Another week passed in the Lust Ring.
Sin Rouge worked like a machine:
Dreg handled territory stabilization,
Quill tested new runic weapons, Donnie adjusted alliances, Rafe did what Rafe always did everything, and Liza moved like a rumor no one could catch.
For Malerion, the pressure from the lesser Goetia families had settled into a predictable rhythm.
Irritating, but manageable.
He spent the days training, refining resonance, mapping emotional currents in the district.
Didn't think about Verosika.
Not consciously.
But the faint ripples of her curiosity still lingered sometimes soft pulses brushing the edges of his awareness whenever she tried to "feel out" the mystery demon she had seen in the crowd.
Today was quiet.
Malerion left Sin Rouge for a short walk through the east market nothing unusual.
Just observing the flow of emotions, the changes in local influence.
Normal.
Right up until he turned a corner…
and stopped.
His Ring responded before his brain did.
A spike of recognition fast, sharp.
Because there, across the street, disguised under a hooded jacket and sunglasses, stood her.
Verosika Mayday.
And she had seen him first.
Her posture changed instantly.
She froze mid-step not with fear, but with the unmistakable shock of "that's him."
A civilian demon crashed into her from behind.
"Hey, watch it!"
She barely heard him.
Her entire focus locked onto Malerion.
Her eyes widened not in awe, not in attraction but in confirmation.
Like she had found proof of something she'd suspected all week.
She took a slow step forward.
Malerion felt Alastor slide into his awareness like a grin behind teeth.
"Well, well," the old demon purred.
"She's quicker than I expected."
Malerion didn't move.
Verosika pulled down her sunglasses just a little just enough to meet his eyes properly.
She wasn't smiling.
This wasn't a flirt.
It was a hunter examining a rare creature.
Her tail flicked once a sign she was thinking fast.
Two dancers walked past her, a vendor shouted about discounted wine, neon flickered overhead but she stood still, as if the world around them blurred.
Malerion finally spoke.
Calm. Even.
You shouldn't be here.
Verosika's eyes narrowed the slightest bit not offended, just sharpening her focus.
"You're… hard to miss," she said quietly.
"Harder to follow. Harder to read."
Malerion raised a brow.
"And why try?"
She took another step closer not aggressive, just deliberate.
"Because you felt wrong," she said.
"Not bad. Not dangerous. Just…"
Her fingers traced a small circle in the air, searching for the word.
"…off-pattern."
That made Alastor laugh.
"She's perceptive," he whispered.
Malerion didn't let anything show.
You're wasting your time, he replied.
"Maybe," she said.
Her gaze swept him again posture, aura, stillness everything.
Then she tilted her head.
"You don't belong to this district," she said softly.
"You don't belong to any district."
A pause.
"But this place… feels shaped by you." Her eyes flicked around them, noticing how demons instinctively gave him space when walking by.
"That's not normal."
Malerion stayed silent.
She stepped back only half a pace reassessing everything.
"No one can tell me who you are," she admitted.
"And trust me, I asked."
That made Malerion's fingers twitch.
Liza's whisper in the back of his mind:
She's digging too deep.
Verosika studied him one last time.
Then surprisingly she exhaled, defeated but amused.
"…Fine," she said, rolling her eyes.
"Keep your secrets. But I'm not done with you."
I expect you to be, Malerion replied.
Her lips curved not a flirt, but a challenge.
"That's the problem," she said.
Then she turned away, tail swaying with deliberate rhythm, voice cutting through the street:
"Next time, mystery man… don't disappear so fast."
And she vanished into the crowd not literally, but with the ease of someone who knew how to command a room even while leaving it.
Malerion stood still for a moment.
Rafe's voice echoed from behind he must've caught up mid-scene.
"…Boss, did Verosika Mayday just threaten a rematch?"
Not a threat. Malerion said quietly.
A promise.
Alastor laughed in his mind.
"Oh, she's going to be trouble.
Delicious trouble."
Malerion turned back toward Sin Rouge, cloak shifting behind him.
She won't get what she wants, he muttered.
Alastor hummed.
"You're underestimating her."
No, Malerion replied.
I'm respecting her.
But deep down he knew
This wasn't curiosity anymore.
This was the beginning of a pursuit.