Lucifer stood in silence.
His wings were folded tight against his back, their black feathers streaked with dried blood. The horns curling from his temples glowed faintly under the rising dawn. His eyes burned quietly, the irises swirling between crimson and molten gold as they stayed fixed on the broken form lying before him.
Francisca's body lay twisted in the fractured asphalt. Her silver hair was matted with blood, spreading like pale threads across the stained ground. The wound through her chest was blackened at the edges, burned by Adam's touch. Her tails lay limp, curled around her legs in silent surrender. Her eyes were closed, lashes trembling faintly with the dying flickers of spirit light fading into nothing.
Ella stepped forward slowly. Her bare feet slipped against the blood-wet pavement as she knelt beside Francisca. Her hands shook as she reached out, brushing pale hair from the kitsune's still face.
