"Good morning! I see you are awake! Is everything good over there?" The voice blasted through the speaker, forcing Gavriel to once again pull the phone away from his ear in annoyance.

His eyes found Aliana’s for a fleeting second before he turned to walk toward the window. "Don’t shout, Cillian. How many times am I supposed to tell you?" 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

’Cillian?’ Aliana blinked in surprise at the name.

Now that she thought about it, the man always seemed to be calling Gavriel. He was incredibly comfortable talking to him casually, which made her wonder if they were close friends. It was rare for anyone to be so carefree around someone as intimidating as Gavriel.

Pulling herself away from her thoughts, she observed Gavriel’s relaxed stance as he looked out at the sea through the floor-to-ceiling window.

Even without the three-piece suit she always saw him in, he still looked powerful. He exuded an aura that only a great king could possess, even in such a sexy, disheveled state.

And with that thought, she could hardly believe she was here... in his room... on his bed.

Her heart skipped a beat as another unrestrained thought slipped into her mind.

Before waking up, she remembered how his arms had been wrapped around her like a vice. Her gaze drifted to his rolled-up sleeves, the subtle flex of his muscles revealing bulging veins beneath his skin, and she found herself momentarily mesmerised by the effortless strength in even his smallest movements.

Gulping hard, she tried to scold herself. ’Oh dear god... stop.’

Even as she tried to talk herself out of checking him out so blatantly, she continued to spiral toward her own personal doom.

Her gaze traveled from his arms to his long fingers, and another thought followed, ’Look at those... I wonder how it would feel to have them work their magic...’

Right then, she paused abruptly as the memory of her dreams flashed vividly through her mind, and her face flushed instantly.

Without realising it, her hand rose to cover her lips as the pieces began to fall into place.

’All this time... the man I have been dreaming about was...’

Her wide, light grey eyes snapped back to Gavriel.

This time, she remembered with terrifying clarity the face of the man who had been tormenting her with those steamy, vivid dreams.

’What does that even mean?’ she questioned herself in disbelief.

She clearly remembered that those dreams had only begun after she had woken up from her coma. At that time, she was certain she had never met Gavriel before.

And yet... her doubts had always lingered. A quiet, persistent suspicion that refused to fade. A part of her still questioned whether he had been there... during her accident.

But even after confronting him, it was something he had always denied, and she had no proof to challenge him otherwise.

She had doubted before that he was some supernatural being, but he acted as human as one could get. Just because he admitted he could see those entities didn’t make him supernatural, no matter how otherworldly his appearance was.

If that was her only argument, then she was in the same boat. As she could see them too, but that didn’t make her supernatural, did it?

Gavriel had called himself a devil, but there was no way she was going to believe something like that. Even if she was already dealing with things far beyond the normal.

’Devil? Yeah, right... if he’s the devil, then I must be the queen ruling the underworld.’ She rolled her eyes at the absurdity of his answer.

From what she could tell, the man simply had a rather dark sense of humour.

Still... she could not help but wonder what kind of power he possessed that made ghosts flee from him.

’Does he have some sort of ability... like that crazy shaman Ester whom Jade took me to?’ Aliana considered the possibility.

After what she had witnessed there, it no longer seemed entirely impossible.

’Powers... huh?’ As soon as the thought crossed her mind, it was as if someone had slammed on the brakes of her train of thought.

Another memory from the previous night flashed in her head. She remembered falling to the ground and raising her hand, only to feel a tingling, searing heat radiating from her palm before a force erupted from her, knocking back the ghost that had grabbed her ankle.

’Wait a damn minute...’ She pulled her hand away from her mouth, staring at her palm with wide eyes. She remembered using that power again and again while she was running toward Gavriel’s room.

"How could this be..." she whispered aloud.

Her voice drew Gavriel’s attention, making him turn towards her with a faint frown.

On the other end of the line, Cillian continued, "So, I suggest you have her safely back in her room before her assistant and that cockroach of a CEO return to look for her. I’m sure they’ll set the entire hotel into chaos if they don’t find her there."

When Gavriel remained silent, his attention fixed on Aliana, Cillian’s voice piped up again.

"Um... hello? Gavriel? Can you hear me? I hope you’re still on the line. Oh, wait... thank God you are. A word of acknowledgement would be nice, you know? Otherwise, it feels like I’m talking to myself like some lunatic."

"I heard you," Gavriel replied calmly before ending the call.

He folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the window panel.

He watched with keen interest as the peculiar woman on his bed stared at her own hand as if she had discovered some forbidden secret.

His brows lifted slightly when she suddenly raised her palm, stretching it outward and applying a bit of pressure... but nothing happened.

He watched her try again, clearly determined this time. Her brows drew together in deep concentration, her palm stretched outward, her jaw clenched so tightly it looked as though she might crack a tooth.

Slowly, her face began to turn red, a rather obvious sign that she was putting far more effort into whatever she was trying to achieve.

Unable to just stand and watch any longer, Gavriel finally asked, "What do you think you’re doing?"