Chapter 9
512words
On a subconscious level, they simply refused to let go.
They could not bring themselves to admit how foolish it was to overlook her as a suspect.
Still, their movements and expressions were growing increasingly impatient.
Claire and I exchanged a glance and let out a cold, knowing laugh.
The vampire spell on the front door had suddenly sealed it shut.
The passing driver had refused to help and had clearly been affected by vampire illusion magic.
Silver beads were scattered all over the floor.
The criminal had known exactly that both Claire and I were carrying vampire babies.
If it wasn’t someone close to those two men, then who else could it be?
None of this could be a coincidence.
The answer was already painfully obvious.
My fists clenched tightly, pain biting into my palms.
The sunlight grew sharper, and a burning heat crept across my back.
Claire noticed my reaction at once.
She quickly reached out and gently patted my back, urging me to calm down.
The driver was still trembling, repeating what he knew.
He said that when he saw me trapped in the fire, he had almost softened.
He wanted to help, even without the money.
But his body simply would not move.
All he could do was repeat the same words, cold and mechanical.
“Pay first. Then I’ll help.”
He broke down completely, dropping to his knees and begging for our forgiveness.
He said he didn’t know what had come over him.
He had been driven mad by money.
It wasn’t until Claire stole his car that he suddenly snapped out of it.
After that night, he watched the news constantly.
When two weeks passed without a warrant, he thought everything was over.
But even without being arrested, the guilt never left him.
The interrogation room fell into silence after his testimony.
Who would deliberately try to kill two pregnant women?
Who would make them miss their only chance of rescue and leave them to die in despair?
If Claire hadn’t gone out for a walk that night because she couldn’t sleep, both of us would have died in that house.
Ethan closed his eyes in pain, not even noticing the sunlight slowly shifting toward him.
Perhaps he had never imagined that the fire was truly Vicky’s doing.
Now that the truth was laid bare, everything he believed collapsed.
Other than Vicky, who else could have touched that door and cast vampire illusion magic on the driver?
She had been with them that day, yes, but there were moments when she was out of their sight.
Given her speed, a round trip to the cabin within ten minutes was entirely possible.
And it was also that same day that she had “accidentally” disabled Lucien’s secondary card.
Suddenly, Ethan remembered the burn marks on Vicky’s palm.
They were far too severe to be caused by the cross pendant alone.
Several round burn scars remained, not covered by the cross-shaped wound at all.
They were marks left by silver beads.
