Sometimes, the devil doesn't knock.She purrs.She invites you to dance.And the song playing in the background? That's your soul being auctioned off to the highest bidder.
"Isn't this a little... much?"
Asher took a cautious step back, shoes crunching glass as he stared. The alley was gone—at least the one he knew. In its place stood something wholly other, something alive. A lounge stitched together from shadows and red velvet, the air thick with perfume and promises. Curtains that moved like breathing skin fluttered in non-existent wind, and the walls pulsed softly, as though the whole building had a heartbeat.
It didn't belong here.
But neither did she.
The succubus was no longer an illusion in the mirror world. She was here. Real. More real than anything else around him.
And she smiled.
She always smiled.
"I figured it was time we stopped playing hide and seek," she said, lounging on the edge of the velvet platform like it was her throne.
Asher's fists clenched at his sides. "What do you want?"
"That's the wrong question, darling." Her voice dripped honey and venom. "The right one is: What do you want?"
"I want this to stop. I want all of this gone."
She stood, slow and serpentine, her heels clicking against the obsidian floor. "Oh, honey… this?" She gestured around. "This isn't the game. This is the tutorial."
A shiver ran down his spine.
Behind her, silhouettes began to form. First faint. Then sharp. Then unavoidable.
Demon courtesans stepped forward—each more impossibly beautiful, more terrifying, than the last. Bodies sculpted to feed fantasies. Eyes like endless temptations. Wings that shimmered with either feathered grace or coiled corruption.
Some male. Some female. Some both. Some neither.
All wore masks—porcelain, gold, bone.
All walked toward him in silence.
"Welcome," said the succubus, spreading her arms. "To Desiderium. The true city beneath the city."
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Underground – Desiderium, The City of Want
It didn't feel like walking.
It felt like falling.
He blinked—and the alley was gone. The world twisted, broke, and reformed. Suddenly, he stood beneath a domed ceiling of stained glass and constellations made from slow-moving smoke.
The floor was marble veined with gold. The air hummed with music that came from violins crafted from spines. Red lanterns bobbed in the air like floating hearts. Pillars made of bone spiraled upward into nothing.
People danced. Laughed. Moaned.
And none of them looked... forced.
No. They were humans. Smiling. Blissed out. Obedient.
Some knelt at demon feet, petting taloned legs with fingers trembling in reverence. Others kissed monsters with open mouths and starry eyes.
"What is this?" Asher whispered.
The succubus appeared beside him again, closer than before. Always too close. "Desiderium," she purred. "Here, the rules are simple. You want. You give. You receive."
"I don't understand."
"You will."
She pointed.
A man shuffled by—wearing nothing but a glowing collar. His tongue hung loose. His hands were bruised from kneeling. He licked the ground like it tasted of heaven.
"He was a cop," she said. "Fought us. Got curious. Begged to taste. Now he gets walked like a pet and couldn't be happier."
Asher's stomach twisted.
"This is wrong."
"No," she said, brushing her fingers against his chest. "It's permission. No one comes here by accident."
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Elsewhere – The Higher Rings Stir
Somewhere outside time and space, figures convened. Masked. Wrapped in cloaks that bled fog. Their words were wind and static.
"She's moving faster than expected," one whispered, voice hollow as a crypt.
"He's not ready," muttered another.
"Then test him."
They turned to the sphere in the center of their circle. Within it, Asher's face flickered, superimposed with flame and shadow.
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Back in Desiderium – Things Break
The illusion cracked.
A scream pierced the music like a needle through flesh. It didn't come from a human—it came for one.
Grevlin.
He was dragged across the floor, barely conscious, his body a mess of lashes and welts. Shackled. Blindfolded. Carried like livestock.
"Don't worry," said a demon with four arms and black silk skin, licking a whip. "He asked for this. He wanted the truth."
Asher surged forward. "Stop—!"
"Don't," warned the succubus. "This is his path. Not yours."
Asher turned on her. "This is madness. It's not beauty. It's not enlightenment. This is torture."
She didn't argue.
She simply smiled.
"That's why you'll survive."
[End Of Chapter 28]
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A bell tolled.
The world hushed.
And then the door opened.
From within, a figure emerged—a presence that smothered everything around it. More than beautiful. More than terrible.
She was regal.
Crowned in ash and clothed in robes spun from ember threads, she walked like the end of an era. Her face was ageless. Her smile unreadable.
Every demon bowed. Even the succubus dropped to one knee.
Asher remained standing.
She pointed at him.
"You. Are. Invited."
And for the first time since he put on the mask, Asher knew true fear.
Next Chapter Preview:Chapter 29 – "The Queen of Velvet Chains"She doesn't tempt. She claims.And when Asher steps into her court, nothing will remain untouched—Not his mind.Not his body.And certainly not his fate.