Chapter 205: She Knows Nothing
When Gavriel finally emerged from the bedroom, his presence alone altered the air pressure in the room. His expression was darker than midnight, as he glared at the couple waiting for him.
Yet, despite the terrifying display, Ivan and Evelyn did not flinch. It was a sight that would have driven ordinary humans to their knees in sheer terror, but these two remained perfectly steady, matching his gaze.
Stopping a few paces away, a suffocating aura of dark pressure radiating from his frame as Gavriel spoke in a low growl. "Give me one reason why I should not subject you both to a painful demise after how your words pushed my woman to the brink of death."
Ivan looked directly into his icy eyes. "You wouldn’t do that, because what we advised ended up saving her life rather than destroying it."
A cold, humorless smile curled the edge of Gavriel’s lips, "Really? Have you forgotten that I was forced to resort to that method simply because you two pushed her that far in the first place?"
At his accusation, a visible shadow of guilt passed over Evelyn’s face, her shoulders shifting slightly under the weight of his anger.
Ivan, however, remained an unyielding wall of stone.
"Pushed her, you say?" Ivan questioned, his calm demeanor was a sharp contrast to the fury radiating across the room. "She came to us seeking answers about our origins, and we merely returned the favor by seeking her own. Do not tell me you have never questioned any of this before. Or was this truly the first time you witnessed her powers manifest in such a terrifying manner?"
A heavy silence settled over the living room as Gavriel fought to rein in his mounting fury.
Aliana’s broken sobs still echoed at the back of his mind, stoking the fire of his anger, but her fragile state was also the sole reason he had not unleashed his full wrath upon the couple.
When the quiet stretched too long between them, Ivan spoke again. "Trust me when I say this, you wouldn’t want to try a violent route here. Because I promise you, it will not end well for either of you... demon."
The moment that word left Ivan’s lips, Gavriel’s face twisted into an expression of cold amusement. "Demon?" he repeated in a chilling whisper.
A breathy chuckle escaped him before he gave them a slow, silent nod. "You truly have no idea what you are dealing with, do you? Though I suppose it is understandable that you would mistake me for such a low-grade creature."
His words caused the couple to frown, a flicker of uncertainty crossing their faces.
"Then what are you?" Ivan asked, tilting his head slightly as he narrowed his eyes at the man before them.
"Someone who does not belong to a simple demon category," Gavriel replied in a quiet, dangerous voice.
He moved toward the sofa to take a seat, noting how both Ivan and Evelyn instantly grew hyper-alert at his slightest shift in posture.
Gavriel ignored their caution, settling into the cushions with a lazy elegance.
Watching him, the couple could not help but notice the innate, regal grace in his movements. It was a flawless mannerism that belonged only to those born of a royal bloodline.
Ivan’s molten red eyes assessed the man before him, searching for answers. "Then what category do you fall into?"
Gavriel’s icy blue eyes met Ivan’s crimson ones as he answered, "You only need to know that I am someone you do not want to mess with. Nor do you want to mess with my woman."
"You are certainly a being from the underworld," Ivan countered. "Your energy tells us that much." After a calculated pause, he asked, "You must know Azrath?"
Evelyn and Ivan kept their razor-sharp focus fixed on Gavriel, searching for a reaction. Yet, the man showed zero emotion when Ivan dropped the name of the dark lord they had fought so long ago.
"A lowly lord from hell," Gavriel replied, tilting his head slightly as he questioned them in return. "What about him?"
"Lowly? So you have heard of him," Ivan murmured. "Then you must have also heard how two celestial beings obliterated him from the face of this planet."
Gavriel studied the two immortals before him. "I had a feeling I had heard your names somewhere before. So you two were the ones responsible for destroying him."
"Yes," came Ivan’s sharp, clipped answer. "Do you have a problem with that?"
"It is not a problem at all. In fact, you two did a favor to the underworld by executing that mutt. He was a rebel lord who got exactly what he deserved for his own stupidity," Gavriel replied, utterly unbothered by the fact that his own kind had been slaughtered by the two beings in front of him.
However, the creases on Evelyn and Ivan’s foreheads deepened.
"You said he was a lord," Ivan challenged. "But he claimed to us that he was the seventh demon prince of hell."
Gavriel’s brows pulled tightly together at the revelation. He clicked his tongue in clear displeasure. "He was a bastard son of the king, always scrambling for ways to gain more power because he was the weakest of all the siblings. Even after the king granted him the title of lord, the man was not satisfied. His own greed became his downfall. So if you ask me, he got exactly what he deserved."
A heavy intrigue danced in the eyes of both Evelyn and Ivan as they gained this unexpected insight into their old enemy.
And the more they heard Gavriel speak, the more they felt that he was telling the truth.
Even so, they were still unable to discern his true motives because, after sensing just how much more powerful Gavriel was than Azrath had ever been, it became imperative for them to know that he would not become another threat they would one day have to deal with.
So Evelyn asked this time, "So are you saying you are not greedy for that same power?"
Gavriel’s cold gaze shifted to focus on her. "No."
"I have been living in the realm of the living for as long as I can remember, and I prefer my peace," he continued. "I can overlook many things as long as they do not directly affect me. But," his eyes grew sharper, "if anyone dares to harm what is mine, I will not hold back. No matter who they are."
That final line made it clear to the couple that he was speaking directly about anyone daring to harm Aliana.
That alone was enough for the couple to relax ever so slightly, reassured that the powerful man standing before them was not a threat to them... at least, not yet.
"We assure you, neither of us has any intention of harming your woman. She was not even our focus until we stumbled upon her," Ivan replied, his tone much calmer now.
Gavriel remained silent, studying the immortal before him. Ivan watched him closely before asking, "But I must ask, does she know the truth about you?"
Gavriel’s expression went blank. "No."
His clipped answer caused their eyebrows to rise in surprise. His voice grew noticeably softer when he spoke of Aliana. "She knows nothing of this world, nor of the existence of beings like you or me. She has lived as a human all her life.... until that night that changed things for her."