They arrived at a big but not out of the ordinary house. The doors were big and automatic, opening and closing by themselves, leading them in. It had two floors, and she could see all the windows tinted. However, she didn't care about any of it. Her mind was clear, but her body was on fire. She was having spasms of heat every few minutes, but they were coming quicker and quicker.
The only thing that calmed her down was Locious's smell, which was embarrassing and disappointing. All the effort she put on appearing to be cold was sent to hell because of some degenerated Demons. Her professional attitude: gone.
At least she saved some face when they arrived. He tried to carry her inside but she refused. With inhuman effort, she made it to the front door on her own.
When they opened it, she found herself surrounded by tidiness and comfort. The entrance led directly to the living room, and she could see some doors at the back, likely the rooms. There was a beautiful wooden stair that she would have loved to inspect if she hadn't been so worn down by the effects of the powder.
"Locious! What did you mean with your... message?" A man emerged from one of the rooms she noticed before. His ginger hair was striking, and his pale gray eyes gave him a mystical appearance. He stopped in his tracks when he saw her and gazed at Locious with a questioning look.
"She was drugged by the Demons. Greed said there was a potent aphrodisiac in it. The Demon girl was drugged too, but she was unconscious; her demonic energy was undetectable."
"Does Greed know what kind of components it had? She is human, right? If it affected a Demon so severely but not a simple human... Well, that's odd to say the least." His eyes inspected her and she felt she became a test subject. There was something about him that compelled her to go unnoticed. It may be because of his clothes and the smell he carried, like disinfectant, but... flowery. Maybe it was his tall and slender figure that didn't match his intense aura.
She felt uncomfortable but didn't dare to say anything. He had a powerful energy, she could tell, but despite being non-violent, she found it threatening, likely due to her hypersensitive state.
She turned around and moved her flaming body to the couch, letting them talk and focusing on breathing in and out, trying to calm the heat waves.
"Hey, assholes! What's with all the noise? And shit, what's that smell?" A man with a deep voice shouted, his hard footsteps echoing down the stairs through the whole house. He was unlike anything she had seen before. He was taller than Locious and looked like a brawler. His dark skin and rugged appearance made him look like an ancient warrior.
The whole Harem thing that Ben spilled the day they got drunk seemed like a bad joke now. Locious doesn't have women in his house, he has a freaking three-person army, she thought, impressed by the amount of power vibrating in the air when the three men filled the living room. With the new arrival, the doctor left Locious's side and approached her.
"Sorry, this may hurt a little, but I need to extract some of your blood," he explained and took out a new syringe, which was bizarre, yet somehow it made sense. He was a doctor, obviously he would have a syringe. But he was also an Angel so seeing him use a normal human instrument was kind of unsettling.
When he finished, he placed the blood on a beaker and mixed it with some liquid that made it change colors. A shimmering light left his palms and filled the jar, making the content sputter like a fire. If she hadn't been so troubled with the river of lava inside of her, she would have found it fascinating.
While Locious was occupied with the doctor, the man with dark hair and streaks of gray sat down next to her. He smiled flirtatiously. Something about him felt familiar, yet instantly repulsive. The way he approached felt wrong, almost insidious.
"So, gorgeous, why are you here?" he said with a grin. Despite him being an Angel, an attractive one at that, his odor made her sick.
"Ugh. I don't like your smell; you smell like decadence," she said with a grimace. He looked at her in disbelief. He opened his mouth but Locious's shout interrupted him.
"Hariiel! What the hell? Dude, she is sick, and she is not one of your playthings. Get your ass back here!" Locious said, and she jumped in her seat. It was the first time she heard him use insults like that on someone. What kind of relationship did they have?
"It's okay. I should leave. I'm not feeling well, so is there a place where I can lie down?" she asked and internally begged for a quiet space. She couldn't stand it anymore; she needed to find an outlet soon, or she would go mad. Her body was needy, and the extreme heat waves seemed to be intensifying every passing second.
"There is a room over here, you can lie there," Locious said, gesturing toward one of the back doors.
"Don't come in unless it's something urgent or an antidote," she stated and it was non negotiable. If he did, she would lose the scarce pride she had left. She didn't wait for an answer. She turned and shut the door.
***
She closed the door on his face! What in the world was happening? Everything had gone from bad to worse since she started working with him. They were just fine when she was still in the training camp, but then it had been one problem after the other: the Angel Aura effect; her mood swings; her drunk love confession; his coldness; the awkward apology; the boss-employee treatment; the mission; the drugs; the heat... Why did everything go so wrong? He wondered, but not even he had the answers, and he was the center of it all.
"Locious, I agree with Greed: It's a very intense aphrodisiac, but I can't see what it's made of. And now she is experiencing very strong heat waves. She should calm down in a few hours, but I will check with the Demon Association. You told me there was a Demon girl, right? I'll ask them if they let me check on her," Crale said, concluding his experiments. But before Locious could say a word, Rose opened the door and approached him.
"Give me your t-shirt. Your damn smell is the only thing that seems to help me," she said, her face red, either from the heat or the embarrassment. He stripped it off and handed it to her. She stood there gazing at him and hugged his t-shirt tightly. Her eyes seemed to lose focus for a second, and he felt his blood rush south. She blinked and rushed inside the room once again. Crale looked at her as if he had expected this, and Hariiel laughed from the couch. But he stood there, completely lost in the reactions of his own body.
"Listen, there is something else I needed to tell you. You said you could use the Aetherial Flight on the Demon girl, but not on her, right?" He nodded in response, trying to make his wandering thoughts return to the present.
"Well, when I was checking her sample just now, I found something interesting. You know I always check the graduates' DNA, and hers was nothing special—simple diluted Emissary blood. Although there are residues of a component I had never seen before in her blood, her DNA has also mutated. She now is a wielder of special abilities. I'll continue investigating, but be aware that she is no longer JUST a Tier 3," Crale warned. He left before Locious could fully process his words, promising to do his best to return with an antidote.
Locious sought out Hariiel. Despite everything, Hariiel was still Locious's safe harbor , the person Locious always ran to for answers. Hariiel wasn't looking at him; his gaze was distant, his mind probably in another place and time. Locious sat down next to him, and Hariiel offered a vacant smile, as if he knew what Locious was about to say.
"I'm going to take a shower and dress up. If you need a breather, you are free to join me," he said and got up but before leaving he fixed his gaze on him again, the pain present in every line of his face.
"I know I shouldn't be like this, but I don't give a damn. Please just... don't do anything stupid, or you'll end up just like me." Hariiel went upstairs, leaving Locious alone with his own thoughts and fears.
Locious sighed and looked around the room. His house was like an Angel safe house. Crale usually came and went between his house in Aetherium Umbra and there. When Angels needed to work on Earth, they usually stayed there too. It was remote and secured from nosy eyes.
However, Hariiel lived there permanently with Locious. He spent eighteen hours of the day inside the house and the rest of the hours getting drunk or having one-night stands. Locious couldn't remember the amount of times he had been called to pick Hariiel up, or the pathetic state he usually found Hariiel in. Hariiel was right, Locious could not end up like him; it was too hurtful. For himself and for the people around him.