“Your mother’s name is Joi, right?” I had no choice but to bring up the topic of her family.
As expected, Ashley finally came to life at the mention of her mother. Her eyelashes fluttered slightly, and her eyes regained clarity. She looked at me and asked, “You know my mother?”
Ashley’s voice was extremely hoarse. Her throat was probably dry as a desert since she hadn’t spoken in so long.
I fetched her a bottle of water and said gently, “Here. Drink this first.”
Ashley cautiously stretched out her hand, but paused midair. After hesitating for a while, she withdrew her hand.
“It’s clean. Don’t worry.” I smiled at her and pressed the bottle to her palm.
Finally, Ashley looked convinced and took a sip of the water.
While she drank, I told her about the pact I made with her mother and the exchange of hostages.
Upon hearing what I said, Ashley’s eyes lit up somewhat. This seemed to breathe life into her because her voice suddenly became clear. “How is she?”
“She’s okay. She’s just worried about you. But now you need to make a choice. Do you want to go back to the castle or help us exchange the hostages? Don’t worry. If you choose to go back to the castle, I’ll send someone to escort you out of the pack. I don’t want to make things difficult for you.” When I finished speaking, I looked at her quietly, waiting for her answer expectantly. Ashley looked almost exactly like her mother. In a trance, I could almost see the woman sitting in front of the window.
In fact, I highly doubted Ashley would agree to go with us. After all, she had no reason to help us, and the werewolves at the border had been extremely unkind to her.
So it came as a surprise when Ashley suddenly nodded. “I’ll help you exchange the hostages. I’m very familiar with the place you are going. I can help you if need be.”
“Think it over first, Ashley. I don’t want to force you,” I said seriously.
“I’ve made up my mind. If it weren’t for you guys, I’d probably still be suffering a lot now.” Ashley lowered her head and looked at the water bottle in her hand silently.
“Me, too! I’ll go with you.” Flora chimed in. She put her hands on my shoulders and shook me, as though she was trying to knock some sense into me. “Sylvia, I’m going with you.”
“No, you’re not. You stay here. There’s still a lot that needs to be dealt with.” I shook my head decisively. Where we were going held too much uncertainty. I didn’t want to put Flora in danger.
“If I don’t go with you, I’ll be depressed here!” Flora whined, trying to squeeze out a tear or two.
I felt a headache and hurriedly pulled Warren over. “Please convince Flora not to go with us. It’s dangerous there.”
Warren seemed to be at a loss. He awkwardly handed a handkerchief to Flora. “Let’s go together. I’ll protect you.”
Flora stopped crying in an instant. She took the handkerchief and wiped her non-existent tears and said sincerely, “Warren, you’re the best.”
I was speechless. I shouldn’t have brought Warren into this.
In the end, I had no choice but to agree to let Flora come with us.
“Fine. You’ll be tasked with taking good care of Ashley. Don’t act without permission and keep yourself and Ashley safe.” I reminded Flora over and over again.
Flora followed me obediently. “Okay, okay. I know.”
Sylvia’s POV
We set off before night fell.
Ashley led us along a secret short cut and we soon arrived at the designated meeting spot.
The vampires were bound by iron chains, and Warren and Flora were in charge of keeping a close eye on them.
Meanwhile, Rufus and I waited for Hobson at the intersection.
When it was completely dark, we saw a group of vampires approaching. They were escorting a woman in a black hood. It seemed that the woman was Layla.
I immediately leaped forward and said loudly, “Take off the hood. Let us see her face first.”
The silver-haired vampire who was leading Layla laughed grimly but obliged. He yanked the hood off and spat, “Look. This is who you want, right?”
I felt relieved to see the woman’s face. It was indeed Layla, and she seemed to be fine. It didn’t look like she was hurt.
Layla met my gaze and smiled bitterly. “I knew you’d come save me, Sylvia.”
“You’re quite lucky. When we found this she-wolf, the vampire who bought her hadn’t done anything to her yet. I overheard that he was planning to dissect her alive.” The silver-haired vampire frivolously patted Layla’s face and said wistfully, “What a pity! Such beautiful skin would’ve made a top-grade mask.”
I coldly slapped away the silver-haired vampire’s hand and briskly went down to business. “I’ve brought the vampires you want.”
“Is that so? Bring them here and let me see.” The silver-haired vampire looked at Layla longingly, as though he still wanted to stroke her face.
I turned around and looked at Warren meaningfully. He immediately understood and brought over the vampire captives.
After the silver-haired vampire counted the prisoners, he squinted shrewdly and said, “One is missing. Where is the woman with the golden hair?”
“She’s dead and nothing much was left of her corpse, so we didn’t bring her here,” Rufus said coldly.
I sneered. “Consider yourself lucky. If it weren’t for Layla, we would’ve slaughtered the rest of them.”
“Why, you-!” Irritated, the silver haired vampire reached out and grabbed Layla’s hair. “In that case, I should cut off one of her hands. It’s only fair. After all, you killed one of our own.”
“Touch her and they’ll all die here,” I pointed at the vampires behind me and warned him coldly.
The silver-haired vampire glanced at the captives and sneered. He kicked hard at the crook of Layla’s leg and she buckled to her knees. His face contorted from being intensely angry to extremely crazy. “Okay, then I suppose both sides will suffer losses tonight.”
He kicked Layla again, dislocating one of her arms in the process.
I clenched my fists, seething with rage. “Enough with the bullshit. You work for Hobson, so be a good dog and do as you’re told. If we exchange the hostages, this matter will be settled.”
“Do you seriously think that I’d just let you go so easily? You’re even stupider than I thought!” The silver-haired vampire laughed like a madman, took out an axe from behind, and was about to chop Layla’s head off.
Rufus and I immediately leaped into action and tried to stop him.
But before he could land a blow, the other vampires stopped their silver-haired companion.
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