Chapter 202 Chapter 202
His disdain for Delilah automatically got projected onto Valerie. How naïve of her to enter a relationship with a high-class demon. She should know better than that. Just like Delilah, she meddled with a world that was too big for her. Mason would never forgive Delilah—and he had vowed to himself to destroy anyone who shared her fate.
The happiness of each bonded couple he came across was like acid on his already rotten heart.
Delilah had been his many years ago, and Mason had been obsessed with her. He had planned to make a bond with her to chain her to him, to make sure she would forever be his. However, she had run away from him before he could set his plan into motion, and he had needed a long time to find her. When he did, she was bonded to Seth, and Mason had been livid to see their happy relationship. He couldn’t take it. She was his, and he would never share her with anybody. Seth was a menace in his eyes, but getting rid of him meant killing her, so Mason was reluctant to take action.
In an attempt to win her back, Mason had visited her in her new home in New York. The boundless fear in her eyes had angered him, and he had realized that she would never look at him the way she looked at Seth. Mason had lost control then and there, his fiery magic exploding around him. In his unbridled rage, he had killed her. It had been an accident, not his intention, and that made him realize how fragile humans were. They weren’t supposed to get close to demons. And yet, some of them did.
His hatred had been directed at himself at first since losing her forever pained him, but soon, he began to project his loathing onto other people. He found that killing bonded couples and destroying their happiness could alleviate his rage and the pain momentarily, so it had become his new obsession. For years, he had been doing this, and so far, nobody had stopped him. He had even gained some acquaintances who had followed his orders. The blood mage had been fairly useful to him, but he had died since he had become too arrogant and underestimated Maxwell. Mason would not make the same mistake.
It was ironic that this couple was acquainted with the same people as Delilah and Seth had been. History was bound to repeat itself, and Mason would make sure to eradicate them just as he had eradicated the other couples before them. If he couldn’t be happy with Delilah, then no other demon was allowed to be satisfied with a human either.
It was only a matter of time until Maxwell would get careless. And Mason would be there to strike.
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It was a quiet December evening, and the sun had set already. The city’s snow-covered streets were illuminated by streetlamps, and hardly anyone was around since the weather was very cold and unpleasant.
Valerie wanted to start dinner soon so it would be ready when Maxwell returned—whenever that would be. He hadn’t specified, but he usually didn’t stay gone for too long. The demons had planned to meet up in his home in hell to discuss their plans concerning Mason. She hoped that they had found any new leads or at least other demons who knew Mason’s whereabouts. This situation irked her, and as long as it wasn’t resolved, she would never truly be at ease.
Whatever Mason planned, he likely was already onto them. Killing his acquaintance—the blood mage—must have enraged him and put them into his firing line. Valerie wasn’t keen on fighting a demon who possessed the element of fire, as it was incredibly destructive and dangerous. Only touching a flame would cause dire damage to her human body… and since he had already burnt Delilah, he wouldn’t hesitate to do the same to her. She was scared of that. Her light magic wasn’t particularly efficient against fire magic. These elements were evenly matched; neither was stronger than the other. She and she didn’t have any advantages.
Valerie sighed, wishing she had someone to talk to to distract herself from her unease, but she was all alone in her flat. Not even Mochi was here as it had gone outside earlier today and not returned since. The kitty had a mind of its own and sometimes disappeared randomly, only to reappear hours later.
With nothing better to do, she trudged to the kitchen and readied pots and a pan so she could start making dinner. She would make something that wouldn’t take long to cook, throwing a glance into the fridge. Maybe she could surprise Maxwell by preparing something that he liked… In the time they had lived together, Maxwell had found many dishes that he loved—even though they were human food. Valerie had noticed that he had become more open towards humans over time, slowly but surely leaving his hatred behind. She was relieved about this and hoped that one day he would be over it.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang, the sound surprising her and tearing her from her thoughts. She closed the fridge and hurried to the front door, wondering who would visit her at this hour. Valerie glanced through the peephole and was surprised to see the man she had run into at the mall about one week ago—Jimmy.
Confused, she wondered what he was doing at her home. As far as she could remember, they had only exchanged their first names; no phone numbers, no addresses, nothing. How in the world had he found this place?
She was about to put her hand on the doorknob, but hesitated. Something wasn’t right. Maxwell’s crest on her wrist glowed brighter, and then it stung her abruptly. Pain shot up her arm. She immediately inched backward. That had been a warning—she was in immediate danger. And considering how much it had hurt, it had to be dire. She had never received a warning like this before. Fear grew within her, icy and cold. Her pulse accelerated. She sensed traces of magic on Yifan, but unlike before, she was now able to identify it as fire magic. The feral kind that only a demon could exude.