Chapter 206 [Free]

Confusion weighed heavily on Victoria’s mind.

For a long time, she couldn’t organize her thoughts, much less come up with a plan.

Her body felt far too weak.

Somewhere deep inside, instinct warned her not to make any reckless move. If she tried to escape now, she would only be caught again. Worse, the vampires would become even more careful and make sure she never got another chance.

So she waited.

She stayed completely still, keeping her breathing slow and steady as she searched for the right moment to escape.

A short while later, voices drifted into her ears.

“Go check if the woman is awake,” one vampire said. “If she is, we’ll have to give her more wolfsbane. If not, we can rest for a while. We still have a long way to go before we reach the border.”

Another vampire answered in a calm but cautious voice.

“You know we can’t keep filling her with wolfsbane. She doesn’t have a wolf to clear the poison from her body. Relax. The amount we gave her should keep her unconscious for at least twelve days. By then, we’ll already be far away.”

“You’re too careless.”

The third vampire sounded annoyed.

Something struck a nearby rock with a loud clatter.

From the sound alone, Victoria guessed someone had thrown away a leg bone from whatever animal they had just finished eating.

Although vampires mainly survived on blood, they weren’t limited to drinking it.

Fresh meat gave them energy for much longer.

Blood was quickly digested, leaving them hungry again after only a few hours.

Since they were traveling with an unconscious werewolf, they couldn’t stop often to hunt.

Their best option was to eat as much as possible whenever they found prey.

“I’m not being careless,” the calmer vampire replied. “I just wanted us to eat properly.”

“We’ve been traveling for days. We can’t stay in the sky the whole time. Werewolves have excellent eyesight. They’ll notice us sooner or later.”

He paused before continuing.

“If they guess where we’re heading and prepare an ambush before we reach the border, we’ll have a real problem.”

“And by now, the entire werewolf kingdom probably knows vampires entered their territory.”

“They’re hunting us.”

“The borders will be heavily guarded.”

“We need to save as much strength as possible if we want to break through.”

The angry vampire let out a quiet grunt.

“When you put it that way… you’re right.”

“Should I hunt another animal before we leave? We can eat more now and build up our strength.”

No answer came.

Silence settled over the forest.

Victoria guessed the other vampire had simply shaken his head.

Everything became quiet again.

Even with her eyes closed, she could tell it was still night.

The forest was wrapped in darkness.

The vampires hadn’t lit a fire.

That wasn’t surprising.

They could see perfectly well in the dark, and their cold bodies didn’t need warmth.

A campfire would only reveal their location to the werewolves searching for them or to dangerous monsters roaming the forest.

Night belonged to vampires.

That thought alone stopped Victoria from taking any risks.

If they discovered she was awake, they would simply drug her again.

From what she had overheard, another dose of wolfsbane might destroy her only chance of escaping.

They were already getting close to the kingdom’s border.

This was her last opportunity.

She just needed to wait for the right moment.

Think…

Come on, Victoria.

There has to be something.

She searched desperately for a plan.

Nothing came.

The vampires had just finished eating.

They were stronger than ever.

She, on the other hand, felt weaker than a newborn pup.

She couldn’t even scratch them.

How was she supposed to escape?

So she waited.

When morning arrived, one of the vampires threw her over his shoulder like a sack of grain.

Pain shot through her body.

She almost cried out.

Instead, she bit her lip so hard it hurt and stayed silent.

The three vampires suddenly stopped.

Had they noticed?

Her heart pounded inside her chest.

She forced herself to stay calm.

If her heartbeat became too fast, they would realize she was awake.

Thankfully, her body didn’t betray her.

Her breathing stayed slow and weak.

The lingering effects of the wolfsbane made her look exactly like someone still unconscious.

The vampires dismissed her slight movement as nothing more than a reflex.

One of them even laughed.

Perhaps they thought she was pitiful.

Too weak to fight back.

Victoria couldn’t argue with that.

At that moment, she really was helpless.

They continued moving through the forest.

Whenever they sensed werewolves nearby, they climbed high into the trees and hid among the thick branches until the danger passed.

Victoria never moved.

Several times she sensed werewolves nearby.

None of them were strong enough.

If she tried to escape now, the vampires would simply kill the nearby warriors before capturing her again.

She couldn’t let innocent people die because of her.

So she endured.

Day after day, she became better at pretending to be unconscious.

They tossed her around carelessly, but she never reacted.

Thankfully, the vampires never crossed another line.

They never touched her inappropriately.

Knowing that gave Victoria the strength to remain patient.

She could endure a little longer.

“In two days the wolfsbane will begin wearing off,” the vampire walking ahead reminded the others.

“We’ll need to inject her again.”

“Don’t forget.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

The vampire carrying Victoria sounded irritated.

“I heard you.”

Without warning, leaves rustled nearby.

All three vampires instantly jumped into the upper branches of a massive tree, disappearing into the thick canopy without making another sound.

A strange scent drifted through the air.

It smelled like crushed herbs.

Someone nearby was spraying an herbal mixture.

Victoria’s nose twitched.

The fine powder almost made her sneeze.

She quickly held her breath until the urge passed.

A few moments later, soft voices echoed through the forest.

Werewolf patrols.

Her heart skipped a beat.

That meant they were still inside werewolf territory.

She listened carefully.

One voice.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Only four warriors.

Not enough.

The thought came immediately.

Four ordinary werewolves couldn’t defeat three powerful vampires, especially while protecting an unconscious hostage.

Time was running out.

She remembered what the vampires had said.

Tomorrow they would inject her with another dose of wolfsbane.

If that happened, escaping would become almost impossible.

Judging from how quickly they were moving, they were already close to the border.

Fear tried to take hold of her.

She pushed it aside.

Slowly, she calmed her breathing again and conserved every bit of strength she had left.

Her body had entered survival mode.

The wolfsbane was still dulling her senses enough to fool the vampires into thinking she was unconscious.

But behind those closed eyes, her mind remained completely awake, waiting for the one chance that might save her.