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Chapter 85: A Vow
Chapter 85: A Vow
Warlock Ch 85. A Vow
Damian stayed silent, his attention locked on her, each word pulling him deeper into the mystery.
"Victoria's husband was killed," Evelyn continued, her voice barely a whisper. "In an attack that seemed to come out of nowhere. It was brutal, and whoever did it left no trace… just death. And for someone as powerful as him, it was unimaginable." She took a breath, steadying herself. "After that, Victoria was… lost. She went mad with grief. She locked herself away, shut herself off. It was like she was drowning in her own pain."
"Then one day," Evelyn went on, her voice steadier now, "she just… emerged. And she was different. Harder, colder. She was determined, single-minded in her purpose." Evelyn's gaze drifted toward the window, her expression thoughtful and heavy. "She made a vow to find her husband's killer. And she's been following that path for years, tracking every whisper, every trace of mana that even remotely resembles his. It's consumed her."
Damian felt a shiver creep up his spine. "Do you know who the killer is?" he asked, his voice quieter now, more cautious.
Evelyn was silent for a long moment, her gaze falling to her hands as she shook her head slowly. "Yes," she murmured, her voice barely audible. "But his name… well, most people don't even speak it. They say it brings a bad omen, that even mentioning him invites darkness." She glanced at Damian, her eyes carrying a hint of something he couldn't quite place—maybe fear, or maybe just caution. It was rare to see Evelyn unsettled, but this… this was something else entirely.
Damian shuddered, the weight of her words pressing down on him, filling the room with an eerie quiet. "That bad?" he asked, trying to wrap his mind around it. "I didn't think… I mean, I didn't think someone like that even existed." A part of him felt silly saying it, like he was a kid whispering ghost stories, but the chill running down his spine told him this was anything but a story.
Evelyn gave a bitter smile, a resigned kind of look crossing her face. "Well," she said with a huff, as if trying to brush off some of the weight of it all, "not everything they say is true, Damian. Vampires are… let's say, colorful with their stories. But…" She hesitated, and her gaze softened, her voice lowering. "I don't know the truth either, Damian. And I can't say much more than that."
Damian fell silent, watching her, trying to read the expression flickering across her face. There was something there, some shadow that was deeper than her words, something she wasn't saying. She looked almost… haunted. He could see it in the slight tremble of her hands, in the way her gaze seemed distant, like she was staring right through him and into some dark memory and tragedy.
For a moment, Damian debated asking more, prying further, but he couldn't bring himself to push. Instead, he cleared his throat, trying to ease the tension. "Right," he said, shifting uncomfortably. "Guess I'll just… keep that in mind."
She offered him a faint smile, but it didn't reach her eyes. Damian was about to move on, letting the conversation drift to safer ground when a memory flashed through his mind—something he'd almost forgotten in all this talk about killers and curses.
"So, uh… there's something else," he started, glancing at her carefully. "Earlier, when I was coming back from Cassius's, I… Well, I bumped into someone. A girl. Silver hair, kind of intense look." He shrugged, trying to keep his tone casual. "Didn't think much of it, but now… it feels like maybe I should."
The moment the words left his mouth, he saw the change in Evelyn. Her face turned pale, her eyes widening, and for the first time since he'd known her, he saw something close to panic in her expression. She froze, her hands tightening around her glass, her knuckles turning white.
"What did you say?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
Damian blinked, taken aback by her reaction. "I, uh… I just bumped into her. She didn't say anything, just looked at me, really. She had this… I don't know, kind of powerful aura, like she was someone who knew exactly what she wanted." He hesitated, watching Evelyn's reaction carefully. "Why? Who is she?"
Evelyn didn't answer immediately. Her gaze flickered, her mind clearly racing, and the silence between them grew heavy and tense, thick enough to cut through. Finally, she looked at him, her eyes dark and serious, a hint of warning in them. "Damian," she began slowly, each word laced with caution, "if you see her again… don't approach her. Don't even acknowledge her. Do you understand?"
Damian nodded, though every fiber in him wanted to protest, to ask why, to pry into this strange fear that he could practically feel radiating off Evelyn. The girl looked almost… familiar. And that aura, that intensity, that pull he'd felt—it was like some deep instinct waking up, some primal connection he couldn't quite place.
"Yes," he murmured, a slight tremor in his voice. "But… is she the one from my dream?"
Evelyn's expression faltered, a flicker of uncertainty crossing her face. "I… I don't know, Damian," she said finally, her voice barely above a whisper. "I haven't seen her myself, but…" She trailed off, glancing to the side, as if grappling with something she couldn't quite put into words. "Better safe than sorry," she said after a moment, almost to herself, as if she was trying to convince herself as much as him. "I'll inform Cassius tomorrow."
Her voice dropped lower, almost a murmur under her breath, but Damian caught the words. "Or maybe… she already knows. She could feel his aura after all."
The statement caught him off guard, and he leaned in, curiosity flaring. "She knows Cassius, too?" he asked, watching her carefully, noting the slight tension in her shoulders, the way her gaze remained fixed on some invisible point in the room.
Evelyn let out a hollow chuckle, a humorless smile crossing her face. "Who doesn't know Cassius in this magical world?" she replied, her tone carrying a bitter edge.