"She's moving in with us?" Zin exclaimed at the top of his lungs as soon as he heard the announcement from Derrick. He still hasn't finished sorting out all the cash that his master has let him manage, and he's hearing about the news that could possibly give him even more headaches than what he already has. "Wait, she agreed to marry you? Am I going to prepare for the wedding? I know that those could be a little hectic. And oh boy, I could never plan something like that!" "What do you think?" He's always been grumpy when it comes to talking to Zin. If he could just smile a bit, like when he's talking to Lyra, maybe Zin wouldn't be this terrified. "Do you really think that the devil himself would walk into a church and get married by asking the Lord for his blessings?" "I don't know what to say," the boy said. "Last time I checked, the devil can't marry a human either, but look at you. The idea even came from your own brain cells. I do not know what's possible or not anymore." Der
"I heard a ton of great things about cheeseburgers and pizza! And I also heard about this thing called cheese. If I recall correctly, some call it "liquid gold," and people stuff it in their bills like it's no big deal!" "Their mouths, Zin, their mouths." Zin gasped upon hearing Derrick's correction. He shyly scratched the back of his head as he apologetically faced Lyra. "Sorry," he said, bowing his head with a scrunched nose. "Sometimes my bird tendencies just come out, you know. I will make sure that you won't hear that from me again!" "Don't worry, Zin; I don't mind," Lyra said with a smile. You can talk however you want to; I won't judge." Derrick's eyes shifted from watching Lyra with adoration to glaring at his right-hand man. He raised his brow at Zin, seeing how red his cheeks got with at least three feathers behind each of his ears. "You're that excited, Zin?" His tone was different. Derrick even flashed him the creepiest smirk that Zin had ever seen. "Ah!" Zin covered
For the sake of her own sanity, Lyra refused to check her phone. It's almost creeping her out, thinking about how many calls and messages Wendy could possibly have left for her to come back to. She knows how furious she must have made her, and to be honest, she's not well equipped with the skills that she needs to ignore her completely. Lyra knew she should start living as if they were never related—a better path to take, for sure—but she's still too soft for it.Right now, she relies on Derrick to hold her hand and help her through every situation.How could she not trust him when all he did was help her out? She couldn't believe how her entire day went. The first day after moving in with her fiance, she only stayed in bed and relaxed. It had been a while since she had been able to rest that long. She felt rejuvenated and ready.At around one in the afternoon, she got up to heat up her unfinished breakfast, but Zin hurried to help her with it. All she really had to do was sit down and
It's almost seven in the evening, and Lyra still can't see Derrick coming home. She spent almost an hour of her day just watching through the window in her room. Nobody entered through the main gate, and it made her sad. Even Zin went back to his room to do whatever they wanted after they ate. She began to feel bored and worried.If she could just call the devil with her phone, she would have. That's something that she wishes she could do. The phone in her hand suddenly became useless."Derrick, what happened to you?" she whispered before she plopped herself down on her soft cushion.She scrolled through the text messages and calls that she received from Wendy, from Peter, and a bunch from an unregistered number. If she had to guess, this must be from her father, Elvis. Maybe hearing about her moving out of Wendy's house finally made him realize that he's ten steps back from getting the daughter that he could feed to the wolves. This means that he won't be able to gain any money from
Lyra failed to say anything to Derrick since the mess that Wendy started had died down. Yes, he had helped her deal with it all, and yes, he's still backing her up, but something in his eyes tells Lyra that she did something that he did not like.Zin left them at the bar to send Wendy out as they managed to pay their way into getting whatever they wanted. Lyra was now sitting on a couch, bathing at the loud party, as the big boss of the entire place.The huge difference almost made her legs wobble. Now, her words meant something. She can order the bouncers to let the goddesses go. They were very thankful once they saw who came back for them.She finally broke the silence between them by saying, "Derrick."He moved sideways to let her whisper in his ear. They knew it was too loud in there to talk normally, so she grabbed his shoulder to prop herself up."I need to ask you for help.""With?" He sure hated yapping."I wish to turn this place into something that my friends can manage. "I w
"It's been a while since I last saw him," Lyra said, still spacing out until they reached home. Derrick sat beside her in bed, watching her closely."I can't believe how he still acts like that. He's been trying to use me to benefit himself, but he does it so blatantly. He can't even pretend to like me or respect my existence for a second. All he wanted was a pet that he could order.""You've begun to fight back now, Lyra. It's going to get better. You did your best to not let him have it his way, and I am here to help you continue doing just that. Don't worry about it too much, okay?"Lyra nodded with a pout on her face."It just disgusts me," Lyra sighed. "I thought he was going to change a bit at least." But I guess I was wrong. That's just too sad, though. I wish I could forgive my father, but he's not doing anything for me to at least try that.""Don't force yourself to forgive and forget." It's not the only option.""He's my father. Even though he never took me under his wing, h
Lyra's POV"Which one do you like?" he asked as we entered a huge mall."I don't know," I told Derrick. Of course, I have no idea which one I like the most. I mean, how would I know if I never even got the chance to enter one of these luxurious places before? Who the hell would walk into an exclusive mall knowing that their whole life savings would be drained just for a tiny bag that would hardly fit a coin or two?"This is a cool place, huh?" Zin proudly grinned right behind us.He was the one who suggested this place to Derrick and I. His technological knowledge comes in handy when it comes to squandering his master's fortune. Goodness, I know that I won't enjoy shopping in this place."Stop feeling guilty."What the heck? I gasped as I turned to look at Derrick. How could he possibly read my mind during that time? I wasn't thinking anything bad, was I? How did that freaking happen?"I did not read your mind; stop gasping so much," he said, making me doubt even more before he sweetl
Lyra's POVI couldn't freaking believe this. Looking at the huge paper bags in my room, I could tell that all the clothes that I actually picked just doubled. Derrick was slick; he really made me try out dresses as he and Zin bought other ones at different stores too. There's no freaking way that I'll be able to wear all of these; what a waste!"Stop thinking about anything," Derrick came out of nowhere to whisper in my ear. He sweetly hugged me from behind as he chuckled. "None of these will go to waste anyway, Lyra. You should be preparing from now on, you know that, right?""Preparing for what?" I asked. "Prepare to resell all the pieces that don't fit?""Silly," he said as he kissed my jawline. "Now that I own hotels, you should be helping me, right? Why don't you help me manage it? I am sure that you know a lot more than I do.""What?" He really thinks I do know a lot? "I know nothing at all, Derrick. It's not apparent, but goodness, I am dumb when it comes to businesses.""We hi
"It’s already seven; where is she?""I swear, Zin, they told me that they would be home immediately; they were just in the restaurant; what would take them so long? They can walk from there to here and it will only take an hour.""I think we should have followed Miss Lyra around as well," Zin replied to Dame. "It is much more difficult for us to take good care of her when we are still focused on the office job. It’s going to risk her life even more. We made a really bad decision; I am already calling it." Zin bit his lips and sat back down on the couch, looking out of the window to see the exact moment that the security people and Lyra would arrive back home. "I think it’s better if we just tell her exactly whats happening. It could really be the best option, but we ignored it like a psycho and chose the risky approach.""I know that trusting other people for Miss Lyra’s safety is a little bad for us to do, but it’s a matter that should be stopped by humans, right?" Dame stated. "If s
"It’s been fine," Lyra happily smiled as she spoke with her friend, Rhian. "I know that you two might think that I am lying, but I swear, I am doing a lot better this week. I am trying my best to have my best life.""I know you are really worried because of your relationship with Derrick; Zin has already told me that," Raine joined in as she placed two huge bowls of shaved ice dessert on the table. "He had told me that the two of you had a really bad fight. He asked us to be extra nice to you because you are really sad about it.""Yeah," Lyra lied. "But we were able to talk it out.""Of course, nothing will be resolved when you put time and effort into communicating your real feelings and your true emotions. It’s really great to hear!"Lyra nodded once again. She was not able to tell her friends that everything they were talking about right now were thoughts and pieces of information that appeared out of nowhere. Dame and Zin had informed Lyra one week ago that there was a rumor roami
"Dame!" Zin rushed inside the mansion with sweat dripping from his forehead. He saw how Dame’s eyes grew big in surprise, and before he could even say anything to him, Zin had already snatched his cold beer and chugged it right in front of him. "What happened to you?" Dame looked around, checking whether there was someone chasing after Zin. However, aside from the beautiful and calm view of the pool behind him, there was nothing. "Why do you look like that?" Is there someone chasing after you? Are you in trouble?" "I don’t think I was being chased," Zin said. Dame rolled his eyes when he answered. "Then why do you have to come in here as if you were about to die or something? You stressed me out within the few seconds that you arrived." He grabbed the bottle of beer from Zin’s hand and took a sip from it as if claiming what was his. "What’s wrong with you then? Were you able to visit Master?" "I did," Zin answered, sitting beside Dame. "I actually did a lot more than that, and I r
As Zin soared higher in the darkened sky, he marveled at the view before him. The borders of hell and earth were marked by a jagged line of jagged rocks that extended as far as the eye could see. The air was thick with the stench of sulfur, and the sky was a deep shade of crimson that seemed to bleed into the horizon. In the distance, he could see the dark silhouettes of mountains rising up against the fiery sky and the occasional flicker of flames dancing in the abyss. It was a desolate and terrifying landscape, but one that Zin had grown accustomed to over the years. As a demon of hell, he had traveled to the borders many times, but this time felt different, and he couldn't shake the feeling that something was about to go horribly wrong. Going closer to the edge, he felt tightness in his chest. It's always been this way whenever he flew closer to crossing the borders. He could already feel the breeze coming from the land of the living, but his gut feeling seemed to have won that tim
Elvis sat in his grand office, surrounded by opulence and extravagance. The room was adorned with expensive paintings and rare collectibles, but the air was thick with tension. Wendy, his best partner in crime, sat across from him, her face set in a deep frown. The only sound in the room was the soft ticking of a gold-plated clock on the mantle. Despite the grandeur of the room, there was a sense of foreboding that seemed to permeate every inch of the space. Both knew that they were treading dangerous waters with their plan to bring down Lyra, and the tension between them was palpable.Elvis sat across from Wendy in his office, his eyes locked on hers as he pitched his latest plan."Wendy, I need you on this one," he said, his voice low and urgent."What's the plan, Elvis?" Wendy asked, crossing her arms."We need to bring Lyra down," he said, leaning forward in his seat. "Something that we always do, but this time it's going to work out!"Wendy listened to Elvis with a sense of appre
Dame was surprised to find Lyra sitting alone in the dark living room with no lights on. He had brought lots of food back to the mansion, hoping to lift her spirits, but seeing her like this made him worried. It was really bad timing that Zin decided to try and go back down to hell that night. Dame could tell, just by the vibes that had hit him straight on, that he wouldn't know how to deal with Lyra like that."Miss Lyra, are you okay?" he asked, placing the bags of food on the coffee table in front of her. He wanted to kick himself in the face. The look in her eyes is the perfect tell that she is not doing alright, but he still chose to ask, just to make her feel bad that it shows. "You know what, let me just get the lights; don’t even bother," he whispered before walking directly to the switch.Lyra looked up at him, her eyes red and puffy from crying. "You are already back?" she asked, confused as she watched the leaves outside the window dance. "It’s already dark outside," she sa
A black bird flew into Derrick's shoulder as he was calmly watching over the newly appointed demons in his realm. As soon as he was able to look into its eyes, his mouth fell wide open, and his jaw hit the floor beneath him. He won't be able to forget those eyes, and he would never forget how Zin looks when he's in his real form.Immediately, Derrick stood up to snap his fingers in the air, and without waiting for another second, they were inside a dark room. Derrick's own little space whenever he wanted to stay out of everyone's sight. His only hiding spot from all the demons that would often try to bombard him with a bunch of questions or sometimes the yells of those souls who were being punished."What are you doing here?" he immediately asked. Right before his eyes, he watched as Zin transformed into his human form to hug him. "Zin, is there something going on? Why are you back here? You crossed the borders again?""Master, it doesn't matter right now," he said, still clinging on
Derrick paced back and forth on his desolate throne in hell, tormented by the images and thoughts invading his mind. He kept seeing Lyra, his beloved wife, surrounded by sinister figures and cloaked in shadows. The more he tried to push the visions away, the more they persisted. Even if he knew that he'd only bring chaos into Lyra's life, he found out that he wouldn't be able to give it up that quickly. Especially after he spent an entire month's worth of time in hell reminiscing about the moments they had together."My dear, please be safe out there," he whispered, wishing that it was only the thoughts in his head that kept on messing him up and not real visions or premonitions of what was happening or what was supposed to come for Lyra in the land of the living. If that was the case and he's stuck down in the depths of nothingness, he will for sure not be able to move forward. He is afraid of what he might end up doing just to stop that."I do not need much," he stated. "I only need
Lyra sat at the breakfast table, pushing her food around with her fork as Zin and Dame bid her farewell. "We'll be back as soon as we can, Miss Lyra," Zin said, giving her a reassuring smile. "Take care of yourself," Dame added, placing a hand on Lyra's shoulder. "If you need anything, just call us." Lyra forced a small smile. "Thanks, guys. I'll be fine. I just need some rest, that's all." Zin and Dame exchanged a worried glance before Zin spoke up. "Are you sure you don't want us to stay? We can handle the hotel issues later." Lyra shook her head. "No, it's fine. You guys go ahead. I'll take care of myself." As they gathered their things and made their way out of the mansion, Lyra was left alone with her thoughts. She couldn't shake the conversation she had with Lucifer out of her head, and the more she thought about it, the more uneasy she felt. "I can't believe he would do something like that," she muttered to herself, her voice barely above a whisper. "Why would he want to