55 Little Warmth

Azazel’s clear blue eyes slowly contracted into one of shock, his eyebrows impulsively raised in a way that expressed his uncertainty.

“Evil spirit?”

He couldn’t remember the last time he’s heard about such situations. Evil spirits couldn’t get into the palace of Viscarrian even if they wanted to, so how???

Roshan immediately opened the door to Anna’s chamber and walked in, Azazel followed behind him and his gaze unhurriedly landed on the girl who laid on the bed.

Her face showed a clear discomfort and she looked power drained, she was asleep but her eyeballs seemed to move along her closed sockets as a look of fear contorted her expression. Her grip on the bed tightened and a cold sweat ran down her forehead.

“So cold.” She whispered in her subconsciousness, her brows knitting into a frown and she turned her head the other way.

Azazel moved closer to the edge of the bed. Leaning over, he placed a hand on her forehead in an attempt to feel her temperature. After a period of silence, his lips formed a grim line as that of a mask.

“She’s having a nightmare.” Azazel finally concluded before taking his hand away. He sensed it, the dark shadows surrounding her body and a soft sigh left his lips.

“It’s a stubborn one.”

.....

“I don’t care, just get it out of her.” Came Roshan’s orders and Azazel took a step back.

He stretched his right hand forward, letting it hover in the air before Annalise and his blue irises lit up with a powerful white light swirling within them. A sudden mystifying mist escaped from his palm, enveloping Anna’s body as she continuously mumbled words in her sleep.

A lone tear escaped from the corner of her eyes and just seeing it made Roshan’s fist clench in fury.

“Why is it taking time?”

“I told you, it’s a stubborn one.” Azazel sedately retorted and his power intensified. The dark smokey shadows finally moved, trying to avoid the powerful mist he created and after a few minutes of silent battling, the dark shadows vanished like smokes on an incense.

Anna’s disturbed expression gradually relaxed as her brows unknitted. Her chest heaved before she let out a deep breath that relaxed her soul.

The mist instantly cleared off as Azazel drew his hand back.

“It’s done.”

Roshan carefully watched her expression as it slowly calmed and she was fast asleep again.

“What type of shadow was that?” He questioned, leading Azazel to turn and look at him.

historical

“It’s a spirit, but the type that haunts dreams and leaves disturbing memories. I guess it has been stuck with her for a long time, judging from how reluctant it was to leave.”

“She kept saying something about water.” Roshan added but Azazel just shrugged it off.

“Depends on what sort of dream she had, but it’s gone now.”

“So cold...” she muttered while shivering slightly and it drew Roshan’s attention to her again.

“She’s still cold.”

“Yes, but she’s fine, you just need to help her warm up.”

“How do I do that?”

“By improvising.”

“What?”

Azazel stared at the confused being for a few uncomfortable seconds before uttering. “You’re a demon_ and our bodies naturally generate heat, if you know what I mean.” He hinted, leaving Roshan to guess the rest by himself and a glare was directly sent his way.

“You mean I should warm her up?”

“You need to help her, else she’ll keep freezing.”

Azazel detected a bit of hesitancy in Roshan’s gaze and that made him fold his arms with a brow slightly raised. Weird, it’s quite unusual to see Roshan hesitant about something, for a second he thought the glacier’s eyes were burning.

“I can’t.” He firmly refused.

“Why?”

Roshan didn’t respond and he pursed his lips, he couldn’t do it and barely knew why. Warming her up meant lying beside her, letting her embrace him, having her hands and body on him and he had to make sure she received his warmth.

No! He shook the idea away from his head. He couldn’t do it, it’s as though he was afraid of something, or afraid that something might happen.

But what??

Luckily for him, a little girl’s head mischievously popped in as she stole a peek at what’s happening inside the chamber, only to find her uncle’s standing before Anna’s bed.

The little bird hovering beside her unceremoniously chirped in a melodious tone, gaining the two men’s attention and startling poor Gemma.

She placed a finger to her lips while drawing her tiny brows together, her eyes squinted into a half-stern gaze as she gestured for the bird to remain quiet.

She turned back to look at the room but gasped when Roshan stood right in front of her, his deadpan gaze made her gasp in fear and as she quickly took a step back, she stumbled backwards and fell on her butt with a light thud.

Timidly, she lifted her innocent hazel eyes to meet that of Roshan’s, wondering if she was in deep trouble for eavesdropping, but the glacier crouched before her with a blank gaze. It’s the first time he’s seeing a little girl in his palace, where did she come from?

Gemma’s Hazel eyes slowly brightened and her lips formed a thin line the moment she pressed them together, finding her big brother’s reaction to be a little funny.

Roshan’s brow pulled together as he noticed she was holding back a chuckle.

Why was she staring at him like that?

“Who are you?” He asked.

“That’s Gemma, don’t frighten the poor child.” Azazel beckoned the little one over with his index finger. Seeing his gesture, Gemma instantly got to her feet and hurried to go stay by Azazel’s side, her little blue bird followed, only to rest on her shoulder.

“You know her?”

“She’s Levi’s sister, Aunt Letitia brought her a few years ago to come stay after the demise of Levi’s mother.”

“Oh.”

Roshan’s gaze lingered on the little one for a while but she smiled at him in return, it made Roshan feel a little awkward and he averted his stare from her direction.

“Since she’s here, she might as well be of help.” He thoughtfully said while meeting Azazel’s stare, gesturing with his eyes as it shifted back to Anna.

Gemma turned to look at Anna who shivered on the bed, her smiley expression slowly faded after seeing her new friend wasn’t feeling too well and her shoulders slouched. What happened to the nice lady?? She was actually hoping for more stories today.

“Do you know her?” Azazel asked after seeing her downcast stare and she nodded her little head in response.

“Do you like her?”

Her eyes went round in delight and she nodded again with a smile this time around, remembering how Anna had helped her heal her bird and told her amazing stories.

“She’s cold, can you help her with a little warmth?” Azazel softly spoke to Gemma who nodded right away and it surprised both men at how she instantly agreed without any hesitation.

She held Anna’s hand, being a demon, their body naturally developed enough heat, most times, the heat depended on their mood. She crawled into Anna’s bed, sitting by the empty space beside her and when Anna subconsciously felt the heat nearby, she couldn’t resist holding onto it as she hugged the little girl in an embrace.

Azazel turned his attention to Roshan but the man had a distant look on his face as though he was lost in thoughts. His eyes remained locked on the two of them and those hazel-green eyes glimmered with something Azazel couldn’t interpret.

“Roshan..”

“Dismiss those people at the dining.” Came his straight tone as he instantly composed himself and turned around, already stepping out of the room.

“I have something to prepare for.”

“Is it the mask celebration?” Azazel smoothly inquired, causing Roshan to halt in his steps and he looked at him over the shoulder.

“How do you know?”

“Saw their little invitation card for general Hendrick at your table.” He admitted and folded his arms.

“What about the beautiful Lady Odette?”

He knew Azazel was referring to Anna, “she’s not coming.” His subtle response caught Azazel off guard.

“Huh? Why?”

“I’ll attend the mask celebration alone, keep Anna here and make sure she doesn’t show up at the celebration.”

Azazel released his arms, letting it fall to his side. Well that response was totally unexpected. Why isn’t Anna tagging along?

He tried to answer that question for himself by reading Roshan’s expression, but the being was currently backing him, making it impossible to see his facial demeanor.

Before he could ask if there was a problem, the young man had left. With the air he carried, there was a feeling that frantically crawled up Azazel’s spine, signifying that something wasn’t right and he curiously wondered what.