Chapter 107: The Price of Bringing Her Back

Daemon’s consciousness returned in pieces.

Then the full weight of everything he had done.

Memories crashed through him without mercy.

The meeting with Requiem inside the black soul space.

The sealed existence that had always lived beneath his bloodline.

The moment that power forced its way awake.

The berserk state that swallowed his mind whole.

After that, control had not belonged to him.

He had slaughtered the werewolves without hesitation.

He had cut Kaine down.

He had torn Winston Tower apart with a single eye beam, treating the massive structure like paper.

And worst of all...

He had burned Roxanna.

Daemon stared down at her unconscious face, his entire body trembling. For several long seconds he could not move. Breath caught in his chest. Thought refused to form cleanly.

Her upper body was ruined by black flame. The burns were deep, ugly, and wrong in a way ordinary fire never was.

This was Requiem’s power. His power. The same force that had protected him had turned against the person holding him when he lost himself.

"Roxy..."

His voice broke on her name.

He called her again. And again. His hands hovered over her without daring to touch the worst of the wounds at first, as if contact alone might break her further.

Beside him, Sana was crying openly.

She had seen battles. She had seen blood. She had seen monsters tear people apart. None of that prepared her for this. Roxanna’s body looked like it had been caught inside a living furnace, and the person responsible was the man both of them loved.

Sana grabbed Daemon’s shoulder hard.

"Do something," she said through her tears. "You have artifacts. You have the System. You always have something. Don’t just sit there."

Daemon’s head snapped up.

"System," he forced out. "Are you there? Answer me. Damn it, answer me."

For a few seconds there was only silence.

Then the familiar interface flickered back to life.

[System online.]

[Host bloodline interference has ended.]

[Functions restored.]

Daemon did not wait for formalities.

"Cure Roxanna. Now. She’s badly injured by my black flame."

The System paused, scanning.

[Analysis complete.]

[Target: Roxanna Sterling.]

[Physical damage: severe.]

[Soul damage detected.]

[Cause: Requiem black flame exposure during uncontrolled bloodline manifestation.]

Daemon’s face went cold.

"Soul damage?"

[Correct.]

[The flame did not only burn flesh. It scarred the soul.]

His hands clenched.

"Then why wasn’t Sana injured the same way? She hugged me too."

[Because Sana Whitlock has already completed Soul Bonding with the Host.]

[Damage originating from the Host cannot permanently harm a recognized Soul-Bonded Wife in the same manner.]

[Roxanna Sterling has not completed that process.]

Daemon’s eyes widened.

So that was the difference.

One already shared his soul.

One had only been holding him with trust and courage.

And that trust had nearly killed her.

He forced the guilt down before it could swallow him again.

"What should I do?"

[If Roxanna Sterling completes Soul Bonding now, the Host may absorb the soul damage and residual pain.]

[Her body will begin recovery.]

[The burned flesh will restore over the following days.]

Daemon nodded immediately.

"Do it."

The System continued.

[Warning.]

[The transfer will not be limited to recent injury.]

[All accumulated pain endured across her life will temporarily pass into the Host.]

[Physical. Emotional. Spiritual.]

[Confirm acceptance.]

Daemon did not hesitate.

"I accept."

He shifted carefully on the broken ground and eased Roxanna’s head onto his thigh. His hands were still shaking, but his voice stayed low and steady near her ear.

"Roxy. Can you hear me?"

No clear answer.

"Come on," he whispered. "Just give me a sign. If you can hear my voice... nod. It’s me. Daemon."

Roxanna’s face was half-burned, but her lips pressed together weakly. After a second that felt far too long, she managed the smallest nod.

Daemon’s chest tightened hard enough to hurt.

"I need you to accept the Soul Bond with me," he said carefully. "If you do, I can bring you back."

He waited.

Smoke drifted past them. Distant sirens wailed through the ruined streets. Sana stayed close, eyes locked on Roxanna’s face.

Then Roxanna’s burned mouth shifted into the faintest smile.

She parted her lips just enough to speak.

"...Yes."

The System responded at once.

[Soul Bond request accepted.]

[Initiating Soul Bond with Roxanna Sterling.]

[Bond established.]

[Registered Soul-Bonded Wife: Roxanna Miles.]

White light burst across Roxanna’s body.

It was soft at first, then stronger, sinking through burned skin and damaged soul alike. The worst of the black-flame wounds began closing under the glow. Charred tissue lightened. Broken energy pathways realigned. The violent instability around her presence settled into something whole again.

Sana watched in stunned silence as she finally understood.

This was the System Daemon had mentioned before.

This was the power that bound them deeper than ordinary marriage.

Daemon felt the transfer hit him a second later.

Pain poured into him in a flood.

Not only the recent burns.

Not only the tower.

Not only tonight.

Older pain came with it — exhaustion, loneliness, years of swallowing hurt without asking anyone for help, the quiet weight Roxanna had carried for so long that it had become part of her posture. It all slammed into his soul at once.

He grit his teeth and took it.

Minutes passed.

By the time the white light faded, Roxanna’s body was fully restored. The burns were gone. Her breathing had steadied. She still did not open her eyes, but she no longer looked like someone balanced on the edge of death.

Daemon stayed seated on the ground with her head against him, forehead lowered, shoulders rising and falling under the aftermath of the transfer.

Sana wiped her face with the back of her hand and stayed beside them, still shaken but no longer drowning in panic.

Not far from the main wreckage, behind a broken concrete slab, another figure crouched in the dust.

Julian.

His body was a mess of injuries. Burns marked his arms and side. His clothes were torn, half-hanging from him. Every breath scraped through his chest like broken glass. His hands shook so hard he nearly dropped the phone he was holding.

But he did not stop recording.

From his hidden angle, he had captured enough.

Daemon in the middle of the destruction.

The black flames.

The ruined tower.

The impossible recovery.

Julian’s voice was low and venomous under his breath.

"I dont know what happened here... but I’ll put the cause of this mass destruction on you. You’ll never show your face in this world again without people remembering this night."

Pain tore through him with every small movement, yet his focus never left Daemon.

Hatred kept him upright and the camera steady.

What he failed to notice was the presence behind him.

Someone was already hovering in the air at his back, silent and unseen, watching the man who thought he was the only one left in the shadows.