THE DEVIL'S EMPIRE

Prologue

Ruby
They say the devil comes for you when you least expect it.
I didn't believe that. I thought the devil lived in fairy tales, in whispered warnings told to little girls to keep them from wandering too far from home.
But the devil was real. He wore a tailored suit, drove black cars that prowled like panthers, and smiled as though he already owned the world.
And one night, in the middle of a storm, he came for me.
Not because I'd sinned. Not because I'd tempted fate.
But because my father sold me to him.

Demon
They call me Demon because monsters need names.
I built an empire from ashes, carved power out of the bones of men who underestimated me. I don't gamble. I don't beg. I don't lose.
And when Voss put his daughter on the table as collateral, I didn't blink.
I don't need money. I don't need luck.
I take what I want.
And that night, I wanted Ruby Voss.

Ruby
I swore I'd hate him forever.
I swore I'd never bend, never fall, never give him the satisfaction.
But hatred is dangerous. It burns hot, blinding, until you can't tell the difference between anger and desire.
And that's how the devil wins.

Demon
Ruby thinks she's fire. But fire only survives as long as it has fuel.
I will strip her, test her, burn her down to her last ember.
And when there is nothing left-
She will still be mine.