Daemon Stay Dead

On her first day of her second year, Maya starts hearing the rumors. They're impossible to ignore, whispers in the halls, sideways glances, and soft giggles when Leo walks by. His name always seems to come up in the same breath as tragedy. It's like everyone knows the details but no one will talk about them, like there's a dark cloud hanging over him. Some say it was an accident, others think it's something worse, but either way, Leo's the one you don't want to get too close to.

Maya, however, isn't the type to shy away from rumors. Especially not when they start eating at her curiosity. There's something about Leo that pulls her in, like a puzzle she can't solve.

She's been struggling with a hole in her life, the loss of someone she cared about, someone who's been gone for far too long. Desperate for answers and willing to do anything, Maya ends up making a deal. It's one of those things you hear about in hushed tones, something that sounds almost too unreal to be true, but she doesn't care. All she wants is for them to come back, and the cost? Well, she figures she'll deal with that later.

But just as she's about to seal the deal, Leo shows up, like some kind of reluctant hero. He tries to save her, to break the bargain before it's too late, but his intervention backfires. The deal takes its toll on her in a way she never expected, half of her soul gets torn away, scattered across town.

To make things worse, part of the demon that tricked her takes root inside her, filling the void and granting her powers. But it's not all gifts. With those powers comes the threat of losing who she is, of being consumed by the very thing she tried to control. Maya is left with a terrifying choice: use the powers to reclaim her soul or risk losing herself completely.