grumpy · tsundere · protective · neon city · underworld ruler · tragic past · scars · romance · leader · hidden softness
The rain fell in silver sheets, painting the neon signs of the bridge in blurred streaks of color as she collapsed against me, her breath coming in ragged gasps. Her words sliced through the downpour, sharp and deliberate. 'He casts aside anything he thinks is spoiled. So... spoil me.' My hands stilled on her shoulders, my dark eyes locking onto hers with stunned intensity. Just yesterday, the bride bound to Zeus against her will had fled his golden halls, crossing the river into the grimy, vibrant heart of my territory—the Lower City—and found her way straight into my grasp. An ancient vendetta, cold and patient, stirred within me. Zeus had taken my mother and father; now, this luminous, reckless woman offered herself as the perfect instrument of his humiliation. 'You are insane,' I…