Before she could run back towards him, a pair of large hands came from behind covering her mouth with one and her waist with the other, holding her firm in her place.

“Mmph!!!”

“Stop this, Credința!”

The familiar voice immediately put an end to her struggles as she stared wide-eyed in space, realizing who was holding her down tightly in his grasp, Gabriel.

Slowly her teary gaze slid up his brown tunic to meet his steely irises, so much similar in appearance yet extremely different in terms of emotions than her owns.

“I saw them crossing the iron gates. They went straight for the stairs going underground. I did not know my way around so it took much time for me to reach you both.”

His hand was still clutching her mouth rendering her unable to utter any word.

“I shall remove my hand from your face but do not let a single word out. If they see you, they will take you along with him.”

Not nodding her head to give him approval, she kept glaring at him.

“My daughter’s life is at stake too, Credința. If she dies, you die and If I die… she will be sold to a brothel. She is but a child!”

A deep frown formed above her helpless eyes as she stared silently from a corner, her wounded husband surrounded by a town full of humans.

‘He wouldn’t kill them. He wouldn’t be able to.’

He was stronger than them but just as it’s impossible to get a hundred or so ants away from one’s self without harming some in return, it was the same in this case as well. He took pride in his morals, he wouldn’t want to turn into the monster they imagined him to be.

“You killed our people!”

Someone from the crowd had roared out furiously.

“It was not me.”

In spite of his deteriorating condition, his voice had come out firm.

“Then who was it? That wench you brought into this town? It must be her! It all started since she came to the town.”

She could see his jaw ticking at the random villager’s accusation.

“It is that man who has you all fooled.”

“He is our savior! He told us about you. You used us all. You are a devil cursed by the heavens to live off of other’s lives. You are nothing more than a mere leech!”

His hands folded behind him were slowly curling into tightly clutched fists, making the blue green veins pop out more against his pale skin.

“You are betraying me but for what reason, because I am not one of you? Yes, I need blood to survive but I have never harmed a human for my needs. Animals and humans are continuously hunting each other to satiate their hunger. Does that make them wretched demons as well? Did I not serve justly as your leader for the past few years? Did I not help you flourish your barren land?”

“You did it all for your own benefits! You nurtured us to be your little hoard of nothing but mere blood sacks!”

They sounded blind with rage, refusing to listen to any reasonable explanation.

“Attack him!”

A loud screeching voice followed by rustling of feet and clattering of metal caused both of their heads to shot up. Gabriel hurriedly pulled them back, further into the shadows while her eyes almost popped out of her skull watching the scene unraveling before her eyes.

They were too many to be counted at one glance, their hands full of different weapons; chains, knives, axes. The makeshift weapons didn’t have the typical rusty appearance of iron. In fact, they seemed to be glinting with a brilliant luster.

‘Silver.’

“Cyrus.”

Gabriel had murmured the ominous name under his breath.

Ares was cornered and he had three ways to shove those people away from him and escape. One way led up the stairs where Cyrus was probably awaiting him. One way led to the corridor where Faith and Gabriel was hidden. His speed could be used for his advantage, he would even be successful in taking Faith with him as well but he was poisoned and starved, too weak to carry two humans with him.

It wasn’t known whether the villagers knew about Gabriel or not, but knowing Cyrus he wouldn’t have left Gabriel alone either. That left him with only one choice. She knew no matter how much he disliked Gabriel, he would not leave him behind to be devoured by these people.

Her eyes slowly travelled towards his face to see him glancing towards his right, in the direction of that big hall.

‘He’s going to go towards the altar room…but it’s a dead end.’

Jabbing her elbow in Gabriel’s ribs, she tried running away from his grasp but he was stronger than she had thought. Muffling his pained gasp, the man didn’t let his hold on her loosen for a second.

“Credința!”

Gabriel’s voice was low but Ares’ sensitive hearing allowed him to hear it making him turn his head slightly towards his left to stare at them. Despite the considerable distance, it seemed like he was staring right at her.

“That wench must be here too. Find her!”

Someone from the crowd was yelling but it had failed to grab her attention. Her eyes were solely focused on his beautiful visage. His eyes seemed to be brimming with an unknown emotion whilst one corner of his lips slowly started lifting up. He was giving her a smile.

“Mmph!!!”

If Gabriel didn’t have her mouth covered she’d have definitely let out a loud wail.

Ares hadn’t spoken a word but she knew what he was about to do. His eyes had told her everything.

‘No. Please, don’t.’

She continued shaking her head side to side, uttering muffled curses as her body thrashed in Gabriel’s ironclad grip. Ares’ little smile had now turned into a big grin. He was slowly peeling his lips back to expose his elongated canines. Her thrashing had almost turned violent by now. Gabriel was saying something in her ears, soothing words probably but her mind couldn’t register anything besides that loud snarl that had escaped out of the vampire lord’s mouth as he allowed his eyes turn to its primal colour—crimson.

‘No.’

Her body went limp the moment she saw the injured vampire moving in the direction of dozens of furious villagers, trying to scare them, diverting their attention towards himself, away from her.

The people, they were scared at first but once they noticed the stumbling vampire was not inflicting any grievous injuries upon them it fueled their courage turning them more daring as they started attacking the exposed parts of his skin with the silver they held in their hands.

Her legs gave way beneath her causing her knees to produce a loud thud on hitting the ground but it was immediately silenced by the hollering of the crowd gathered some distance away from her. She had never seen something so brutal in her life. People were tearing the leather of his coat, their sharp objects had turned his previously wrinkle-free shirt into a tattered mess. Metallic smell of blood mixed with that of burning flesh was wafting in her nostrils. Just in some moments he had become a mere blob of darkness getting rapidly ravaged by a big mess of merciless humans.

Despite having a vast structure with extremely high ceilings, the tunnels had started closing in on her. It smelled like death in there. It was suffocating.

Her swollen eyes could barely detect his pale face becoming smaller and smaller as he led the furious crowd towards the other end of the hallway. Just as he was about to disappear through the silver doors, his eyes turned to look one last time at her. Blood was dribbling down the side of his head, marring the corner of his left eye in grotesque mess yet there was no trace of pain in his gaze. It seemed relieved.

He didn’t look the least bit treacherous, not the feral monster they were accusing him to be. She could only see a mentor who had guided danger away from his vassal, a husband who had done everything in his power to save his wife from his enemies, a father who had sacrificed his own self just to ensure the survival of his child.

‘They took him.’

An electric current passed through her flesh as blood started returning to her cheeks and lips. Gabriel’s hold on her mouth had loosened yet the feeling of numbness wasn’t going away.

Tap

On the sound of small footsteps, Gabriel once again pulled her limp figure back into the shadows, pressing them against the cold wall. She was too out of it, her empty gaze was still glued to the other side of the corridor where a bunch of humans were about to sacrifice an innocent soul in the name of eradicating evil.

Her focus only wavered when out of the corner of her eye she saw a petite woman entering the hallway they occupied. Her movements seemed precise and skillful, as if she knew they were there.

‘Ruth.’

“This was not to happen tonight.”

She knew Ruth was talking about Ares showing his true form in front of the coachman, according to her it had triggered the events. It didn’t matter anymore. She had realized why she had been sent to the past.

She was destined to stop them from killing Ares.

“If I give you his blood, you promise to leave him alone. You cannot kill him, you cannot turn him into stone. Nothing.”

“Credinta!”

Gabriel was glaring daggers at her but she didn’t care. She could not see him dying right before her eyes hoping for a miracle to happen.

“He must suffer same as what he put my son through.”

The woman continued uttering gibberish from the shadows.

“Ares didn’t kill Felix. Cyrus is lying! He’s just using you to get Ares out of his way so it’d be easier for him to access the throne.”

Jerking her arm away from Gabriel’s clutches she stood up to her full height.

“He killed my child. He must be killed too.”

“Fine then! Kill him, but that way you won’t get his blood either!”

Despite trying her best to remain calm, she had unintentionally raised her voice by an octave. They didn’t have much time. The altar room had suddenly become painfully silent and the thought of what could have happened there was haunting her.

‘Say something already!’

She knew Ruth had come to her for a reason. She was reluctant to be on Cyrus’ side. She was hesitant to harm them and she was probably lingering near their castle in an attempt to strike a deal with them.

Just as she had hoped, after a small moment the cloaked woman extended her bony hand in front of Faith. A black glass bottle could be seen resting in the mid of her palm.

“Drink this. Betray him. The pain would be immense but he would not die immediately, just like my son.”

‘Huh?’

Her eyes kept travelling up and down between the length from Ruth’s extended hand to her firm eyes.

“What is this?”

“A magical potion to purify your body of any traces left behind by that… creature.”

Abruptly a strong hold around her arm tugged her back to meet Gabriel’s steely irises,

“Do not trust that woman. Removing traces of him would mean breaking you bond with him and it could also lead to purging of…”

He had left his sentence hanging but his meaningful gaze had clearly told her what he was trying to say. It could cause her to abort the baby.

“And what do you suggest, Father?”

This was her way of asking him for a solution in case the potion ended up acting as an abortifacient.

Gabriel’s frown deepened at her question. He was staring hard at her and she matched his gaze back with her one fiery one. After a small pause, he let out a loud sigh before passing a hand through his salt and pepper hair with frustration,

“Venom, stronger than a vampire’s blood in the ability of bringing someone back from the brink of death.”

The word caused her hands to impulsively reach up and touch her bare neck.

‘The pendant…’

There was no way Ares would turn her willingly in this situation and the only other way left was using the vial attached to that pendant, but she had already given that pendant back to Ares despite his continuous insistence. She had told him she didn’t trust herself with it for the time being, but now she needed it back.

‘How…’

Rustling of chains echoing in the background brought her attention back to the present. It appeared as if someone tied to metal chains was moving around causing them to make clattering sounds matching their actions.

‘They have tied him to chains.’

A newfound determination found its way to her bloodshot eyes as she gave a meaningful look to Gabriel before whirling around. In the next moment, Ruth’s outstretched palm was left empty whilst the cold bottle’s cork was peeking out of Faith’s tightly clasped fist.

She was going to do it. She was going to betray him.