Moonlight Lovers

Thirty-two

“YOU KNOW that drink could take days to finish,” Edrus Crest explains as he leans back in his chair, hands behind his head, staring up at the beautiful blood being that sauntered his office that afternoon. “And it won’t be as cheap as it used to cost.”

Roald sighed exasperatedly. “We’re not new to your business, Crest. Don’t try ripping us off,” he warned.

Edrus Crest sat back up and tutted, annoyed. “I’m running a business here. I decide the price for my service.”

Godric stopped Roald when he was about to approach the half-blood. “Look, we want to know something first. We’ll decide afterward if we still need that concoction we’re asking you about,” he told the man.

“What do you want to know?”

“Do you have any record for a cover-up of a couple’s death in Wobrium, three years ago?”

Edrus grimaced. “I don’t know if I still have the files. The council takes the official documents for all vampire-related deaths that we take over every year.”

Godric looked at Roald for confirmation and the latter slightly nodded.

“To keep the information safe, the legislature decided it would be best to have all records taken and kept in the department of human records in Courthall,” Roald began. He then folded his arms on his chest and turned to look at Crest who was still sitting behind his desk. “Unless of course, you backed up some of the documents yourself and never told anyone about it.”

Edrus looked offended at Roald’s accusation. “And why would I do that?”

“I don’t know. You have the means to do it. You own the biggest IT firm in Clearhollow. You have a lot of people paying you for information that can be found on those documents. You get a lot of money violating the council’s order,” Roald stated menacingly.

“You don’t scare me, Hosmurg! You think you can threaten me just because you are working for the council? Tell me any vampire that never came to ask for my help and I will surrender all these documents to you.”

Roald shrugged. “So you admit got a backup.”

Edrus cursed under his breath. “Fine! So I do. What then?”

Godric decided to intervene. “Crest, we didn’t come here to report you to the council. We just wanted to know what happened to a Roseburn couple in Wobrium three years ago.”

“Who’s going to pay?”

Roald and Godric looked at each other. “You’ve been asking me to calm down. I would’ve gotten you that information by scaring this half-blood,” he whispered.

“How much do you need to answer all our questions?”

“Fifty thousand,” Edrus replied in a heartbeat.

Roald got angry. “Are your words gold?”

“You switch places with me and tell me it’s easy, then. You wouldn’t be able to get these documents out of the department of human records if you tried. You know it, Hosmurg.”

“It’s fine. I’ll pay you, then. Can you please look it up?” Godric asked.

Edrus Crest sighed and went inside a black door to his left behind his desk. He asked both of them to wait while he gets the information they need.

“This Crest is going out of business if someone comes up that does what he does for a cheaper price,” Roald hissed. “What a deceitful half-blood!”

Shortly after, Edrus came out of the door holding a white folder in his hand. “You want him to stay here?” He asked Godric, referring to Roald.

“It’s alright. He knows why I’m here.”

Edrus sat behind his desk again and opened the folder on the table. “There’s only one recorded vampire-related death in Wobrium for a couple with the last name Roseburn. This happened in May three years ago.”

Godric thought about it for a second. He was sure he’s not in Wobrium that time. May was Dahlia’s birth month, he was sure he was in Woodfort at that time and vacationed outside of the country shortly after.

Still, he wanted to make sure he was right, so he pressed Edrus on. “What happened to the couple?”

“They were attacked in a car. Going back home from a short trip.” He paused to throw a quick glance at Roald before looking back at Godric. “An unrecorded female vampire ripped their necks. From the state of how the bodies were found, there were assumptions that it was done by a newborn blood being.”

A crease formed on Godric’s forehead. An unrecorded female vampire? And a newborn? He didn’t know the council is still changing vampires lately. They were trying to contain their growing numbers. And having more vampires but fewer human is not a good combination. So, they put out laws about changing humans to vampires. Roald would have told him if there were newborns around. But he never mentioned anything.

Or perhaps, the vampire wasn’t exactly a newborn but an untrained vampire. Before Roald trained him during his second century as a vampire, he had admittedly acted carelessly as a newborn, leaving more dead bodies behind than he did the last few decades.

Who could it be?

“A newborn in Wobrium? Who was it?”

Before Crest could speak, Roald’s thundering voice echoed on all four corners of the room. “That’s enough, Crest!”

Crest shut his lips and closed the folder. He shrugged and waved a hand in the air. “I was only answering his question. I’m being paid.”

“What’s going on, Hosmurg?” Godric turned to Roald, his brows furrowed deeply.

“Nothing. You don’t need to hear that. We already found out it wasn’t you who attacked the couple in Wobrium three years ago.”

Godric laughed uneasily. “Don’t you want to know who did it, though?”

“I can get that information for you when I return to Courthall.”

“What for? It’s here.”

There was stringency in Roald’s voice. “Just trust me, Godric. It won’t change anything if you don’t know who did it.”

Godric sighed in defeat. “Fine. Just talk to me about it again when you have the information.”

“Hang on,” Edrus stopped them when they were both walking towards the door. “You seem to be forgetting something.”

“I still have questions and didn’t get my end of the bargain, so I don’t think I have to pay you.”

Edrus’s started to get mad. “That’s not what we talked about Octavius!”

The two blood being just waved their hands dismissively and went out of the room. Down the hallway, they heard Crest’s string of profanities directed towards the two of them.

“I’ll let that go,” Roald said when they got in the car. “Be the bigger person sometimes.”

“You’re one to talk.”

When Godric got inside Roald’s car, ready to go back to the estate, he felt his phone buzzing in the pocket of his pants. He fished out his phone and was immediately curious when he saw Silas calling him.

His assistant never calls him when he’s out on an errand that is related to the vampire society. Silas is an expert troubleshooter, any problems at work are a piece of cake to his competent assistant.

“Silas?” Roald asked.

Godric nodded. He put the phone in his ears and listened to the gears inside the device whirring almost silently before he heard a click. What followed was Silas’s labored breathing. “Godric… Selene…”

Panic rose in Godric’s chest. “What’s the matter, Silas?”

“Boris…came and…he got Selene…” With every word, Silas’s voice was getting weaker.

Godric cursed loudly. He dropped the phone and got out of the car. Roald followed him.

“Godric, hold on, what’s happening?”

“He knows! I was stupid, I should not have been so complacent!”

Roald tried to calm him down but to no avail. “I don’t understand. What are you talking about?”

“Boris!” Godric said. “He knows about the spellblood. He came to the estate and took Selene.”