It seemed that the pendant was indeed my mother’s.
“What’s wrong, Sylvia?” Only then did Rufus notice that there was something wrong with my expression.
“Nothing,” I said quickly, shaking my head. After thinking about it for a while, I decided not to say anything about it. I just suggested that I keep the pendant.
Rufus looked hesitant. He seemed to be worried that I might have anything to do with the black witch. He had that exact look on his face whenever we talked about Noreen before.
“Let me keep the pendant first. Flora’s father runs a gem business. Maybe she would know where the pendant’s from.”
I needed to figure out why my mother’s pendant had Noreen’s scent on it, so I insisted on keeping the pendant.
“Okay, I’ll leave it with you.” Without any hesitation, Rufus nodded.
Just then, Rufus’ phone rang. He answered it briskly and listened to whatever the caller had to say.
“It’s Warren. He’s coming now. He’s probably going to talk about the result of the interrogation,” Rufus said after hanging up the phone.
Ten minutes later, Warren arrived. His clothes were stained with blood. It seemed that the interrogation didn’t go as smoothly as we had expected.
“Thank you for your hard work,” Rufus said gruffly, patting him on the shoulder. Then he gestured at a chair for Warren to sit down.
Warren sat down heavily and told us about the result. “Layla was sold to an auction house for her beauty.”
“No wonder we haven’t found any trace of her,” I said with a frown.
“Their bargaining chip now is Layla. But they don’t know what state she’s in.” Warren gulped down some water and then took a deep breath. “Once werewolf slaves enter the vampire auction house, they’re just doomed. Even if they manage to survive that, there are many ways for vampires to torture the captured werewolves.”
Rufus frowned and his mind raced. “Exchange the vampires we captured for Layla.”
“Okay. Those vampire are useless to us anyway.” I agreed with Rufus’ suggestion immediately. No matter what, we had to prioritize saving Layla. If she hadn’t rushed to help me, she wouldn’t have been in captivity now.
“I’ll call Hobson,” Rufus said promptly as he took out his phone.
“Where’d you get Hobson’s number?” I asked curiously.
“Geoffrey told me about it on his first day behind bars. You were busy at the orphanage at the time,” Rufus explained in a low voice.
The phone was quickly connected. Rufus put it on speaker, and the old, shaky voice of Hobson sounded from the other end of the line.
Sylvia’s POV
When we proposed the exchange, Hobson burst into hoarse laughter.
“I don’t give a damn about those vampires,” Hobson said calmly.
Leonard pounded his fists on the desk and said angrily, “Hobson, so many years have passed but you’re still so good at pretending.”
Hobson fell silent for a few seconds. When he spoke again, his voice was hard and irritable. “I didn’t expect you to be on this call.”
Leonard snorted coldly but didn’t say anything more.
“What do we have to do for you to let her go?” Rufus continued determinedly.
Hobson laughed. “She’s just an ordinary she-wolf. Why do you care about her so much?”
“We’re not cold-blooded vampires like you,” Leonard sneered impatiently. “Exchanging hostages is the easiest way to deal with this problem. We’re all very busy, so we don’t have time to play tricks with you.”
Hobson paused slightly. “Let me talk to Sylvia. Then I’ll think about it.”
Rufus glanced at me and asked in a low voice, “Is that okay with you?”
I nodded.
Rufus handed the phone to me. After clearing my throat, I said clearly, “This is Sylvia. What’s up?”
Hobson said seriously, “Turn off the speaker. This’ll be our little secret.”
I turned to look at Rufus questioningly. He nodded and I turned off the speaker.
Pressing the phone against my ear, I said coldly, “What is it? I turned the speaker off already.”
However, Hobson’s reply remained cryptic. “The hunter will eventually find and eat the little rabbit. Hide it well.”
His words sent a shiver down my spine. “What on earth are you planning?”
Instead of answering my question, he just told me the time and place of the exchange.
“Come alone or I’ll kill that she-wolf. But I must be honest with you. Now that the auction’s over, I can’t guarantee that the she-wolf is unharmed.” Hobson laughed sinisterly and, without waiting for a response, hung up the phone.
“What did he say?” Rufus asked immediately when I put the phone down.
With a long face, I relayed to them everything Hobson had said.
“That old bastard is as insidious as ever.” Leonard paced back and forth in front of the table. We were caught in a tricky situation. “The place he specified is on vampire territory. I’ve been there once. The terrain is complicated and there are many secret passages. It’ll be easy for them to control the situation.”
“And he even asked to meet you at night. It’s too dangerous,” Warren added worriedly.
Rufus’ expression hardened. I knew he wasn’t going to let me go there alone.
“Warren and I are coming with you. We’ll play it by ear,” Rufus decided.
“But…” I was a little hesitant. I didn’t know what would happen. There was still a lot of unresolved problems at the border. Rufus needed to take charge to stabilize the public.
“It’ll be fine if Leonard’s here.” As though he read my mind, Rufus insisted on his decision. He turned to Leonard and said, “Please go to the armory and check it out for me. As for the reconstruction plan, I’ll rely on you. I trust you, Leonard.”
Sylvia’s POV
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