Dating the Devil's Son

Chapter 20: Tears of a Devil

The drive back from his father’s mansion had been agonizing. Dante gripped the wheel tightly, the memory of Lucifer’s words carving deep into his mind. The roads were empty, the night stretching on endlessly, but all he could see was her face Lila’s green eyes filled with hope, trust, and the silent pain he had caused.

"Your love will destroy her," his father had said. The truth of it hit him harder than anything else ever had. He had been a fool to think he could protect her by simply staying away. The bond they shared the pull that had begun the night they first met was stronger than anything he could fight. And now, it threatened to ruin her.

By the time Dante arrived at his apartment, the city was stirring with the first light of dawn. His chest ached with exhaustion, but his mind refused to quiet. Shutting the door behind him, he dropped his jacket onto the couch and stood in the dark, his breathing uneven as his emotions churned uncontrollably.

Dante collapsed onto the edge of his bed, burying his face in his hands. He had spent centuries mastering control over his anger, his impulses, his emotions. But Lila had unraveled everything. She had slipped past the barriers he had spent a lifetime building, leaving him vulnerable in ways he never thought possible.

He had fought battles, made enemies of creatures far older and crueler than himself, yet none of them had ever terrified him as much as the idea of losing her.

But what was worse was the knowledge that he might already be too late.

Her soul was marked now. Even if she didn’t know it, the moment their bond had begun to form, it had become a beacon a light in the darkness that called to the creatures of Hell. They would come for her, drawn to her purity, to the rare treasure that she was. And Dante didn’t know how to stop it.

He lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling as his thoughts spiraled further into chaos. Every memory of her played through his mind like a cruel reminder of what he couldn’t have.

The way she laughed, soft and unguarded, like she hadn’t yet realized the darkness that surrounded him. The way she looked at him, her eyes full of curiosity and something deeper, something he hadn’t dared to name until now.

Love.

It was love.

For the first time in his long, tortured existence, Dante Morningstar had fallen in love.

And it was killing him.

A sharp, aching sensation gripped his chest, and before he could stop himself, a tear slipped down his cheek. He froze, staring at the glowing streak of blue that burned against his skin before disappearing into the air.

Dante hadn’t cried in centuries. He hadn’t allowed himself to feel anything so raw, so vulnerable, since he was a child if he had ever been a child at all.

But now, the tears came fast and hot, streaking down his face as the weight of everything he had tried to suppress came crashing down around him.

He had thought himself untouchable, a son of Hell, immune to the weaknesses of mortals. But Lila had proven him wrong. She had made him human in ways he never thought possible, and it terrified him.

Because in his world, love was not a gift. It was a curse.

Hours passed in the quiet of his dark apartment, the city waking around him, but Dante didn’t move. He lay there, staring up at the ceiling, his mind churning with every impossible decision he faced.

If he stayed away from Lila, he might be able to save her, but it would destroy them both. The bond between them would remain, lingering like a ghost, pulling at them in ways they wouldn’t understand.

But if he gave in if he allowed himself to love her fully then he would doom her to a fate worse than death. Her soul would be torn from her body, dragged into the depths of Hell, where she would be tortured for eternity. And he would hear her screams for the rest of his immortal life.

Across the city, Lila sat alone in her apartment, her knees drawn to her chest as she stared at the rain streaking down the window.

The night had been endless. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw him Dante’s sharp features, his dark eyes that had once looked at her with such intensity. But now, they were cold, distant, like a door slammed shut in her face.

She hated how much she missed him, how much she still cared. It was pathetic, really. She had always been strong, independent, proud of her ability to stand on her own.

But Dante had changed that. He had made her feel alive in ways she never had before, and now, without him, she felt… hollow.

Her phone buzzed on the table, breaking the silence. She reached for it, her heart leaping despite herself. But when she saw the name on the screen, her chest tightened.

It wasn’t Dante. It was Sophie.

“You okay, babe? Haven’t heard from you in a while,” the message read.

Lila sighed, typing back a quick response: “I’m fine. Just busy.”

The lie felt heavy in her hands, but she couldn’t bring herself to admit the truth not to Sophie, not to anyone.

She wasn’t fine. She hadn’t been fine since the moment Dante walked out of her life.

The hours dragged on, the rain outside matching the gloom in her heart. Lila wandered aimlessly through her apartment, her thoughts circling back to him no matter how hard she tried to push them away.

“Why do you keep doing this to me?” she whispered aloud, her voice cracking.

She stopped in front of the mirror hanging on the wall, staring at her reflection. The woman looking back at her didn’t feel like her. Her green eyes were dull, her blonde hair disheveled, her skin pale and tired.

“This isn’t who I am,” she said softly. “I don’t cry over men. I don’t let people ruin me like this.”

But even as she said the words, she knew they weren’t true. Dante wasn’t just any man. He had become a part of her, a part she couldn’t tear away no matter how much she wanted to.

By the time the clock struck midnight, Lila was back on the couch, staring blankly at the ceiling. She hated this feeling this emptiness, this longing that clawed at her chest. She hated that he had left without an explanation, leaving her to put together the pieces of a puzzle she didn’t understand.

But most of all, she hated that she still loved him.

She had tried to deny it, to convince herself that what she felt for him was just infatuation. But it wasn’t. It was deeper than that, stronger than anything she had ever known.

It was love.

And no matter how much it hurt, she couldn’t let it go.