Chapter 35 THE PRICE OF TRUST
Magnus, Xyra, and Reeve were sitting with Christian in one of the many huge rooms in his extravagant home. It was late, but they had things to discuss. They had to make a few plans so that when the demons came around, they'd all be ready. They weren't about to let anything happen to anybody else in this town.
"Any ideas?" asked Christian.
"The hardest part will be finding a place to lead them to," stated Magnus. "I'd rather not risk involving the citizens. We need an open area to fight in."
"Well…there's a small arena here. It's not nearly as big as the one in Drester, but it's a decent battlefield."
"Yeah, but now how would we lead them there?" asked Xyra as she sighed a bit, propping her elbows on her knees and resting her head in her hands. "They'd have to be pretty stupid or really eager to fall for a trick like this."
"There is one way," stated Magnus. "Everyone I talked to said the same thing. The demons really like women. All we have to do is bait them, so I was thinking…maybe…"
His eyes strayed towards Xyra, and she lifted hers to meet him. There was a smile on his face, one that was a bit pleading. His eyes stated that he was up to something though. He had a plan, and after studying him for a bit longer, she knew exactly what he wanted from her.
"No way!" she stated rather quickly. "You're not using me like that!"
"Please Xyra? You're the only one I can ask to do this."
"No way! You can't! I don't want…"
Magnus leaned in towards Xyra, and she instantly fell silent. There was a rather devious smile on Magnus's face, his eyes a bit narrow but not in a threatening way. He was looking at her rather strangely. It was a way that made her face feel like it was on fire. With how close he was and by the way his eyes were staring into her own, she couldn't fight back the blush that had crept onto her face. This was probably his intent though. He seemed to almost be trying to seduce her in order to get her to cooperate.
"Don't you trust me?" he asked her softly. "I promise I won't let anything happen."
She quickly tore her eyes away, not wanting to look at him anymore. She knew she was blushing fiercely now. She had never really taken into consideration just how attractive her companion was. She was slapping herself mentally right now for even thinking about something like that. I shouldn't have kept staring at him. Stupid Magnus… Just what was he trying to do?
"Please?" asked Reeve, snapping her back into reality. She looked at the child, his eyes pleading with her. "Could you please do it? You're the only one who can, miss."
"But…"
"Come on, Xyra," said Magnus with his airy smile back in place. "You know I won't let them actually hurt you." In a lower voice, he added, "You trust me, don't you?"
"… I guess…"
"So you'll do it?" A sigh escaped her lips.
"I guess so…"
"Great!" he exclaimed brightly, standing up from the couch. He stretched his arms up high over his head. "I'm gonna head off to sleep. We'll figure out the finer details tomorrow, okay? See ya!" He quickly left the room, the smile on his face reminding her of a child's. He seemed so excited about something as stupid as this. It was almost like this was only a game for him. In some ways it probably was. Killing demons was an enjoyable thing in his world, so putting together an elaborate plot to kill them probably just fed the excitement. Hunters sure are weird...
"You two must be close," said Christian. That quickly jolted her senses as she snapped her attention to the young mayor.
"How do you figure that?" she asked him a bit cynically.
"You seem to get along well."
"I've barely known him for a week!" If he was implying that there was anything between them, then she would have to ask him if he was sane. Magnus was simply a source of income. He was a dangerous one, but the payoff would definitely be worth it. He had a lot of money, and as long as she was with him, she had access to it.
"Time doesn't matter," he stated calmly. "I met and married Scarlette within two months. I loved her after just spending a few weeks with her."
"We're not like that," she told him, crossing her arms and looking away. "He's just a source of income."
"Source of income?" Both Christian and Reeve were staring at her a bit strangely now. She really had not meant to say that out loud, but there was no way to take it back. She would have to explain herself.
"He has a lot of money," she began. "As long as I travel with him, I can use it. If I can get in really well with him, maybe his family will give me some money too." She smiled at the idea.
"So he is from a rich family?" Christian questioned curiously. "I had been wondering about that. He seems to have a bit of a regal quality to him."
"Exactly, but I'm not entirely sure if his family is rich." Honestly, she really didn't know too much about him. He was a sorcerer, a hunter, he loved his job, and he was rather impatient and occasionally air-headed. That was about it. It was hard to tell if he ran deeper than that or not. He didn't seem to have too much to hide.
"Well, what is his last name?" the young mayor asked. "I know of quite a few wealthy families…"
"I think…let's see… When he entered that tournament, he said it was Coleman, but… I could be wrong."
"Coleman?" He seemed to be thinking it over. However, he didn't appear to be coming up with anything. "I know I've heard it before, but I can't quite remember…"
"That's okay. It's not like it matters. He's a hunter, so he makes a lot of money just by himself. That's all I care about."
"So…" began Reeve, looking a little disappointed. "You only follow him for money?" There was a sad look on the boy's face. He obviously didn't consider that a good reason. Then again, most didn't. Darren had even told her that women like her were the reason that hunters were usually single. A hunter was followed for money. Either Magnus didn't care about that fact or he wasn't aware of it. After all, he had never protested once about her following him, and he hadn't even bothered to ask why. He had just agreed.
"I'm afraid so," she told Reeve, a slightly sad smile on her face. She really didn't want the boy to think too badly of her. "That's just the way it is, I'm afraid. If I didn't need the money, I probably wouldn't be with him right now."
"So does that mean…you don't care?" asked Christian, a small smirk on his face. For being so young, his expression sure made him look wise. It always seemed like he knew something that everyone else didn't. "If something were to happen to him…would you care?" Strangely enough, a smile crossed her face.
"A friend said something similar to me once," she told him. "I do care. After all, people matter more than money." She stood up and stretched a bit. "I'm going to get some sleep."
"Alright," said Christian as he also got up from his chair. "We'll figure out the other steps of this plan tomorrow. I can't wait to tell Scarlette. She's going to have so much fun!"
"Fun?" Xyra questioned. Nothing about this sounded fun to her.
"Of course," he stated, a smirk on his face that greatly resembled Magnus's. "She loves dressing people up, doing hair…that type of thing."
"W-what?" She wasn't sure if she liked this idea.
"You're already very pretty, miss Xyra," he complimented, but his smirk only deepened. "But since you're the bait, we're going to turn you into the most amazing woman those demons have ever seen."