Pray for the Wicked | ATEEZ

32.

"... don't belong here. You have no right to be here."

"She's sleeping for goodness' sake and even if she wasn't, I would still keep my voice down if I were you. I don't take well to disrespect and, frankly, that's all you've been showing me since barging in here."

I stirred in my sleep as the far-away sounds of an argument steadily grew louder, the voices clearer, more recognizable, and clutched my blanket a little tighter.

The sound of a scoff made me furrow my brows a little.

"Disrespect? Disrespect-"

"Yes, disrespect," the second voice interrupted, stirring something within me.

"Well, it seems that you were having trouble processing the word," they added, "And yes, it's not very humble of you to act as if you're the one in power here, a mere son of an Archangel as opposed to the heir to all of Odeion."

"What do you know of humble?" a third began, "You're exploiting the purest of all angels for your selfish ambitions, corrupting her. The fact that you, the very embodiment of all sins, are still here in her room-"

"I'm guessing you're the son of Gabriel." Another interruption, the sounds of shuffling and muffled arguments, "Seeing as you're awfully persistent of getting me out of here I'll spare you the trouble in advance and break the news to you now, disappointing as you may find it, that I'm not going anywhere."

A small whine left my lips as I squeezed my eyes even tighter shut, desperately clinging to the world of sleep and comfort only to have it ripped from me as, suddenly, the arguments stopped at the same moment the bed disappeared from underneath me, my eyes springing open just as I hit the floor and cried out in surprise.

"Did you just push me?" Hongjoong seethed, crawling off the bed before, seemingly realizing what had happened, glancing back at me with a mix of worry and pure wrath in his dark eyes as he watched me look around the room, slightly dazed and still sleepy, catching Heeseung, Sunghoon, and Jungwon's eyes as well.

And then I was suddenly wide awake, scrambling to my feet only to hiss in pain as I put too much weight on my wounded leg and almost toppled to the floor again before the son of Lilith was suddenly at my side, gently supporting me.

"Dahlia-" Jungwon began, but Sunghoon pushed him out of the way before the younger got the chance to finish his sentence.

"Get your hands off her," he growled, a threat rather than a warning, glaring at the demon at my side who only tightened his grip on my waist as he straightened himself a little and a daring smile tugged at the corners of his lips.

"Or what-?" the son of Lilith began, but I cut him off before he got the chance to make the situation worse than it already was.

"Hongjoong, I'm fine," I mumbled, pushing his hand away and taking a step forward, placing myself between him and the three angels, as I straightened myself a little.

"Will one of you care to explain why you not only invaded my privacy by coming here uninvited, but threatened my guest and woke me from my much-needed sleep?"

"Dahlia, we have given you the time you asked for, given you the space you asked for, but this has gone on for too long," Heeseung said, almost pleadingly, and stepped forward.

"He has to go, now. We can't have him, a demon, the worst of one second only to Lilith herself, here in Heaven. I mean can't you see-"

"So you decided to take it upon yourselves to send him back?" I asked, cutting off the son of Raphael as I turned to Sunghoon instead, "Are you telling me that because you're to be the first Archangel, you thought you had the right to make that decision on my behalf?"