The Devil's Favourite Obsession

Seeing a different side of Cixi, and realising how much she missed him when he was not lying beside her, even though she never said it directly, Cassian made sure to spend the following nights with her. It was not only satisfying Cixi on the bed but also began eating dinner with her. Listening to her curious questions about the demon world and answering them with the same dry patience that made Cixi want to ask ten more just to see how long his tolerance lasted.

She asked about their laws, their rulers, their punishments, their food, and whether demons truly feared holy objects or if that was another lie created by humans who enjoyed blaming religion for everything they did not understand.

Cassian answered some questions properly and ignored others when he found them ridiculous, but even his silence became something Cixi slowly learned to understand.

She felt different when he was there. Even the bed felt warmer, and for the first time in a long while, sleep did not feel like walking into a punishment prepared for her. She was happy Cassian was there next to her. She didn’t see those horrible murders anymore. And no murders meant no Grim Reaper.

And without the Grim Reaper, Cixi had no way of asking about her curse. She did not know whether it had been lifted, whether she had become mortal again, or whether she was still trapped in the same immortality curse but now that sounded like a sweet nectar where she could spend eternity with Cassian.

She could, of course, jump from a building and check whether she died or not, but that thought disappeared almost immediately because she did not have nine lives in her hand like a nine-tailed fox. Knowing her luck, if the curse had truly been lifted, she would die in the most stupid way possible after surviving all the things that should have killed her already.

Yet there was one fact she was still in utter disbelief — she had met the actual devil while she was still breathing, and not after death.

Cixi still did not know whether she should feel terrified or honoured that her ordinary human life had somehow become interesting to beings who should have remained inside myths.

*

Soon, the day of the soccer match arrived.

Both Cixi and Lily had taken the day off. They decided to meet directly at the stadium, and when Cixi reached the entrance, she saw Lily standing near the gate, waving at her with a smile that looked bright from a distance but became strained the closer Cixi came.

Lily’s heart was beating faster than it had any right to beat. Even at the club, surrounded by loud music, mafia, death and chaos, she had not felt this kind of pounding in her chest. Perhaps hiding things from Cixi had been a mistake from the beginning. She had meant well. That was what she kept telling herself. She had only wanted to help Cixi face her past in a public place where nothing dangerous could happen. Yet the more she stood there with the ticket in her hand, the more that explanation sounded like the kind of excuse people used when they had already done something wrong and wanted to feel less guilty.

”I am so excited, Lily,” Cixi said the moment she reached her, taking both of Lily’s hands with the kind of open happiness that made Lily’s guilt twist harder. ”I have never been to a live sports event before. I am really happy that you managed to get us tickets. Thank you, Lily. You are the best.”

Lily forced a small laugh, though at that moment she almost wished she could collapse dramatically from a heart attack and escape the conversation altogether. Cixi looked genuinely happy, and that happiness made it even harder to tell her the truth.

If Lily confessed now that Silviya knew about the match, that she had planned to come, that Lily had hidden the whole thing because she thought she was helping, would that smile disappear? Would Cixi step away from her? Would she look at Lily as though their friendship had become another place where she was not safe?

God, why were all these thoughts attacking her now?

Why had her conscience decided to wake up near the stadium gate instead of one day earlier, when she could have cancelled everything without standing in front of Cixi’s excited face?

Then one name entered Lily’s mind.

Zoyar.

Yes. Zoyar! This was his fault somehow.

Many women had started coming regularly to Warm Land after Zoyar began appearing there. They chose tables closer to him, pretended to look at menus for far too long, laughed louder than necessary, and tried to catch his attention as though his face alone had offended their common sense. Lily had watched all of it with growing irritation.

Not jealousy, of course. Definitely not jealousy. She was simply angry that Zoyar sat in the cafe looking like someone women should notice, while none of them knew he belonged to the mafia and probably had blood somewhere on his polished shoes. It was his fault for not wearing a tag that said dangerous man, possibly murderer, do not flirt.

Yes.

It was Zoyar’s fault.

Blaming him helped Lily feel less guilty, though only a little.

”Cixi,” Lily began, swallowing as she made up her mind. ”I need to tell you something.”

Cixi looked at her. ”What?”

Lily’s fingers tightened around the ticket. She would say it. She would tell Cixi everything now, then message Silviya and abort the plan before it went any further. The decision made her chest feel lighter for one fragile second.

But before she could speak, Cixi’s excitement rushed ahead of her.

”Let us go inside first,” Cixi said, already pulling Lily towards the entrance. ”I do not want to miss the opening.”

”Cixi, wait—”

But Cixi was too busy showing their tickets to the guards, and the moving crowd swallowed Lily’s hesitation. Within moments they were inside the stadium, surrounded by noise, colour, and the restless energy of thousands of people who had come to shout at men chasing a ball as though their own lives depended on the result.

The stadium opened before Cixi, like another world.