Astraea's POV
I let out a loud grunt the moment we stepped back into the house, slamming the door harder than necessary. I didn't care.
The air here was already suffocating me, and Draven's constant, judgmental silence wasn't helping. He hadn't said a word since we left the gym, no snarky comments, no sarcastic remarks, not even that uptight sigh of his. Just silence and eyes that were staring and burning holes into the side of my head like I'd grown three extra horns.
And finally, I snapped.
"Say it," I barked, spinning around to face him. "Whatever you're dying to say, just get it over with. I'm sick of your eyes crawling up my back like a damn parasite."
Draven raised his hands slowly in mock surrender, though there was nothing amused about the way he looked at me. Calm and disapproving, like I was a child he didn't want to scold but knew would eventually burn down the house just out of curiosity.
"You already know what I'm thinking," he said coolly.
I narrowed my eyes. "I want to hear it anyway."
He let out a breath through his nose and leaned against the wall with that infuriating calm he always wore. "I just don't understand why you, of all people, Princess Astraea, the one who hates humans on principle, suddenly wants to get involved in one's life. You haven't even been in this realm for more than three days."
I rolled my eyes so hard I nearly gave myself a headache. "She asked, and I said yes. That's it. It's not like I have an empire to run while I'm here."
"Since when do you do things just because someone asked?"
That shut me up for a moment, if only because I didn't have a satisfying answer. I crossed my arms and shifted my weight, looking away. "I am bored, and after seeing how Lilith treated her, watching Zephyra wipe the floor with girls like her someday would be… mildly entertaining."
"Mildly entertaining," he repeated, his voice filled with doubt.
I turned to glare at him. "You're acting like I agreed to raise her as my heir or something. It's just training. I'm teaching a human how to punch better. Not exactly treason."
Draven shook his head. "It's not about that, Astraea."
"Then what is it about?"
He stood straighter, his jaw tightening. "The fights she's involved in. They're not just underground brawls. They're dirtier than you think—rigged, corrupted, and dangerous not because of the fights, but because of the people who pull the strings behind them. Humans can be a lot more selfish than they appear. Pretty sure they'll use her up and spit her out the second she stops being useful."
I furrowed my brow at that, the words digging a little too deep for comfort. "You say that like you're speaking from experience."
The second I said it, something changed in his face, just slightly. A flicker, like I'd brushed my fingers over an old scar without realizing it.
He looked away first.
Interesting.
"I've been here a long time," he muttered. "I've seen things. That's all."
I stepped forward, tilting my head and studying him. "You're not usually this… invested."
"I'm just trying to protect you from wasting your time or getting caught up in something messier than you're ready for."
"I can handle messy," I said flatly.
"Not this kind," he muttered, almost too quietly. "Not if you start caring for her in the way I can assure you would."
"I don't care," I snapped. "I barely even like her. She's clearly reckless and mouthy and somehow manages to get herself beat to a pulp every time she enters a ring. I'm not doing this out of compassion."
"Then why are you doing it?" Draven asked, locking eyes with me now. "Why not just ignore her like you do everyone else?"
I opened my mouth, closed it, and opened it again, but I didn't have a good explanation, and I hated that.
There was no speech and no grand reason. Just a dull feeling in my chest that wouldn't go away, one that told me that this option was better than boredom.
So I gave him the only answer I could scrape up without sounding too… human.
"As long as I'm in the human world, I have to find something to do," I said, flicking my hair over my shoulder as I leaned against the banister. "And whatever it is, it needs to at least align with the things that interest me. Fighting is one of them."
Draven arched a brow. "So instead of relaxing or enjoying your exile in peace, you've decided to raise a scrappy street rat into a warrior?"
I smirked. "Better than sitting around in your house playing pretend mistress. If I have to suffer through mortals for however long, I'd rather teach a weak girl how to be less pathetic than waste my time sipping tea with maids I don't care about."
He groaned quietly and rubbed his temples like I was already giving him a migraine. "You know this isn't exactly what I had in mind when I agreed to host you."
"I'm not exactly what anyone has in mind," I replied with a sweet, sarcastic smile.
He stared at me for a moment and then let out a long, heavy sigh, the kind of sigh someone lets out right before giving up. "Fine," he said. "Fine, train her. Do what you want, but tell me one thing…"
I narrowed my eyes. "What?"
"Do you plan to fight too?"
I burst into laughter. Genuine, full-bodied laughter. "You think I'm going to fight humans?" I scoffed. "Please. What's the fun in a fight if you already know you'll win before the first punch?"
Draven chuckled under his breath, crossing his arms. "You really are something else."
"Something better," I corrected, flashing him a grin.
"You're overconfident."
"Confident," I corrected again, lifting a finger. "Overconfidence is assuming I might lose. I know I won't."
He gave me a long look, one of those 'I know better, but I'm too tired to argue' looks. Then he turned away, heading toward the hallway.
But just as he passed by me, he paused.
"One condition."
I groaned. "Of course there's a condition."
"Please don't use your powers," he said sharply, looking over his shoulder. "I'm serious, Astraea. No matter how bad it gets, no matter what anyone says or does, do not use your powers on humans."
I straightened. "Why would you think I'd do something that stupid?"
He tilted his head, his voice dry. "Because you're you, and because it's only been three days, and you've already threatened to set the kitchen on fire twice."
I crossed my arms, glaring. "That was different. That oven thing disrespected me."
"The oven is an appliance."
"It beeped at me twice. Passive aggression is still aggression."
Draven ignored that and continued. "I'm serious, Astraea. You don't realize how fragile humans are. It doesn't take much to hurt them, and if you so much as flare your energy in the wrong place, you'll expose everything—not just yourself, but the rest of us who are trying to live here quietly."
That part made my jaw tighten. Because I knew he was right. Even if I didn't care about the consequences for myself, Draven and whatever little demon community he was tied to here would likely suffer for my slip-ups.
I didn't care about many people, but I owed him… something. Still, his warning felt like a slap.
I looked him dead in the eyes. "You really think humans could push me that far?"
He smiled, and it was that annoying kind of smile, half knowing, half pitying. "You'd be surprised."
And then he walked off, leaving me standing there like he'd just tossed a challenge into the air and walked away before I could bat it back.
Surprised?
By humans?
I rolled my eyes so hard I thought they'd get stuck. What was he even talking about? There was nothing in this realm that could possibly get under my skin that deeply.
Still, something about the way he said it bothered me, like he knew something I didn't, and he'd seen something.
And now it felt like I had to prove him wrong, not because I cared about being right… but because I refused to believe I could be brought down to their level.
No, that wasn't happening. I sure as hell wasn't going to get "surprised" by weak-ass humans. Not happening.