Chapter 55; Lykie

After about two hours, Amoux got tired and gave up.

"I am not interested. If you want to leave with your deskmate, then just do it. Leave me alone!" He snapped furiously.

"Okay?" Ainar stood up and stretched.

"You should have said that since."

One would expect her to flare up considering how short-tempered she was but her voice was timid and small. It was as if she wasn't the one Amoux was shouting at. His angry face did not affect her mood whatsoever.

She dusted her long dress and left without looking back.

Super annoyed, Amoux also stood up and went to his study. When he got there, he met a human servant already cleaning it.

"Thank you." He muttered before getting back behind his desk.

The same night, gorgeously dressed, Ainar visited Lykie's home for dinner.

The villa was like a cathedral with pointed roofings, towering into the sky, and small, dark windows dotting its walls.

Led by her best friend and deskmate, Ainar passed through multiple corridors until they got to the very center of the building where an open-air patio was.

The only furniture on the patio was a very long dining table with several chairs.

"This is where we eat every night. Everyone at home must gather to eat together. Since you are my best friend, I regard you as family. So you will also eat here." Lykie, an 18-year-old, skinny, and pale-looking vampire said to Ainar.

Since she came in, Ainar had been taking in everything she saw. When she saw the huge outdoor dining area, she found it ridiculous.

Probably because her family was small and everyone was free to eat wherever they liked, Ainar found it hard to understand why the whole family had to gather every night to eat at the same table.

She doesn't even get to see her twin every day, not to talk of her parents.

Finding it to be too pretentious, Ainar who wasn't good at hiding her feelings turned her nose down on the dining table. "Can't we just eat in your room or somewhere else?"

"You don't like it?" Lykie asked.

She saw the look of disapproval on Ainar's face but pretended not to understand her tone.

Her parents told her to get close to Ainar and be her sidekick. All she had to do was follow Ainar. Her emotions weren't involved.

Coming back to her senses and realizing that she had said something rude, Ainar gave Lykie an apologetic smile. "I didn't mean to be rude just now. It's just that it's too open and I will feel self-conscious. There must be somewhere else where we can eat right?" She asked.

Lykie pretended to be thinking and after some time she nodded.

"I will tell the chef where to bring our food then. Let's go."

Lykie turned around and Ainar followed her.

This time around, Lykie headed towards her room but she was reluctant.

Lykie's room was large and her upholstery was elaborate. She favored the blue color and like a treasure-hoarding dragon, she had lots of golden things hanging here and there.

The room was divided into two. One part had a huge bed while the other side was the sitting area with lots of cushions arranged on a lush blue carpet.

"This is my room," Lykie whispered. "Do you like it?" She asked nervously, pretending to care about Ainar's opinions.

Not that she cared about Ainar's approval. It was just that Ainar's visit was unexpected so she didn't have enough time to take care of her room.

Because Supernatural creatures release auras, A Vampire's private room carries their fears, hope, sadness, joy, and every emotion they might have felt. Therefore, it wasn't that she cared about Ainar's opinions, Lykie was scared that Ainar would smell her emotions. This was something she didn't want. After all, she has spent a lot of time cursing Ainar in this very room.

Ainar skipped excitedly to the sitting area and flopped on the biggest cushion like a little child.

"Can we eat here?" She asked excitedly.

"Sure." Lykie smiled. "What would you like to drink? Blood or wine?"

"Wine will do, " Ainar replied.

"I will be back soon," Lykie said then left the room.

The moment she left, the childish and exciting smile on Ainar's face disappeared, and replacing it was a curious and stern gaze.

She stood up from the ground and started sniffing the room while also listening for Lykie's return.

After sniffing around a bite, she returned to her former position and continued waiting for Lykie's return.

When Lykie came in, she was carrying a tray with a bottle of sealed red wine and some wine flutes.

"The food should be here in 5 minutes. Before then, let's drink together." Lykie said with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

Lykie placed the tray on the floor and stood the two wine flutes up. She then uncorked the unlabeled bottle of red wine.

"No name?" Ainar asked curiously.

"It's one of our family recipes. We don't label them."

"Oh, that's cool."

Aibar knew that most vampires brew their own beer and wine but because Kulan doesn't, she has never tasted homemade wine. As for beer, her friends in school do bring them out at hangouts.

Lykie poured the wine into the two flutes and handed one to Ainar who collected it without hesitation.

"Is it the same as the one we drank at the beach that day?"

"No. This is from my father's chamber. The one I brought to the beach was made by my brother."

Lykie explained.

"I envy you," Ainar mumbled before finishing the wine in her glass.

Instantly, she felt the drug in the wine. She was shocked but maybe due to KuLaa's warning from a few days ago, what Ainar felt was deep regret instead of fear.

Noticing that Lykie was watching her intently, she decidedly threw everything in the flute to the back of her throat to hide her anger. By the time she brought the cup down, her eyes were back to their normal bright and sparkling glaze.

Ainar picked up the bottle and served herself some more of the wine.

"Will I be able to meet your mother tonight?" She asked as if nothing had changed.

"Mother and her witch are not here. I already told you they went to the human realm and will be back in a few days. Why are you in so much hurry?"

"I am not." Ainar acted coquettish as she denied the obvious. "I am just curious."

Lykie shook her head exasperated.

"What is there to be curious about?"

"Well, my brother said we don't know each other that much so we shouldn't impose on you and your family. Now that I have had dinner with you, you can also come have dinner at our house. After that, he can not say we don't know each other again. What do you think?" Ainar giggled as if she had done the smartest thing ever.

"Didn't he know we have been desk mates for so long?" Lykie asked in a bewildered tone.

Considering the fact that when she was ordered to get close to Aibar, the only reason she agreed to it was because she thought she could use that to get close to Amoux. Only for the boy to start avoiding her. By the time she got over that crush, she couldn't back out of the deal she made with her mother.

How can I spend so much effort and he can't even remember me? What a jerk!

Lykie found herself annoyed that Amoux considered her as a stranger.

"How could he not know?"

Ainar emptied the flute again. She wasn't sure of how the drug should make her behave but she poured herself another serving. This time around, she filled up the flute and emptied it halfway.

"Hmmm," she licked her lips. "This wine is indeed better than the one your brother brought to the beach. Your brother is an amateur." Ainar exclaimed.

"You should take it easy, Ainar. This wine is quite strong." Lykie advised.

Strong from the poison or fermentation? Ainar asked herself as she waited for whatever was put in the wine to take effect.

"I can handle my drink," Ainar said, then poured herself more. It looked like she wanted to finish the whole bottle alone. Finding this amusing, Lykie smirked maliciously.

"In that case, I should go get an extra bottle." Lykie stood up and hurried out of the room.

Once she was gone, Ainar became furious. She brought out her phone and sent a message to her brother;

[Lykie drugged me.] The message read.

When Amoux saw this message, he was furious. He immediately left his lab and hurried to his study. When he got there, he started changing his attire.

[I am on my way. What do you want to do to her?]

[Stand down for now. I want to find out why. She might not be one of them.]

Seeing this response, Amoux was confused. She was already drugged. What other proof is there to find?

[You seemed to have forgotten what happened at Lockwood. Nobody should be trusted!]

[If she turns out innocent, I will not be able to bear it. So don't do anything rash. Wait for my signal]

Amoux snorted but nodded his head anyway. Who would believe it if he told them that the arrogant and self-centered Ainar actually cared for someone outside her family?

[Okay.]

After sending the last text, he pocketed his phone and walked into an underground tunnel that led to a secret chamber. From there he would use magic to transport himself to the island…

When Ainar left his study a few hours ago, she had been gone for less than 39 minutes before she came back and insisted that they visit Lykie. Ainar wanted them to scope up Ræm's castle and steal the item that could make them travel long distances.

At that time, Amoux was shocked at Ainar's suggestion. His sister wanted them to steal from her supposed best friend. Of course, Amoux refused.

But now, after finding out that they actually drugged his sister, Amoux didn't just want to steal the item, he also wanted to capture the whole family and use them for experiments.

Amoux entered the secret chamber and walked over to the opposite wall. When he got there, he bit himself on the wrist and fed the blood to a little hole in the ground.

The hole lit up and a magical circle appeared. After the light ate up the blood, the wall turned to motes of lights and circled Amoux.

Within seconds, Amoux's body disappeared.

When he reappeared, he was in the cave where Alaric and his boys appeared several months ago.

When he came out of the cave, he found four vampires guarding it.

The island and every property belonging to Kulan in the realm had gone on red alert since her last meeting with the family.

Presently, they were smoking out moles and spies and this led to the death of many slaves and crew members within and outside the realm.

As Amoux made his way into the inner part of the island, he noted the changes that had happened.

Whatever was going on had diminished the liveliness of the constantly bustling island and many friends were suspicious of each other.

When Amoux got to KuLaa's villa, he asked if she was around and the guards told him where to find her.

Kulan was in the dungeon, torturing some of the spies that were brought in recently.

The dungeon and Amoux's lab were designed the same way, considering that this was where Amoux got his ideas from.

There were meat hangers with bleeding humans, vampires, and wolves hanging on them. Some were dead, some were close to death while some still have the strength to beg for mercy.

Due to the witch-hunting going on, bodies were started one after the other. They were tightly packed as there was no space on the meat racks.

On the ground were basins made of jade, collecting the blood and transferring them to a connected pipe.

This pipe would then take the blood to another chamber where the blood would be bottled for future meals.

Amoux walked in looking solemn.