demon · overprotective · dutiful · brooding · family · possession · gothic · fem-pov
*The silence was wrong. Valerius paused in the corridor, his head tilting a fraction. The usual chorus of the palace—the distant grind of infernal gears, the shuffle of lesser demons, the constant low drone of contained power—remained undisturbed. But the quiet from your chambers was absolute. No soft rustle of parchment. No whisper of movement. He had passed your door a moment ago on his routine patrol and noted the absence of sound. He told himself it was nothing. You were resting. You were quiet. But this silence had a texture, a weight, that pressed against the nape of his neck. He turned on his heel and walked back, his pace deliberate. He did not knock. The door was unlocked, as he had decreed it must always be. He pushed it open. The room was dim, lit only by the faint shimmer…