Chapter 8
Eleni
As frustrated as I felt by this entire situation, Lyall appeared to grow even angrier as we assisted the members of the Sanctum in removing the mind control runes.
Although he didn’t say a single word, his face made no mystery of his feelings.
In that instant, I would have given anything to know what thoughts were prompting such a reaction.
We stepped back into the hallway and headed towards the last room still marked by the red runes.
They faded just as we were entering it. Within, we found Ewan and another cleric I didn’t know.
The bag sitting on top of the dresser in the right corner of the room made it clear this was where I would have slept last night had Lyall not insisted I stayed at his place.
A cold shiver ran down my spine at the thought of what might have happened to me if not for him.
“There, it’s all done,” the Prefect said, looking a bit tired.
“Good. But it seems to me that you have a problem within your ranks,” I said pensively.
“That’s impossible!” Ewan argued, offended.
“It’s not just possible, it is obvious,” I replied firmly but calmly.
“You were informed of my imminent arrival only twenty-four hours in advance. And yet, the Onis conveniently happened to add these runes in time and in the exact room you reserved for me with such short notice. How did they know unless someone informed them?”
“There… There has to be another explanation. Maybe it was Sienna or Vivian. Maybe…”
To our collective shock, Lyall emitted an aggravated growl before stomping towards the Prefect.
Moving at lightning speed, he grabbed him by the hair—in a fashion similar to what he had done to me in the crematorium—then bit his neck.
Ewan cried out in pain and tried to free himself before his body stiffened.
His eyes remained wide open, filled with horror and outrage as Lyall plundered his memories.
I should have intervened, but I kept my peace. At this point—and although I didn’t actually believe the Prefect to be corrupt—we couldn’t exclude the possibility that he, too, had been compromised.
Moments later, Lyall released him with a disdainful gesture before coming back to stand by my side.
“How dare you?!” Ewan shouted while pressing his right hand to the puncture wound and holding on to the bedpost for support.
“Silence, you fool!” Lyall said in a menacing voice. “You’ve made such a mess of things that countless women under your care have been put in harm’s way. Thank your God that you are truly clueless about what has been happening, or you would have faced my wrath.”
I couldn’t deny an intense wave of relief to have my companion confirm that the Prefect had not turned on his own people.
“It was necessary to make certain you were not also compromised,” I said in an appeasing yet firm tone. “Your Sanctum was infiltrated right under your nose with disastrous consequences. It is imperative that you test absolutely everyone and give them the appropriate protection sigils.”
“We will,” Ewan ground through his teeth while looking balefully at Lyall.
“See that you do,” Lyall said. “Eleni, grab your things. You will not stay in this place.”
To my shock, I found myself complying without a word.
Normally, I would chew up anyone who dared attempt to control me.
In this instance, beyond the fact that I also didn’t want to spend the night here, I understood that his protective instincts were driving him.
Stranger still, it actually gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling for him to act so possessive and protective towards me.
Ewan gasped, an air of panic settling on his face as he watched me walk towards my bag.
“You cannot leave! What of the mission and the missing women?!” he exclaimed.
“The mission continues,” I replied in a factual manner as I grabbed my bag.
“I was sent to your Sanctum to solve this mystery, and I will see it through. But I will not stay here. It is too risky at the moment. See that you get your house in order. You cannot afford any further slip ups of this magnitude.”
The Prefect muttered something unintelligible under his breath while giving me a stiff nod. Despite his discontent, his relief was undeniable.
With the building now mostly under control, we resumed our interrogation of the two women, but they didn’t have anything more to offer than what we had already gathered.
We took our leave. I barely repressed a grin at the sight of Lyall’s displeased expression when I loaded my travel bag onto Pasha—my Galadia.
My man had clearly been looking forward to carrying me in his arms again rather than me riding my own mount.
Truth be told, I wouldn’t have minded feeling the fluffy warmth of his strong embrace in that beast form.
No matter, I didn’t doubt we’d have plenty more opportunities for close proximity.
Lyall took the lead, taking us to an inconspicuous rock formation in a nearby wooded area.
To my shock, a portal suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
Although I couldn’t say for sure, I suspected my companion had used some sort of word of power to activate it.
But as his Gharlakan form didn’t have speech ability, I presumed he had done so telepathically.
I almost argued that it was too early to go back to Nephilim Valley, but instead of taking us through the portal, Lyall landed a few meters in front of it.
Intrigued, I imitated him. Moments later, a strange looking male came out of the portal.
I recognized him as Morrech, the servant who had brought me food last night as well as the reagents necessary to prepare new spell vellums.
Based on his appearance, I assumed he was some sort of Cambion—the hybrid offspring of a human and a demon.
Although he could have passed off as one of us, there was something just off enough about him that most people would instinctively try to avoid him or feel uneasy in his presence.
Morrech was very slender, his features delicate, almost androgynous.
His neck seemed a little too long and narrow, his chin too pointy, and his eyes—a striking blue color—a bit too big and slightly too far apart.
Long, straight black hair cascaded down his head to the middle of his back.
There was something as beautifully haunting about him as it was unsettling.
Just like Lyall, he wore clothes that seemed to come right out of ancient Rome, except that he had a full tunic covering his chest, and that he always seemed to wear black whereas his master wore white and gold.
As quiet as ever, he simply approached me, his gaze flicking towards my bag.
“Hand him your bag. He will take it home for you,” Lyall said telepathically to me.
Once again, I complied, giving my bag to Morrech.
I smiled, and he timidly reciprocated, looking extremely nervous.
There was something adorably innocent—almost childish—about him, as if he wasn’t used to much interaction with others.
And although he looked young in appearance, I suspected he was a few centuries old.
Whatever the case might be, I found him endearing.
He nodded at Lyall before hastening back through the portal.
We spent the next few hours flying around Willow Grove’s forests and swampy areas in search of the location with the Sanguine Crocuses my companion had picked from the demons’ memories.
As he had shared the image with me, I knew exactly what to look for.
However, doing so during the day when the vision had taken place at night made it a little trickier.
Things could look quite different with a change of light.
We considered performing our search after nightfall, but the new moon would be upon us in only five days.
And before it, the moonless night that would cause the plants to glow.
We couldn’t be certain whether it mattered or not.
Did whatever they sought to do there only occur during that specific night or was it always accessible at any given time?
Lyall only stated that this image with the glowing flowers appeared multiple times in both Onis’ memories.
Therefore, we had to assume that it was a clear sign of the required timing.
For two days, we covered a ridiculous number of potential places to no avail.
As much as I enjoyed Lyall’s company, our inability to pinpoint the right location was seriously beginning to stress me out.
We had no other lead but this. My gut told me that if we missed that window, we might never catch Elliot or save the missing women.
As we stopped to stretch our legs and for me to eat a snack, I asked Lyall to show me once again the vision of that location, including the moments leading up to their arrival.
He settled on the huge moss-covered rock and drew me into his lap with a familiarity that did funny things to me.
I had grown to realize that he craved physical contact, and not just sexually.
Lyall loved being hugged or randomly touched.
It could be just a caress, scratching his head, holding his hand, or simply leaning against him in any way.
Thankfully, I was a cuddler. So we perfectly aligned on that front as well.
My surroundings shifted so seamlessly, had I not known he had drawn me into an illusion, I would truly believe that I was physically in that new location.
It reminded me just how insanely powerful my companion was.
Any other mystifier triggered some sort of fight or flight instinct in me.
However subtle it might be, I always felt when magic was being used against me.
With Lyall, I had no way of detecting it unless he told me.