Gotta love those cliffhangers, hehe ;)
I wanted to express a huge thank you to LiterKnight for editing this chapter, and providing me with excellent advice on making this chapter even better <3
Enjoy!
***Dante***
There she stood, silently watching us. With my entire being I wanted nothing more than to wrap my arms tighter around my ladies, to pull them closer to me, and shield them from Aurora... I grudgingly dismissed that instinct and slowly rose, staring hard at Aurora, trying to ignore a very loud and angry demon in my head.
"Grab some clothes and go out for a walk, get away from her..."
I cautioned my ladies.
"And avert your eyes. Do not look at her. If you do feel your lust getting out of control, let me know immediately,"
I added and stalked towards the angel.
Those few steps towards Aurora were the hardest steps I ever had to take. A massive internal battle was taking place where I had to use all of my self control to keep my demon pushed down. He was violently trying to rip forward in all his glory to tear the angel to shreds.
Gone was his initial instinct to protect her, gone was that little bit of rationality my demon had mastered - she did something to our ladies! Something horrible! We nearly lost Layla...
I tightly balled my fists in barely controlled anger, not even noticing that my claws were digging deep into the palms of my hands. My blood dripped on the floor with every step I took, but I couldn't hear it, for my demon was roaring in my mind, demanding Aurora's death. I ruthlessly suppressed that urge to kill - relieved my rational human side was adamant in its diplomacy and wanted to hear her out first.
Then, maybe, tear her to shreds.
Recently dried tears shimmered on Aurora's cheeks, along with the fading stench of fear that clung to her. Fear that quickly rekindled when she witnessed my very visible internal battle. Aurora took a few unsteady steps back, opening and closing her mouth, trying to find her words.
"I... I didn't..." her voice croaked in a whisper.
She sobbed loudly and ducked away, shielding her head with her arms when I lifted my hand. When she didn't feel me strike her, she opened her eyes only to see my now clawless hand gesturing towards the hallway instead.
"We need to talk," I ground out, surprised at the amount of calmness I managed to put in my voice - especially when my demon was still adamant about wanting the angel dead for her betrayal of our trust.
Aurora took a cautious glance at my succubi sitting on the couch, but I quickly unfurled and spread my wings so she couldn't see them.
Wrong move...
My demon went livid and his deafening roar came out as a fierce growl from my end. Her eyes immediately snapped to mine, fear leaking out of her every pore when she saw a furious demon staring at her from behind my eyes.
"A... Are they okay...?" she squeaked in a whisper. I merely nodded, not trusting my voice to do anything but growl at this moment and gestured again with my outstretched hand towards the hallway. Aurora meekly kept her head bowed to the ground and walked out of the room. I sensed my ladies sneak out towards the fire escape and within moments they had flown out of reach. A deep sigh of relief gushed past my lips, and both me and my demon calmed down somewhat.
"Down the stairs," I guided her, retracting my wings and grabbing a random pair of sweatpants I kept lying around.
Aurora timidly followed my instructions and descended the stairs, the heavy stench of fear trailing in the air behind her.
I still wasn't sure what had happened, or how, but she was acting so submissive and fearful - it
seemed
like whatever she did was not on purpose. My demon had drawn this conclusion as well and had quieted down significantly, especially since our succubi were safely out of range. He was thoroughly confused by the lack of fighting spirit in the angel who had almost taken Layla away from us. If her purpose was to truly hurt or damage my ladies in any way, one would think she'd act less like a lamb being led to the slaughter.
Instead of the growls, roars and demands of her death he had been barraging me with for the past few minutes, he was silent in his confusion - keenly watching her through my eyes, waiting for her next move.
'Can we trust her...?'
he asked me with his gravelly voice.
'I honestly don't know, but I'm going to find out,'
I replied.
I stopped in the middle of the factory hall, the soon to be night club. Aurora timidly turned around, still keeping her head down, not daring to make eye contact. Her heart beat went through the roof while she silently stood there, waiting for me to speak. I crossed my arms and studied her face, looking closely at her body language.
"Layla's mind was nearly gone. She was overpowered by an overwhelming lust. I feared I had lost her," I said, not fully able to keep the emotion out of my voice.
Aurora submissively kept staring at the floor, digging her nails into her intertwined hands, leaving red crescent indentations in her skin.
"What did you do to her?" I asked sternly, my anger still very present in my system.
Aurora squeezed her hands together hard, turning her knuckles white. She tentatively looked at me with fearful eyes and started sobbing.
"I didn't mean to... It's not my fault! The demons of lust, they... They always chase me, try to feed on me. Violently when I don't comply!" Aurora's sobbing became louder and she started panting as tears streamed down her face. "I cannot stop them! They are drawn to my soul's purity, I know that, but I cannot do
anything
about it!"
She dropped to her knees, heaving and sobbing heavily, clutching her face in her trembling hands. "And the only one who has ever tried to help me... I almost made his mate succumb to madness..." she cried with a soul wrenching sob.
Looking at this sad heap of an angel I realized (to my intense relief) that my initial instincts had been right all along - she was a victim and she needed help.
My help.
My demon saw it too and backed down completely, allowing my human side to comfort this poor soul. I knelt next to her and gathered her in my arms, cradling her gently. She winced in fear at first, but quickly acquiesced with a loud sob and let her face fall to my chest. "You are the only demon who has never tried to feed on me, the only immortal who won't look at me in lust or disgust..." she murmured in between sobs.
I felt her warm tears trickle down my chest as she let her emotions surface in the safety of my embrace. Aurora loudly sobbed her pain away and even my demon started feeling compassion for the delicate angel.
"It's okay, Aurora. You're safe here..." I mumbled into her hair. "No demon will touch you if I can help it..."
After a while, Aurora's sobbing reduced to slow, steady breathing.
"You have shown me more unconditional protection and empathy than any angel ever gave me..." she said with a tired voice, unable to keep her exhaustion at bay. "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I never would have believed that you were a demon," Aurora continued, lifting her head to look shyly into my eyes with her reddened, teary ones.
I smiled at her and wiped a wet strand of hair out of her face.
"I most certainly am a demon, yes. Though I was human mere weeks ago," I answered and chuckled at her surprised reaction.
"Human?" she managed to exclaim before her surprised eyes were covered by a confused frown. "But... How...?"
I couldn't suppress another chuckle at the myriad of facial expressions crossing her face and quickly explained how I managed to claim Cyrea while still being human, how Alexis helped me figure out my destiny and how I believed he and my ladies were destined to help the immortals who wanted to escape from their obligations.
I carefully watched Aurora as she listened to my story in raptured silence. Again, the myriad of emotions crossing her face was a wonderful sight to behold. When I finished, she remained silent, taking her time to process all that I told her.
After several moments she sat up and placed her hands on my chest, lightly pushing herself away and looked me in my eyes.
"You are a protector," she said slowly, gazing deep into my eyes. Slowly a small smile started framing her delicate face. "A protector of the outcast," she added in a whisper.
Aurora suddenly tensed, holding her breath and her eyes skittishly scoured the factory wall. I felt it too - a demonic presence was outside the club. I focused on the presence and could distinguish a male, lusty vibe to it - an incubus.
"Can they detect your soul through walls?" I asked tersely, tracking the demon through the wall with my eyes. The incubus halted, then briskly walked towards the large factory doors.
"Some can..." Aurora croaked, and tensed further in my arms, that strong stench of fear once again permeating the air.
The incubus reached the door and, just like a horror movie cliché, the doorknob slowly turned with a squeaky sound. Aurora whined and tried to claw her way out of my arms, her flight instincts kicking in hard.
I knew the demon could not sense me here, could not realize the monumental mistake he was about to commit if he would break in. My demon awoke with a fierce growl - eagerly anticipating the chance to protect Aurora - violently if possible.
While my claws were itching to defend our little angel too, I'd rather not expose her to the fight that was sure to come - she was absolutely terrified already.
I took Aurora's face in my hands and held it close to mine, our foreheads nearly touching, compelling her to make eye contact with me.
"I will protect you," I promised, looking deep into her eyes.
Fear rode her hard - her eyes were wide and the stench of her fear was sickening. She was absolutely terrified. My heart ached for her and all the pain she's had to go through to have such an extreme reaction to a nearby incubus.
"He will NOT touch you!" I said strongly, my demon's battle roar lacing my voice with a growl. Aurora panted heavily, though her fear lessened when my words slowly penetrated her fear stricken mind.
She nodded imperceptibly and I released her.
