The man scratched the back of his neck, “Master Damien, I could see her lower face. Her lips were pretty and pink. I say anything and you start speaking about killing me.”
“Are you sure she was a white witch?”
The man nodded his head, who was standing far from the pureblooded vampire but not far enough where he had to shout to give out the information, “She showed me this charm stone that was red in color. The ruby.”
The charm stones were designed by the white witches, for one to create, they had to have access to the ingredients and the spell books which not everyone could reach out for. The only people who could do it were the white witches who belonged to the church as they were put under the protection of the law until they decided to follow the words of the council. Charmstones were stopped a few years ago, to even possess one, one had to ask for permission. If he could follow the trails by looking up through the registry, then it wouldn’t be too hard to find who it was.
He wondered why the white witch had come here looking for the eye-patched man.
“I thought she was joking at first. I mean everyone comes up walking here claiming to be a witch and then we find out they aren’t one. So I told her I wanted a proof after she pointed out about my eyes that had turned red. She got me there,” the man continued to babble, “It was while talking randomly did she tell that my friend was not there anymore. That Bathsheba has run away from the village she used to live in. Not like Bathsheba and I was friends, we were more sort of acquaintances. Yes. Why were you asking if I spoke to a witch. Black witch?”
“Yes, I heard something very disturbing about them yesterday.”
“Oh?” the man leaned slightly forward in interest, “What was that?”
“That is what I came here for. To know what it is,” Damien said cooly making the man confused. Did Damien say he had heard something disturbing?
“The black witches have been visiting here?” the man nodded to his question, “What have they been coming here for? What were the most bought items?”
“It was the usual dead animals,” hearing the man reply back, Damien drew to a conclusion that is one knew nothing.
Damien put his hand in his pocket, pulling out a coin and throwing it towards the human where the human caught it in his hand, “Let me know if you find something,” Damien didn’t stay to further talk and make idle conversation. He started to walk away from the alley and back to the heart of the black market. He saw the empty stage where the slave auctions were usually held.
Walking by, he caught sight of another trader similar to the man he had just spoken. The traders were usually humans or half-vampire, behaving like mediators who often handled in transaction between different creatures, earning silver or gold coins depending on who gave them work. The trader was none other than the woman whom he had spoken to the day he had found Penelope here.
Heading towards her, he saw that the woman had noticed him from afar, smiling at him invitingly, “Hello, Master. I see you have come here seeking for things. Did you find it?” she asked, her eyes sparkling as they looked at him. Her accent felt thicker, yet smooth as she spoke as if she had come from Valeria.
“I didn’t. I was hoping you would be a darling to help me out,” he sweetened the words for her ears.
“That will depend on what you can give me. Why don’t you take a seat?” she patted the empty space next to where she was sitting.
“I think I will stand,” he smiled back at her.
“You want information from me but won’t sit?” she asked. Damien looked around him sitting in front of her on his heels instead of next to her. The woman smiled, leaning forward towards him, she asked, “How can I help you?”
“Do you know what is the most bought things by the black witches?” he asked her, waiting for her to answer.
“I do.”
“What is it?” he asked.
“We traders don’t give away information that easily. There’s always a give and take, Mr. Quinn. Did you think I don’t know who you are?” she asked, a coy smile forming on her red lips, “You created quite some uproar a few months ago when you picked a girl from here. Is she doing well?”
He instead asked her, “How many coins are you looking for?” he pulled two gold coins from his pocket and place it in front of her. The woman though pushed his fingers back to cover the coins that were in the palm of his hand.
“How about a kiss on my cheek like a lover for the trade of what I give ?”
“Don’t you think you are trying too hard?” he raised a brow.
She shrugged her shoulders, “Women like me can only dream for one like you,” she smiled looking straight in his eyes, “I don’t think the girl you took home would mind.”
“I don’t think it works either way. She claims to not be jealous though I can’t blame her. Some women can be really dumb,” he replied back to her with a smile.
“Why don’t you share a kiss with me, you will have something to make her jealous.”
Damien gave out a chuckle at that idea, “Tough luck with that. So tell me, what did the black witches buy?”
She gave him a stare, a few seconds passing by, “They are collecting euphorine,” Damien’s brows furrowed deeply hearing this. Euphorine was an element or substance that was created only in the pureblooded vampires. An element that was responsible for turning humans to half-vampires. If the witches were meddling with it, it meant they were trying to create more vampires which didn’t make sense.
The black witches were so good with their magic that it was possible for them to have the half turned humans to obey their biddings.
“By the way, do you remember our first conversation?”
“How can I forget, master. Handsome men are not easy to forget especially when one looks like you. Isn’t that why I asked you for a lover’s kiss,” she fluttered her eyes, “What did you want to know about it?”
“You said the product was taken by someone else. A man with two different color eyes. How did he look?” his voice came out low to avoid any possible listeners that were walking by to not catch on what he was asking.
With a thoughtful expression she said, “He must have been of average height. Slightly on the heftier side, short black hair. Possibly a squarish jaw,” he took a deep breath.
“Did he have a moustache?” she nodded her head. The person both the traders were speaking about was one of the high standing councilmen.
Leaning forward he gave her an airy kiss, “A kiss like one would give to a sister. Thank you for the information,” he winked, standing up and disappearing in the crowd.
