Chapter 30 Mixed-race Joe; 🪬
After Elly left the Blackwood mansion in the morning, Caleb also got into his car and drove away from the manor. Seeing his father leave, Joe initially thought his father was following Elly and jumped into his own vehicle to pursue him. However, he later realized his father had arrived at the old lumber mill on the edge of town. He immediately got out of his car and, without entering his father's detectable scent range, tried to listen from a distance.
The voice he heard was familiar, it was the hunters' leader!
"Hello, old friend," the man said as he embraced Caleb.
The sound was coming from far away. Joe couldn't hear clearly; it was like a buzzing. Then the voice became a bit clearer.
The hunter leader was shouting angrily. "I don't understand why you want us not to touch the girl. Even if Kael is cursed, he's an alpha. He's gathered his strength, last time he tore dozens of my men apart alive, Caleb! For God's sake, it's easier to destroy the Rose girl. If she gathers her ancient magical powers, it will be impossible to kill her. When that day comes, we should fear her, not the alpha."
Caleb's voice was sharp, cutting through the air like a blade.
"That child will not be harmed!"
Joe's brain began buzzing with what he heard. He couldn't make sense of his father trying to protect Eva despite wanting to prevent the seal from being completed. The first day Eva came to town, his father had sent Joe to protect her. At first, Joe was just doing what his father told him. Over time, his attitude and feelings toward Eva had changed. He felt close to her, drawn to her in ways he didn't understand.
But then he remembered the day he had led the hunters to Eva's house. While making the plan, he had emphasized repeatedly that Eva would not be attacked. Their goal was to kill the alpha while he was in human form. Joe had acquired much ancient guardian knowledge from his past with Elly. One of those pieces of knowledge was that the alpha could smell all the hunters from that distance and sense their movements.
But he didn't want to risk even the slightest possibility of Kael dying. Not because he cared about Kael, but because he didn't want Eva to be hurt. Somehow, all his feelings seemed to shape themselves around Eva.
That's why he hadn't told the hunters this information. He had deliberately led them into a trap. Of course, as a result of this move, Kael had nearly killed him.
Then he focused more intently on the conversation. He heard the phrase "this dawn."
Christmas night was tomorrow evening, at the time of the midnight oath.
So what would happen at this dawn?
Joe frowned. Whatever it was, this time he wouldn't just watch.
That night, fog had covered the town's outskirts, wrapping everything in a thick, oppressive white blanket.
When Eva returned home from being with Kael, she had to explain herself to Grandmother Agnes for quite a while. Elly tried hard to support her, but Grandmother had cornered these two young girls, interrogating them about where and with whom they had been.
But at least Agnes was happy that the ancient midnight seal had strengthened. As a guardian, the old woman would complete the midnight oath ritual tomorrow on Christmas night, and with Eva bringing Homay's light back to earth, she too would regain her ancient guardian powers.
Though her eyes searched for the Rose women and friends from the past, she was content that Eva was the last person to continue the surviving bloodline.
Agnes returned to her own home to prepare for the midnight seal union ceremony that would take place the following night. But after the last attack incident, even though she didn't have the full power to protect Eva, Elly had chosen to stay with her.
Eva knew that outside the waterfall cave, Kael could only easily take human form at midnight. But Elly staying with her could somewhat protect her from the lustful adventures she might have with Kael. Because the two of them were like fire and gunpowder for each other, the attraction between them was increasing with each passing hour. That's why, at least until the ritual, it was better for them to stay apart. But Eva couldn't bear him being outside alone in the cold. That's why she had told him to go to the waterfall cave where he would be safe and warm.
Now the laughter of the two young girls filled the mountain house, echoing off the wooden walls.
But outside, dark footprints were multiplying in the snow, beginning to circle the house like predators.
Eva was sitting in front of the fireplace, caressing the seal on her chest with her fingertips. She had just discovered this, now that their bond was approaching its strongest state, Kael could feel this touch too.
Then she withdrew her fingers and a few seconds later felt the touch on the seal. Kael was saying "I'm here" as it were.
Elly, watching this state of theirs, grumbled. "Okay, but enough, I'm going to throw up from your love now. I feel like a mother waiting at her daughter's side so she won't elope with her husband," she said.
Eva was giggling with laughter. Elly frowned but couldn't hide the smile on her face. "Don't laugh, I'm your guardian but I don't think they gave me this title to protect your virginity," she said.
"Oh shut up," Eva said, hitting her, her cheeks slightly flushed.
Then she heard a voice, it was Kael's voice. It was echoing inside her head. With his raspy and that savage tone. "I'm outside, my love," he whispered.
Eva stood up excitedly. She looked through the window but couldn't see him.
"What happened?" Elly asked. "I told Kael to go to the waterfall cave, but apparently he couldn't help but see me, he came," she said. She immediately reached for her coat and put it on.
"Wait, I'll come too," Elly said, standing up.
Eva, laughing, said, "Now you really look like a virginity guardian. Calm down, I'll just see him for a few minutes and come back."
Elly rolled her eyes. "Okay fine, go then. But don't be late or I'm coming, you know!" she said.
"Okay," Eva said, quickly going outside.
The area in front of the mountain house was illuminated by moonlight but there was no one there. She looked around curiously.
"Kael, where are you?" she called out but got no answer. Then she said, "My love, where are you?" and saw two amber eyes at the point where the path connected to the forest. She ran toward him, giggling.
"Elly wouldn't have kicked you out, you could have come into the house." But suddenly, fear gripped her eyes with the two spotlight beams she saw before her.
Just as she raised her hands and was about to use her powers, she felt a needle in her neck. She slowly collapsed to the ground and the last thing she saw was the cold tone of the full moon...
Elly paced back and forth in front of the fireplace. She glanced at the old clock on the mantle.
"She said a few minutes," she muttered to herself. "It's been more than ten minutes."
Something felt wrong. Her guardian instincts were screaming at her, a warning sensation crawling eerily up her spine.
She went to the window and looked out. The moonlight painted everything silver, but she couldn't see Eva or Kael anywhere.
"Eva?" she called out, opening the door.
Silence reigned. Only the wind answered her.
The night air was cold and unnaturally still. Too still, too quiet.
"EVA!" she shouted louder, stepping onto the porch, her heart beginning to race.
Then she saw them, drag marks in the pristine white snow, leading toward the forest. And there was something dark staining the white ground.
Her heart pounded rapidly. Could this be blood?
"No, no, no..." she breathed, running down the steps, nearly slipping on the ice. Her ankle twisted but she immediately recovered.
She followed the tracks. And there, at the edge where the trees began, she found Eva's coat, thrown to the ground and crumpled.
Elly's hands trembled as she picked it up. The chemical scent, chloroform or something similar, still lingered on the fabric, making her eyes water.
"EVA!" she screamed into the darkness, her voice shaking with fear.
But only the mocking wind answered her, swallowing her desperate cry in an instant.
Elly's legs gave out and she fell to her knees in the snow, pressing the coat to her chest. Hot tears streamed down her face against her frozen cheeks. The possibility that something had happened to her only friend was killing her.
"Oh my God, what did they do to you? What did they do?" she sobbed.
She had to get help. Now.
Stumbling to her feet, she ran toward the house, her fingers numb as she grabbed her phone. Only one person could help, could know where they had taken her.
Joe.
The phone rang once. Twice. Three times. Each ring felt like an endless wait.
"Answer, answer, please answer," she cried out.
Finally, on the fourth ring, his gruff voice answered, alert despite the late hour. "Eleanor?"
"They took her!" Elly's voice was hoarse with panic, the words tumbling out. "Joe, they kidnapped Eva! I found her coat, there are drag marks everywhere, someone drugged her, there's blood..."
"Slow down," Joe said. "She's with me!"
The fear on Elly's face instantly transformed into rage.
What did Joe, the child of the holy oasis and the evil blood, plan to do with Eva?