The Ticking Heart

It happened three months later.

They were sparring on the balcony overlooking the magma lake. Yara had grown faster, stronger. Xeron was teaching her the *Phantom Step*, a demon technique.

She managed to land a blow—a palm strike to his chest.

Xeron caught her hand, pulling her flush against him. The spar turned into something else. His breath was hot on her face. Her hand rested over his heart.

"You're getting faster," Xeron whispered. "Almost dangerous."

Yara looked up at him. The hatred she had nurtured was fading, replaced by a terrifying, magnetic pull. She didn't want to kill him anymore. She wanted to burn the world with him.

"Xeron," she started.

Then, she coughed.

It wasn't a dry cough. It was wet, thick.

She doubled over, hacking. When she pulled her hand away from her mouth, it was covered in black blood that sizzled on the stone floor.

Xeron’s playful expression vanished. He grabbed her shoulders. "Yara?"

"I... I can't breathe," she gasped.

A searing pain erupted in her chest, pulsing in time with her heartbeat.

Xeron scooped her up and sprinted for the infirmary.

\---

The Demon Doctor, a withered old man with six eyes, hovered his hands over Yara’s chest. He looked pale.

"Leave us," Xeron commanded the guards. "Speak, Doctor."

"It is not a sickness, my Lord," the Doctor said, his voice trembling. "It is a *Gu*."

"A Gu?" Xeron’s eyes narrowed. "Poison?"

"A Living Gu," the Doctor corrected. " The *Moon-Bane Heart Worm*. It was planted in her years ago, dormant. It feeds on her vitality to grow."

Yara lay on the bed, struggling for air. "They... they drugged me," she whispered. "Before I left."

"It is timed," the Doctor said. "It is linked to the lunar cycle. The next full blood moon is in two days. When the moon peaks... the worm will detonate."

Xeron slammed his fist into the stone wall, cracking it. "Detonate?"

"With enough force to level the Spire," the Doctor said. "She isn't just a substitute, my Lord. She is a bomb."

Yara closed her eyes. The realization washed over her like ice water.

The Elders didn't just want to get rid of her. They wanted to wipe out the Demon Sect without lifting a finger. They sent a Trojan Horse wrapped in wedding silk.

"Get it out," Xeron ordered. "Cut it out."

"I cannot," the Doctor said. "It is woven into her heart valves. If I remove it, she dies instantly. If we leave it, she explodes in forty-eight hours."

Xeron looked at Yara. For the first time, the Demon Prince looked afraid.

"Get out," Xeron whispered to the Doctor.

When they were alone, Xeron sat on the edge of the bed. He took her hand. His skin, usually burning hot, felt cold.

"They knew," Xeron snarled. "Those white-robed hypocrites. They knew I would keep you. They counted on my arrogance."

"They counted on you... liking me," Yara wheezed. She squeezed his hand. "Xeron. You have to kill me."

"No."

"If you don't, the Spire falls. Your people die."

"Let them die!" Xeron shouted, standing up. "I don't care about the Spire. I care about *you*!"

He paced the room, his aura flaring violently. "There is a way. The *Soul Devour* technique. I can absorb the Gu into my own body."

"It will kill you," Yara said. "You're strong, but a Heart Gu... it will cripple your cultivation. You'll be mortal. The other Demon Lords will tear you apart."

"Then let them try," Xeron said fiercely. "I am not letting you die, Yara. You are the only thing in this world that is real."

Yara looked at him. He was willing to burn his kingdom to save a substitute.

* He loves me,* she realized. *And because he loves me, I have to leave.*