Seventh Deadly Sin (Book Two in Angels, Gods & Demons series)

18.

"Hold on," He gently whispered in my hair, wounding his arms even tighter around my waist, and with a single, powerful flap of his wings we were already darting towards the clear, starry sky.
Feeling a little bit scared, I wrapped my arms even tighter around his neck, burrying my face in the collar of his leather jacket.

"Calm down, Red. I'm not going to drop you."

That spicy, masculine scent and the heat of his muscular body seemed to have a somewhat calming effect, my entire body gradually relaxing, until everything slowly faded away, falling into a peaceful slumber.

The soft thud of his boots landing on the ground reached my ears, slowly pulling me back to reality, feeling him gently placing me down.
Taking a glance around, my gaze was instantly greeted with the beautiful sight of an enormous rose garden, illuminated by the bright moonrays, surrounding the huge, imposing castle standing all tall and mighty right before us.

"Shall we?" His voice instantly drew my attention, noticing that tiny smile tugging at his pouty lips as he gazed down upon me, holding his arm out for me to take.

Without any other words, I tangled my arm with his, taking small, hesitant steps towards the giant wooden double doors, feeling so unsteady on the black high-heels he made me wear before leaving the apartment.

"I still don't understand. Why did you bring me here?" That single question tumbled out my lips as we advanced towards the hard-wooden massive doors, glancing up at him.

"Have you ever been to a party before?" He simply asked, taking a halt right at the entrance.

"No..." I quietly admitted, lowering my gaze somewhere on the stone stair.

My mother would've never allowed me to, was what I really wanted to say, yet I chose to simply stick to that single word.

"That's what I thought," He mused, seconds before I suddenly heard the massive doors opening, my sight instantly raising to meet the incredible sight before me.

A very large, intricately decorated imposing hall, hosting a vast sea of different kinds of supernaturals, casually wandering around, sipping from their fancy glasses and conversing with each other from time to time.

A smooth song played in the background as we slowly advanced, my fingers unconsciously digging deeper in his arm as I felt more nervous and scared than ever.

"Relax, Red. I'm right here, with you," His gentle whisper in my ear gave a little comfort as my breathing gradually became more even, loosening my grip, taking my time to gaze around.

Black and golden predominated the whole vast space, the dimly-lit huge chandelier haging in the middle of the golden-patterned ceiling and the candles hanging on the cream walls contrasting the guests' completely black attires, only now realizing why he chose this dress for me as I ultimately noticed the scantily clad female guests roaming around the place almost naked, with their tiny dresses or various other way too revealing garments.

Huh, and I thought I look indecent...

"Raphael! Glad you could make it!" A smooth male voice suddenly pulled me out of my brief reverie, instantly noticing the tall, slender figure now standing right before us, his aristocratic features somehow reminding me of my brother.
However, what really drew my attention were his twinkling ruby red eyes, visibly contrasting his pale white skin and light blonde hair as his attention suddenly averted right towards me, incessantly examining me from head to toe, making me feel very uncomfortable.

"Yeah, whatever, where's the booze man?" Raphael answered in a rather bored manner, looking somewhere past him, and tried to step further, only to be instantly stopped by the persistent man.

"Wait, aren't you going to introduce me to your beautiful date?"

My heart-rate instantly spiked, already feeling a little wary, until I suddenly felt Raphael's arm possessively wrap around my waist, pulling me impossibly close to him as he harshly answered,
"She's mine, and that's all you need to know."

A small pinch of heat creeped up my cheeks at the sound of his words, remembering exactly how he placed that ugly mark on my skin, noticing how the intimidating man's ruby red orbs ultimately landed on my chest, right where the said mark was supposed to be, a deep frown marring his features as he simply answered,
"I see."

"But it's allright, my friend, there's no need to get defensive. It's not like I was going to bite her or something," He then commented, dark mirth lacing his deep tone, those last words sending a cold shiver running down my spine, seemingly angering Raphael to no end as he practically growled at him,
"Touch her and I'll rip your fangs off."

With that, the man finally took a few steps back, defensively raising his palms right in front of his chest though his eyes were still glinting with mischievousness.

Tugging me along with him, Raphael then advanced further in the crowd, but not before giving the man one last hard stare.

"Who was that?" I asked as we made our way through the crowd towards another, much larger room, hosting even more supernatural population.

"Arias, the eldest vampire prince," He casually answered, my eyes instantly widening as I ultimately realised I've just encountered one of the worlds' deadliest predators, instinctually moving my body even closer against his for a some kind of protection.

Like sensing my current distress, he let out a small breath of air as he calmly assured,
"Relax, he is no match for me. Even without my grace I could easily take him down."

Swiftly taking a glass from a man just casually passing by with a silvery tray, he then quickly downed its contents, lightly pressing the cool glass against my lower lip afterwards.
I curiously stared up at him, not even attempting to make single move as he fixated me with those intense black gems.

"Listen, and you listen good. Under no circumstances you will drink from any of these glasses.
This is called Poison, a drink created only for supernaturals," He leisurely explained, smearing the last drop on the glass' edge over my lip.

"And since -I presume- you never drank before...I'd say it might be a little risky for you to try this right now, with so many dangers lurking around..." He purposefully drawled those last words, his piercing coal irises fixating on my mouth, watching how my tongue unintentionally darted out, licking that single, tiny drop, feeling a small trace of the sweet, stinging liquid.

"Now...let's dance, shall we?"

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Sorry for not updating so soon like I used to, but I kinda started working for the third book in Angels, Gods & Demons series (Rick & Leila's) and it kinda took all my inspiration...
But I promise I'll try to update sooner, and if you guys are interested for the third book too...what can I say...I don't know yet when will I post the first chapter, so stay tuned and follow <3 promise to blow your minds there too ;)