Tiny little problem

Killing Priscilla would have given her the closure that she badly needed at that time. But it was quite unfortunate that she had failed to executive that one plan. If only she had not hesitated then perhaps, the world would have been rid of one cunning, pretentious whore, she thought to herself. Her gaze fell on Alexander who hadn't spoken a single word to her as she continued rubbing her ankles.

"Are you planning on sitting down there forever?" Lucius's voice snapped her out of her dazed state, and she turned her gaze towards him.

His eyes bore a cold look as he scrutinized her.

"I have other important things to do with my night than spending it here with you. So if you feel like staying down here, then fine, I'm sure the rats would really appreciate your company." Lucius said and started walking towards the door.

Samara' eyes widened when she saw that Alexander was already outside and Lucius was about leaving the basement as well. She quickly stood up and chased after him before he could step out.

Alexander closed the door and locked it as soon as Samara stepped out, and the wall closed back, sealing the door again.

The three of them walked down the hallway in silence, with Samara's eyes fixed on Alexander's back as they moved forward. She wanted to say something, but she held her tongue, as she slowly trailed behind the two men.

They stopped in front of a door in the same hallway, and Alexander pushed it open to reveal a well-furnished room. The walls were adorned with portraits and landscapes, and a large chandelier hung from the ceiling, casting a warm glow over the space, and a fireplace crackled merrily in one corner.

Samara's eyes swept over the room, taking in the elegant furnishings and tasteful decor. Her gaze finally came to rest on the side table where two food containers had already been placed. Her stomach growled, reminding her that she hadn't eaten anything since the previous day's noon.

The room was undoubtedly beautiful, adorned with elegant furnishings and tasteful decor. However, it was not her former room, which she remembered vividly was located just below this floor.

Having spent ample time on this floor before, she was familiar with it like the back of her hand. She recalled that Lucius's room was situated on the same hallway as hers, but it was not directly opposite hers. Instead, his chamber was located one door away from the room across this particular one.

Samara turned and faced Lucius with a questioning look.

As if reading her mind Lucius said. "You will be using this room for tonight. We can't have you trying to escape in the middle of the night," he explained as he shut the door. "That would be a bit of a problem for me with the council currently present."

"The council? What are the council doing here?" She asked as she stared at him curiously.

"Well, let's just say I did some really bad things to some naughty white witches and the council found some evidence of my little misdeed." he had a bored expression on his face as he spoke.

"There was a trail, blah blah blah...." He rolled his eyes as he continued. "They got to a conclusion and decided that I would be locked up in one of their holding cells, but since I'm a very important figure they agreed to lessen my punishment by placing a restriction cuffs on me..."

He lifted his wrist up to show her the cuffs before continuing. "In addition to the restriction cuffs, they sent three members of the council and Priscilla to the manor to monitor my activities for the next three months."

Samara gave a nod, fully comprehending his words about "doing some really bad things to some naughty white witches."

The fact that he had taken out some rogue wight witches didn't faze her in the slightest, as it wasn't his first time and likely wouldn't be his last. What did surprise her was how the council had found out about it. She knew all too well how cunning and cautious he could be, making him one of the most intelligent men she had ever encountered.

All his actions were meticulously planned and executed with precision, and he had never made a single mistake throughout all the years she had known him. It was nearly impossible for the council to apprehend him, unless someone had actually betrayed him.

Yes, that was the only way for the council to actually catch him. Samara furrowed her brows as she contemplated the possibility of someone leaking information about him.

The thought of a spy within his inner circle was almost unbearable. She considered the possibility of the spy being a vampire, but quickly dismissed the idea. The vampires living in the manor were fiercely loyal to Lucius, and it was highly unlikely that one of them would betray him.

That left only one possibility; a witch. But the thought of someone daring to betray Lucius within his own manor was almost unthinkable. Anyone who had attempted such a feat in the past had either lost their heads or some specific parts of their bodies. So the person who had decided to betrayed him was either suicidal or felt their were smarter than Lucius Valdez.

Samara couldn't help but wonder what could have driven someone to betray Lucius. Was it greed? Revenge? Or something else entirely?

"Eat before the food gets cold. You will be needing your energy for the spell your about to perform." Lucius spoke with his hands crossed.

Samara's eyes widened at his words. When he had told her that she was going to locate the witch this night, she had thought that he was merely joking. She didn't really think that he had meant it before.

She nervously tucked her hair behind her.

"Um... Well... I.... about the spell..." She stuttered.

"Yes. What about it?" Lucius asked her coldly, a slight frown marring his face.

"Well, there's a tiny little problem about it," she used her thumb and pointer fingers to describe the size of the problem as she spoke. "And because of this small issue, I won't be able to cast the spell this night."

Lucius flashed her a cold smile as he stared at her.

"That won't be an issue," he said causing her to stare at him curiously. "I'll just have to cut off those two tiny problems." He brought up his hand and mimicked what she had just done with her thumb and pointer. "And problem solved."

His dagger materialized from thin air into his hand again. "You worry too much about unnecessary things, Samara. We can fix this problem in less than a minute," He said, taking a step towards her while she took two steps back. He took another two steps towards her and she took more four steps backward creating more distance between them.

"What are you doing. Stop moving so that we can get this over with," he said, his irritation patent in his voice. "I don't have all night to play around, Samara, I have to satisfy my hunger and some of my needs, so behave and stop backing away. It's not like I actually intend to kill you," He said as he covered the distance between them.

"The problem is not my fingers. It's something else. My fingers are... Arrhgg..." She groaned frustratedly.

She knew he understood perfectly well, that she wasn't talking about her fingers, he wasn't stupid not to know.

"If your fingers are not the problem then what is it? Lucius asked her as the dagger vanished from his hand.

"I will need to arrange one or two ingredients and a few other things," she replied.

"Go on," Lucius said, still staring at her intently.

"I need to make a special tracking compass, and to do that, I need a full moon. I will have to draw energy from the moon when creating the compass in order for the it to work perfectly. The moon will be full in two days time, so if you want the witch's location, then you will have to be a little bit patient with nature." She explained as her eyes roamed around the room before setting on a pen laying on the bedside drawer.

She stared back at him, as if, asking for his permission to move. He gave her a small nod and she immediately moved to the drawer and grabbed the pen. She returned back to him and he gestured towards Alexander.

"Give him the list of the ingredients," He said and turned to leave the room. Samara watched him as he hurriedly left the room.

Lucius had been trying to suppress his hunger all day. He had been testing his endurance since the restriction cuffs were placed on him, and so far, this was the longest he had managed to stay sane without blood. He hadn't drunk any blood since the previous night at the diner near Pinehurst.