Chapter 248

"Life is tough my darling, but so are you."- Stephanie Bennett-Henry

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Her uncles were powerful, probably very old demons. She could tell by their aura as they walked further into the room. Her power was nothing compared to theirs.

Heaven watched them carefully as they made their way to the table where her grandmother was sitting with her aunts. They greeted her respectfully and then introduced themselves. The one with golden hair was Marcus and the other one Lorien. Heaven wondered how her grandmother felt about being surrounded by her mate's children. Whatever she felt, she didn't show it.

After speaking to her grandmother for a while, they turned around and started walking toward her. Heaven felt a little nervous, but she put on a brave face.

When they neared the table, all of her cousins stood up and greeted them with a slight bow. They showed respect to these two men. Heaven thought of whether or not to stand up at first, but she remained sitting. She had no reason to follow their rules. In fact, acting any way she liked might make her grandfather tire of her and his family tire of him.

She could see that a few of her cousins already disliked her for the way she was behaving, but her uncles showed no sign of distaste.

Lorien waved with his hand for them to sit down before he turned to her. Lilian played host again and introduced them to each other.

"It is nice to finally meet you." Lorien smiled.

Heaven couldn't tell whether it was a genuine smile or if they were very good at acting.

"Thank you." Was all she said, and it seemed to amuse them both.

"I hope you are enjoying your stay here." Marcus said.

"I am."

Was she being rude? She wasn't used to talking like this to elders.

"I am glad to hear. We won't be staying here for too long. We only came to greet you and your grandmother but we will see each other again."

"I am sure we will." Heaven said.

"Have a nice evening." Both gave her a slight nod and then left the hall while talking to each other.

All of them seemed to put extra effort to welcome her.

"They seem busy if they had to leave already." Heaven told Lilian.

"They are. Our kingdoms are safe from those who don't belong here because it is hidden." Lilian explained.

"Where are we now exactly?" Heaven asked.

She knew the kingdoms were hidden and no one could find them unless her grandfather wanted to.

"Nowhere you can find on a map." She said.

Heaven nodded. "What happens if you want to go to the human world and then come back?"

"It is hard to explain but once you join grandfather, you can come and go as you please but when you decide to leave, you can't find your way back. It is almost as if this place never existed for that person."

Heaven wished that was the case for her. She wished this place never existed.

"You don't like being here." Lilian pointed.

"Would you like to be away from your family?" Heaven asked.

"No. I don't know what happened between you and grandfather, but I hope you don't dislike us all."

Oh. She was good, Heaven thought. She was so believable, and Heaven would have believed her if she hadn't changed. She wasn't the same old Heaven anymore. Now she couldn't trust anyone. It felt as if everyone was hiding in the shadows, waiting for the right moment to strike. If her own grandfather could do this to her, then how could she trust other people? She had lost the part of her that always saw good in people and always believed in good.

Lilian smiled at her, and Heaven thought of something to say that wasn't rude when someone in the room caught her attention.

Again, for a brief moment, Heaven believed that she saw Zamiel, but it was the man who looked like him. His presence demanded womens attention, especially the young ones, and her female cousins gave each other a slight push. Heaven knew he was famous among women from the first time she had seen him. He looked like Zamiel, after all.

Had Zamiel not been ancient, she would think this was his brother.

He wore black around his waist and nothing on his upper body, like every other male in the hall. Heaven had never seen so much skin in her life before. And they loved jewelry. His muscled arms were adorned with golden bracelets, and his skin was glowing. They definitely put something on their skin, Heaven thought.

But who was he, and what was he doing here? She could tell he wasn't in disguise, which disturbed her even more than if he had been in disguise. He gracefully went to sit with a few males at a table and chatted with them.

Heaven noticed that Lilian was staring at him as well. "Is he someone you know?" Heaven asked.

Lilian blinked a few times, and her cheeks flushed, but she tried to hide it. "Yes. He is just a family friend." She tried to sound uninterested.

Heaven nodded and didn't ask anything further. They were served some dessert, and Heaven listened halfheartedly to what her cousins were chatting about. After a while her thoughts drifter away. She wondered about her parents and Zamiel. She thought of Klara, Roshan, and Gina.

Heaven hadn't said goodbye to them. Saying goodbye to her family had already been difficult enough. She wasn't sure if she would be able to say goodbye to everyone else as well.

A part of her didn't want to say goodbye because she was afraid of never coming back then. Having not said goodbye to a few people she deeply cared for would make her fight harder to come back to them.

Someone clapping their hands twice made her come out of her haze. Startled, she looked around, confused by why all of her cousins were getting up and leaving the table.

"Not you." Someone spoke when she was about to get up as well and ask why they were leaving her behind.

Heaven looked up to meet a pair of golden eyes.

It was him.

He pulled the chair in front of her and sat down. "We meet again." He smiled.

Heaven became uncomfortable by how close he was sitting, only half dressed.

He chuckled. "You seem surprised." He said.

"Did you ask everyone to leave?" She asked, baffled.

"No. I told them too." He said simply.

He wasn't ancient, but she could tell he was very old and from his aura, he seemed to be from a powerful line of demons. Perhaps a direct descended of ancients. Heaven knew how demon hierarchy worked.

From the corner of her eyes, she could see Lilian looking at her with envious eyes.

"I see you are still dressed to draw attention." He looked at her dress.

"I dress the way I like." She said.

"I like the way you dress." He smirked.

Heaven frowned. "I have a mate."

Now it was his turn to frown, and then he looked around as if searching for someone. "Where is he?" He then asked, turning back to her.

Heaven clenched her fists under the table. Was he being serious now? Why did it matter? She was marked, and he could see the mark.

"It is none of your concern." She said, getting up to get away from him.

He stood up as well. "Will you at least tell me your name this time before you leave?" He asked.

"No."

He blocked her way when she tried to walk away. The audacity of this man.

"I think you would prefer to be called by your name then something like… green eyed beauty." He smirked.