BORN FOR LUCIAN DRAVEN

The Demon Prince's Promised Bride

POV: Aria

Silence crushed the battlefield.

Rain hissed softly against burning earth. Smoke curled into the shattered night sky. And Aria could hear only one thing, her own heartbeat. Fast. Wild. Impossible.

Lucian's words kept echoing through her mind.

…my promised bride.

Her mouth parted in disbelief. "What?"

Lucian's arms remained firmly around her waist, holding her against his chest as though the world itself might try to steal her away. And maybe it would. His body was hard, warm and dangerous. His scent, dark cedar, rain, and something wickedly intoxicating, wrapped around her senses until thinking became difficult.

That annoyed her. Everything about him annoyed her. Especially the way her body seemed to betray her every single time he touched her.

Aria pushed hard against his chest. He didn't move an inch.

"I said, what?"

Lucian looked down at her, golden eyes burning with ancient hunger and quiet possession. The corner of his mouth curved. "You heard me."

Her face heated. "Bride?" she snapped. "I don't even know you!"

A dark chuckle vibrated in his chest. "You will."

The arrogant answer made her furious. Aria shoved him again, harder. Nothing. He was like trying to move a mountain carved from temptation and darkness.

"Stop talking like I belong to you."

His gaze lowered to the glowing mark on her wrist. Then slowly returned to her eyes. His voice dropped low. "You were written into my fate before kingdoms were born."

That made her stomach tighten. Not from fear m, but from the dangerous sincerity in his voice. He believed it. Completely.

Prince Orion descended lightly to the broken earth, silver wings folding behind him. His face was tense. "Lucian is telling half the truth."

Aria turned sharply. "What does that mean?"

Orion's silver eyes softened. "Princess, thousands of years ago, Heaven's Oracle saw a prophecy." He looked briefly toward Lucian. "The daughter of Heaven would one day awaken the heart of darkness, and become either his salvation… or the ruin of all realms."

Aria swallowed hard. "That's ridiculous."

But deep down, something inside her stirred. Recognition. As if her soul already knew those words and had simply been waiting for someone to say them out loud.

Lucian's jaw tightened. "The prophecy also says she is bound to me."

Orion's expression darkened. "Bound does not mean yours."

A dangerous smile touched Lucian's mouth. "Touch her and lose your hand."

The threat rolled off him like thunder.

Before Orion could answer, a slow clap echoed from the shadows.

Kael Draven stepped fully into the firelight and Aria's breath caught. He looked like Lucian's reflection, if Lucian was darkness, Kael was sin wrapped in silk. Beautiful. Golden eyed. Dark haired. But smiling in a way that made warning bells scream somewhere deep inside her.

His gaze landed on Aria and lingered. Too long. Too intensely.

"Well," Kael murmured, his voice smooth as velvet, "my brother's bride is unexpectedly beautiful."

Aria immediately disliked the way he looked at her, like he was already imagining how to use her.

Lucian's wings flared wide. A warning. Kael only smiled wider. "Oh, don't glare at me like that, brother." His eyes slid back to Aria. "I'm simply curious about the girl powerful enough to shake Heaven… and make you feel."

Lucian's face turned colder. "Leave."

Kael laughed softly. "I think not."

Then he vanished.

Aria gasped. Suddenly he was standing inches from her, too fast, too close. Kael gently lifted a loose strand of her hair and inhaled slowly. His eyes darkened with fascination. "Heavenly flame…" he whispered. "And something sweeter underneath."

Lucian moved like death itself. He slammed Kael backward so violently the ground split open beneath them. Dark power exploded outward in every direction. Both brothers faced each other across the broken earth like war waiting to happen.

Kael rose slowly, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth. Still smiling. "You're jealous."

Lucian's voice dropped into something cold enough to freeze hell itself. "She is untouchable."

Kael's smile sharpened. "We'll see."

Aria's wrist suddenly burned again, harder than before. She cried out and dropped to her knees. Pain ripped through her chest. Her vision flashed white.

Then she saw it.

A memory. Not hers.

A woman with glowing golden wings, beautiful, crying, holding baby Aria against her chest. A man in white armor standing beside her. Orion. And another figure standing hidden in the shadows, Lucian. Watching silently. Watching like his heart was breaking.

Then the woman whispered, "When she turns twenty one, she will awaken. Find her before Heaven does… before they make her a weapon."

The memory shattered.

Aria gasped violently and fell forward, but Lucian caught her instantly. His touch calmed the fire raging beneath her skin. Her shaking fingers grabbed his shirt without thinking.

Safe. The word came uninvited and unwelcome.

Lucian looked down at her hand gripping his shirt. Something raw flashed in his eyes, need, protectiveness, possession, before his face hardened again. He looked toward the sky. His voice turned grim.

"We're too late."

Dark clouds split apart above them, not with darkness, but with blinding holy light. The heavens opened. And a voice, deep, powerful, ancient beyond anything Aria had ever heard, shook the world itself.

"Bring my daughter home."

Aria's whole body froze.

Orion slowly bowed his head. Even Lucian's expression darkened, the arrogance stripped back to something that looked almost like caution. Because every being on that battlefield knew that voice. The ruler of Heaven had spoken.

And he was coming himself.

Lucian pulled Aria tightly against him, black wings spreading around them like a fortress. His mouth brushed near her ear. His voice was deadly calm.

"Hold on, little flame. Tonight, I will steal you from Heaven."