26.

**Lucifer**





As soon as our shoes touched the gravel beneath, he didn't waste a second longer and unwrapped his arms from my torso, taking determined strides straight towards the castle's double doors.

He'd been waiting for this moment. He'd been patiently waiting ever since we had found out who was behind Leila's turning.

He'd been so uncannily calm and calculated, which only meant one thing. He was beyond pissed.

I have handled business by his side for more than two years now and I must say that never have I ever seen him like this.

He must truly love her. Hell, maybe she's even his destined soulmate.

I thought as I watched him barge through those heavy wooden doors, even knocking one off its hinges in his wake.

Hands shoved into my dress pants' pockets, I closely followed from behind, completely uninterested of the attention we were receiving as soon as we had stepped inside the world's largest nest of leeches.

Arias' private castle.

And with a glance from Erick, I proceeded to save us time and lead the way, using my heightened senses.

Smug little bastard.

He hadn't even bothered to hide.

I lightly shook my head just as we approached his quarters, taking a halt in front of another set of large double doors.

Here we go.

Erick didn't hesitate a second longer and slammed his boot against the middle, forcing the doors aside with a loud bang.

The small crowd of "people" inside immediately halted their previous activities, watching us both with curious and equally fearful eyes.

"Leave," I commanded with a simple flick of my wrist, watching them all scurry away like little rats.

At least the rest of them still fear me.

My gaze fell on the only one remaining, casually lounging over a cushioned chair as his ruby orbs trailed between Erick and I.

"I was wondering when will you show up," He lastly said with a side smirk as his gaze shifted back to me.

"You're kinda late," He commented as I made my way towards a deserted chair, calmly taking a seat close by a small wooden table and placing my leg over the other, adopting a more comfortable position as I was about to enjoy the show.

His brow rose as he watched me simply sit there so relaxed before his gaze shifted to Erick, daring to take a closer sniff in his direction.

"You brought a human to torture me?" He shouted out in disbelief.

"What is this? A fucking joke?" He pointed a hand in his direction, barking out a loud and obnoxious laugh.

Yet it all abruptly stopped, the moment Erick moved closer to his chair and before he could even blink, he was already dangling in the air with his windpipe almost crushed as Erick held him up by the throat like he weighted nothing.

"What...are you?" Arias managed to croak out, futilely clawing at Erick's hand as he widely stared down at him in utter shock.

"Your worst nightmare," Erick growled, right before throwing him away to the nearest wall.

Yay. Let the fun begin.

I simply watched, retrieving a forgotten glass of wine from the table and even taking a sip as Erick stalked his way towards Arias and grabbed him by that fancy silken shirt, not even giving him the time to utter a single word as he started throwing punches and kicks at his face like he were a boxing sack.

Blow after blow, Arias struggled to recover and defend himself with no luck whatsoever as besides being way more powerful, Erick showed him no mercy.

It still amazed me at times, this power of his as even now, I was still in the process of trying to figure him out. I must admit that before him, I had never had the chance of encountering an immortal. I knew that there were few existing in the gods' realm and Father's Heaven yet I had never had the opportunity of laying my gaze upon one. Hence my wonder and lack of knowledge.

All these months, I have watched him slowly become so relentless. So damn unstoppable.
I must say that he sure had a temper to rival my own, even before having the privilege of being brought back to life by our dear Blake. Yet after receiving his immortality, he became even more.
More fearless and way more stronger.

I blew out a sigh as I watched him retrieve his gun from the back of his jeans, visibly unsatisfied as Arias' wounds were healing way too fast for his liking.

And so he shot a few bullets into his arms, legs and torso, earning himself a set of pained growls and moans as he had used the silver bullets I had acquired for him before arriving here.

I took another sip as I was really enjoying the taste of fine wine -even though it had zero effect on me, like any other supernatural- watching Erick grab ahold of Arias' long blonde locks and drag him towards the center of the room, leaving a trail of crimson liquid in his wake as the silver in his body was now preventing him from healing again.

Arias roared in pain as Erick slammed his boot against his left hand, hearing few bones crack, right before he moved to the other and did the same.

"Wait, Erick, that is enough," I abruptly intervened as I noticed that Arias’ condition was now rapidly starting to deteriorate since he wasn’t healing anymore.

"You should stop...If you truly wish for that sweet little thing to live," Arias managed to sputter between coughs filled with blood, making Erick suddenly falter in his tracks.

"What?"

"Oh, I take it you didn't tell him?" Arias expressed a bloody grin as he shifted his gaze from Erick’s shocked expression to me.

"You knew..." I lastly realized.

"You knew what she meant to us, to me. That's why you turned her instead of just killing her," I concluded.

"You knew that we wouldn't be able to deliver you a final death, because then she would suffer too..."

"You cunning bastard," I angrily slammed my fist against the small table, causing the few objects perched atop to clatter rather noisily.

"I only learned from the best," He mocked with a bow as he struggled to hold his kneeling position, giving me one of his demonic smirks.

"What? What is going on? What is he talking about?" Erick quickly asked as he turned to face me, giving me a curious look.

"He is Leila's sire, we cannot kill him. We could risk losing her too," I explained after a sigh, watching his features contort with rage as he stared at me in disbelief.

"What?"

"You motherfucker!" He bellowed, violently throwing another kick straight in the middle of Arias’ annoying face.

“You really are a fool, because when we will finish with you, you will be begging for us to kill you,” I commented as I watched him struggle to recover, taking another sip from the wine.

"Yeah, maybe I can't kill you, but damn sure I can fuck you up," Erick grunted right before taking ahold of his bloodied shirt. And with a harsh tug he dragged him back to that chair where we had initially found him and threw him in it, giving him a wicked grin before he proceeded to pull his fangs out with his bare hands whilst Arias screamed louder than a bloody siren.

Good.

I smirked, deciding that I will let Erick rough him up a little bit more before I take him to Hell, to his awaiting punishment.