This story isn’t about love, it’s about strength…

Gianna was looking at Ian’s eyes, happy she could do it again. It was getting harder and harder to leave her home. Probably because her home was… Hell.

Yeah, you got it right – Hell. Gianna is a special girl – half-demon, half-human. But this is not the only reason she’s special. Her demon nature comes form her father Vayan – ruler of the hellish realm of Lyathi. Gianna never knew her mom, she heard she died giving birth to her, but it was just a rumor. Her dad never talked about her.

So, Gianna is almost like a princess of Lyathi if there were any princesses in Hell. Many would worshiped and just as many hated her in their guts. Not that she cared.

Actually the only thing Gianna cared about was going to the human world. Humans were a mystery she wanted to understand, especially one of them – Ian.

She met him the second time she came. He was standing in the alley, where she arrived. Later they would joke it was meant to be.

But that was two years ago. When life was simpler, when her dad was alive and she was not supposed to rule Lyathi. When she didn’t have to marry her stepbrother…

Damn! She was going to miss Ian and the way he made her feel – warm, wanted and not out of place.

Gianna looked at Ian’s blue eyes for one last time and stabbed him with the silver dagger she was keeping in her boot. Then grabbed his body and dragged it to Hell.

***

As I told you, this story is not about love. It’s about strength. Strength to leave behind your feelings and comfort when you know you have to. Strength to leave behind the only person you love and care about. The only person you thought loved you and cared about you. And who turned out to be a traitor, who sold you for some money.

To leave him behind and not break, but keep going. Because that is what she did – she kept going.

***

But what happened before her last visit to the Human world? Before those seconds she was looking at Ian’s blue eyes, thinking about his death? Let me catch you up.

***

A few days before their last meet Gianna found out his role in her life and it wasn’t what she hoped it would be. A little “hellish bird” told her everything she needed to know to get her life back.

Remember how Gianna was supposed to marry her own stepbrother - Lorn? His mother Naya wanted him to rule Lyathi, but he couldn’t because he wasn’t Vayan’s son. Lucky for Naya Vayan’s only child was half-human, so who would want her as a ruler? This is how Naya arranged the marriage.

But this wasn’t the only arrangement she made. Her plan actually started more than two years ago when she found out Gianna went to Earth. After that everything happened so fast and easy - after all she had so many allies in Lyathi.

First of all she planted that stupid human boy in the ally where she knew Gianna would arrive – this was the only entry to Earth the girl knew. The boy was supposed to make her fall in love with him and keep her occupied long enough, so Naya would be able to carry on her plan without the girl poking around.

The murder of Vayan was easy, nobody suspected her. It wasn’t hard to arrange the marriage between Gianna and Lorn, either. Everybody agreed a half-human can’t rule Lyathi. And she was absolutely sure Gianna would keep seeing that Ian guy even after she married Lorn.

That’s why she promised the human all the money in the world if he kills Gianna the first time they meet after the wedding. And she and Lorn would have all the power in Lyathi.

“If only that half-human girl was weaker”, Naya thought, waiting for her own execution.