“I think I'd miss you even if we’d never met,” Azrael whispered as his fingers trailed the side of her face, leaving an alluring warmth.
Anna’s throat became dry, “We shouldn’t have met then―”
“No,” he said, “Even if it means losing everything, I would rather have you.”
They were destined to fall from the start. A forsaken bond. A hopeless cause. And yet, in that stolen moment, Anna didn’t care anymore, neither did he.
* * * 
Anna is a human in a world where her kind is treated like dust, while Azrael is the demon duke infamous for his ruthlessness and bewitching looks.
On a fateful night, her life gets entangled with him. Azrael takes her as his fiance, however, theirs is a relationship formed over a contract; a marriage of convenience.
In a land where the hatred between humans and demons runs deeper than blood, she can not let her guard down. 
Anna harbors no feelings for the handsome duke, nor for his kind. Though that doesn’t stop her heart from stuttering whenever he’s near, nor the ghost of a familiar fear to surge at the sound of his voice.
But he’s always near.
Telling her what to do.
Making her feel warmer, hotter than he should.
* * * 
To yearn for someone who is forbidden to you is a terrifying feeling. To burn from desire and never speak of it, to have a secret that is horrible to almost everyone, to hide something that could ruin everything.
This is a story carved in hidden desires, inked in blood, and sealed with a fatal sin. Will Anna make it out alive? Or will her heart lead to her downfall?

The Duke's Secret Sin

Azrael did not care to elaborate further, he simply told Anna to meet Ivan near the foyer and leave the Athenaeum right away. 


Her heart was filled with dreadful queries that brewed inside but Azrael was called by a panicked knight. She was no longer certain about taking much of his time. The words died down inside. 


Anna gave a brief nod before they parted. 


She tried to think why Azrael had not asked Agatha to leave, or why the Athenaeum still appeared to be as calm and peaceful as before when there was indeed a crisis that demanded her to leave early. 


Things were tense, she knew, but what exactly could have happened? 


Agatha’s words echoed in the back of her mind. The note left for Azrael carried a deeper meaning and even frightening accusation. 


The foyer was close and she was only required to cross a staircase to reach down and meet Ivan. 


“We weren’t supposed to return this early,” she said, “Are things that bad?” 


Shadows From Past