I FELT THE knife rub against my hipbone as I walked, making me suck in sharp breaths. To distract myself, I focused on the sound of my heels clicking against the marble. My cloak hung on my shoulders as I kept my eyes trained forward on the winding, golden staircase glittering against the sunlight before me.

No one stood in my path, but there was a heavy weight pressing down on my chest as it tried to coax me back down the hall, to retreat. I strained to breath regularly, the paranoia thicker than the blade in pocket could cut. Once I walked up those stairs and made my case, I couldn't go back.

This proposal hung on my future, Opulentia's future. I didn't know what would happen in Parisa's office. I might not return the same. All I knew was what I believed: the demons needed to be cast out immediately.

The staircase grew closer and closer, making my stomach twist and roll in a manner that made me flinch in tune with each of my footsteps. My heels seemed to be singing to me now: turn back, turn back, turn back...

I grabbed the railing to steady myself, clenching my eyes shut as I took a last breath. I needed to be focussed, poised, proper, and ruthless. She had to listen to me, and I couldn't falter under her eyes once.

One time was all it took for her to win. One time. I needed to be as steady as steel if I were to make it through. I had to be strong, not for myself but for my people. They were who needed me most.

Always for the people.

The time it took me to reach her office door up the staircase was surprisingly short, and I felt more worried now at how quickly time seemed to be slipping out from underneath me. Her wooden door waited for me, inches from my face. I gazed at the door handle as though it could bite. My mind was running through all the ways my plan would fail: the threat of being killed by demons, Parisa's punishment of locking me into her scheme, the world ending.

There was the Prodigy to think of as well. Should I still persuade Parisa to go after the Serpent without the demons or let the matter unravel itself on its own? Did we have to be involved? Wasn't there someone more qualified than either of us to take on the Prodigy? Secta, wherever he may be?

It was time to knock I decided, to face the ice storm. Knock, you coward. I raised my hand and banged my fist against the door, a shock running through my body as I bit my lip. Fear was running through me like a crack in a full dam. I rushed to coax it away before it overflowed.

I wouldn't crumble. Not today.

"Come in." Parisa's voice echoed as I took the door handle and let it swing open. My eyes fell on where she stood at her desk before jumping in shock to the two demons reclined in the chairs across from her. I could never escape them.

Their eyes immediately flashed to me, making me wish I would melt into the floor. I couldn't stand these vicious creatures, lurking in the darkness around us all like wolves hunting sheep. Their presence only stirred more anger inside me as I watched Parisa ignore them with a carelessness that appalled me.

"Yes, Cybele? Can't you see that I'm busy?" Her eyes stayed low, focussed on the papers laid across her desk.

"I can, thank you. We need to speak immediately." I replied, making her blue eyes snap up to me. She seemed surprised with me, but she recovered herself just as quickly with a curl in her lips.

"Not now. You may go..."

"No." The word echoed through her office, making Diaboli recline deeper into his chair. Nocen tried to hide a grin behind his fingers as he watched me. 

"No?" Parisa's voice nearly made me shiver, but I only forced myself to straighten my spine. "What has gotten into you?"

"We need to talk, especially after you sign anything they give you." I glanced at the two demons before back to Parisa, making her raise an eyebrow.

"I'm not signing anything, and yes, we will speak later about your behavior." She stood up straight, putting her pen on the desk with a snap. "My schedule doesn't sway to your liking, a lesson I believed you had already learned though it appears that you have not learned a thing."

"We both know that is a lie." I replied. "As you have said for yourself, what have you not given me? What have you not taught me yourself, Parisa? If I have done something to offend you, know that I've learned by example."

She narrowed her eyes, a flare of anger flashing in them as she laced her fingers together until her knuckles popped. "We are done." Parisa cleared her throat, "Nocen, would you be so kind as to escort Cybele out?"

Her words nearly made my mouth fall open, but I clenched my jaw trying to keep my face steady as my eyes bore into Parisa's. Her face was hard, but so was mine as we both fought the authority of the other. 

She was sending me away like a little girl? She wouldn't let me speak? My temper was rising with every second.

"It would be my pleasure." Nocen stood to his feet, stepping closer to me as my eyes never left Parisa. "Princess?"

I broke my gaze with Parisa's arctic eyes to look at the tall demon who stood inches from my side. His darkness was rolling off his skin like smoke from a wildfire, the green in his eyes shimmering against the light from Parisa's open windows. The breeze blew in softly, only making the room swirl with his poisonous aroma of death.

Reluctantly, I took his arm for fear what would happen if I didn't. I shot a glare at Parisa, one that I hoped communicated my message: we aren't finished.

Oh no, we definitely are not, her fierce expression seemed to snarl in return as I was guided out of the office door. I shot a glance over my shoulder before the door shut behind me.

The slamming of the door snapped me into my senses. I pulled out of the demon's grip, taking quick breaths as I put space between us. He was studying me, hands in his pockets now as he tilted his head ever so slightly. It only made me feel as though he were taking his final glance at his prey before snapping my neck.

I lifted my chin, trying to find my courage. "I don't need you to walk me back to my room like a child. I know this fortress better than you ever will, and I wish to be as far away from you as possible. I am a..."

Planning to continue, I opened my mouth but no words came out as he stepped forward, each advance more haunting than the last. He stalked towards me dreadfully slow as though at the pace of growing grass until he stood far too close, the warmth of his body heat radiating against my skin.

I backed away, hitting the railing as Nocen only came closer, hardly deterred. His eyes were turning a faint silver-gold that swirled with his original green hue, each shimmer of color becoming more and more in focus the closer he came to me.

All his features were becoming sharper and cleaner, making me swallow at how near his face was to mine. I hadn't ever been this close to a... demon before. I was leaning as far away as I could, looking away from him since I couldn't stand the smell of his malice or the hypnotic pull of his gaze any longer.

His fingers wrapped in the fabric of my cloak, yanking me forward against his chest. I let out a squeal of shock first at the impact between us and then let out a scream as the entire room around us burst into gemstones of silver glass and dust. 

The world broke apart on all corners until all I could see was a thunderstorm of swirling glass and tornados of screeching silver that raked over my skin. I snapped my eyes shut. The wind and howl of the storm rumbled in my ears, the vibrations shuddering deeply in my chest as all my senses were overloaded by the monsoon I was trapped in.

It felt as though I was free falling now, my stomach in my throat as I struggled to move my wings. They were caught in my cloak and I couldn't break free, making me struggle with a new panic at my sudden helplessness. I gripped whatever I could, grabbing on tightly to Nocen's forearm. The war cries of fireworks seemed to erupt all around us, growing louder and nearer as I braced myself to be torn apart by the vicious storm.

When I was about to lose myself completely, the whirlwind faded away into the soft whisper of a spring's breeze as the ground steadied itself under my feet. I took sharp breathes, keeping my eyes clamped shut as I swallowed.

After a few moments of soft silence, I dared to open my eyes. The light was warm as it trickled in through open windows with the melody of fluttering, white curtains, and the walls of my bedroom stood around me. I looked forward, meeting the golden eyes of Nocen as their lustrous yellow sparkle began to die away and green flourished once again into his gaze like a forest in full bloom.

We had just... teleported? How was that even possible? A demon could teleport?

His fingers were still wrapped thoroughly in my cloak as his other hand reached forward, pulling back the soft layer of fabric. I wanted to let out a scream of protest but couldn't move as I sucked in air with trembling lips.

When his hand drew back, it wasn't empty. Laced in his fingers was my dagger, and he twirled it with amusement, breaking his solemn expression with an arched eyebrow and a crooked, pearly white smile.

"What were you planning to do with this?" His voice rumbled, making my chest constrict.

"I... don't know."

"Cheeky, aren't you?" He mused before releasing his grip on my cloak. I took a few steps backwards, realizing now how weak my knees were. I braced myself against my nightstand as Nocen set the blade on my dresser before glancing around my room. "Someone's a fan of roses I see."

I felt my cheeks begin to tingle as I thought of all the flowers painted along my walls, different roses in a spectrum of pink, red, violet, gold, and aquamarine. Everything else was white besides those flowers Bella and I had painted ourselves so long ago. "I like... flowers."

His jade eyes came back to me as he bit his lip, letting out a soft chuckle. "I think I've already grasped that."

"How'd you know this was my room?" I asked, a creeping horror rising inside me that he'd somehow followed me here before. Goosebumps started to rise on my arms as I gripped the top of the nightstand harder.

"Parisa was very thorough in her tour." He replied cooly, turning as he walked towards my vanity. 

Nocen picked up a bottle of my perfume in his hands, inspecting it with delicate fingers. He removed the cap, giving it a spray into the air before taking a deep breath in. 

He gave a nod before giving another light mist of the nectarine-colored vile. "This one's nice. It smells like... coconut."

He put the first scent down back on the vanity, his fingers skimming the glass before he took another perfume bottle. 

Nocen sprayed it as well, but his face contorted before he coughed loudly, a shudder running through his spine. "I'd avoid the blue one here like the Black Death. I could smell that putrid lighter fluid all the way from hell."

He set the perfume down before turning to investigate further, slowly opening some of the drawers and sending me suggestive glances like a child testing the boundaries of his parent's rule. I shook my head, my mind trailing back to Anita's wedding shower when her mother had handed out those perfume bottles. It was supposed to be a foreign marine and lava rock scent that was said to be the aroma of love itself. "The blue one isn't gasoline fuel, excuse you, Sir. That was a gift, an expensive one from..."

"I bet it could power plenty of jets. It smells like powerful stuff." He retorted, brushing a finger along a stack of my bracelets. "They gave you a rather terrible gift and wasted far too much on this rotten bath water. I could have made a scent better than this from dried blood, a dash of bone marrow, perhaps some soul remnants..."

"Why are you still here?" I interrupted. I felt weak and queasy from his list of ingredients, and the hair rose on the back of my neck when his head snapped up to look at me. Nocen stood straighter, clenching his jaw as he abandoned his rummaging in my drawers. I swallowed, "and how are we here?"

"I'm here because I was interested, and now I'm feeling quite sickly from that ghastly 'perfume' of yours. We got here because I possess meraki. Cybele, you must have already known with that extensive education of yours."

The way he said my name... it made me feel odd. "You have the ability possess meraki, even as a... demon? And why are you interested in looking through my things?"

"What can I say? I'm curious, just a skip and a jump into intrusive. I am a demon after all." He gave me a wicked smile that made me shiver. "And demons can have special gifts just like my own. We wouldn't be so feared if we were ordinary nightmares. We must have these talents in order to best stalk our prey, to capture the souls, and having abilities, like teleportation, makes snatching up our victims a far less strenuous activity. Chasing my food scuffs my shoes." He said with annoyance.

"Please, just leave." I managed to say as his heavy gaze weighed on me, the images of him biting at the heels of the Sylphs or Bella and Georgio making me feel sick. My head was spinning at the new window of possibilities opening before me and his dark aura was only making it harder to think.

"I'll respect your wishes." Nocen raised an eyebrow. "We will see each other again, I can guarantee it. I expect you to carry a better weapon than a butter knife if you plan to truly injure me. That was your intent, wasn't it? To threaten me? To prove yourself? Cybele, you can do better."

I felt dread rise inside my chest, the thought of trying to fight him making me feel lightheaded. That would be suicide, and from his expression, he knew it with pride.

And with a wink, a silver storm exploded in my room. I fell back against the wall with a shout, covering my face as a cyclone raged inside my bedroom. The power of the wind threatened to yank me into the fury, and the thickness of the storm was like that of relentless flurries of snow in the middle of winter.

The loud roaring of the storm vanished in the next instant as if a record player had been cut off, and the room now sat in pregnant silent. I took in deep breaths, trying to calm my racing heart which beat against my chest.

I touched my hair, silver speckles of dust tangled in my curls that slowly began to crumble away into the air. They dissolved, twinkling like glitter as they swirled in eddies out the open window. The knife had fallen from the dresser, lying plainly in the middle fo the floor.

'Carry a better weapon than a butter knife if you plan to truly injure me.'