Chapter 172

Chapter 172: Chapter 172

"You’ve grown popular, Aguilar," Gilles announced his presence as he walked down the stairs of the cellar.

Aguilar shot to his feet at the sound of his voice, his expression tense as the much smaller coven arranged themselves into a battle formation.

Gilles was a tall Vampire, his dark hair was slicked back, a heavy fur coat over his shoulders. The warm lighting of the cellar infused his pale skin with warmth, casting shadows on his handsome features.

He scanned the room as he walked in, his pupils shrinking at the unexpected sight he was greeted with. "Popular and daring," He whistled, coming to an abrupt stop.

A section of the cellar had been converted into a makeshift prison, and shackled to the wall was the very last sight he ever expected to see... Dulce Montesserat.

Aguilar gained courage at the hesitation on the other Vampire’s face, taking a few steps forward, but not enough to leave Dulce Montesserat’s reach. "Most would call it accomplishing the impossible." He held out his arms magnanimously.

Gilles didn’t expect a sleazy bastard like Aguilar to hide an ace up his sleeve, his eyes narrowing as he put the pieces together. Aylin... Was this why Aylin had been curious about Aguilar?

Darkness swirled in the depths of his eyes, rage making him look even more otherworldly. He glanced over at the pale Vampire who was quietly speaking to some lowly human with care. But for Aylin who would dig out her heart for him without question, he paid no regard.

"Should we retreat, Lord Gilles?" One of his coven leaned forward to quietly ask him.

Gilles’ rage melted off his face like it was a trick of the light, "No." He said with an affable smile.

Aylin would arrive soon, and when she took away her precious Dulce Montesserat, he could take out his anger on the measly coven who had dared to cross him.

It didn’t take long, the roof of the cellar caving in. Gilles was impressed, staring through the cloud of dust unperturbed as he tried to make out that striking figure.

Save for him, no one else expected interference, so the sudden crash elicited reactions from the large underground cellar, the dust clearing up slowly, it drew out the suspense.

"Couldn’t you wait till we found the door to the cellar?" Aylin’s crisp voice could be heard scolding.

The dust cleared up to reveal the Vampire Queen standing in the midst of a trio of Demons, her gossamer thin veil swirling around her face.

Moira had clung unwittingly to Dulce when the roof of the cellar caved in, her apprehension quickly changing to excitement. She would have long asked Dulce to summon his Demons if she could speak, but she didn’t even have to, they had found him with ease.

"What... What..." Aguilar stumbled over his words.

Less familiar with Vampire high society, he knew nothing of Aylin’s unabashed interest in Dulce Montesserat and even less of the strange Vampire’s recent interest in the summoning arts.

Gilles had been expecting Aylin, her company, not so much. He tensed up, eyeing the Demons guardedly. He had heard of Dulce Montesserat’s interest in Demons, his worship of the aberrations was a common topic at dinner parties.

Kath’tan had smashed through the ground, and despite his reckless actions, it had put them in the perfect position. The Fiend shook the dust off his hands, his scowl etched deep into his face - what he wouldn’t give to return home for a moment to take one of his hammers.

Ruoxi was usually prone to taking a step back during altercations but this time he moved first. He walked over the metal bars sectioning off a part of the cellar and grasped it in a single hand.

They crumpled in the Demon’s hand like flaky cakes, a large section of the metal bars ripped off with ease and tossed to the side.

Dulce was in a daze, still shackled to the wall. "R-Ruoxi?" He mumbled, more shaken by the Demon’s presence than anything else. "I thought you were in the Hells."

Ruoxi paused at that, his brows furrowing. It was only for a moment before he closed the distance in long strides, his inky black hair left down his back.

Moira wisely scrambled to her feet, she was no longer captive, and she really didn’t want to get in the way of an angry Demon. She inched out of the destroyed prison with a nervous expression, sidling closer to Queen Aylin.

Aylin frowned at the sight of the witch, conflicting emotions warring in her red eyes. Dulce had allowed himself to be captured for her sake, it made her mouth fill up with a bitter taste.

Ruoxi crouched next to Dulce, the tense ball of emotions that had clogged up his pores getting nudged free by the single sentence the Vampire said. "Why are you cuffed up here?" He asked gently.

He knew well the Vampire’s strength, a pair of weak metal cuffs couldn’t hold him captive.

Dulce lifted both of his hands to scratch his hair, "I was worried about Miss Moira," He admitted sheepishly, "Did I worry you?"

"What do you think?" Kath’tan barged into the conversation, taking down more of the heavy metal bars as he went over to Dulce’s side.

With nothing left to do, Dulce snapped the cuffs around his wrist with ease, rising to his feet. His hair was also wind-blown, his hair tie lost sometime on his journey to Fairwyn. There had been no time to adjust his appearance after he got to the witch’s shop so he still looked disheveled.

Asael was the only one left in between the standoff between the Vampires, no longer worried about Dulce, he decided to deal with it. His expression was calm despite the darkness filling the gray of his eyes, there was no chance they would make it to dinner tonight.

A shadow blade appeared next to Aylin’s neck, it sent the room into silence. "You’re all rather comfortable with leveraging Dulce’s attention," He said calmly but his actions were anything but, blood spilling down the side of Aylin’s neck.