Darkness of a Devil

Parisian Proposal

The morning sun poured into the room, bathing everything in a soft, golden light. I woke to the warmth of Sylus beside me, his steady breathing a comforting reminder of the peace we'd fought so hard to achieve.

Sylus stirred, his eyes slowly opening to meet mine. A sleepy smile spread across his face. "Good morning," he murmured, his voice still heavy with sleep.

"Good morning," I replied, leaning in to kiss him gently. "How did you sleep?"

"Better than I have in a long time," he said, stretching before sitting up. "I guess I needed that."

I smiled, feeling a sense of peace I hadn't felt in weeks. "We both did. Last night felt like a turning point."

Sylus nodded, his expression thoughtful. "It was. We're finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. And Mephisto's intel was a game-changer."

"Speaking of Mephisto, we should probably thank him properly," I said with a grin, imagining the crow's indignant caw if we didn't acknowledge his efforts.

As if on cue, a familiar caw came from the window. Mephisto perched there, watching us with his sharp eyes, as if aware that he was the topic of conversation.

"Looks like he's expecting his reward," Sylus chuckled, getting out of bed and opening the window. Mephisto flew inside, landing gracefully on the bedpost.

"Thank you, Mephisto," I said, reaching out to gently stroke his feathers. "You've outdone yourself this time."

The crow fluffed his feathers, looking pleased with himself. Sylus fetched some treats for him, and Mephisto accepted them with dignified enthusiasm.

"We should head down for breakfast," Sylus suggested. "We have a lot to discuss with the team today."

"Agreed," I said, getting dressed. "There are still loose ends to tie up, but we're getting closer to the finish line."

We made our way downstairs to the kitchen, where the rest of the team was already gathered. The mood was upbeat, a sense of accomplishment hanging in the air after the success of the previous night's operation.

"Morning," Luke greeted us, his usual easygoing grin firmly in place.

"Morning," Sylus replied, taking a seat at the table. "We've got a lot to cover, but I think we're in a good place."

Kieran poured us both a cup of coffee, sliding them across the table. "We've already started reviewing the intel from last night. It's solid. We can use this to clean up the remaining mess."

Damian nodded, looking more confident than ever. "There's a lot to go through, but Melissa and I have been sorting through it. We're already identifying key players and potential threats."

Melissa, who was reviewing a stack of documents, looked up and gave a nod of agreement. "We've flagged several leads that need immediate attention. With Mephisto's intel, we might be able to move up our timeline."

Sylus took a sip of his coffee, his expression thoughtful. "Good. Let's make sure we don't leave any stone unturned. The sooner we dismantle the remaining network, the sooner we can shift our focus to rebuilding and strengthening Onychirus."

I joined the conversation, pulling up a chair next to Sylus. "And the sooner we can finally take that trip."

Sylus smiled, reaching over to squeeze my hand. "Absolutely. That's still the goal."

After breakfast, we gathered in the study to review the new intel. Damian and Melissa had prepared a presentation, highlighting the key points and outlining the steps we needed to take.