What, from the bottom of my bloody heart, the hell?
After choking aggressively on my cocktail, which he helped me with, I froze, suddenly self-aware. Too self-bloody-fucking-aware. But he waited for me to put myself together, in silent, only looking at me as if to assure me it was okay. Though I don't know if it is.
"Since when?" I managed to ask after minutes in dead silence.
"Since when I know?" A nod. "The day you froze in the gallery."
My eyes widened. It's been more than a week. "How?"
He pointed at my necklace, "I only needed to take a better and closer look at it, as well as at your ring, for it to snap into place in my mind. At first sight I thought it was just a snake, but then I noticed the bat wings, and realized it was a winged serpent. Then all you showed and all you've said until then kind of came together and blew my mind."
Then he pointed at my body, "The tattoo on your back kind of confirmed it for me, as I know you need to have your true form tattooed in you with your moon phase to connect all of those spatial tattoos together."
I pressed my lips together, "So, you knew this whole time."
"I did."
Bloody fuck, I did not see this coming. "Why didn't you tell me?"
He gave me a are-you-serious-? look, "You avoided me, Hel. For nine days. When I told you back in the gallery, that we had to talk, it was because I wanted to talk to you about this, but you freaked out, probably thinking it was something relate to our mating bond, and asked for a week. When the week ended, you kept avoiding me. I was going to tell you when I got to your dorm, but then we got horny and you know, better things came up for us and now we are here."
Putting down my food, I covered my face with my hands, feeling stupid. "Ugh," I growled. "Does anyone else knows?"
"Of course, not. This is between me and you, beautiful. I have no reason to tell anyone about this, not even the Circle and my baby brother. I wanted to talk to you and you only. After all, it's about what you are that we are talking about, it only concern us," because we are mates.
He didn't said it, but we both know what he thought.
Sigh, "I mean, I wasn't hiding. I just wanted you to learn it on your own. In fact, Felix learned about it by accident," I chuckled anxiously. "I got pissed of when Ivy provoked me about it in the library, calling me a snake even though she knows I'm a winged serpent. So, I just blurted it out not giving two shites if Felix was near or anyone else. It's offensive to call me that, I got blinded with anger, and I would have snapped if she hadn't switched personalities so quick, talking about my mom. Which, of course, unarmed me right away."
"Is it like to accidentally call a born vampire, made; or a dragon, wyvern; or a shifter, a half-human breed?" Oh? Those are offensive? He just gave me munition. "Or call a siren or kraken, a fish."
The last one took a laugh out of me, "Thanks for the tip," I winked. "But yes, it's similar. Serpents are supernatural, snakes are mortal, common and bloody normal. Bloody straight offensive." I pushed the tray aside and got a bit closer to him, "You don't need to be scared, though. I'm nothing like that absurd tale you mention in class," than I slapped his hand, making him laugh. "That was extremely offensive, by the way. I'm not a horror movie monster, you know?"
Grabbing me by my waist, he made me straddle his lap, hugging my waist tight, "A monster? Never. You are a very attractive and persuasive serpent. Winged serpent," he nuzzled his nose on mine. "What does that make you, by the way, beautiful? I mean, you're the last of your kind. That is some important shite."
I showed him my ring, "See this?"
"I do, indeed. Very beautiful, but not as much as you."
I rolled my eyes, "This is how I look, by the way. Both my ring, necklace, and back tattoo are an identical portray of my form now. When I met my mom in the lair… I mean, her spirit… she gave me these. Though I'm still wondering if she made them after a vision, or something else."
"Why?"
"Lydia told me this is the Royal ring!"
He tilted his head, "You mean Lydia, the gargoyle?"
"Yes," then I bit my bottom lip. "Keep this between us. I haven't told anyone but Jack. Mia also knows, but she knew it way before I did. In fact, she lived in the time my kind was alive."
Horror took over his beautiful features, "Master Mia is that old? How long ago was that? Millennials ago? It was in the ancient time of the old world, was it not? I never thought she was that old, oh my Crone."
His words made me burst out laughing, "I know, right? According to what Lydia told me, it's been seven millennials since she and all the gargoyles are frozen. My kind is the only who can get in touch with the gargoyles and their army."
"The winged serpents?"
I played with his messy wavy black hair, "Nope."
"There were differences between them, then?" I nodded.
"I'm a black winged serpent, Oliver," I brought his finger to my necklace. "And it was not because I was born with black hair, or my mom was a black dragon!"
His hands went to my long mess of silver curls, "Before everything, that morning you told Felix that your hair and eyes were not an anomaly or something caused by what you went through. Is it related to your kind?"
He remembered? "Yes. Apparently, when a winged serpent turns a thousand years old, their eyes stay as serpentine slits even when they aren't in their serpent form, and their hair turns silver. As my eyes were naturally blue, it stayed like this, though it went from a baby blue to a midnight blue like mom's."
"How many types of your kind were there?"
"Seven," I exclaimed excited to finally talk about it.
And the shock in his turquoise eyes was very amusing, "Seven?"
A nod, "All winged serpents had both black water and purple flame, however, they differ in scales color and main powers. So, seven colors at total. Yellow, red, blue, green, purple, white, and black."
Oliver grinned, "Quite the rainbow."
He's ridiculous. "The powers are very extreme and dangerous."
"That is obvious. Which one is the most dangerous though, red?"
I blushed, "Uh, actually, me. I mean, not me, but the blacks."
Bringing me even closer, he moved his eyebrows sensually, "Oh, yeah? Tell me about it, because your dangerousness is bloody attractive."
"I don't know," I chuckled anxiously. "I know about the others, but I don't know much about mine, it's the most secretive and mysterious. That is why it's being hard as the bloody pit of hell to get stuff on me."
Caressing the curve of my waist and down to my hip, he tilted his head softly, "Tell me about it, I'm curious. Like I said, I've always liked snakes, but winged serpents are fascinating. And mysterious. I want to know more about you, as you already know a whole lot about my kin."
Fair. "Okay, so, yellow scales mean energy, this group manipulated all types of energy you can think off, from sun to thunder and light. Red for blood," I pointed at him, "I guess those were the vampire-ish serpents, as they were bloodthirsty and feed on the blood of anything."
He burst out laughing, "What a crossover."
My thoughts exactly. "They also could control the red flame, which is the corrupted one out of the seven types, and they were more dangerous than most of the others."
"Sounds like a vampire serpent to me."
"Doesn't it?" I chuckled. "Blue scales, as stupid as it seems, it's for water, for the ocean, and they manipulated the water like no other. Green is for nature, also silly, and they had control over earth in all means, even over food and plants and all. While purple scales was for the sky, they had control over weather, clouds, and of the air itself."
"And the white winged serpents?"
"White scaled winged serpents were the ones with control over mineral stuff, all types of minerals, also adding crystals, gems, and thing that we all think of dragons when we hear about. So, uh, like a dragon-serpent if you may, but light years better," of course. Mom's the exception.
His index finger went to my necklace, "What do you have in your kin, though?"
I closed my eyes, "Some ominous shite."
To my dismay, he laughed, "It can't be that bad. Hit me."
With all pleasure in the world, I slapped his face, "Why though?"
It only made him laugh harder, "Ouch, beautiful, that was not what I mean, but come on, don't hold yourself. You seem to have liked slapping me quite a lot, you little sadist serpent."
"You asked me to," I blinked.
"There are lots of meanings for that word, beautiful. Right now, I meant for you to hit me with the information you've got, dumbarse. Not to actually hit me, though alright, tell me how you feel," he mocked, holding both my wrists softly. "Just like hitting can both mean attack, and flirt."
Shrug, "Not my fault you left it ambiguous, vampire."
"Alright, alright. Now, hit me with what you've got on that."
Gulp, "Don't freak out!"
But he frowned, my words causing a different affect than intended.