Valen sat alone in his grand office, his gaze drifting from the endless pile of documents before him to the faintly glowing horizon visible through the arched windows. Outside, Devil’s City shimmered with a haunting beauty, cloaked in perpetual twilight—a beauty that only deepened the ache in his cold heart, reminding him of what he once had and lost.

Tonight, he felt the weight of the past pressing against him with unrelenting force, clawing at the walls he had so carefully built. Lydia. ...