The next two days passed by exhaustingly slow. Gajeel was by my side nearly every second, and I couldn’t help but get a warm feeling in my chest every time I looked at him. He hadn’t kissed me again since that first night, but oh how I wish he would.
“You need to sleep in a real bed,” I sighed, having the same argument with him we had been having since we returned to Extalia. “I know sleeping in that chair isn’t comfortable.”
“I’m fine,” he said, stubbornly.
“Gajeel,” I smiled, squeezing his hand, “I’ll be alright. I’m not going anywhere, and no one is going to come here. Ivan is probably long gone, at least until the next full moon. He wouldn’t risk capturing me with an entire month left before the next full moon. It would give you too much time to hunt him down.”
I chuckled when he snorted. “I’d do more than hunt him down,” he growled.
“And he knows that. So,” I said, fixing a stern frown on him, “go sleep in a real bed. I’ll be here in the morning when you wake up, promise. And,” I added, “we get to return to Fairy Tail in three days!”
“I can—“
“Go.”
He sighed, standing, “fine.” Before he left, he bent down and planted a quick kiss on my forehead, not turning around as he quickly left the room. Was Gajeel blushing? The thought set my own face ablaze, and I found myself grinning like a fool. After learning I was Gajeel’s mate, I couldn’t deny how I felt about him. Less than a week and I’m already in love with the guy. I fell back onto my pillows, still grinning.
“Someone’s cheerful tonight.”
At the sound of the voice, I sat straight up, scanning the dark for the source. When my eyes fell on a shadowed figure, they widened. “Ivan,” I gasped.
He stepped closer to the bed and into the light from the window. “Good evening, Levy.”
“What are you doing here?” I snapped, looking around for anything I could use as a weapon.
“Calm down,” he smiled, sensing my tension, “I’m not here to harm you. I came to talk.”
“To hell you did,” I growled, remembering all too well the pain in my hand and throat from his knife.
“I have come to give you a choice. Quite generous of me, don’t you think?”
“A choice?” I frowned.
“Join me.” When I snorted, a wicked grin spread across his face. “Or I will kill everyone you love. Starting with that werewolf of yours.”
“Gajeel would tear you to pieces,” I spat, still searching for a weapon. Damn it! Why is this room so empty!
“Not if he is just a normal human,” he chuckled.
“But he isn’t.”
“He could be.”
This peeked my interest. “How?”
“If I complete that ceremony on the next full moon and successfully gain your powers, I will be able to use them in ways you could only dream of. Because I am an oni, and I possess powers of my own, I can use yours to not only turn a human-born supernatural into a human when I touch them, but I could turn them into a human permanently. They would lose their supernatural powers, and return to their old, human, self.”
“That’s impossible,” I breathed.
“I can do it,” he said, confidently. “Wouldn’t you want that for Gajeel? To be able to live a normal life, one where he isn’t afraid of a silly little moon? One where he won’t have to be weighed down by guilt because of what he does when he loses himself?”
“Even if you can do that, what makes you think I would join you? You’ll just kill us all anyways, so what would be the point?”
“If you join me, I will leave your pathetic family alone. Fairy Tail will be safe. And so will your mate.”
I gasped. “How do you—“
“I have eyes and ears everywhere, Levy,” he chuckled.
“Even so…” I frowned, knowing it was all too good to be true. He says he’ll leave us alone, but I know he’s lying. We’re too much of a threat for him to ignore. And, even if he did, that would still put every other human-born supernatural in danger. Not to mention just the regular humans. I can’t give Ivan what he wants.
“I’ll give you until the next full moon to think it over,” Ivan told me. “Come to me willingly, or let everyone you love be slaughtered when I come after you.”
“And what If I tell them your plan?”
He grinned. “Then I’ll kill your mate. And believe me when I say this,” he leaned closer, “by the time I finish, he’ll hate you for causing him so much pain. I’ll very much enjoy watching him beg for death while he curses you.”
Before I could respond, he vanished. I fell back onto my pillows once more, staring at the ceiling as my thoughts raced a million miles a minute inside my head. I can’t join Ivan. I can’t let him hurt Fairy Tail. I can’t let him hurt Gajeel. I took a deep breath, held it, then slowly released it as I tried to calm myself.
If I join Ivan, he might be able to cure Gajeel, but who says Gajeel wants to be cured? I knew deep down that he did. Or, at least he didn’t want to be always afraid of the full moon. What if there was a way I could cure him? Even if I can’t turn him back into a human, maybe I could take away his moon madness, making him like any other shifter.
I had never heard of such a thing being done before, so I doubted it was even possible. It wouldn’t hurt to try, though. If I could, there would be nothing stopping me from telling everyone at Fairy Tail about Ivan, and then we could plan a counter-attack. Until then, I have to think of a way to ask for help without making anyone suspicious. I can’t risk their lives. Not yet.
