Chapter 189 A Plan To Catch a Snake

Chapter 189 A Plan To Catch a Snake
I stayed up the entirety of that night. I had been watching Nyx, patting her shoulder whenever she began to shudder uncontrollably, but mostly, I had been unable to sleep. Anything my eyes fell, the horrid image of a faceless demon would appear in my thoughts, whispering insidious thoughts into my head. 

Thoughts like murdering those I cared about in cold blood. It was terrible, and so I decided to force myself to stay awake.

At the first hint of morning light, a knock came from the door. I sniffled and gently raised Nyx’s head, positioning her carefully on the sofa’s armrest. Then, I dragged my fatigued body over to the door and unlocked it. 

Caligo stood in front of me, eyes heavy and sunken. He looked like he hadn't gotten any sleep either. 

“Hey,” I greeted softly.

“Hey,” His voice was quite hoarse. My nose twitched at the heavy smell of alcohol that wafted from his breath.

I stepped aside, allowing him entry, and asked as he did, “How are you holding up?”

Caligo collapsed into the bed instantly. 

“Not too good. Uh, make sure to wake me when Cassian arrives. He's preparing some things…”

“Uh, sure.” I closed the door and turned the lock. “Would you like some water?” I asked as I turned around, but when my eyes fell on Caligo, I realized that he was already snoring. 

He had fallen asleep.

A soft chuckle escaped my lips. With those tired steps of mine, I walked to the bed and adjusted his position so that he could have a better sleep. I sat on the edge for a while, my fingers caressing his face.

Sitting there, with nothing but my thoughts to keep me company, I wondered if I did the right thing by telling them. What if I had simply confronted Aurora without anyone knowing? Telling her to leave or else I was going to expose her awful deeds? Would that have been better? 

At least, Caligo would've retained the image of the caring motherly figure he had of her. Nyx too. 

“At the same time, what right do I have not to tell them? Something tells me that he will find out eventually…”

“Maybe this is how it should be. Besides, I can't be sure what that woman is planning. There might be a disaster coming..”

“But then, how are we supposed to tackle the problem of the virus like this? Caligo will be out of commission for a while once Aurora is exposed. The month ends in four days… we don't have much time…”

I battled with my thoughts for the longest time, weighing the options we had. In the end, I could not come to any conclusion. I had no idea what would've been the best course of action, so I could only steel my resolve and see things through to the end. 

What I was certain of was that, whatever it may be that we were going to face, we would surpass it together. 

…

Time slowly passed. 

Nyx woke up at some point. She rushed to the bathroom first, retching violently. I helped her clean up, then guided her back to the room. I proceeded to make some simple toast, spread jam over it, made hot tea, then took it to her in a tray. 

“Thank you,” Nyx hummed softly. 

She took a bite, chewed for a moment, then sniffled. “It tastes good.”

“It's just toast…” I sighed inwardly and patted her head.

A knock came from the door at that moment. After wiping my hands, I hurried to open it. Cassian was standing there with a bag in hand. 

“Good morning.” He greeted me, wearing a smile. I doubted if there was anything in the world that could get this man down. 

“Morning,” I nodded and stepped aside so he could walk in. When he did, the first thing he did was exclaim, “Ah, you're already eating. That's a shame. I brought food.”

“Food?” I asked as I shut the door.

Cassian nodded as he walked over to the dining table. He glanced briefly at the figure of Caligo laying motionless on the bed, chuckled, then placed the bag on the table. He brought out food in different containers one after the other, then began arranging it.

“Uh, please wake up that sleeping log. We'll eat while we discuss.”

Discuss what? I was puzzled, but I still tapped Caligo. He did not wake, so I had to shake him even harder. He finally let out a strained groan, before rolling and looking around in a daze.

“Wake up, sleeping beauty. Everything is in place.” Cassian said from over there. 

“Wait. I'm confused. What exactly is going on?” I asked as I helped Caligo to his feet. He staggered a few times, before finally finding proper footing and walking over to the dining table.

Nyx simply shook her head, indicating that she was fine where she sat. 

Once Caligo and I were seated, Cassian began his explanation. 

“So, yesterday, Caligo and I were thinking. If we were to suddenly confront Aurora, there would be no proof, right? It would be your word against hers, and even though we are more than willing to take your side, every other person in the manor would favor her.”

I nodded my head. That was understandable.

“So, what we need is to catch her in the act. But, Aurora is a werewolf like the rest of us. She would most likely notice or pick up on our scent if we were waiting in a corner. So, instead, what we did was bug the bath chamber.”

“Audio only. You don't need to worry. Now, it'll be up to you to get her to talk about those things you mentioned. Basically, we need her to reveal her true self. That way, we can have enough evidence for when we want to confront her.”

Hm.. I pursed my lips, thinking about the plausibility of the plan.

“But, won't she notice that I do not have a scar from back then? Aren't we hiding the fact that I'm part werewolf anymore?”

Cassian grinned. 

“Oh, don't worry. That won't pose a problem. We already spoke with the doctor, and there's a way to fake it. We just need some fake blood, bandages. Nothing extra. You just have to make sure she doesn't catch on to our plan. That woman is very intuitive, from what I've seen. So, are you in?”