upset her greatly.

"What's next? Now that you've reached the legal age of majority, do you think your foster parents will let you move out on your own? By the time we found you on the night of your birthday, we had lost so much blood that you had been dead in the SUV for ten minutes." Sharp, icy, and deadly was his voice. Finished to a high standard.

A razor-sharp edge capable of piercing people's hearts and making them bleed red blood before surrendering.

"I don't think so," Lanaya said, shaking her head. Despite the years of abuse she had endured, she still held out hope that her foster parents weren't pure evil. A youngster could not be killed. It was her words, after all. Nobody could kill her because she was an adult, but anyone could kill her because she was eighteen.

Once again, the Devil leaned over and held her chin between his thumb and forefinger while adjusting his perfectly fitted suit jacket.

Make a good deed for yourself. He muttered, her lips and nose being fanned by his breath. Cedar and pine scents filled the air, while his breath was tinged with a hint of lime. To prevent yourself from being killed by compassion, "destroy that goodness inside you." He then moved back, releasing her chin from his grasp.

"Oh, and," he added as he approached the door, "you are free to roam around as you choose. However, you must not leave the building." He was gone in a jiffy.