“No,” Darian said and began walking quickly.
Before it could turn into an argument, I spoke. “So, what’s this meeting about anyway?” I asked, genuinely curious if either of them had any intel.
“Vampires were spotted over a week ago,” Darian replied as he kept his gaze in front of him.
“That’s nothing new.”
“They were spotted during the day.”
I already knew that.
Kieran’s eyebrows shot up in disbelief. “That’s impossible,” he glanced at us both as we waited for the gates to open.
Darian remained impassive. “Well, we’ll find out, won't we?” He said, eyes locking onto mine briefly before he strode through the gates as they opened.
I followed, heart racing, already dreading the weight of the revelations that awaited us in that meeting room.gd
Taking a deep breath, I followed him till we reached the doors of the council building, which opened automatically, revealing the deep red carpet that muffled our footsteps as we walked inside towards the staircase. Golden handrails glimmered in the dim light. At the very top, a massive window framed the scene outside, and the sunlight illuminated Vespera, who was standing at the top with a group of witches.
Her dark brown hair was styled in a sharp bob that framed her angular face, accentuating her piercing, deep brown eyes that felt like they were looking straight through my soul. Vespera was tall for a woman, her presence commanding. She had subtle wrinkles at the corners of her eyes and between her eyebrows, but the woman was actually much older than she looked.
As we reached the top, her gaze shifted to us as she stopped speaking to the others, and thank fuck that high-pitched girlfriend of Darian’s wasn’t here. The look in her eyes was predatory as she looked at Darian.
“Good morning, Darian,” She greeted him, then her attention flicked back to us. “Vale and Ashford, how lovely of you to join us on time.”
It always grated on me how she addressed us by our last names, a constant reminder of our lesser status in her eyes. But of course, her precious Darian received nothing but a first name and her respect. Kieran nudged me; he knew how much it irked me. We both shared that frustration, but we learned to swallow our pride and accept it.
I’m a great guy like that.
As Darian spoke to her, I looked around to see if any familiars were lingering. I couldn’t spot any; they were more than likely tucked away somewhere or already in the room. They didn’t really bother me; the only one that creeped me out was Vesperas.
That damn three-eyed shadow panther, Nyx. Now, that was something to watch out for. It was creepy as hell. The beast could see through illusions and lies with its third eye. Like I said, it gives me the heebie jeebies.
Oh, and it also had poisonous fangs; one bite could kill you.
“Now that everyone is here, let’s get this over with so you can return to your duties.” Vespera's voice rang out, smooth and commanding as she strode down the hall toward the meeting room. The other witches were the leaders of each faction, followed closely behind her, their presence crackling with power.
As I stepped inside with Kieran, the other hunter behind us, my eyes immediately landed on Nyx.
The shadow panther was sprawled out on the windowsill, her sleek, midnight-black body stretched lazily, her three eyes shut in what looked like sleep.
Thank fuck for that.
“Creepy as fuck.”
I didn’t disagree.
Shutting the door behind us, we took our seats at the far end of the table beside Darian and the other Hunters. Jasper, a friend of mine, was next to me. Vespera stood at the opposite end, her sharp gaze sweeping over each of us, assessing and calculating,
Whatever she had planned, I had a feeling none of us were going to like it.
“As some of you may already know, more vampires have been slipping into Velmore. Some were even spotted in broad daylight.” Her voice is calm. “Which means King Draeven has started his experiments again.”
A tense silence followed by hushed whispers broke out among the hunters.
“That guy is a sick fucker,” I heard Jasper mutter next to me, and I gave a slight nod.
“He isn’t just targeting witches anymore. Fenris has confirmed that shifters in Zyphora have started disappearing, too.”
