NOVEL NEXT Chapter 344: A Ghost
"Don't worry, sir, those two women must be around somewhere. The forest is secured with all kinds of security measures, and it was also enchanted by an old witch ages ago. Unless those two women have the authority to enter and leave the council, they would never be able to get past the forest. These escapees might still be around, hiding somewhere in the forest. I assure you that I will catch them and bring them right back where they belong. You can rest in my office while we are looking for these women–"
"There is no need," said Mister Jones as he waved his hand impatiently, looking annoyed and frustrated, for he didn't think that this little task would take so long. He wanted to finish it quickly and said, "I will come with you. After the fuck-up you all have done, I don't dare to leave those two women in your hands."
After speaking, he glanced at the half-vampire with a disdainful gaze. "And this is why I asked Seth to employ filthy half-breeds. That human blood is simply unreliable."
Gilderoy didn't refute the man. He lowered his head with his fists clenched tightly. He wanted to fight back but knew that he didn't have the right to. Not when his mother was nothing but a filthy human. "Of course. Please follow me, Mister Jones." As he couldn't offend the man from the council, Gilderoy agreed with his suggestion right away.
In the meantime, Inez and Scarlet were trying their best to find their way out of the forest, but it was like the longer they walked, the longer it stretched. The forest was like a labyrinth of roots and shadows; every step was like a gamble that they were bound to lose. The guards' shouts and footsteps started to get louder and louder, and from how frantic they were, it seemed like they knew that Inez and Scarlet had broken out of the prison.
Damn it.
Dogs were barking in furious chorus now because they couldn't trace their scents down.
Scarlet tripped twice, and Inez yanked her forward. They couldn't make a sound; they couldn't afford the luxury of making a mistake at that moment.
Finally, they broke into a clearing, but before either of them could cheer, a haunting reality struck them. They were back at the river, which they had passed by earlier.
"How…how is this possible?" Scarlet panted. With her hands resting on her knees, she looked at the river and then at the rock that they had placed on the boulder to mark this place. "I swear we turned south; how can we get back here? Shouldn't we have left this forest by now?"
"You will be lucky." A voice, all too familiar, spoke to them, and the two sisters whipped their heads to look behind them. And there, silhouetted by the moonlight, stood a figure. That prisoner who was dragged out of the prison cell to be executed. The same man who had told Inez about the man named Cain before he was silenced forever.
But how —
"Impossible! How can you be alive?" Scarlet breathed in and out while looking at the man in front of her in shock.
Inez's eyes went wide as well. She looked at the man who was standing in front of her as though he was waiting for them. A ghost? Or maybe something even worse? Because how could a shifter even survive the wolfsbane?
"You…" Inez's voice cracked. "You – how are you… How are you still alive?"
"Do you want the answer to that question?" The man smiled. His thin lips stretched in an eerie sort of way, which made Inez take a step back. "Little girl, you don't have the time or the liberty to ask these questions of me. You should be asking something more…close to your heart, or else you will not… never again get a chance."
The man sounded way too sure of it. It was weird, like he knew something... Maybe everything that Inez didn't. There was a knowing glint in her eyes.
"Don't listen to him," Scarlet hissed sharply. "He was able to survive the execution… who knows what this man is? You really want to trust him, Inez?"
The sounds of the footsteps were getting closer, and so were the shouts. Inez knew that they didn't have much time, that they should be running; even if they couldn't get out of the forest, they could still avoid the guards and somehow stay safe until someone came to rescue her and Scarlet. But like a fool, she stepped forward and questioned the man, "What do you know about my father? And this Cain? Who is he?" under the desire of finding out more about her father, she couldn't care less about the pain in her body or the fact that she and Scarlet were getting hunted down by a bunch of guards. She wanted to know more about her father.
And her heritage. Where she was from and why her father left her alone.
The prisoner, or the ghost of him, tilted his head to one side. His eyes were now glinting with a strange golden glint. No, it would be better to say that they had turned a morbid gold, like magma surging up and down inside a volcano. "Cain… oh that man is someone you should be careful with. He deals in the shadows, masked and hidden from everyone else. He made a deal with your mother and with the witch. He is the only one who can tell you where your father is at the moment. Other than him, I am afraid there is no one else who can answer that question for you."
Inez's throat tightened. "Where? Where am I going to find that man? I don't even know the surname of that man."
The prisoner smiled, and this time around, he parted his lips and spoke in a rhyme.
"The rivers shall seize, shadows will weep,
The traitorous vow has been buried deep.
You shall find the wolf who guards the liar,
Be careful before the secret erupts in fire."