Chapter 14

Chapter 14 – Conditions (1)

The glance passed in an instant, but Erin did not miss it. She moved closer to Gabriel, her eyes unwavering.

The man, taller than her by a head, flinched slightly and took a step back. Before this, he had teased her as though he intended to torment her slowly to death, smirking all the while. How absurd, she thought. Truly, what a laughable display.

“What did you see in me to make you react like that?” she asked, tilting her head slightly, a trace of amusement in her voice.

“Perhaps it reminded me of a foolish memory,” Gabriel replied vaguely, his gaze drifting toward her lips. The red lipstick she had worn deepened their color, drawing the eye almost insistently.

Erin noted this with a silent smirk. 

“…I take it you didn’t put it on just to meet me?” he said carefully, his tone teasing but calm.

Slowly, deliberately, Gabriel reached out and brushed his fingers against her lips, smearing the crimson further rather than removing it cleanly. A red streak formed, as if leaving a mark of his presence.

Erin did not recoil. She watched, unmoving, as if silently daring him to try more. Beneath his apparent gentleness, a barely concealed anger whispered.

“Who told you to put this on?” he asked quietly, his voice low, almost contemplative.

“Suppose I told you,” she said lightly, smiling as she flicked his hand away. “What would you do with that knowledge?”

Gabriel’s gaze followed his hand as it moved through the air before returning to her. His eyes, sharp and predatory, seemed like a wolf staring down its prey.

He had only asked for her, yet here he was, bringing her under his control in this unnecessary, infuriating manner.

Gabriel murmured, almost to himself, “…I was thinking I might kill you. How would that strike you?”

The sincerity in his gaze was chilling. She could almost believe he would follow through. Yet, the very fact that he was angry over something so trivial confounded her even further.

His eyes lingered on the smeared lipstick. Did he want to clean it again? Yet Erin would not allow it, pressing the back of her hand against the red to wipe it herself.

“What should I do…? I applied this myself, after all,” she said softly, keeping her tone light.

She did not mention that Emperor Perios had instructed her to do so. Gabriel frowned, his expression skeptical as though he could not believe her, as if he knew her too well. Their brief, accidental entanglement had already begun to wear on her.

Erin furrowed her brows slightly, then allowed a gentle smile to form. She ignored the silent urging in his eyes that demanded the truth. What could she possibly tell him?

“You’re indirectly saying you want to kill me,” she said, her voice calm, her gaze fixed on him. “Why not say it directly, like before?”

Gabriel’s lips curved into that infuriatingly smooth, condescending smile he always wore. “…Then it wouldn’t be fun, would it?” he said lightly, the tension in his voice threaded with amusement.

His hand, hovering in the air, slowly fell.

“Very well,” she murmured. “What am I to do as your… offering?”

Erin spread her arms slightly, inviting him, her posture open as though she were ready to comply at any moment.

Gabriel’s eyebrows rose slightly, then settled. It was time to speak seriously. Why had he escalated this to such a stage just to claim her? Why had he insisted he wanted her?

He glanced around the room, though the space contained only the two of them, then leaned close and whispered, barely audible, so only Erin could hear: “…A catastrophe is coming soon.”

A catastrophe—the rise of demonic power that could erase half of the population, for reasons no one could understand.

Erin’s eyes narrowed. She regarded Gabriel with suspicion. He was a demon, after all. Did that mean it was acceptable to reveal such a secret to the woman he wished to kill?

“You mean the Night Demon will return,” she said quietly, testing him.

“Exactly,” he replied softly. “And when the Night Demon disappears, all the other demons will vanish with it.”

He let the rest of the sentence trail off as he stared at her, leaving the implication unspoken: all demons included him, Gabriel, the Silver Demon. The message he conveyed was simple yet terrifying: he intended to teach her a way to truly kill him.

Something stirred within her—a raw, searing excitement, a heat that climbed her throat, threatening to consume her. Could this be what it meant to be thrilled?

“To kill the Night Demon, I suppose there is something I must do,” she murmured, her voice barely controlled.

Gabriel responded not with words, but with a faint smile.

“You only need to give me your blood,” he said softly.

“Someone else’s blood?” she asked, incredulous.

Gabriel shook his head, his attention fixed solely on her. “Child, only your blood will do,” he said, a light laugh escaping him.

Erin blinked. “…Ha. That’s it?” she said, incredulous. “It’s as simple as giving you my blood, and yet you had to make such a performance?”

She brushed her hair back and leveled him with a sardonic smirk. “Why should I trust you?”

“What must I do to earn your trust?” he asked, tilting his head in thought before smiling faintly.

“Shall we form a verbal contract?” he asked.

A verbal contract—binding their words with magic for life, where breaking the terms meant death. The most powerful of all pacts, lasting until one of them died.

Erin’s lips curved into a small, satisfied smile. The contract had no limit to how many clauses it could contain. She could take advantage of the situation while it still benefited her.

“Good,” she said softly.

At her consent, Gabriel bit his finger, drawing a drop of blood that hovered in the air. Erin did the same. Two droplets merged, blending into one.

The combined blood glowed faintly before imprinting itself on their wrists, a tattoo-like mark, warm and taut as if bound with red threads.

The verbal contract was now sealed. Some would call it an eternal curse, but in truth, it was a safeguard against Gabriel betraying the terms.

He stared at the mark on his wrist, satisfied with the crimson threads coiling around his arm. “Will you start giving your blood today?” he asked softly.

Erin drew a dagger and sliced her thumb deeply. Healing powers would prevent the blood from flowing otherwise. A single drop fell. Gabriel’s brows furrowed at the sight, and a small smile tugged at her lips.

She lifted her finger, now coated in blood, to his lips. The crimson stained him as vividly as the lipstick once had, a playful provocation she knew he could not resist.

“The contract begins immediately,” he murmured, licking the drop from her thumb, then grasping her hand. Blood ran along her palm, and he tasted it, rapt and careful.

Even a single drop could drive him to madness, she realized with quiet amusement.

Gabriel held her hand firmly, preventing her from withdrawing it. “My condition is simple. You must give me as much blood as I desire every two days until the Night Demon is slain,” he murmured against her skin.

“And in return,” she said, her voice steady, “you will tell me all about the Night Demon while I give blood, grant me the power to kill someone at my command, and finally, I will strike your neck myself.”

The clause completed, the mingled blood tattooed itself onto their wrists, fiery and binding.

Gabriel pressed his face to her hand, drinking the blood from her palm. His emerald eyes fixed on her through her fingers, unwavering, intense.

“What are you trying to say?” she asked, eyes narrowing.

He licked her blood again without answering. The heat of his tongue against her skin made her bite down on her lower lip. Blood spread inside her mouth. Gabriel’s gaze remained locked on her, low and soft as he murmured, “…You’re not enough yet.”

His hand cupped her jaw, his fingers prying her lips apart before pressing his own against hers. Startled, she tried to push him away, but he only deepened the kiss, sucking at the wound she had made herself, wrapping his waist around hers. His tongue explored, teasing the sore flesh, pressing and probing.

“Ugh!” she gasped, shivering at the sting and the heat, feeling his breath curl between her lips. She bit him in retaliation, yet the contact seemed only to excite him further. His hands moved deliberately, stroking her thighs, emphasizing his presence.

She pressed her shoulders against him, trying to push him away, but he continued, licking the blood from her thumb, leaving it vanished as though it had never existed.

Erin furrowed her brow, separating herself slightly, measuring him. His eyes glimmered with hunger—insatiable, even after drinking countless others’ blood.

“After drinking all that blood… you’re still not satisfied?” she said, mocking, yet watching him carefully.

Gabriel’s smile was unfazed. “It’s different from the others. Your blood will prevent me from drinking theirs,” he said softly.

Erin could not help but laugh softly, shaking her head. She didn’t care who lived or died; she only cared that she was being toyed with by him. She had freshly sliced her thumb, ensuring the wound would last. Blood ran freely. She held it out to him.

“Lick it,” she said, her voice firm.