Chapter three

Irene covered Aliyah up with the blanket and sighed. She caressed her head softly and leaned down to kiss her forehead, slowly casting a spell on her to make her sleep better just like she has been doing every night for the past two months.

“So now we understand she feeds on blood. Should we be worried about what she would feed on as a demon?” Sean asked.

“Not really. Royal blood demons are like the night howlers, they feed on food and only take their demon form when there are irritated or wants to fight,” Rasmus explained.

Sean nodded, remembering that night in the palace that Irene was wounded and the rogues were attacking. The form that Edward had taken making him not recognize him initially. He shuddered at the hideous creature; the red face, the extra feet that made him look like a giant and those glowing red eyes. “Ever wondered why he didn’t take his form during that fight?”

Irene and Rasmus sighed and Sean knew why. They really can’t understand why Edward never fought the High council chiefs and the High howlers with his demon form and demon powers until last resort when he used it to save them. It was still a mystery to them judging from the fact that they all knew he would have stood a chance of surviving if he had.

“We can never know that now, now shush, she needs her sleep, let’s go,” Irene ordered and shooed them out of the room.

“Quick question, where did you get the rabbit?” Sean asked Rasmus.

Just then, they heard a shilling scream from next door, followed by, “Mr. Whiskers is gone, Mom, Mr. Whiskers is gone.”

Sean gave Rasmus a disapproving look and the man shrugged. “Would you have rather I took her instead?”

“No,” Sean replied, “but then, you know how much she loves that rabbit.”

“If I hadn’t taken that rabbit the time I did, Sean, trust me, my lady would have hurt Irene.”

“Rasmus is right,” Irene answered as they all sat on the floor in their living room. They had chosen the poorest neighborhood to hide their scents from the witches and rogues with the dirty environment. And so, naturally, the house they rented was completely empty with cracks on the walls and leakage on the ceilings. “Never underestimate the strength of a hungry nightwalker.”

Sean nodded. “What are we to do then? I don’t think I need to tell you that we would be the suspects,” he chuckled. In as much as they try to blend in, their neighbors always seem to see through them and then dislike them. Children hardly come close to him and Rasmus whenever they were patrolling outside and they loved it that way. They don’t need to create bond with anybody, they are not there for leisure after all.

“Don’t we always?” Rasmus rolled his eyes. “I will get her a new rabbit tomorrow, if that’s okay.”

“She will know the difference,” Sean said.

“Not true, I will get exactly the same one.”

Irene smiled. “One thing you don’t know about children is that they always know their pets, no matter how identical it can be, they always know.”

“Yeah,” Sean nodded. “I had one toy growing up and Eric’s parent’s got him exactly the same one. When he spoilt his own when we were all playing, he had it fixed and then tried to switch it with mine. I didn’t even touch it and knew it wasn’t mine when I saw it.”

“And that was just a toy, now talk about a living breathing thing that it’s obvious she must have taught some things which the new one obviously won’t know,” Irene said.

“Then what are we going to do?” Rasmus asked but a violent knock on the door seized their discussion.

Irene sighed, “I will handle this. I’m the people person in this group,” she chuckled and got up. She went to the door and putting on a warm smile, opened the door. “Yes?” she said to the angry mother who was holding the hand of a crying girl.

“I demand to see your husband,” the woman said.

“Excuse me, why?”

“Because he took my daughter’s Mr. Whiskers,” the woman yelled.

“Can you please keep it down, my pregnant daughter is asleep.”

“I don’t care! Get your husband here right now, or I will scream this building down and tell our neighbors what you did.”

“I don’t understand, you came knocking at my door and not only do you demand to see my husband but you are accusing him of stealing your daughter’s cat?”

“He is not a cat, he is a bunny,” the little girl said amidst cry.

“Mr. Whiskers is a bunny? Oh, I didn’t know, sorry about that,” Irene smiled at the girl and then turned to the mother. “Can you please tell me what makes you think my husband took your daughter’s bunny?”

“She came running into my room, crying that she saw someone like your husband jump into her room through the window. I told her it was just a dream, I mean, we live on the sixth floor, how can he jump into her room from the window?”

“Exactly,” Irene added.

“So I tried to calm her down,” the mother continued, “but when she went back to her room, she discovered that her Mr. Whiskers is gone and he was there when she came to my room. So tell me, how could her pet disappeared just after she claimed seeing your husband?”

“You just said it yourself. We live on the sixth floor, how can my husband climb up into her room?”

The woman was breathing like a raging bull and it was clear that even her was wondering about the same thing. “You tell me.”

“The only thing I can tell you is that your daughter had a bad dream and I am telling you that it was not my husband that she saw. We have all been inside tonight because my daughter had a little problem.”

“Then what about Mr. Whiskers?” the crying girl asked.

Irene smiled and leaned down to her level, “sweetheart, Mr. Whiskers is a wild animal, he may have left the house without you knowing or he could have crawled under somewhere. You said he’s a bunny, which means that he’s small so he can fit in almost everywhere.”

“But, but…” the girl repeated until her mother pulled her behind her, making Irene to stood erect to look at her.

“I know there is something going on with you. You daughter has only been seen the day that you moved into this place and after that, your husband and son are always outside at nights. I don’t know what it is yet but I will figure it out, just like I know that your husband took Mr. Whiskers. I won’t rest until I get to the bottom of this and when I do, trust me when I say that I will make sure that everyone in this neighborhood knows about it so that you are not accepted anywhere else. Come Milly, let’s go. Mommy will save some money and get you another Mr. Whiskers.” With one last glare at Irene, they walked over to their door and got in, slamming the door shut.

Irene sighed and closed the door, turning then to the men in the house. “That’s a problem.”

“Say the world and she won’t leave to see another day, I need to feed after all,” Rasmus said.

“Come on Rasmus, the walls have ears. Trust me when I say that everyone in this building heard us talking and if she doesn’t wake up tomorrow then, we are doomed and we don’t want that.”

“As much as I dislike her attitude, Irene is right, we can’t do anything now. In fact, we can’t do anything to her at all,” Sean added.

Rasmus shrugged. “Whatever. I need to tell you guys something.”

“What is it?” They asked.

“I need to go to the palace,” he said.

“What?” Irene asked while Sean was in shock. “The witches and the rogues are always there, do I need to remind you of that.”

“Exactly. It’s a suicide mission,” Sean commented.

“I know, but if I don’t then our next move would be really difficult.”

Irene frowned then, “how so?”

“We are low on cash, Irene, we have been living off you all this while and even you know that you didn’t stack away a lot of money when you dropped by your hut the last time.”

“Why do you need to go to the palace then?” Sean asked.

“He was not a called a prince for nothing. There is a treasure room back in the palace filled with enough gold bars that would last us a life time, including our generations to come. The prince and his knights had nothing to do with their time so they had traveled around, picking up golds and jewelries that worths a fortune. That’s why the high chiefs are not poor, their fathers left them all their wealth. Prince Edward never had a family of his own so he just stacked them in a room in his palace. I know which room it is, I took a few gold bars that I used in renovating his house when he was asleep. Just one of those would last us for two years or more.”

Irene nodded knowing that he was right. “It’s going to be dangerous.”

“That’s why I will be going alone. I will be faster and lighter alone.”

Sean and Irene shared a look, knowing there was no other choice. “When would you be leaving?”

“Right now. We don’t know what would happen in the next minute.”

“Be careful,” Irene said. “Let me make a potion for you, take it every hour to hide your scent from the witches.”

“Thank you,” Rasmus said.

“No, thank you,” she smiled and went into the kitchen.