Hana had never been more aware of her own heartbeat.
It thrummed painfully loud in her chest, echoing inside her ribcage like the frantic fluttering of a trapped bird. Ravion stood before her, his hand extended, palm open, waiting. His eyes dark with silver swirling under the surface, held a question she wasn't sure she wanted to answer.
Fear pressed against her spine.
Desire warmed the center of her chest.
Two emotions, violent, clashing, pulled her in opposite directions.
"Hana," Ravion said softly, though his voice vibrated with something deeper. "Come with me into the hidden side of Seoul."
The hidden side.
The words tugged at her like a half-remembered lullaby and a warning cry at the same time.
Her breath shook as she reached forward.
Just an inch.
Then another.
Her fingers hovered above his, trembling as though they knew the cost of this choice long before she did. And then
she laid her hand in his.
The moment their skin met, the world reacted.
A ring of pale silver light rippled from their feet as though the ground itself recognized their touch. Soft at first, then swelling outward in a slow wave that distorted the street around them. The neon lights overhead dimmed, flickering like candles caught in a sudden wind.
Hana inhaled sharply.
"Ravion...what's happening?"
His hand tightened around hers.
"Don't let go. No matter what you see."
Her mouth dried. A thousand questions hovered on the edge of her lips, but her voice refused to form even one. Ravion's presence, his warmth, the certainty in the way he held her, was all she had to cling to.
The world twisted.
Not violently, but like turning a page too quickly.
The alley melted into shadows that swirled around them like living ink. The air thickened, heavy as water, and the familiar hum of Seoul faded until it sounded impossibly distant. Lights blurred and stretched into streaks of violet and blue. Buildings dissolved into smoke and reformed into silhouettes she did not recognize.
Hana gasped as her feet left the ground, only for gravity to return a moment later.
Then...
Everything snapped back into place.
She stumbled forward, her knees nearly buckling. Ravion's arm shot out, pulling her against his chest before she fell. Heat rushed to her cheeks. She pushed herself upright quickly, but his hands lingered just long enough for her to feel their steadiness.
"Easy," he murmured. "Transitioning can overwhelm the senses."
Hana blinked hard, trying to gather her bearings.
This was Seoul… and not Seoul.
They stood on a stone path paved with dark, glassy tiles that shimmered like stars trapped beneath water. Floating lanterns drifted above them, glowing with soft blue fire. Wooden hanok rooftops stood beside towering glass buildings, and ancient shrines rested between modern cafés that flickered in and out like holograms.
It was impossible.
It was beautiful.
It was terrifying.
"Where are we?" she whispered.
Ravion stepped beside her, his fingers still intertwined with hers.
"The Hidden Side," he said.
"A city layered inside the one you know. A world of spirits, demons, forgotten gods, and those who walk between."
Hana shivered.
People moved in the streets, some normal, as human as anyone in Seoul. But others…
A woman whose eyes glowed gold as she spoke with an invisible companion.
A man with horns curling from his head like obsidian spirals.
A child playing with a shadow creature that scampered like a small fox.
A tall figure whose feet never touched the ground.
Hana's breath caught. "This… this can't be real."
"It is," Ravion replied gently. "Even if your memory refuses it."
She looked at him sharply.
"My memory?"
He hesitated, a flicker of conflict crossing his expression.
"Yes," he said finally. "You've been here before."
Her chest tightened.
"No. I would remember a place like this. I..."
Her voice faltered as Ravion lifted her wrist, the one with the faint circular mark she'd had since childhood. It glowed softly now, as though awakening.
"This seal locked away your memories," he said.
"To protect you."
The world tilted.
Hana jerked her wrist away. "Protect me from what?"
Ravion didn't answer immediately. His gaze drifted toward the sky, watching a shadow glide over the violet clouds.
"Hana," he said quietly, "someone has awakened. Someone who remembers everything you forgot."
Her blood ran cold.
"Who?"
Ravion looked at her with an expression she couldn't decipher, fear, regret, and something deeper tangled together.
"Azrael," he said softly.
"The demon who once claimed you."
Her breath froze.
No...no, that couldn't be true.
"I don't even know that name," she whispered.
"Your mind doesn't," Ravion said. "Your soul does."
A sudden, stabbing pain shot through her wrist. Hana grabbed at it with her free hand, gasping as images flickered across her mind like lightning.
Flames.
A shadowed figure reaching out to her.
Red eyes.
A whisper brushing against her ear—intimate, possessive.
"Hana…" Ravion's hand cupped the back of her neck, steadying her. "Focus on my voice. Breathe."
She drew a sharp, trembling breath.
The pain faded slowly.
Her vision cleared,
and she realized Ravion had pulled her against him again, shielding her from the world with his body.
She stepped back, heart racing, but Ravion did not move away. His eyes traced her face with conflicted intensity.
"You said…" Hana whispered, "that he claimed me."
Ravion nodded once.
"And I…" Her throat tightened. "I cared for him?"
The darkness in Ravion's expression deepened.
"Yes," he said, barely audible. "Too much."
Pain flashed behind his eyes so quickly she wondered if she had imagined it.
"But you left him," Ravion continued. "You came to me, begging me to take the memories away. To free you from him."
Hana's knees weakened. She reached for a nearby pillar to steady herself.
"That's impossible," she said shakily. "I would never go to a demon and ask him to erase my past."
Ravion stepped closer, his voice lowering.
"You didn't ask a demon."
Her breath caught.
"What… what do you mean?"
Ravion's gaze locked onto hers.
"I am not the kind of demon you fear."
His hand lifted carefully to brush a strand of hair from her face.
The touch was gentle enough to make her shiver.
"Hana," he said, his voice like a shadowed melody, "you trusted me once. More than anyone in either world. I erased Azrael from your memories at your request. But seals weaken… and he has been looking for you ever since."
A wind swept through the street.
Lantern flames flickered violently.
Hana swallowed hard.
"So… I forgot him. But he didn't forget me."
"No," Ravion said.
"And he never will."
Fear curled through her stomach.
Desire, an inexplicable pull toward Ravion, rose right behind it. She didn't understand why being near him felt safe, familiar, and dangerous all at once.
"Ravion…" she whispered, "what am I to him?"
His jaw tightened.
"You are the heart he lost," he said.
"And the heart he wants back."
Her pulse roared.
"And to you?" she asked before she could stop herself.
Ravion froze.
The question hung in the air like a forbidden spell.
His gaze softened, all the steel and shadows melting into something raw, something he seemed almost afraid to show.
"To me…" he started, voice trembling.
But a sudden shriek tore through the air,
sharp, metallic, inhuman.
Hana flinched.
Ravion instantly stepped in front of her, posture shifting from conflicted tenderness to lethal focus.
The far end of the street darkened. Shadows swirled like smoke gathering form. Travelers in the Hidden Side scattered, whispering warnings as they hurried away.
"Ravion… what is that?" Hana whispered.
"A Hunter," he said.
"Azrael's."
Her heart dropped.
"It followed us."
"Yes."
The shadow creature let out another distorted cry, its form stretching into something long-limbed and impossibly thin. White, pupil-less eyes locked onto Hana.
Ravion reached for her hand again.
"Hana," he breathed, "stay behind me. And whatever happens, do not run."
Her hand slipped into his instantly, without hesitation this time.
Not out of trust.
Not out of fear.
But because standing beside Ravion felt like the only place she belonged,
somewhere between fear and desire.
The creature lunged.
And the darkness swallowed chapter nine whole.