By the time Damien knew about his ability, his aunt had already passed away but his mother wasn’t happy with the family. With what his uncle had married into, a white witch who had caused enough problems to the pureblooded vampires by tapping into the forbidden magic.
It wasn’t known by many on who had caused the binding of the black magic in Wovile but the ones who even had helped the other creatures by standing against the black witches weren’t well received. The witches were burnt, either way, be it good or bad.
“I came to visit Alex when everyone was asleep or when I went sauntering out of the mansion but it wasn’t for too many hours. My mother could turn paranoid when we stayed out for too many hours,” he said calmly with no emotion in his voice right now.
“I think it is wonderful that you have someone like Lord Alexander to share your thoughts with if you ever need to,” Penny squeezed his hand. Neither of them had ever hid things between them, opening up about their lives as the time when by little and little.
Lady Isabelle was a woman Penny had come to admire and it was a shame that Damien’s mother had failed to see it. Maybe, maybe if the woman had let Lady Isabelle into her life, then maybe they would have found a cure for her irrecoverable illness.
After three more hours passed, the boy had finished writing and making two more copies for them to take.
“Keep this one here. It might turn to be useful,” said Damien letting one of the copies they had first written to reside in this book room. Giving him and the bookkeeper gold coins, they made their way out to look at the clouds that had turned dark. Resembling close to the clouds of Bonelake.
They went back to the magistrate’s office to see the man have fallen asleep at the desk with Elliot who was playing cards by himself as he switched back and forth between two sets that was placed on the table.
Sensing their presence, Elliot turned, placing the cards on the table, “Welcome back.”
“What happened to him?” Penny asked worriedly.
Elliot waved his hand as if it was nothing, “He just fell asleep after crying,” he pointed the empty glass at the table, “I see you got the books made,” he eyed Penny’s hands.
“Did anyone visit him?”
“None at all. I think the black witch who had been watching us tipped some of her sisters and brothers,” when Elliot spoke Penny closed her eyes at the error of why she hadn’t noticed it clearly before.
“Oh no…” Penny murmured under her breath, “I don’t think it was the witch who was at the roof. Do you remember the man who was here when we arrived?”
“Are you telling me that he is a black witch?” Damien asked. Both he and Elliot had failed to notice it, and even Penny who been studying about the black witches had not noted it.
She didn’t know why she hadn’t realized it before, “It was his hands, they were black and dark. Almost rotten.”
“How strange,” Elliot commented, “I remember his hands being extra clean.”
“Maybe I was the only one who could see it?” she was the only white witch while Damien and Elliot were vampires who must have not been able to identify it.
Damien then said, “It must be the potion you and Alexander were making,” that was right, “A white witch cannot identify a black witch. Only a black witch can spot another black witch,” Penny was happy but at the same time, her shoulders drooped that she might be in the process of turning to a black witch, “Don’t look so glum. You haven’t turned into a black witch yet, mouse.”
She could do nothing but sigh, “I thought only after a complete transformation one could be called a black witch,” at least that is what she had thought it was.
“Maybe your internal body constitution is different which is either speeding the process or trying to balance both the white and black blood in you. I don’t think it is speeding the process else I would have seen your skin change. Unfortunately, we don’t have Murkh with us and even we go now he’s occupied with other cases. Once we go back to the Delcorv’s mansion, we will have Alexander check your blood,” Damien patted her head, “Your eyes are fine,” he assured her.
Damien went to the desk, pulling the drawers again on both sides to pull out the papers which the man was signing when they had arrived here.
“What is in there?” asked Elliot, craning his neck to see what was written in there.
“I don’t think the magistrate knew that he was a black witch. The witch had come to check on him, to make sure everything was going according to the plan that he hadn’t told the council anything about the spitgrass. The component that is in here is the remaining and last one in all the four lands. The council had got it burnt but the witches continued to save it,” putting the papers down, Damien sighed.
Penny looked at the man when she heard him mumbling something under his breath in his half-conscious state, “What if they aren’t going to wait until tomorrow?” she asked them, “What if they are going to come tonight,” after all it was just a small package of the dried leaves and seeds in it which would take less than two minutes for them to come here and take it from the man.
“I don’t think we need to wait for that long,” Damien said, his ears picking something in the wind and so did Elliot who turned to look at the door and then the window.
Penny who didn’t have a keen hearing like vampires looked at them. Walking towards the uncleaned window to see something swoop right across the window and saw people starting to run with screams.
The black witches were here.
.
.
*Synopsis for the 5th book in the series- Belle Adams’ Butler*
Waking up from a nightmare several hours before dawn, Belle fetched a drink of water.
She paused in front of her kitchen’s window when she noticed a lit lantern in front of her mansion’s garden. Her butler stood there, shovel in hand. This was no hour to be gardening.
Curious, she made her way outside, but when she had gotten close enough to see a large and hollow pit next to her eternally-stoic and polite butler, she saw him pick up a rotten body.
A DEAD BODY!
Her eyes widened fearfully when she saw her handsome butler drop the rotting body into the fresh hole. She asked in horror, “What are you doing?!”
Surprised to see his young miss awake at this hour, he stared at her with the same expression he had been keeping up for all these years. He had made sure she was asleep before coming here.
“Gardening.”
“And the body?!” she looked at him in disbelief.
“Fertilizer,” he answered her before picking up the shovel that was on the ground. Belle was now certain something had possessed her butler. Who gardened dead bodies?!
She then heard him ask her, “Want to help me in planting it, Miss Adams?”
