When A Ghoul Falls In Love

"Now, the bride should put the earring on the groom's right ear." 

Eli picks up the earring. He looks at it for a moment and then, he says to me in a heartbroken voice, "Nell, it will hurt a bit."

Hurt? I stare at the earring and realize the meaning of his words. The white and gold earring is four to five inches long. He has to pierce my ear to put this on me. I touch my left ear. 

That earring wasn't pierced in my flesh.

"It's fine." I turn my face to my left. "Put it on."

It is only an earring. How much can it hurt?

Eli comes close to me. He leans down his head. His warm breath tickles my ear. He is only putting on an earring on me, but it feels more e.r.o.t.i.c for reasons unknown to me. 

"I don't want you to ever get hurt."

I purse my lips. Why is he talking like this? 

"I will do it fast," He whispers again. It feels like he is assuring himself rather than me. 

"Un…" I wince in pain when it pierces my ear. His fingers leave my ear for a moment. The earring, though it looks heavy and long, feels light as a feather. I turn my head toward Eli. "Is it --" done?

Eli bends down his head and takes my ear in his mouth. 

I have heard of kisses during engagement or wedding ceremony. Even forehead kisses are good. What the hell is an ear kiss?

A dead silence falls over everyone.

His hands grip my waist as he sucks on my ear. I notice the priest's disapproving look on us. 

"Erm…" I kick Eli's calf and whisper to him, "What the hell are you doing?"

He doesn't stop. Instead, his tongue swipes over my ear before my entire ear is in his mouth. Does he want to chew it off? I don't want to be an earless woman. "Eli!!!"

Eli releases me. His pupils are dilated. He licks the blood off his lips. 

Is he a vampire?

"It was an emergency." He utters in an urgent tone, "Your ear was bleeding."

I haven't even said anything. 

"Your blood is precious to me." He touches his c.h.e.s.t with a frantic look on his face. "I couldn't let a single drop fall on the floor."

Hopefully, he didn't do the same when he found me with a slit wrist.

"To be fair, the scent of your blood is enough to make demons crazy," The priest tells me. "Take a look behind you."

I turn around to take a look. 

Some of the guests are bent on their knees, touching their throats as if their throats are in pain. Eli's younger siblings and his stepmothers are also kneeling on the floor. 

Their shadows are standing over them, holding onto their shoulders. 

Only the Duke, Eoin, Amachi, and another man with pitch-black eyes are standing without any crease on their forehead. 

"Why?" I mumble. 

"You don't have to be scared. Nobody will touch you when I am here." Eli touches my ear again. "It's already healed. The earring has strong magic."

"Some are weak against a sudden gush of the strong scent," The priest answers me before he turns to the crowd. "The ceremony is complete. Since the groom is from the human world, the bride must follow the human groom's will. The bride will drop her bloodline name only if it's the human groom's wish."

"Husband, can I change my surname to yours?" Eli asks me with a starry look in his eyes. "Nell Solomon. Eli Solomon. A family."

I hear a cry. Eli's father has fainted.

"Uh… I think it's fine the way it is." I peer at his father who is lying on the floor. Judith is frantically crying. Amachi is holding the Duke's wrist, probably checking his pulse. "Let's keep our surnames. I think Sanguine suits you more than Solomon."

"If that's my husband's wish…" Eli heaves a sigh. "Eli Solomon won't sound that bad."

But it's bad enough to make his father faint.

"Since the ceremony is over, I shall take my leave." The priest takes a look at me. "Indeed, the earring suits you."

Before I can thank him for the compliment, the Priest takes his leave. 

Eli also releases the guests' shadows as he declares, "My husband and I have something urgent to do. Please enjoy the evening."

Something urgent? Eli carries me in his arms and dashes toward the door. 

What? "Eli, where are we going?"

At the same time, Devil appears behind me. He snarls at someone. I raise my head to look over Eli's shoulder. The guests are chasing us.

"Why are they chasing us?" I shout.

"They are under blood thrall." Eli increases his pace. "I couldn't hold on to so many people at the same time without hurting their bodies. You don't want me to hurt my siblings."

Wind slams against my face. I close my eyes. "What the hell is blood thrall?"

"The magic in your blood is potent and intoxicating." I hear his voice. "I don't know why it is suddenly so strong. People with a high demonic rank can resist it. But lower-ranked people can easily be led by their instincts. They will follow us until the effect is gone."

How long is that? 

'Nell, your seal is breaking. I can't hold it off anymore. Your magic is --'

His voice is snapped away. I scream, "Not now!"

Not in front of Eli.

My vision turns dark. I hear Eli shouting my name.

"Nell! Hold on!"

I try to open my eyes, but I feel someone's hand over my eyes. My legs are being pulled by something dark. I look down. There is a tornado beneath me.

'Nell, it's time.' The voice belongs to a boy. 'Remember me.'

***

The house has a distinct scent of strong herbs and potions. Eli heads toward the room that Amachi prepared for Nell. He kicks the door open. There are several protection spells all over the room. 

He lays her down on the bed. Her body is cold, but her pulse is fast. 

The devil cat appears in front of him.

"The seal is broken!" Devil screeches. "Why is her magic growing at a mad speed? It was fine before the ceremony."

Eli furrows his brows. "I don't know either."

Even the blood thrall was a shock. It didn't happen before. He had seen Nell's blood before. Her scent is rather strong, but it has never been potent enough to make any demon go crazy. 

"I can't get inside her mind." The cat paces on the floor. "I don't know what is happening. It's like there is a huge wall between her and me. I can't sense her, even though she is in front of me. Is she dying? This is not how it was supposed to be. The seal won't kill her. It can't kill her."

Eli has never seen Devil panic like this before. "Where is her father?"

"Zachary Krauss…" Devil blinks his eyes. "Why are you asking? We should be focusing on Nell. The moon must have done something to her. What should we do?"

"The moon goddess?" Eli becomes still. "When did she come?"

"She came with the goddess of darkness and the goddess of night." Devil sniffles. "I didn't think that her presence would affect Nell like that. She only smiled at me before she left."

Eli didn't sense the moon during the engagement ceremony. He did hear that the moon of the human world is both a trickster and a sneak. She also has a strong dark and mischievous side. He studies Nell's face. The growth of magic after being in the presence of the patron God is quite possible. That explains why her magic is suddenly growing so fast. 

As for the seal…

It was supposed to break after a few hours. Did the moon accelerate the process or it was just a coincidence? 

There is no such thing as coincidence. 

Is it the earring? Eli touches Nell's ear. There are six ivory beads. Each bead has an ancient symbol. Eli surveys his bangle. The symbols do not match.

Hopefully, the earring won't harm her.

"Take that ring off." Devil points at the leprechaun's life treasure gold ring on Nell's finger. "The magic is being s.u.c.k.e.d by the seal. Nell doesn't need any fae magic. The seal wasn't supposed to act like this. I should be able to see what she is seeing in her mind and observe the changes in the seal. Who knows what kind of bombs that bastard had placed inside her head?"

The ring is growing thinner with every passing second. Eli removes the ring and crushes it in his hand. Devil's words are right. He doesn't know what the seal can do. Benny isn't here. Even Amachi doesn't expertise in fae magic. 

He has been relying on Devil a lot. Why did he forget that Devil is not a fae? Devil is born from a human soul. It is growing on moon magic. But it can't ever become something that it isn't. Devil is neither a dark creature nor it is a light creature. It's not purely a spirit either. Spirits are made of pure magic. Devil has a part-human soul. This creature will live and die with Nell.

It's truly strange that Devil can't enter Nell's body.

"Bring Nell's father here. He is the only one who knows about the moon goddess and the fae magic. You told me that his presence will break the seal once for all."

Devil has been hysterical ever since the seal was broken. He realises that Little Marshmallow is right. Zachary Krauss will probably understand this situation better than them. "You are right."

The cat heads out of the door in the next instant. 

Eli holds Nell's hand. She looks like she is asleep. There is a faint smile on her lips. But her eyelashes are wet. 

"I only want you to remember good memories." Eli whispers to her, "I wish that was possible."

That Dark Fae Ember king will pay the price for tormenting Nell like this.