The Devil's obsession with the Heiress

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

Aliana jolted at his voice.

Her hand dropped instantly as her head snapped towards him, as though she had been caught doing something she was not meant to be seen doing.

She really did remind him of a cat. At that thought, the corner of his lips twitched, and he raised a brow in question.

"I... ahem... well..."

While she scrambled to find the right words, Gavriel remained perfectly still, his gaze never leaving her.

A faint, telltale flush of pink stained her cheeks, and he watched with quiet intensity how she nervously tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She was clearly flustered, so he made no move to rush her.

He watched as she drew in a deep breath, trying to calm herself before lifting her gaze to meet his directly... something not many people ever did. Perhaps only Cillian managed it, and even he knew when to step back at the slightest hint of danger.

But this woman... she feared nothing. Or more accurately, she did not fear him. And that thought alone intrigued him more than it should have, setting her apart from everyone else.

He heard her clear her throat softly before parting her lips. "You have some kind of powers, don’t you?"

And there she goes again, catching him off guard with something he had not expected to hear. Once again, she managed to surprise him.

For reasons he could not quite explain, he found himself far more entertained than he should have been every time this little rose spoke.

Watching him remain silent, Aliana misinterpreted it, assuming he must be thinking of her sounding ridiculous once again.

Releasing a quiet, almost defeated sigh, she continued, "Look, I know I sound ridiculous, but honestly..." She gestured faintly around her. "None of this makes sense to me either."

She paused, shaking her head slightly, the frustration on her face slowly giving way to something more serious, more vulnerable.

"After... no, since my accident, I’ve been seeing these things," she admitted. "Since then, it feels like I’ve been trapped in a cursed loop, constantly being hunted by entities I never even knew existed, whenever and wherever they can reach me."

She drew in a slow breath, centering herself as her fingers curled faintly at her sides.

"I tried... I tried everything to get rid of them, or at least to get rid of this ability to see them, but nothing worked. Nothing changed. Not until... you."

She met his gaze, her voice dropping. "And last night... whatever happened was beyond anything I’ve ever faced. I’ve never seen so many of them in one place, let alone have them chase me like that..."

Aliana’s eyes began to blur, forcing her to blink rapidly to swallow her tears.

She fidgeted with the fabric of her dress as she added, "I thought they had me... when one of them grabbed my ankle and started dragging me away to wherever the hell it wanted to take me..."

She swallowed, "But then something happened... something that made them stop. Temporarily, of course."

Gavriel, who had been listening in silence, narrowed his eyes slightly at the revelation.

Taking a deep breath, she confessed, "I know this sounds crazy, but I think I have powers, too. Like you, I think I have the ability to push them back.... physically."

A heavy silence settled between them as they continued to stare at each other. Aliana waited anxiously for his response, while Gavriel’s expression remained completely unreadable.

’What is she talking about? What kind of power could she possibly have? I haven’t sensed anything from her until now.’ he thought.

Watching her anxiety mount as the seconds dragged on, he finally straightened his posture and asked, "What kind of powers are you talking about?"

"I don’t know. I just know that when I raised my hands out of reflex, I felt a burning sensation in my palms. The next thing I knew, the ghost that had grabbed my ankle was thrown back."

"And this happened only once?" Gavriel questioned.

"No." She shook her head. "It kept happening whenever they caught up with me while I was running towards you. I almost made it to your suite when I got cornered by them. After that, all I remember is them disappearing the moment you appeared."

"Has this ever happened before yesterday?" he pressed.

"No," Aliana replied. "Before yesterday, I couldn’t even imagine something like this was possible."

Gavriel went quiet for a moment before asking, "And what makes you think I have the powers you claim?"

"How else do you explain them running at the mere sight of you?" Aliana asked, her brows drawing together.

Gavriel tilted his head slightly, a faint hint of something unreadable flashed in his expression.

"Didn’t I tell you," he said calmly, "that I’m the devil?"

"Yeah right, as if I would believe something like that. Nice try." She rolled her eyes at him, causing his lips to twitch in response.

’She is truly the most fascinating woman I have ever met,’ Gavriel admitted to himself.

Despite his intrigue, he questioned whether he should involve himself any further. She was becoming too deeply entwined in his world, and the thought left him unsettled.

It wasn’t just that he wanted to keep her at arm’s length... it was the reality that the more she got involved with him, the more she would paint a target on her back for the things that hunted special humans like her.

It would place her in far more danger than she already faced.

Oddly, the mere idea of her being harmed by someone else... left a sour taste in his mouth.

However, there was something else that troubled him.

According to everything she had just told him, an abnormally large number of spirits had come hunting for her, despite the warning he had issued through Reve.

He had expected one or two deranged spirits to defy him, but this?

This was a coordinated effort... a scavenger hunt. It was almost as if they had been ordered by someone to bring her in.

Evil spirits, ghosts, whatever one called them.... they rarely acted in groups unless they were being controlled. Usually, when they hunted a human, they did so to feed on their negativity or to latch onto a physical body, hoping to experience a scrap of life and fulfill the unresolved purpose that anchored them to the mortal world.

And yet, with Aliana, things were different.