Page 54

Irene sighed and licked her lips. "What are we going to do? Without the location spell I can't find her."

"Then I will burn the whole forest down to find them," Edward replied, his eyes glaring red and when he sensed a human watching him, his gaze turned to her sharply and he flashed his fangs at her, making her cower in fear.

"Edward," Irene put her hand on him, "calm down, she is innocent."

Edward growled, "the more I stay here, the more I am wasting time."

"But what are you going to do?"

"I already told you what I am going to do."

"You can't do that, you will annoy the demons and I don't need to remind you that you are not in peaceful term with them already." She sighed and licked her lips, "is there a scent you perceived here other than hers?"

"Yes. Witches," he replied.

"Where exactly?"

Edward took a long sniff, "here," he pointed to the chair he was sitting on earlier.

Irene nodded and went over to the chair. Placing her hand on it, she closed her eyes and started muttering an incantation. Edward watched her, surprised at first but when he saw her shivering, he placed his hands on her shoulders and shook her softly. "Irene?" he called softly but her eyes remained closed and a second later, he noticed blood trailing out of her nostril, "Irene," he called a little louder now and her eyes opened but they were ashen in color and she was stiff. "Irene," Edward called again, shaking her now to wake her up and finally, life returned in her eyes and she exhaled tiredly, falling into his arms. He helped her sit down on the chair she was holding just now and looked at her worriedly, "are you alright?"

"She is a strong one," she whispered, panting. She shook her head and wiped away the blood from her nose, "very strong. She must be a leader of a coven hence why it was hard reading her location from her place of contact. But anyways," she looked at him with a soft smile, "I'm pretty strong on my own. They are in the woods, red carriage. But you have to hurry, she is trying to create a portal to transfer them."

"What about you?" Edward asked, even though he was already in a haste to leave, he still had to ask about her.

"Don't worry, I will be fine. I just need to get my strength back first," she smiled and he nodded and was out the door before she could say something else. She chuckled softly and her eyes scanned around the room, not at all surprised to find all eyes on her. She flashed the humans a soft smile and placed her head on the table, their tiny little brains will never understand what just happened. She just hope Edward would get to them in time, her vision just now may be a little late than the present time but he is the fastest vampire she knows, she believes that he would meet up in time, hopefully.

***

"What is it?" A man asked the white haired woman.

The woman closed her eyes and when she opened them, she turned to the man, "someone just tapped on my location," she turned to the girl sleeping beside her. "We have to hurry up, I can feel him coming."

"Oh God no," the man exclaimed.

"Shut up, what is wrong with you?"

"I thought you said the rogues would keep him busy?"

"That was the plan, but it seems being more than two thousand years old have an advantage."

"Oh maybe the mating mark called him?"

"No," she shook her head. "She is having a peaceful sleep so the mating mark won't alert him of any danger. If she had marked him then yes but she hasn't, the bond is not yet complete and that is why we have to be out of here as soon as possible."

"But what if he finds us? To be honest, I don't really want to engage in a fight with the Dark Prince," the man said. The woman stared at him in disgust and turned back to drawing the circle she was drawing before on the carriage floor. "I'm really serious."

"Shut up," she glared at him, "I need to concentrate." Ignoring him, she went back to her drawings and when finally complete. She brought out three candles of different colors and lit them up. "Quickly, bring her into the circle," she ordered and the man obeyed, carrying Aliyah and placing inside the circle. The woman stood at the center and the man joined. She closed her eyes and started muttering an incantation.

A loud sound forced her to open her eyes and she glanced at the man. Soon, they felt like the carriage was being lifted up. "Oh no," she whispered.

"What is it?" The man asked, his eyes wandering around. "You mean you are not doing this?"

"Of course I am not doing it," she whispered and her eyes scanned around, "he is here."

"No," the man shouted as the carriage roof was uprooted and they stared at the cleared sky at the man hanging midair with his eyes burning red. "What the?" the man exclaimed. "Even if he is an original, he is not supposed to be doing that."

"He was right," the woman whispered, "he is more than a nightwalker."

"What?" the man asked but the woman grabbed his hand and started chanting some more. Soon, a blue light enveloped them and the other man that has been riding the carriage came in to join them, holding hands with them.

Edward growled when he saw their intention and lifting the carriage in air, he caused it to break into smithereens and rushed forward to catch Aliyah right before she hit the ground. The horse neighed and ran away and Edward's red gaze landed on the three people that really hold his anger. The woman quickly joined hands with the men and they disappeared right before Edward could get to them for the incantation was finally complete. He growled in annoyance at their obvious escape but when he looked at the girl in his arms, he sighed in relief and leaned down to kiss her forehead before he ran back to the restaurant.

Irene wasn't expecting to see him back so soon and at first, she had thought he missed them but when she saw the girl he was cradling in his arms, she sighed in relief and went to them before they got to her. "What happened?"

"I can't get her to wake up," he complained in a soft voice. "The mark is not telling me of any danger but she is not waking up." He looked at her then with pleading eyes, "can you do something?"

"Yes, we just need to detoxify her sleeping spell. Like I said, she is a strong one and nothing must go wrong. We have to go to my cottage; I have the necessary ingredients there."

Edward nodded and carrying Aliyah on his shoulder, he wrapped his hand on Irene's waist and they sprinted out of the room. He stopped where he had left Rasmus fighting with the rogues and he wasn't surprised to see dead bodies surrounding the red eyed man. "You can go home, Rasmus," he said and the man turned to him.

"But my Prince, I need to..."

"I will be back soon, do not worry about me," Edward said.

"But...the high chiefs..." Rasmus was saying but the man was gone and he could only sigh and look at the mess around him. He has fought with the rogues a lot of times but never like tonight, it was almost like they were insane. He stared at his bloodied body and decided it was best he went home; he needs to freshen up after all.

Getting to Irene's cottage, she directed Edward to place Aliyah on the bed as she started cooking up a concoction. Edward sat beside Aliyah in the bed holding her hand as details of the night played in his mind. He wondered what would have happened had he not went back in time or had he not found the witches on time, what would have been her fate? Or his fate? He closed his eyes, this has been going on for too long, who exactly is that man and what on earth does he want with his Aliyah?

The door opening made him open his eyes and Irene smiled and entered, closing the door behind her. She walked up to him and stood, carrying the cup she had come in with. Edward helped by cradling Aliyah's head and slightly opening her mouth and Irene smiled and leaned forward, then slowly, she fed her the medicine. "She is fine now," she said just as Aliyah moaned softly, "she will be up in a few minutes."

"Thank you, Irene," he whispered and the woman smiled and left the room, leaving him alone to his thoughts again.

The movement from the woman beside him on the bed got Edward looking at her and sighing in relief when she opened her eyes. He surprised her by leaning down and kissing her right before she even said a word to him. When he finally let her lips go, he placed his forehead on hers, "you are fine now," he whispered.

Aliyah accommodated his touch so much that she moaned at his mere presence. "What happened?"

"It doesn't matter anymore, you are here, with me and safe."

"Edward..."

"Aliyah," he interrupted softly, "mark me."