Clues
Kazandra and the others returned to Xefton with Reiga that night. They did not waste time as they returned to the place where Vega disappeared. When they reached Xefton, they were met with the cold and damp night air as the rain just stopped. They were all bundled up in coats to shield themselves from the cold wind and to keep them warm.
Reiga stood on the spot where Vega was last seen with both of his hands tucked on the pockets of his black coat. Despite the harsh wind tousling his hair and clothes, he remained still, resembling a statue. His head was slightly tilted upward, eyes closed, and slowly the ground began to glow red before the light abruptly vanished.
Turning around, he walked back towards the car. “Let’s go.”
“Did you find something?” Evos couldn’t wait to ask.Text © by N0ve/lDrama.Org.
“Something. But we need to go to that place to check it out.” Reiga did not gave them a straightforward answered. Without being sure about it, he was not inclined to share what he had found.
After entering the car, Reiga told them their next destination. Kazandra and Evos were surprised to hear a familiar place, Empire Hotel. Anathos drove them to the city center and straight to the hotel. Their presence immediately alerted the staff and a woman was sent to meet them.
“Mr. Evos what can we do for you?” The woman asked with a smile.
“No need to worry. We are just here to look around. Please return to your work. I will call if there’s a problem.” Evos answered here politely without alerting her of anything unusual.
The staff nodded and returned to her station. They on the other hand followed Reiga. Empire Hotel was a luxury hotel with thirty floors with almost four hundred rooms. It was not a small place to search and there they were casually walking in the hotel corridors.
When they finally reached the floor where one of the presidential suits were located, Reiga stopped before its door. Evos immediately called the reception area to ask who booked the room and his eyes widened at the name he got.
“It’s Sophia…” Evos was still shocked as he relayed the information. “Ms. Sophia Reiner booked this room.”
Kazandra was equally stunned after hearing the name. The woman’s words yesterday resonated to her with several thoughts passing through her mind. Her words like she already won and her confidence that seemed to have made her arrogant. Her sudden appearance in Zaithan even after her humiliation.
“Do you know her?” Reiga interrupted after he saw their reaction.
“She’s someone who’s been chasing Vega for a long time now. Vega already told her not to follow him around but the woman was relentless. We thought that she won’t be bothering him again after that party but we were all surprised when she suddenly showed up yesterday,” Evos explained.
Reiga nodded before he turned around and opened the door using his power. The moment they entered the room, Reiga already felt malice and the scent of death hung heavily in the air. His senses were on high alert, warning him that something was amiss within that room.
“Who are you and what are you doing here?” A furious voice came from the kitchen and an angry Sophia appeared before them.
“Where is Vega?” Kazandra stepped forward and asked. If Sophia was really involved in Vega’s disappearance, she won’t let her go.
“He’s not here and why are you even looking for him here?” Sophia frowned and gave them a confused look.
Kazandra did not believe her, not even a bit. She knew that the woman was lying. “No matter how you lie, I know that you know something.” Her expression changed as she charged forward to confront the woman.
Before she could pin her down, Reiga’s binding spell already caught the woman and locked her in place. The man approached her and took a closer look at her. “You reek of death.” To Reiga, the scent of death was distinct-a smell akin to rotting flesh, reminiscent of spoiled eggs or decaying cabbage-and the woman emitted this exact odor.
Though she attempted to respond, the binding spell prevented her from speaking. Reiga withdrew and shifted his focus elsewhere, wandering around the room until he reached the living area. He paused in front of the sofa where Injurious sat and watched the outside world.
“The spell caster was here and they killed someone. The scent of blood still lingered in the air. They left the body on the floor for a long time before they disposed of it.” Reiga narrated, his eyes fixed on the sofa and the floor. After a moment, he turned to gaze at the view the enemy had been observing and stood there silently for a few seconds.
After a while, he moved to the room where they first placed Vega. It remained in the same state as when Injurious was there, the red decorations were still prominent and this caused Kazandra to frown. These colors made her uncomfortable and nauseous for reasons she couldn’t explain. Reiga walked around the bedroom and found some clues.
“Vega was here. I could also feel a woman’s presence so as the two other presence. An altercation happened and one of them was knocked back before they finally managed to transport Vega again.” Reiga’s gaze observed his surroundings before he came to stop in front of Kazandra and Evos. “The woman out there is already dead.”
Kazandra and Evos looked back, the woman was nowhere to be found. They returned to the living room only to find it empty. Reiga sensed that his spell had been broken, yet the woman remained concealed in the room. And at that moment, a figure appeared from above them with both of her hands transformed into sharp curved knives.
At her attack, they all managed to evade the oncoming assault and let the floor take the full brunt of the attack that left two deep marks on the once pristine floor. The woman moved swiftly and aimed at Kazandra but the woman easily dodged her. Sophia did not stop there as she continued to attack her and this time Kazandra did not stay on the defense. At the next attack, Kazandra evaded the blade by bending her back and she took that chance to hit Sophia on her stomach.
It was not a light tap but a full-blown powerful punch that sent Sophia reeling back. Kazandra did not stop there as she got back on her feet and took a step forward to build momentum as she raised her other feet for a kick that hit the woman on her side and sent her hitting the wall with a loud thud.
These attacks should have been enough but Sophia stood up with cracking noises as her body reassembled itself.
“A doll.” Kazandra spat. “Grim was here.”