Damien
and every demon wants his pound of flesh
but i like to keep some things to myself
but i like to keep some things to myself
Her dark silhouette shifted, the folds of her dress brushing the sand as she began to move away. The wind caught at the fabric, pulling her into the dunes like she belonged more to the desert than to him or this moment.
“Wait.”
The word came before Damien could decide whether it was wisdom or folly. It left his mouth low and deliberate, heavy enough to settle in the still air between them. His hand closed tighter around the carved antler, the bone’s worn edges biting faintly into his palm. The instinct to keep it — to turn back to the skyship and leave whatever this was untouched — wrestled with the stubborn pull that had brought him this far from warmth and company.
“You said you were glad you never made that deal.”
His voice carried in the space like a shadow, steady but not without weight. He studied her profile in the moonlight, the poise that seemed stitched together from dignity and something far older than pride, and felt the prick of curiosity sharpen into something closer to need. She could keep walking; most people did. But there was something in the way she’d said it, like the bones of a truth he almost recognized.
“What did you mean by that?”
“Wait.”
The word came before Damien could decide whether it was wisdom or folly. It left his mouth low and deliberate, heavy enough to settle in the still air between them. His hand closed tighter around the carved antler, the bone’s worn edges biting faintly into his palm. The instinct to keep it — to turn back to the skyship and leave whatever this was untouched — wrestled with the stubborn pull that had brought him this far from warmth and company.
“You said you were glad you never made that deal.”
His voice carried in the space like a shadow, steady but not without weight. He studied her profile in the moonlight, the poise that seemed stitched together from dignity and something far older than pride, and felt the prick of curiosity sharpen into something closer to need. She could keep walking; most people did. But there was something in the way she’d said it, like the bones of a truth he almost recognized.
“What did you mean by that?”
