Prologue
The wind lashed her face like blades as she stood alone at the edge of the cliff. Sophia stared ahead through tear-blurred eyes, gazing at the raging ocean beneath her — a churning mass of fury that looked as if it carried the wrath of gods. The red sky above them split open with monstrous lightning, each bolt twisting into the shape of demons — contorted, furious, watching her with hatred that burned hotter than hellfire.
She felt their rage. Their hunger for revenge. Their inhuman call urging her to finally give in.
Raindrops mixed with the tears on her cheeks, and then she felt it — a presence behind her. The air shifted, trembling first with menace, then with something that whispered her name.
She turned slowly.
Behind her stood Jasper and his father. Dark, majestic, like two figures carved from the very stone of Hell. Lucifer — in his handsome, human form — looked as though he held together the thin line separating the world from total ruin. And beside him Jasper, the boy she loved so deeply it hurt.
He reached out his hand to her.
“Sophia…” he called, firm yet gentle. “Come to me. Please.”
She stepped back — straight toward the cliff’s edge — just as another presence slid into view beside Lucifer.
Ethan.
His body radiated command over demons, and his face was a mask of pure rage. Above their heads, the lightning twisted into winged monsters, swirling in violent circles as if answering his orders. Beside him stood Lily, hatred gleaming in her eyes, her expression filled with the triumphant pride of an executioner watching a victim kneel.
Lily lifted her chin.
“Jump,” she said in an icy tone. “Jump and disappear from our sight. Don’t come back to us. Don’t go back to Hell. Run to your precious angel daddy — if he even wants you anymore.”
Sophia trembled, though she couldn’t tell if it was from the cold or from despair. Ethan’s cruel smile widened, the reflected red sky dancing maliciously in his eyes.
“This is the end, Sophia,” he hissed. “You betrayed me, so we’ll make sure you never know happiness again.”
“Enough!” Jasper snarled, stepping forward. His voice echoed off the rocks, vibrating through the storm. “Don’t listen to them. Look at me.”
He raised his hand higher, as if ready to tear the world apart just to reach her.
“Sophia, please…” he said, his voice shaking. “Let me protect you. Let me finish this. We’ve survived too much already. Don’t leave me in this life the way you left me in the others.”
Her lips trembled. Her heart hammered inside her chest like a bird trapped in a cage. The tearing inside her felt unbearable — destiny screaming at her from every direction at once.
She looked into the abyss. Into the darkness calling her name.
And then at Jasper. His eyes begged. Hers were filled with tears.
The wind howled. The sky split with thunder. Sophia drew a breath — one final, trembling breath, the kind that decides everything.
