[Music recommendation: Virginio Aiello - Van Gogh]

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Gavriel meticulously cleaned her, washing away all the grime and blood covering her skin.

Even with the water pouring over her, she did not wake up. Instead, she subconsciously leaned into his chest as if finding her safe place, making Gavriel pause in his movements for a brief second.

But he didn’t linger on it for long.

Knowing that despite her high body temperature, she could not remain under the water for too long. Once he was satisfied that she was completely clean, he dried her gently before dressing her in one of his white shirts and tucked her into his bed.

For a moment, he just stood there watching the gentle rise and fall of her chest before lifting a hand to touch her forehead. To his relief, the temperature of her body had already begun to come down.

A soft sigh escaped his lips.

Only then did he head back into the bathroom to properly clean himself as well.

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Coming back to the present....

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Gavriel took a deep breath, attempting to calm his thoughts once more before finally reaching for a towel and drying himself off. Knowing he could not leave Aliana for even a few moments, he moved quickly to get dressed.

Once changed into his pajamas and robe, he stepped back into the room to find Aliana sleeping as peacefully as he had left her.

For a long time, he did not move from his spot.

He simply leaned against the wall, watching her closely with unreadable eyes.

Now that he was much calmer, more pressing matters began to run through his mind.

Questions surfaced, starting with the most critical one...

’What exactly happened out there before my arrival?’

’The blood and remains... who did they belong to?’

’Did they belong to that man named Jacob? If so, how the hell had that even happened in the first place?’

Gavriel didn’t even want his mind wandering toward the darker possibilities of what Aliana might have endured while she was trapped there.

And why had she been burning up like that?

His jaw clenched tightly at the mere thought of harm coming her way.

Gavriel felt his anger rise within him once more, provoked by the idea of her experiencing any kind of pain.

It was just so fucking hard for him not to turn the world upside down right now.

Bellarios still roared within him, hungry for blood. It wanted the blood of every single person who had dared lay a hand on her.

Every single one of them.

The fools who had dared deceive him, believing they could get away with it.

His gaze hardened, turning cold and murderous as he envisioned torturing them so intensely that they would beg for a mercy they would never fucking receive. He already had plans for the filth he had captured.

Diana.

At the moment, he could only be grateful that Cillian had stepped into the room at the right moment to stop him from killing her, because that woman did not deserve an easy way out.

He would inflict every single physical pain imaginable on her, yet he would refuse to let her die. He would let her rot for a very long time. Then, once her body is no longer able to withstand any more torture, he would claim her soul and cast it into the deepest depths of the underworld, to a place where the torture would never end.

He would continue to let her corrupt soul be tormented for eternity, and only then would his heart feel satisfied.

But he knew she was not the only one behind all of this.

There was also that demon, Mord, whom Gavriel personally intended to hunt down alongside the corrupt human’s soul.

Even if Jacob were dead, Gavriel had no intention of letting his soul go. He would find him, and when he did, he would make him suffer just like Diana.

While his mind continued to indulge in dark thoughts of how he would deal with them one by one, the woman who had been lying motionless on his bed suddenly made a soft sound.

Gavriel instantly pushed himself away from the wall and sat down at her bedside. Seeing that her eyes were still closed and her brows drawn together as though she were witnessing something unpleasant made his chest tighten.

Gently, he lifted a hand and placed it against her cheek. The moment he did, she went still. The crease between her brows slowly relaxed, and she unconsciously leaned into his touch.

A shaky breath escaped his lips as he finally bent forward, resting his forehead against her warm one. His hand remained on her cheek, his thumb gently caressing her skin as he finally broke his silence with a soft whisper.

"Forgive me, baby... for not realising it sooner."

When no response came, he continued, "I wish you had never been forced to go through any of that. It’s my fault for not being more careful... my fault that you were dragged into this dark world of mine."

He paused for a moment at his own words before closing his eyes.

"Tell me... would things be different if I let you go? If you never had to be around my orbit, would you continue to shine far away from me? Would you be much happier then?"

He let out a sigh, "Tell me, baby... what should I do? I am the devil. I’m selfish, and I’m not the kind of man who thinks about others first."

He paused again before asking, "Would you hate me... if I continued to be selfish with you? Because I don’t know what to do with you anymore. I only know that I have this urge... an urge that continues to grow stronger with every passing second I spend with you. To have you chained to me, to keep you locked away somewhere so that none of those who wish to harm you can ever get close to you again."

His hand moved from her cheek to her ear, his fingers threading through the silky blonde hair he loved so much, and he whispered, "As selfish as it seems, I still cannot bring myself to let you go. I still want you all to myself... only me. I still want to keep you hidden away from the eyes of others.

Aliana... would you hate me once you see the ugly truth about me? Would you resent me for still choosing this for you... for us? Would you not want me, baby, once you learn what kind of a monster I exactly am?"

The questions hung in the air as he poured his thoughts into the open, thoughts he had carefully kept under wraps and tucked away in the deepest corner of his heart.

When Gavriel received no response from her, he finally leaned down to kiss her nose gently before inhaling her intoxicating scent, which was both a drug and a salvation to him.

Diana’s disguise had been almost perfect when it came to everything about Alaina, even her scent, but it still wasn’t quite right.

It wasn’t enough to calm him, nor was it as heavenly as that of his one and only little rose. And he swore to himself that he would never allow something like this to happen again.

He would spill as much blood as necessary if it meant making the world safer for her, just so she could continue to bloom beside him.

A strange sense of peace settled over him with that dark resolve.

This was his little rose, and he was beginning to understand that no measure was too extreme if it meant keeping her next to him, alive and breathing. So he would do exactly that... no matter the cost.