Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

B elladonna clutched the ancient grimoire in her trembling hands, the only thing she could salvage among the rubble. She stood in her ancestral home, its walls now crumbled to ashes, just like her family's legacy. A fanatical cult of humans had discovered her family were witches, a supposed threat to their fragile world, and burned down their manor, leaving her as the sole survivor.

She turned the pages until she found the forbidden ritual, one that few witches dared to attempt. What she was doing was a dangerous gamble, but Belladonna was willing to risk it. She had lost everything else after all. Might as well go all-in.

Belladonna was going to summon a demon.

A circle of candles flickered around her cross-legged form. In the center of the circle lay open the grimoire, its pages worn and yellowed, the only family heirloom left in her possession. Her fingers traced the intricate symbols of runes and pentacles.

She recited the forbidden spell under her breath, "Ancient powers, hear my plea. Bring forth the one I seek."

The air crackled around her and the candles danced and swayed, casting strange, distorted shadows on the walls. Belladonna could feel her skin prickling with a strange, electric sensation as the space grew heavy with an unseen presence.

She repeated the words, and a gust of wind swept through the window. The candles flickered out, plunging the room into darkness. A chill ran down Belladonna's spine as she felt the presence growing stronger. She said her plea again, and a flicker of blue fire appeared; from it emerged a creature cloaked in writhing shadows. Its vague figure looked ethereal, a phantom from the abyss.

"You have summoned me, witch." Its voice dipped low and silky, distinctly male, sending shivers down Belladonna's spine. "What is your desire?"

"Revenge," she said. "I want vengeance upon those who destroyed my family."

The demon's eyes narrowed, and a flicker of amusement crossed his face. "Revenge, is it? A dangerous game to play, witch."

"I know the risks, but I must make them pay."

He regarded her with something like a smile, like she was a fool. "Your wish is my command. In exchange, you will grant me a favor when the time is right."

"What favor?"

The demon's eyes glinted with a sinister light. "You will pay me with your soul," he whispered.

She hesitated. She had heard tales of Faustian bargains before, souls traded for power and revenge. The price was steep, a gamble that few dared to take. But the rage and despair that consumed her pushed her towards the precipice. She refused to live a life haunted by the ghosts of her family's destruction.

"I'll do it," she said.

The demon smiled, his eyes glinting with a piercing shade of blue that bore into her soul. "Then it will be done. I will protect you and your interests until you complete your revenge."

The creature stepped out of the blue fire, taking the form of a tall, imposing man with eyes that pierced through the darkness. His skin was pale as birch, and his hair, a wild, untamed mass of midnight black, framed his face like a shadow.

"You may call me Desmond," he said.

The irony of a demon bearing the Anglo-saxon name meaning "gracious defender" was not lost on her.

He stood in the glow of the moon, and Belladonna's breath caught in her throat. His presence was terrifying and alluring, but she couldn't help feel an affinity toward him. At that moment, she knew he would be her ruin and perhaps, her salvation.