CHAPTER 143: DEMONS’ CONTRACTORS ARE ON THE MOVE! 2

The night air over the brothel carried a faint sweetness of perfume and smoke, masking the tension festering inside its walls. Laughter and chatter echoed faintly from the lower floors where courtesans entertained guests, but in Rin’s private room, silence reigned.

He had returned from the dungeon exhausted, the weight of Evan’s gaze and the stench of Julian’s corrupted aura still clinging to him. The moment his head touched the pillow, he slipped into a deep sleep.

When he finally stirred, dusk had melted fully into night. The lantern by his bedside flickered low, casting his pale skin in a soft golden glow. He stretched lazily, crimson eyes half-lidded, before sitting upright.

"I had no idea I slept this much," he groaned in frustration.

Lirien entered without knocking, her expression sharp as ever. She had been waiting for Rin to wake up and finally, he was up. She almost cracked her neck when she heard he had gone to the palace again. He left without telling her anything.

"You slept long," she said simply, arms crossed.

Rin smirked, rubbing his temple.

"I didn’t know I needed your permission for a nap, Aunt. Did you miss me?"

Her lips pressed into a thin line, but she didn’t rise to his bait. Instead, she sat across from him, eyes narrowing.

"Stop getting me all worried. Tell me everything. From the dungeon. From meeting the Duke. From exposing your face. From the demon you destroyed."

Rin leaned back, stretching his arms lazily, but his words were precise as he recounted what had happened... Evan’s disgusting words, his attempt to touch him, the shadow-hand swatting him away, Julian’s demonic contract, and the way Rin’s own pheromones had pulled the creature out before he destroyed it.

Lirien listened in silence, her frown deepening. "So... it’s worse than I thought."

"You’re finally catching up?" Rin teased. "Maybe, Asmodeus are using demons to make deals with people who hate me. This is fun,"

Her crimson eyes, colder than his own, snapped to his.

"Rin. This isn’t a game. Demons inside the city mean they can easily get in and get out. They are using humans. They’re not just crawling in by accident."

Rin tilted his head.

"I understand, Aunt. Just check with the people in the brothel. One of them might have a deal with a demon if they hate me,"

Her jaw tightened. "They won’t dare. I screen everyone. No one under my roof would dare..."

"You can miss something." His voice was casual, but his smirk was cutting.

Silence stretched between them.

Finally, Lirien exhaled sharply, her expression unreadable.

"We’ll have to make a move before Asmodeus does. You should be safe here,"

Rin hummed.

"By move? You mean before his little pet demons multiply and infest the whole city?"

"Exactly. And I hope you won’t leave the brothel without telling me first,"

"Yeah, yeah. I understand, Aunt!"

Their discussion went on for a while, circling strategies, weaknesses, and what Rin had sensed from Julian. Lirien pressed him for details; Rin, as always, gave enough to be useful but not everything.

At last, she stood.

"I’ll send Kiro to bring you some fruits. Eat something, then rest again. You’ll need your strength."

"Thank you, Aunt! Add a lot of apples, will you?" Rin asked dryly, already reaching for one of the books on his nightstand.

Lirien ignored him and swept out.

Rin sighed, shaking his head. He opened the book, ready to lose himself in something that wasn’t demons or Dukes.

That was when the knock came.

Three soft taps.

Rin set the book down. "Kiro?"

No answer.

He rose, annoyed, and pulled open the door. The hallway outside was empty.

"Huh?" His brows furrowed. "A prank?"

But his instincts screamed otherwise. The hairs at the back of his neck rose. Slowly, Rin turned...

...and something sharp sank into the side of his neck.

He gasped, crimson eyes wide, his hand flying up to clutch the spot. Cold metal. A syringe.

His vision blurred.

Sasha’s face came into view, pale, trembling, eyes frantic. Behind him, a thick demonic haze writhed like smoke given flesh.

"Sa...sha?" Rin’s voice slurred, his knees buckling.

Sasha’s hand shook as he dropped the syringe, clattering to the floor.

"Rin... I’m sorry... I’m sorry, I didn’t..."

Rin’s eyes rolled back. Darkness swallowed him whole as his body crumpled.

Sasha caught him before he hit the floor, his arms trembling.

"I didn’t know what was inside it. It told me to do it... I swear I didn’t know!"

The demon at his back chuckled, voice smooth and mocking.

"You did well, boy. Perfectly done."

Sasha’s eyes darted to the syringe on the floor. "What was in it? Tell me what was inside it!"

The demon’s grin widened.

"I have no idea."

"You... what?!"

"Don’t waste this chance. Carry him. Run far away before they take him from you."

Sasha’s heart pounded. "I won’t... I can’t just..."

The demon’s smoke coiled tighter, whispering,

"He’ll never choose you, Sasha. Look."

Visions flared in his mind, not his own.

*Rin’s lips on Lucien’s, fleeting but electric.*

*Rin pinned against Caspian’s chest, as Rin moaned and Caspian grabbed his ass cheeks*

*Rin’s soft voice that called Sasha... *Just a friend*

"No..." Sasha’s hands shook. "That’s not true. Rin—Rin wouldn’t..."

The demon’s laughter was sharp.

"You saw it. You felt it. He’ll never be yours."

Tears stung his eyes. Jealousy, hot and choking, clawed through him. He clenched his fist as he bit the inside of his mouth.

For a long moment, he just stared at Rin’s unconscious form, pale and too beautiful even in sleep. His lips trembled.

"I’m sorry, Rin. I just... I can’t lose you."

He wrapped Rin gently in a blanket, as though protecting him from the world, and lifted him into his arms.

The door creaked open.

Kiro stepped in, carrying a small tray of fruit. His eyes landed on Sasha, then on Rin limp in his arms. And suddenly, the tray crashed to the floor.

"RIN?!" Kiro’s scream tore through the room.

Sasha’s heart leapt into his throat.

"Shit! That brat..."

"Run!" the demon hissed.

Sasha tightened his grip on Rin and leapt through the open window. Glass shattered, cold night air rushing past as he landed on the cobbled street below.

Behind him, Kiro’s desperate cries echoed,

"LIRIEN! LIRIEN! RIN’S BEEN TAKEN!"

.

.

Lirien stormed into the room moments later, crimson eyes blazing. She took one look at the shattered window and Rin’s empty bed before her face hardened.

"Damn it."

She turned to the assassins already gathering from the commotion.

"Assemble. Now. We’re going after them."

The team scattered into motion, blades and cloaks flashing.

But before she could leap through the window herself, a new presence filled the room.

A tall man stepped from the shadows, his face half hidden, one eye covered by a black patch. Demonic smoke clung to him like a second skin.

The enforcer.

His single visible eye gleamed as he sniffed the air, a predatory smile curling his lips.

"This is where he was. His scent is thick here."

Lirien’s daggers were in her hands instantly.

"You... made a deal with a demon? You won’t leave this place alive."

The demon at his side chuckled darkly.

"Leave from here, fool. Rin isn’t here anymore. Follow the scent. Find him before the other boy hides him away."

The enforcer didn’t need more convincing. With a low laugh, he vaulted through the window, vanishing into the night.

Lirien cursed, then snapped orders.

"Kiro, Lia... you two guard the brothel. No one leaves, no one enters. I’ll handle this myself."

Kiro’s face was pale, but he nodded.

"Bring him back... please."

"I will."

And with that, Lirien launched herself out the window, her body lifting into the air as demonic power flared around her. She hovered above the streets, then shot forward, floating swiftly as a hawk toward the eastern woods.

.

.

Sasha’s lungs burned as he ran, Rin’s body heavy in his arms. Branches whipped against him as he cut through the forest, ignoring the sting. His demon urged him onward.

"Don’t stop. Don’t let them catch you. Rin belongs to you now. To us."

He panted, leaping onto a fallen log, climbing higher into the trees to throw off any pursuers. For nearly an hour, he didn’t slow.

Only when the forest fell silent, the sounds of pursuit fading, did he stop.

His arms trembled. He laid Rin carefully against the roots of an old oak, wrapping the blanket tighter around him.

"Rin..." His voice broke. He knelt beside him, brushing strands of white hair from his face with shaking fingers. "I’m sorry. I just... I just want to take you far away from here. We can leave the city, find somewhere no one knows us. We could get married. Just you and me."

His fingers hovered over Rin’s cheek. He hesitated, trembling, afraid to touch. Tears burned his eyes.

"What the hell have I done? I just want you to be mine... It’s the demon! Not me,"

Just when he was feeling guilty, the forest shifted.

Sasha’s head jerked up.

A cold and dangerous presence loomed behind him.

The enforcer stepped into view, his single eye gleaming, the demon at his side grinning with jagged teeth.

Sasha scrambled to his feet, pulling Rin protectively against his chest.

"Stay back!"

His demon whispered sharply,

"Careful. That man... he has a demon too. And he is here to take Rin for himself."

"Take Rin for myself?" The enforcer’s smile widened. "No. I’m here to kill him."

Sasha’s blood ran cold.

"You wouldn’t dare," he hissed.

The demon’s smoke coiled darker.

"He’s not lying. He doesn’t want Rin as you do. He wants Rin dead."

Sasha’s grip on Rin tightened, panic and fury battling inside him. His voice shook but burned with defiance.

"Then he’ll have to go through me first."