Chapter 199: Absorbed
[Music recommendation: Skylar Grey - Words]
.
.
"I hope it works," Evelyn whispered.
Ivan reached over and gently squeezed her free hand before quietly replying, his eyes never leaving the couple before them, "It will... if what they share is real."
A faint smile touched the corners of his lips before he added, "After all... once upon a time, it worked for us too, didn’t it?"
Evelyn’s golden eyes slowly lifted to meet her husband’s molten orange ones, and warmth instantly bloomed within her chest as memories of the two of them going through something remarkably similar during their teenage years came rushing back.
A small, affectionate smile graced her lips.
Without a word, Ivan lifted her hand and gently pressed a kiss against her knuckles before the two of them turned their attention back to the couple standing within the golden barrier.
Gavriel kept his lips firmly fused with Aliana’s, his hand sliding up to cup her jaw, gently parting her lips to deepen the kiss. As he eased into the warm cavern of her mouth, he closed his eyes, and the floodgates broke.
His thick, dark, suffocating power erupted from his core, radiating outward with a force that rattled the very foundations of the structure, making the floor tremble beneath them.
But he didn’t care.
His power flowed like dense black smoke, intertwining with the storm of darkness raging around Aliana. Instead of clashing with her powers, it moved as though it were gently caressing and embracing it, until the swirling shadows completely concealed the couple from Ivan and Evelyn’s view.
Soon, dark wisps of Gavriel’s power slipped from him into her mouth, carrying with them a silent plea that reached the deepest corners of her consciousness.
’Come back to me, Ana...’
Aliana, who was trapped inside the horrifying nightmare of her own memories, could feel nothing except the excruciating pain tearing through every fibre of her being. As if her very soul were being ripped apart from within.
Yet amidst that endless agony, a gentle whisper somehow found its way into the darkness consuming her mind.
And then she felt something else.
Warmth.
A soothing power slowly spread through her veins like a healing balm, flowing through every part of her with quiet tenderness, carefully piecing together what had felt moments away from shattering.
It wrapped itself around her fractured consciousness, holding it together as though refusing to let her slip away. Urging her to rise back towards the surface from the endless ocean of molten agony where she had been drowning.
’I’m right here...’
The whisper reached her once more, softer this time, yet carrying a familiarity that tugged at something deep inside her.
Gavriel.
He had come to pull her out of this endless nightmare of blood and gore before it consumed her completely.
Slowly, the suffocating darkness surrounding her began to recede, and a faint light seeped back into her world.
The violent chaos raging within her gradually quietened as an unfamiliar sense of peace washed over her, soothing the piercing pain little by little until it no longer felt like she was being torn apart.
’What is this?’ she wondered. ’Why... does it feel so familiar?’
The thought had barely crossed her mind when her eyes, which had rolled back earlier, slowly returned to their proper place.
That was when she finally felt movement against her lips.
Something scorching warm brushed against her tongue, and her eyes slowly focused back, only to see Gavriel’s face. His brows were tightly drawn together, his eyes remained shut, and yet he never once broke the kiss.
The death grip she had on his clothes gradually loosened as she felt the tension draining from her body. The dark powers that had been raging around them slowly lost its momentum before beginning to retreat back inside her.
Her eyes fluttered shut, and she finally responded to the kiss, slowly wrapping her arms around his neck.
For the first time, she felt something entirely different stir deep within her.
The gentle way he held and kissed her gradually washed away the fear and panic consuming her, replacing them with a feeling so unfamiliar that she couldn’t even find the words to describe it.
All the while, she remained oblivious to how her body was eagerly drinking in the darkness pouring out of him.
But Gavriel noticed.
He felt it with startling clarity, the sensation of her form absorbing his power as if it belonged to her all along.
But he did not care about that right now. At that moment, his only concern was her safety, waiting for her to calm down enough so he could withdraw his power before she noticed what she was doing.
As soon as he felt her body temperature beginning to cool, he finally broke the kiss.
He opened his eyes, only to find hers still closed as she drew in deep, uneven breaths, catching the air she had been deprived of.
Without a second thought, he pulled her back into his embrace and leaned close to her ear, murmuring, "Feeling better?"
Aliana did not respond with words.
Remaining quiet, she simply lifted her arms to wrap them securely around his waist and whispered, "Gav..."
"Hm?" he responded, gently stroking her back and her hair. He felt her weight sag completely into him as she admitted in a soft, broken voice, "I’m... tired."
It pinched his heart to hear the raw exhaustion in her tone, but none of it showed on his face.
"Alright," he replied gently.
He looked over at the couple in front of him, who gave him a silent, understanding nod. Without wasting another moment, he scooped Aliana into his arms and carried her back to their room.
Eve and Ivan silently watched how carefully he handled Aliana, treating her as if she were a piece of fragile glass. A soft sigh of relief escaped their lips, seeing that the method had worked.
Yet, beyond their relief, one thing had become as clear as day...
Even if Gavriel and Aliana carried darkness within them, they had nothing to do with the sinister incidents plaguing the city. At the very least, they were not the masterminds orchestrating the chaos from behind the scenes.
Still, a nagging feeling told Ivan and Eve that even if Gavriel and Aliana were not intentionally involved, they were deeply tangled in the web in a way they themselves did not comprehend.
Which would make the entire situation all the more complicated.