SPELLBOUND

Azrael chased after Gideon with Vera in tow, as fast as he could, afraid that the man would have run off quicker than he could catch up to him. But to his surprise, he managed to catch up to him much earlier than expected. Azrael was expecting that the man would have already gone off quite far! Especially with the way he had taken off initially and at the speed he was moving at too. However, with this, Azrael smirked to himself as he realised his plans might go on smoother than expected.

A pleased chuckle escaped Azrael's lips as he finally overtook Gideon and materialized before him along with Vera. As expected, Gideon's face darkened when his eyes fell upon the small figure that was partially hidden in Azrael's hold. But Azrael's confidence had already skyrocketed at the fact that all Gideon did was to scowl at them and did not actually rush to leave and was still here. 

With a serious face, Azrael immediately spoke. "I can't bear to leave her. If we leave her alone, someone else would find her and rape her and kill her. Leaving her means letting her die and be ravaged brutally. And you know I'm not someone who can just stand aside and allow something like that to happen to a helpless creature. More so since you have already helped preserve her life once just earlier. However, we are clearly running out of time now. So, why don't you just send me to the vampire land? All I have to do is give Gavrael a clue about his wife's whereabouts, right? I definitely can get such a simple task done. And this poor little pet right here…" he gently pushed Vera towards the man who was now scowling at Azrael, looking as though if there was just one more word that comes from Azrael's mouth, he would literally blow up. However, before he could get in a word edgewise, Vera had been skilfully navigated into his arms.

It was all due to the magic Azrael had used when he had taken the opportunity to push Vera at the right moment, causing her to crash quickly against Gideon and Vera – the poor human that did not know how it happened, but had suddenly been reduced to a sandbag – could only cling to Gideon helplessly as her only pillar of support. 

Azrael's hawklike eyes were fully trained on both the couple's reactions when he had literally thrown Vera into Gideon's arms, not wanting to miss a single response. And when he saw that Gideon got distracted by Vera's closeness, Azrael secretly smiled and continued on with this plan shamelessly and without hesitation. "She needs to get treated, especially with all the injuries she has on her. We can't be dragging her along to the vampire's land in her condition. You know how they are so sensitive to the scent of blood. So, one of us must go back with her and obviously, that person must be you –" Azrael happily rattled off his plans to Gideon, purposefully ignoring how the man's face was getting darker and his scowl was getting more severe.

"Azrael!" Gideon barked out in a low voice as he held Vera's frail shoulders, fully intending to push her off him when all of a sudden, she tiptoed and moved to attack him with a kiss. Her lips landed right at the corner of his own and he immediately stilled like a statue. 

"I am worried that the Light Fae Queen might be wreaking havoc in Yryzia now. Now then, I'm leaving Vera to you." Azrael said and without waiting for Gideon's response, he disappeared with a wide grin on his face. He was cheering internally on how his bet had paid off and Gideon really seemed to have a soft spot for that little red headed girl. As he sped back to the Under Lands, he crossed his fingers and prayed that things will proceed as how he hoped it would.

When Gideon finally snapped out of his shock, the sly big man was gone.

He then returned his gaze to the girl with the flaming red hair and at that moment, her large pale blue eyes seemed to loom right before him. It took him a while before he could finally squeeze a word out of his mouth.

"Where is your home? I'll return you to where you belong. You can't come along with us." He stated in a flat tone.

The pair of beautiful eyes widened again. Shock and then denial filled them as she shook her head vehemently. 

"No..." she whispered as she immediately let go of him and stepped back away from him. Though she seemed like a timid little rabbit, she was showing a stubbornness that did not go along with the soft fluffy bunny look.

"Please. I'll die if… if you send me back." She tried to plead with him.

His jaws worked as he stared at her, his eyes glimmered dangerously. 

"And you think the place you are wanting to go to won't kill you? My current place is a haven of outlaws and rebels and exiles. Some of them are no different from that man I just killed." He informed her ruthlessly. His gaze then fell to her wounded bare feet and his fists clenched. 

"You think someone like you can survive in my world? You won't last even for..." he trailed off at the sight of her tears falling silently from those cobalt eyes of hers. But not even a single sound of crying came out from her. 

Gideon clenched his fists. His jaws worked as he closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath. 

When he opened his eyes again, she had taken a few more steps back from him and he could not help but stare at her bare feet again. 

"I'll... I'll wait for him..." she said hoarsely, her tears still flowing silently as she looked at him. "Azrael... he said he'll take me. I will go with him..." 

Suddenly, something blazed within his eyes and before she knew it, her body had become paralyzed.