Astraea's POV
One minute, I was fast asleep in my room—finally getting some well-deserved rest after a long, frustrating day. The next, my name echoed through my mind, a pull so strong that before I could even register what was happening, my entire body was wrenched from where I lay and ripped into another place.
The sensation wasn't painful, but it was unnerving. It was as if something had bypassed every natural law, bending space itself just to drag me here. Against my will.
The moment I landed, my eyes snapped open, my breath came out in a sharp exhale, and then I smelled the place.
Rot. Stale alcohol. Cheap cigarettes. Sweat.
A rathole.
A human rathole.
Disgust curled in my stomach as I straightened myself, my lip curling in irritation. My red eyes burned as I scanned my surroundings—filthy, dim lighting, torn furniture, the lingering stench of something I didn't want to identify.
My blood boiled instantly.
"Who the hell had the audacity to summon me?" I snarled, my voice ringing through the room.
I didn't know how I had been pulled here, but I did know that no one had ever dared to summon me before—let alone a human.
And yet, as my gaze landed on the figures in front of me, my eyes locked onto a familiar pair of deep, stormy ones.
Zephyra.
The girl from earlier.
The girl who had made my chest ache for reasons I couldn't understand.
What the hell was she doing here?
Before I could demand answers, the brute standing in front of her—an older man, reeking of alcohol and arrogance—spoke up.
"Who the fuck are you?" he barked, his tone full of the kind of confidence that made me want to break his jaw.
I didn't even bother looking at him.
Instead, I tilted my head at Zephyra, my tone laced with amused disbelief. "You?"
Her throat bobbed, her expression unreadable as she hesitated.
I scoffed, shaking my head. "You summoned me?" I let out a humorless chuckle, crossing my arms. "What a joke."
No human had ever summoned me before. No human should be able to summon me, and yet, this girl—the one I had met just a few hours ago, the one who was already irritating me beyond reason—had managed to pull me here.
And it pissed me off.
More than I could even put into words.
Zephyra opened her mouth as if to say something, but the brute beside her—clearly too dense to realize that I was actively ignoring him—spoke up again.
"You deaf, bitch?" he spat, stepping toward me. "I asked who the fuck you are."
My eyes slowly slid toward him.
For the first time, I actually looked at him.
His posture was aggressive, shoulders squared as if he thought he was intimidating. He had the build of someone who had probably spent years throwing his weight around, using his size to make others submit.
Pathetic.
Turning to Zephyra, I ignored the brute still standing there, seething, and instead focused on the real problem—the human girl who had somehow dragged me out of my sleep and into this rathole.
"Alright," I said, crossing my arms. "Let's end this nonsense. Why did you summon me?"
Zephyra looked at me like I had grown a second head.
Her breathing was still uneven, her body tense, as if she was still processing what had just happened, but the look on her face? It was pure, unfiltered confusion.
"What the hell are you talking about?" she rasped, her voice strained.
I narrowed my eyes.
She didn't know? The realization hit me harder than I expected. She had no idea what she had done.
That was impossible. Summoning wasn't some accidental "oops, my bad" kind of thing. It required intent, power, and a direct connection to the one being called, and yet, Zephyra sat there, looking just as confused as I was furious.
Before I could say anything, the brute—who I had conveniently been ignoring—let out an angry growl and lunged toward me.
Big mistake.I barely spared him a glance, one subtle glance. That was all it took.
He froze mid-step, his entire body locking up as though he had been turned to stone. The panic was immediate.
His breathing quickened, his eyes darting frantically as he struggled to move, to lift his arms, to do anything. His lips curled in fury and fear as he tried to fight against the invisible force holding him in place.
"What the—" he sputtered, his voice rising in alarm. "What the fuck is this?! What did you do to me?!"
I smirked, tilting my head. "Oh? Something wrong?"
His jaw clenched, his face going red from the sheer effort of trying to move. "What the hell is this?! Let me go!"
I sighed dramatically, turning back to Zephyra as if his existence no longer mattered.
"Alright, let's get this over with quickly," I said, eyeing her with mild impatience. "I need to get back to sleep, and I hate being woken up."
Zephyra's hands trembled at her sides, her expression unreadable. "I don't understand what's happening," she admitted, her voice barely above a whisper. "What are you? How are you even here?"
I rolled my eyes. "Seriously? You're still on that question?"
"Yes, seriously," she snapped, her confusion morphing into frustration. "I don't get any of this! One second, I was—"
She stopped, as if realizing something, her brows furrowing.
I leaned in slightly, my curiosity piqued. "Go on."
Zephyra swallowed hard. "I was being attacked," she muttered, almost like she didn't want to say it out loud. "And then… you were here."
I let out an annoyed sigh. "You know what, we'll deal with that later," I said. "First, do you want me to get rid of him?"
I gestured lazily toward the brute still frozen in place, his eyes now wide with fear.
Zephyra blinked at me. "What?"
I smirked, glancing at the man. "It seemed like he was about to kill you before I showed up."
The silence that followed was heavy. Zephyra's gaze flickered toward him, her hands clenching into fists.
She didn't deny it.
I arched a brow. "So? Do you want me to make sure he never comes back?"
Zephyra sat stiffly, her hands still clenched into fists at her sides. I could see the hesitation in her eyes, the internal war raging in her mind.
Then, finally, in a shaky voice, she answered.
"He's… my father."
I barely held back a scoff. And? Did she expect me to care? Did she expect that small piece of information to change anything?
It didn't.
I rolled my eyes. "I didn't ask who he is to you," I said flatly. "I asked a simple question. Should I, or should I not, get rid of him?"
Her breath hitched slightly, and for a moment, she didn't answer. I didn't rush her. She needed to come to terms with what she wanted.
I already knew what I wanted—to be done with this and go back to sleep.
The only reason I was even entertaining this was because, under normal circumstances, I wasn't allowed to harm humans of my own free will, but when I was summoned, the rules changed.
When someone summoned me, I was bound to their will. If Zephyra had asked me to snap his neck, I would have done it without hesitation. If she had asked me to reduce him to ash, his body would have turned to dust before he could even scream.
The choice was hers.
She took a slow, shaky breath. "I don't want him dead."
Boring.
I let out a dramatic sigh. "What a waste," I muttered under my breath.
She glared at me, but I ignored it.
"Fine," I said, shifting my attention back to the brute. "If you don't want him dead, what do you want?"
Zephyra swallowed hard before saying, "I want him gone. For good, but alive. I just never want him to be able to come back here."
I arched a brow. "Never?"
She nodded.
A slow smirk crept on my lips. "Now that I can do."
Her father let out a sharp breath, his panic returning in full force. "W-Wait," he stammered, his body trembling. "You—you can't—"
I took a step toward him and grinned. "Oh, I can."
"Stay—stay the fuck away from me!" he roared, his voice cracking.
I tilted my head, amused. "You should've thought about that before you put your hands on her."
Then, without hesitation, I closed the distance between us. His breathing turned ragged as I reached for him, pressing both of my hands to the sides of his head.
The second my fingers made contact with his skin, a faint hum of power surged through me. His entire body convulsed for a brief moment, his eyes rolling back slightly.
Then, just as quickly as it had started—he was gone. One second he was in my grasp. The next, he simply… disappeared.
Gone.
Vanished from existence like he had never been there at all, and the silence that followed was deafening.
I turned to find Zephyra staring at the empty space where her father had just been. Her eyes were wide, her breathing uneven.
She looked utterly shocked.
I arched a brow. "What?"
Her gaze snapped to me. "What the hell just happened?!" she demanded.
I smirked. "I did what you asked."
She took a step back, shaking her head. "But—where is he?"
I shrugged. "Gone."
Her hands curled into fists. "Gone where?"
I hummed, pretending to think about it. "Somewhere far. Somewhere he'll never find his way back from."
Her brows furrowed, her throat bobbing as she swallowed. "You… didn't kill him?"
I grinned. "Nope."
She stared at me, as if trying to decide whether or not to believe me.
I rolled my eyes. "Relax," I said. "He's alive. Somewhere, but fortunately for you, you'll never have to worry about him showing up at your doorstep ever again."