Slowly, Gavriel stepped up behind the trembling man, looking down at the shocked crowd below with his bloodstained face and cold, red eyes.

Then his low, chilling voice rang throughout the entire establishment.

"Many of you mistook my absence for weakness."

The words were not shouted, yet they struck the crowd harder than any roar ever could.

"You became comfortable. You forgot what it meant to fear me. You forgot what it meant to even think of laying a single hand on what belongs to me, let alone daring to whisper her name with such filthy intentions."

Slowly, Gavriel reached forward and placed a hand on each side of the kneeling demon’s mouth.

"Look closely at what remains of those who cannot control their mouths."

His voice dropped further, "Let this be the first and final lesson to every single one of you who harbours even the slightest ill intention towards my future wife. Because I will hunt you down."

His fingers slowly tightened, making the muffled demon’s body instantly stiffen. "As for the individual responsible for that little stunt today in West Avenue..." His voice became terrifyingly calm. "I will find you.... and when I do.... death will be a mercy you will beg for."

With that, Gavriel used his effortless strength to tear the man’s jaws apart as if they were nothing but paper. A muffled, agonising scream drifted through the entire club, sending cold shivers down every single person’s spine.

But Gavriel was not done. With cold, ruthless eyes, he looked down at the man who was barely clinging to life, his face ripped open from the mouth up.

The nails on Gavriel’s thumbs suddenly elongated into sharp claws. He plunged them deep into the demon’s eyes, whispering, "And this is for daring to look at her with your filthy eyes."

With the man nearly dead, Gavriel pulled his hands away with complete nonchalance, letting the body collapse to the ground with a heavy thud.

He looked out over the room and commanded in a calm, flat voice, "Let them rot here for the entire night."

With that, he clicked his fingers and, in a swift movement, four demonesses who were shaking violently in terror had their noses sliced from their faces.

Their agonised screams tore through the room when Gavriel fixed them with a chilling gaze and said calmly, "Next time, it will be tongues or worse."

With that, thick darkness swirled around him, engulfing his figure before he vanished without a trace.

Diana clutched her mutilated nose, pain shooting through her face, but it was nothing compared to the terror now gripping her heart.

Gavriel’s words continued to reverberate through her mind like a death sentence as panic continued to grow within her.

"As for the individual responsible for that little stunt today, I will find you, and when I do... death will be a mercy you will beg for."

.....

It was already past one in the morning when his figure materialised from the shadows of the dark living room at Victorian Heights. He closed his eyes briefly, pulling his anger onto a tight leash, before he opened them to reveal his usual icy blue gaze once again.

"You reek of blood," came a quiet voice from the dark kitchen. Gavriel’s eyes snapped toward the source, landing on the man who was leisurely sitting there, munching on a slice of cake. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Upon meeting Cillian’s eyes, Gavriel ignored his comment and simply asked, "Where is she?"

"She went to sleep a long time ago," Cillian replied, taking another bite. "She waited up for quite some time for you, you know."

Without another word, Gavriel turned toward the stairs that led to Aliana’s room.

"You had better take a bath before getting too close to her," Cillian’s voice drifted after him from behind. "Ladies appreciate cleanliness, you know."

When Gavriel didn’t respond, Cillian walked up behind him and held out a large bag. "Here. Your clean set of clothes."

Gavriel took the bag wordlessly before he made his way away.

Cillian let out a soft sigh as he watched his friend’s retreating back, murmuring to himself, "Looks like he had a little too much fun." He clicked his tongue lightly. "At least he should have cleaned the blood off properly before stepping in here."

With one final shake of his head, Cillian picked up his dessert and walked toward one of the guest rooms he had occupied on the ground floor.

.....

After speaking to Jade about everything regarding Jacob and Gavriel, Aliana had waited up for a long time before finally heading to bed.

She had eaten dinner with all three of them. The atmosphere had been light and lively, and even though Jade and Cillian’s playful banter continued throughout most of the meal, Aliana was deeply grateful for their company.

It was far better than being left alone with her thoughts.

Even if only for a little while, their presence had kept her mind from drifting toward much more troubling thoughts. She was still haunted by the gruesome scene of the accident site, her mesmerising yet disturbing dream, and, above all.... Gavriel’s growing absence.

The fact that he still had not returned after dinner caused her thoughts to venture into dangerous territory.

She couldn’t help but wonder, ’What if he went back to that woman.... Diana?’

But before she could let her anxiety spiral out of control, she immediately shut the thought down.

Forcing herself to remember his promise, ’I won’t do it again, Aliana.’

Even so, she couldn’t help but wonder what kind of business could occupy him for so long on such a stormy night, causing her to fret over his safety.

She had thought about calling him but held herself back, not wanting to be the kind of woman who pried too much.

When she noticed how positively exhausted Jade and Nigel looked, she decided to call it a night, wanting them to get some rest as well since she knew they wouldn’t retire for the night until she did.

And so, she lay in bed for a long time with the bedside lamp turned on beside her, still too afraid to sleep in total darkness. As time ticked by, her eyelids grew heavy, and she finally drifted off to sleep with him still on her mind.

Hours must have passed when she stirred lightly, her eyes fluttering open. She immediately glanced at the clock on her nightstand.

It was one fifteen in the morning.

Looking around, she saw that she was still alone in her room. Her brows furrowed as a worried thought crossed her mind.

’Did he still not come back?’