Tegan said to Landon, "Yeah, I've gone to the beauty salon before to get Ms. Cragmire back." Landon stayed quiet and looked at Aria. Taking the hint, Aria turned to Tegan. "Could you go get Jillian? Tell her there's something at the restaurant that needs her attention." Tegan nodded. "I'll go get her." He headed toward the salon entrance. Landon looked at Aria. "We're in Portfall, so there are things we shouldn't get directly involved in. Besides, we don't even know if the salon owner is really Priscilla." Aria nodded slightly. "I got a bit worked up just now. Good thing you stopped me."Tegan had already arrived at the salon's entrance. When he knocked, Felicity came to the door. "What is it?" "I'm looking for Ms. Cragmire." Tegan stood at the door. "Something came up, and we need her back in the restaurant." Felicity smiled. "She's in the middle of a treatment. It'll take another half hour, and we can't interrupt her. If it's urgent, you should handle it yourself. I'll
Aria thought that the beauty salon was strange, and it wasn't just because of what Jillian had described. That little red dot on her wrist looked like some kind of marking. "I'm really tempted to have a treatment there now." Aria smiled brightly. "Could you maybe introduce me? I'll pay whatever it takes to become a member." Jillian hesitated. "I can't make that decision myself, but I can go ask for you. But it's hard to say whether the salon owner will do me this favor." Aria nodded. "That's fine. I appreciate you even trying. It'll all be up to my fate whether I get in or not." Jillian smiled. "Alright, go finish your meal before it gets cold. I'll head over to the salon right now and ask for you." "Thank you so much," Aria said, turning on the charm. "You're so beautiful and kind-hearted. I could learn a lot from you." "Oh, you're too sweet." Jillian couldn't contain her smile anymore. "Now I'll feel terrible if I don't get you that membership." Aria smiled back. "Thank
Aria looked over at Sam. "It's fine. Let them run. It's actually a good thing that one of them got away to report back. Now Sylas will know someone's looking for him." Sam nodded. He'd just dropped two people on the ground when he saw black blood flowing from their mouths too. They had already stopped breathing. "Wait..." Sam scratched his head. "I didn't hit them that hard. How are they dead?" Aria studied them. "They had poison hidden in their teeth. When they knew they couldn't win, they bit down, and the poison killed them." Landon walked over. "Some people from this town died from losing their life essence, but others were fine. We still need to figure that out." "They probably need something as a medium to do this... And it's usually some kind of arcane implement." Aria looked at the black beads on the dead man's wrist. "Maybe it's these beads, combined with drugs to control the victims." Aria walked straight into the hospital. She figured that the secrets had to be h
Brandon froze. "That's impossible. I've been full of energy these past few days, and..." Before he could finish, his body started to wither. Within seconds, his hair turned snow-white. With wrinkles carving across his pale face, his lips turned to a frightening shade of purple. His breathing became so weak it was barely noticeable. Standing beside Aria and the others, Wilda watched in horror as the scene unfolded. "What's happening?" Aria's eyes darkened. "Without life essence, people would age instantly." "What about the others..." Wilda hadn't recovered from the shock. "Quite a few people took the pills that the old man gave them." Aria looked at Wilda. "Did you take any?" Wilda shook her head frantically. "No! I put the pills in a box and saved them." Since Brandon had become an old man, his voice came out totally different. "What's happening to me?" Aria stepped forward and skillfully checked his pulse. "Stay still." Aria kept her voice low as she quickly pulled
"Interesting." Warner smiled bitterly. "Everything I did was for Portfall, unlike certain people who only think about themselves." He stared right at Ulric while saying this. Ulric looked back at him. "Are you talking about me?" "Who else would I mean?" Warner let out a cold laugh. "You've done plenty yourself, but nobody touches you because you're the governor." Ulric spoke quietly. "Warner, why don't you tell everyone what I've done then? If you can name one thing I did wrong, I'll resign right now." He had actually admired Warner for how smart and ambitious he was. He'd even planned to hand over the position when he retired. But Warner had gotten too impatient. "Really? Alright then." Warner perked up. "A few years back, I walked past a cafe and saw you with the attorney general. At the end, he handed you a bank card, and you accepted it like it was nothing. What would you call that?"Ulric gave a slight nod. "That did happen, yes. But you only saw what it looked like.
Ulric interrupted Warner. "Mr. Stonehand, don't you think you're jumping the gun here? Are you really just taking Aria's word for it and calling it settled? What, can't people even defend themselves when they're being accused?" Warner gave a slight smile. "And how would you like to defend yourself?" Ulric stood up slowly. "First off, I don't have any card like this in my account. It's obviously made up. And second, how exactly did Aria figure out this account belongs to me?" Warner looked over at Aria. "Ms. Carver, why don't you tell us what really happened? Everyone here can tell fact from fiction." Ulric looked at Aria too. "Aria, you do realize that fabricating evidence and obstructing justice come with legal consequences, right?" "Legal consequences?" Aria squinted slightly, acting a bit nervous. "Well, I..." Seeing her reaction, Warner said gravely, "Ms. Carver, don't you have anything to say?" Warner waited for Aria to say something, but she remained quiet. He had n