“Where did you come from? What are you? What happens when you’re not here?”
Ashar’s smile dimmed. “Because it’s not a place. Not really.”
He tapped the sigil with his toe. “We call it the Before. It’s not fire and brimstone. It’s not clouds and harps. It’s need. Suspended. Like a tidepool of want waiting to be given shape.”
“That’s terrifying.”
“It’s lonely,” he said simply.
She sat on the edge of the couch, pulling the blanket tighter. “So, what, demons are born from trauma?”
“Some. Others from fury. Obsession. Lust. But pleasure demons,” He paused, “we’re made from the ache no one wants to name.”
Blair was very still. “Like?”
“Like being touched but not felt. Loved, but not kept. Chosen second. Or not at all.”
Her throat tightened. He crouched again, drawing another rune, this one shaped like a key inside a flame.
“When someone sends that ache out loud enough,” he said, “some of us hear it.”
“And just show up?”
He met her gaze. “Only if it’s deep enough. Old enough. Unhealed.”
Blair’s pulse skipped. “How many have you answered?”
Ashar looked down. “Three.”
She blinked. “That’s it?”
“Most people don’t summon us on purpose. They summon us by accident. Like you.”
She hesitated. “And the others?”
“One used me for revenge. She wanted her ex ruined. I did what I was meant to do. But she never wanted healing. Only blood.”
He traced a smaller sigil, something shaped like a broken mirror.
Blair whispered, “Did you love her?”
“No.” His voice was low. “But I stayed too long. And I lost something. I don’t even know what.”
There was a pause.
Then Blair asked, “What about the second one?”
Ashar didn’t answer right away. Then: “She was kind. Lonely. But she didn’t believe I was real. She thought I was her mind unraveling. She kissed me like a dream; she didn’t want to remember. I left when the candles burned out. I think that’s what she wanted.”
“And the third?” Blair asked.
Ashar met her eyes.
“You.”
Blair’s breath caught. She stood, pulling the blanket with her, and crossed the floor to stand in front of him. “And what’s different this time?”
“You believe I’m real,” he said. “Even if you won’t say it.”
