SPELLBOUND

"I'm not here to pick helpless creatures up and I won't bring anyone along even if you beg. Now let g –"

"Then buy me." She cut him off. She was not even sure what she was saying anymore. But she would say anything just for him to take her with him. Because if he did not, she knew that this would be the end of her. "I'm… I'm selling myself to you. I won't cost much. Food and safe shelter are enough for me –"

"Safe shelter…" he echoed. "That would be a problem, little red." He then began to peel her hands off him, causing Vera to struggle not to let go. But she simply did not have any strength left to even hold onto him.

He faced her and his dark angel face bent a little closer to her. "Safe shelter is something I don't have. Do you know why?" his gaze became cold as ancient ice. "Because I am not safe myself, not only to you but to anyone else –"

She shook her head. "I don't believe you. I know I will be safe if I go along with you." 

A short deafening silence reigned then suddenly an almost sardonic laugh burst out from his mouth. He shook his head slowly as if unable to believe what he had just heard. He even stared at her as if trying to scrutinize her, whether she was feigning her bravery or not. 

"I promise I will be good. I can do many things. I am a fast learner too, so you can teach me anything. I will serve you well –" Vera rattled off a few things, hoping to get him to agree.

"Enough. Do I look like someone who would be short of servants –"

"Then take me as your wi..." She cut him off again, but she bit off her lower lip at the mention of the word 'wife'. What made her think that a man like this was short of a woman? No human even want to marry her because she was poor... all of them only want her to be their whore! One glance at this man and she knew that many women would willingly shed their clothes before him. He could have been married already or he might have had a lover. The little tinge of hope in her eyes began to dim, dying completely, knowing that she was just a plain poor little human who had nothing left to offer. 

Of course, why would a man like this even want to take someone like her along with him? He must have been just a passerby and coincidentally decided to kill that man for her. Maybe because he was a man with those kinds of principles, and he was forced to intervene for the sake of his conscience. That must be it. There was no way he did that because of her. Who does she think she is? 

Vera bit down on her lower lip harder, not caring that the cut on her lip bled even harder as she stared at his chest. She had long stopped being bothered by any kind of pain. So why did she feel so hurt now? Her hand which was gripping his dark cloak trembled again. 

But all of a sudden, another voice, deep and gravely echoed from within the forest itself. 

"Come on my lord," the voice said, and Vera saw a large, handsome man, exuding so much masculinity of a warrior walked over them and stood next to the dark angel. "Why don't you take her offer? You are unmarried and don't have any official lover. All you have are endless flings –" he pointed those things out.

"Shut up, Azrael." A dark warning came from the dark angel's mouth, but the large man seemed unbothered and when Vera met Azrael's eyes, he had winked encouragingly at her. His gaze seemed to be telling her not to give up. 

Despite the confusion, Vera's dying hope suddenly lighted up again and she looked at the dark angel with expectation.

"I… I can be your bed warmer ." She blurted out when she saw him about to turn around. "You must be not short of a woman, but I am certain not one of your women want to be just your bed warmer, right? I am more than willing to do that for you." 

The atmosphere seemed to become utterly silent at what she said. The dark angel looked like he was rendered speechless while the large man seemed to have choked upon hearing what she had blurted out earlier and he began clearing his throat. 

Vera knew how absurd the words she had blurted out sounded like. Even in her own ears, those words sounded so harsh and demeaning. But sadly, that was all she could think about at the moment. 

"I promise I can do that job well. I promise I won't be a bother to you." she added, hoping that he would give in with her stubbornness. 

She stared into his blazing blue eyes and for a moment she that she saw the ice in them thaw. The hope in her eyes were gleaming now but suddenly, something seemed to awaken him, and he stepped back. 

The next thing her eyes were welcomed with was dark smoke swirling slowly around him. Then she saw massive wings extending and unfurling behind him. Vera's eyes widened at what she saw, and it seemed that it was not the end yet. A pair of dark horns grew on his head as well and his blazing blue eyes began to change their colours. They darkened, from the royal blue diamond now turning into a blackish pearl and then back again.

He then slowly walked closer to her – as if giving her the last chance to regret her decision and run off before it was too late – and when her feet subconsciously stumbled back due the strong force that was coming from him, a smirk curved on that mesmerizing face of his. That smirk seemed to tell her the words 'as expected'. His smirk then faded and without a word and without averting his gaze from hers, he slowly dissolved into the night until he was gone like the wind. 

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