“Ms. O’Malley will see you now, ” the Head Majordomo announced just as he stepped inside the drawing room.
The visitor, Chief Irisha Moretti of the Spa Police Department, stood up and nodded.
“Alright, ” she said.
“Come with me please.” Jerome turned heels towards the door.
The Chief followed silently as they went up the second floor of the Vitalis Castle. Once there, they turned in one hallway and then stopped in front of the door to the music room.
Jerome knocked twice, announcing their presence, and then he called out, “Sire, Chief Moretti is here.”
“Come in, ” a muffled voice sounded.
When they entered, it was Chief Moretti who blinked several times. It wasn’t because she was surprised to see the Master of the Vitalis Castle present with his signature blindfold on
She was done with looking at him with the blindfold so she pulled it out of his head once she was but inches away. The black panther sensing the two’s heightened emotions ran out of the room to the open balcony.“You have a subtle way of persuading me, Mr. Vitalis, ” Amanda said whilst they looked at each other eye to eye.“And you have a subtle way of showing me that you don’t want to leave, my witch, ” he pointed back, easing his hands now on her waist. He stood up, cupped her chin and whispered on her ear, “Where were we, Amanda?”Amanda acted clueless, giggling deep inside.“Ahh, yes, I was about to strip you naked before the Chief arrived, ” he added.Amanda angled her head to the side when Cord’s tongue darted on the plane of her neck. Goosebumps immediately erupted all throughout her body.
“Good luck with the race, ” Noman stated just as he handed Amanda her race car helmet. They were just waiting for the final announcement, standing near the entrance of the track separated by thick fences that were waist-high. NASCAR staff and racing groups passed them from time to time. This was a usual occurrence Amanda had been accustomed to ever since she started joining races two years back.Amanda reached for the helmet with a smile, but then Noman gripped it tighter whilst giving her a pout.“But wait, ” he added, “I don’t think you’re going to need it. You’re practically the winner already.”She rolled her eyes heavenward. “Shhh, don’t jinx me, Dom, ” she replied and then grabbed her helmet out of his hold. “Plus, there are a lot of skillful drivers in the race. It’s anyone’s game now.”“I agr
Amanda was just turning up into the fifth lap all focused and eyes glued on the track when out-of-the-blue, she saw a black mist shaped like a human standing on her way.Startled, she turned the wheel sharply to the right in an attempt to avoid it. When she did, she returned to her track on the left, all focused but there was an unusual itch at the back of her head that the occurrence was far than normal.She returned to the race, trying to keep her head clear and her hands steady. But then, when she reached the eighth lap, a vision formed on the road of a woman that looked exactly like her mother, kneeling, wailing and reaching out her hand to her.Amanda gasped at the sight of it. She didn’t have time to avoid it so she drove through the apparition with her heart almost leaping out of her chest.Although it was unwise, she turned around to see if the woman was still on the road. She wasn&rsqu
Amanda was taken to the nearest hospital via ambulance: the Clinical Reine Astrid, wherein there she was hurriedly put in the trauma unit and placed in all monitoring machines. The head of Amanda’s pit-stop team and her father’s close friend, Mr. Janus Fowler, rode with her in the ambulance and he was now nervously standing in the waiting room, dialing her father to inform him of the unfortunate accident.A few moments later, Noman and the rest of the pit-stop team arrived and were ushered to the waiting area too. Noman couldn’t hold himself any longer and cried in a corner, feeling worried as hell with Amanda’s condition.He still hadn’t seen the Vitalis Master to at least give him the assurance that Amanda was protected during the crash and for that, it made him worried all the more.By midnight, the resident trauma doctor informed Noman and the team that Amanda was stable and was now tran
Amanda exactly knew what he meant. She was a skilled driver. A pro even. And not to mention, she was not just a human. She was a strong witch. She had quick reflexes. Indeed, how could she allow such an incident to happen?“I...I saw some visions during the race...” Amanda started, shifting her eyes towards the ceiling. Although their relationship was still new and fresh and out-of-the-ordinary, she knew she need to tell Cord the truth.“Visions?” Cord parroted.“Yeah, it was more like it, Cord. First it was a shadowy figure in the middle of the road. Second was a woman...my mother specifically wailing in agony. She was reaching out to me as if she needed my help.”Instead of becoming emotional, Amanda just frowned, confused with the second vision. When her mother was alive, she was full of energy, happiness and love. Sure her mother had suffered because of her bio
Cord’s mind reeled at the thought of Amanda’s experience on the race track. To have her experience such life-threatening event was traumatic. However, it even worsened when she mentioned Matteo’s name. If the crash was a natural-occurring event, he would have been accepting of it, but knowing now that it wasn’t, he couldn’t keep the warning bells in his mind from ringing.Certainly there was more to this story. There always was when it came to witches and mages. He had learned that vital fact while he was still on a rampage in his first years as a dark one.Witches were the embodiment of beauty and grace. However, they were also lethal. They had a thorn that was ready to puncture through every flesh their opponent had. Mages, on the other hand, were like foxes, sly and opportunistic. They always had a back-up plan and they were like cockroaches, hard to kill.Exactly just like Matteo.
At the stroke of nine in the morning, Amanda knew Noman was coming. It was visit hours after all.When a knock on her main door sounded, she expected it was him and indeed she was right.“How’s my witch?” Noman asked nonchalantly as he stepped inside the room.Amanda gave him a smile and sat up. She had already told herself not to inform him about her bodyguard. After all, Jonathan was in the balcony, away from view, unless Noman would want fresh air and open the balcony door then that’s it.“Hi, Dom, ” she cheerfully greeted. “I’m doing good. How’s your sleep?”“Great darling. I feel better now, rejuvenated, ” he answered whilst putting a paperbag full of fruits and crackers on a table.“And your papers?”“Almost done.” He turned to meet Amand
“Here’s the list you ask me, ” stated Calvin right after he swooshed himself into the throne room.Cord was already waiting for him there. Once again, he couldn’t keep a shuteye when there were still the issues of vampires escaping the mansion.“Is this complete?” he said, eyeing the white and gray outlines of Calvin through his blindfold.Calvin bobbed his head.“Yes. All residents in the North Wing are listed there. They are categorized as alive, escapee, and deceased after the incident days ago. I summarized it all and found out we have four escapees.”“Four escapees?” Cord parroted.“Yes, but they don’t pose a threat, Cord. These vampires had not ingested any witch blood so they possess no abilities that would hinder their capture.”Cord remained silent, lei