AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She leaned back, studying me with curiosity. "So, no time for romance, huh?"
I shook my head, the weight of a millennia-old existence resting on me. "No time and perhaps no inclination. My sister has had me on my toes for centuries, even before I was picked as the clan leader. I’ve always had to save her from everything she gets into"
Evelyn's gaze lingered as if contemplating the layers beneath my words. "And what changed?"
"I don’t know. If I’m being honest, I have never had to live for myself. When I stopped living for my sister, I started to live for the clan" I confessed, meeting her eyes sincerely.
Her brows furrowed, grappling with the gravity of my words.
“That’s crazy. You should try putting yourself first one of these days; you deserve it,” she replied, and I chuckled.
“Maybe when we solve the murders. How about you?” I asked, and I noticed her freeze for a split moment.
“I was always a crooner of true love. I used to think I would end up with someone who would give me the entire world.” She sighed.
"Until my ex-husband," she began, bitterly. "He cheated on me with someone I considered my best friend. They weren't even sorry about it. Now he wants me back because his little affair didn't work out."
I listened, sympathy for her pain resonating within. The human experience was heartbreaking, a facet of life transcending my accustomed supernatural realm.
"That's rough," I murmured, acknowledging the depth of her emotional wounds.
"He thinks he can just waltz back into my life," she continued, her grip tightening on the glass. "I'm not going back to New York, Alexei. I can't face him again. When all of this is over, I want to find another town that needs an investigator and sign myself up for it."
The vulnerability in her words struck a chord within me, and I reached out to touch her hand in solidarity. "You don't have to go back. You're here now, and you're not alone."
A fragile smile touched her lips, a fleeting moment of gratitude. Our glasses clinked again, a silent pact forged in the shared understanding of our burdens. The night unfolded before us, holding the promise of unforeseen challenges and the undeniable connection that had emerged from the shadows.
CHAPTER 15 | A TRACE OF ANA
EVELYN’S POV
Isat in the board room with Alexei and the Sheriff, going over the evidence again. I have never been this confused in my entire career. It feels like we are going round in circles and dancing to the tunes of the killer.
The syringe was a dead end because he didn’t leave as much as a single print on it, and we were still waiting for the lab to get back to us with the results on the contents of the syringe and why it was disappearing as soon as it got into their bloodstream. Whoever the killer was, he indeed had a sturdy team of crazy people behind him.
“Evelyn, the reports are back. Here they are.” The Sheriff stretched them to me, and I tore open the sealed envelope before bringing out the contents.
Alexei and I huddled over the freshly obtained report, our eyes scanning the findings of the syringe's contents. The analysis revealed a strange concoction—Noctisbane and Umbravex—a mixture I had never heard about or seen before.
“What are Noctisbane and Umbravex, and why are the volumes so high?” I inquired. Judging by the reaction of everyone in the room, it was a deadly combination. I do not need a soothsayer to break that to me.
“They are the only types of poison that could knock out a strong vampire in his prime without trying. The Noctisbane is the oldest and rarest type of vampire poison. Umbravex is used as a lacing agent, which explains why we couldn’t trace them in their blood. Umbravex typically disappears in a vampire’s blood in five minutes, and you can never find a trace back to it—just speculations. I haven’t seen a volume this high in three centuries. Not even when I became the Sheriff.” Sheriff Callum replied to me, and I was shocked.
"So that's why victim 11 didn't have defensive wounds. He wouldn't have been able to fight back" However, that does also depend on how quickly the poison acts. Would victim 11 have been paralyzed but alive long enough to be tortured? Or were the wounds made posthumously, as if whatever attacked him had a fit of rage after the murder?
“Powerful stuff,” Alexei muttered, his gaze fixed on the document. “Noctisbane and Umbravex are not things you find on the black market. They’re rare, scarce. This killer, Evelyn, is deeply connected to someone with access to potent magical elements. The type of witches that make them are no longer in Harmony Grove or dead. We are dealing with a psychopath, and we do not have one lead against him.”Did he just say Witches? What the hell is next? Demons?!
I couldn'tdismiss the weight of the situation; we weren't merely chasing a psychopathic murderer, but navigating a treacherous path laced with supernatural threads. We were dealing with someone capable of wiping us all out without trying. The Sheriff turned and walked out of the boardroom, and we focused on getting to the root of this.
"So, we're dealing with a killer who has a powerful ally," I mused, racing to grasp the implications. "Someone who can procure these substances, someone who knows their worth. A witch, you think?"Did I really just ask that?!
Alexei nodded, his expression serious. "An ancestral witch native to the Luminara Coven or someone with dark connections to the magical underworld. This case just went from complicated to downright dangerous."
Danger hung in the air, an intangible presence thickening with each revelation. I traced the edge of the report with my fingertips, the weight of the responsibility settling upon my shoulders.
"We need a plan," I said, lifting my gaze to meet Alexei's. "This killer is playing a game, and we're right in the middle of it. We need to assemble a team of people we can trust implicitly. The killer could be watching us right now and taunting us."
Alexei considered my words, his piercing gaze assessing the gravity of the situation. "A team? You think there's a leak in the force?"
