Chapter 158 Chapter 158
Sensing a sinister aura, Valerie drew in a breath, quivering in fear and stumbling backward. Terrified, she clung to Maxwell’s hand, who scrunched his brows as he gazed at her.
“I want to leave. Let’s go back outside,” she whispered. The mark on her wrist burned, and the uncomfortable feeling of being watched overcame her. It was a sensation comparable to ants crawling over her skin. She despised it.
“That’s fine. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. It’s not worth the trouble when you aren’t feeling well,” he replied and held her hand as they turned back to the entrance to leave. They didn’t get very far.
“No. No, no, no,” she whispered frantically. Her eyes widened slowly as she came to a realization. Her stomach dropped, terror causing her to shudder. The door was gone. Their way out of the building had just vanished in the blink of an eye without them noticing. They were staring at a solid wall with a large symbol written over it. It looked similar to an eye, and it unsettled her.
“Where’s the exit?” she breathed, shaking like a leaf. The sense of danger within her was growing and growing.
Maxwell glared at the wall with bright red eyes, clenching his hand into a fist when he recognized the symbol that decorated it. “It was a trap. We walked right into a trap,” he snarled. “Fuck. Whoever made this knows what they’re doing. I did not notice the spell at all.”
“Please tell me you can get us out of here,” she said fearfully.
“There is only one way. We need to find the person who created this trap. They need to undo the spell,” he muttered darkly. “I’m guessing that they are waiting for us somewhere in here.”
“Oh, please no,” she mumbled, nervously rubbing her arms. She had seldom felt this uncomfortable—right now, all of her instincts were screaming at her to flee, but she couldn’t. There was nowhere to run.
“That woman from earlier,” he growled. “She’s suspicious.”
“You mean Lisa?”
“Yes. She was the one who suggested coming here… and she was the one who wanted you to go inside alone. I bet this trap was set up by her.”
Valerie couldn’t believe it. “What are you saying? She’s a human and unaware of…”
“So what?” he cut her off. “It’s not that hard to manipulate a regular human with magic. Especially not when you’re a blood mage.”
“You think the person behind this is…” she trailed off.
“Probably the person Xander warned us about.”
She fell silent as dread pooled in her stomach. How had that mage known about them being at the party? Just how? They couldn’t have found them by pure coincidence. And since the mage had had time to prepare a trap, they must have planned this.
Maxwell heaved a deep sigh, staring at the cracked tiles on the floor. “I told you we shouldn’t have accompanied those humans. I will never understand why you always feel obligated to help everyone,” Maxwell grumbled. “We could have stayed at the club and had more fun, but no, you just had to babysit those dumb humans. Why can’t you let them run into their doom if they want that so much?”
“They don’t know of the dangers that the supernatural world poses to them. They have no idea that they might encounter actual demons in this building. To them, this is just a game,” Valerie explained. “And since I am aware of the danger, I feel obligated to keep them safe. On top of that, I couldn’t bear the thought of being responsible for their demise. Should anything happen to them without me trying to help, my conscience would kill me.”
He sent her an odd look, not completely following her way of thinking.
“I know that this must sound like bullshit to a demon, but to me, looking out for others is important,” she then added, hoping to make him understand. “View it from a different angle: Didn’t you accompany me here for a similar reason? You could have stayed outside and waited, but you chose to join me.”
“Like I would have let you walk in here alone,” he huffed and crossed his arms.
“See? You’re worried about me,” she smiled. “I want to keep them safe like you want to keep me safe. Got it?”
“I don’t think you can compare these two things,” he said. “Those humans out there aren’t worth the effort, you, on the other hand…” His lips stretched into a smirk. “You are mine. And I like to protect what’s mine.”
She flushed. “Flirt.”
“Ah, I see you’re blushing again,” he teased, smirking wider.
“Damn demon,” she muttered.
“Damn human,” he mimicked cheekily.
She wasn’t sure if it was his intention, but their conversation moved her thoughts away from her trepidation. She wasn’t that scared anymore since she concentrated mostly on him and not their creepy surroundings.
“Stop pouting, sugar.”
“I am not pouting,” she grumbled, hugging her shivering body to keep warm. It was freezing in the hallway, and her flimsy Halloween costume wasn’t meant to be worn in a place like this. Neither were her high heels. She hoped she wouldn’t break her ankles here.
“You’re cold, aren’t you?”
“Well, this stupid costume isn’t exactly warm…”
“You might get sick at this rate,” he sighed and slipped off his black leather jacket. “Take this.”
“But you only have a thin shirt underneath,” she said.
“Demons aren’t bothered by the cold,” he shrugged and shoved the jacket in her hands. “Put it on.” It sounded more like an order than anything else, especially paired with the steely look in his eyes.
“Thank you,” she said and put it on without complaints, closing it in the front. It was warmed up by his body heat, and it protected her from the freezing temperature. She curled her fingers around the edges of the sleeves that were a bit too long.
“You’d be lost if you didn’t have me,” he then added, sounding quite arrogant and full of himself. The way he raised his chin reminded her of a snobbish cat.
“Yes, indeed,” she chuckled amusedly. “What a lucky human I am to have a demon around.”
“You’re the luckiest,” he nodded.
She snorted and stood on her tiptoes to give him a sweet kiss on his cheek. “Let’s hurry and get out of here. I promised you a strawberry cake, remember?”
“You said you’d make two!” he reminded her.
“And that’s why we should leave as soon as possible.”
“Well, first I have to kick this bastard’s ass for cornering us here,” he growled, scrunching his nose in disgust. “Blood mages are scum.”