A Vampire and a Lady on a Mission III

"Lord Xavier, it's nice to see you again at such a short time"

Xavier smiled politely at Lady Knox, he didn't bother to correct her for using his father's title for him, many people are expecting him to take his role as a Upper House member when he retires anyway.

"My pleasure ma'am" he turned to Seraphine who looked elegant in the green dress, "permit me to introduce you to a business associates, Miss Patrick"

Confused on weather to courtesy or bow, Seraphine was grateful the lady hugged her instead with a kiss on both cheeks, "nice to meet you" Seraphine spoke.

"Are you here to see Priscilla?"

Seraphine's eyes widened behind her spectacle, her palm began to sweat, she had asked the vampire countless time on their way here what he would do about Priscilla Knox. The clingy vampire would never allow them both be alone, she would stick like a gum on Xavier's arm if allowed.

Xavier shook his head, "Forgive us for showing up unannounced, we have an important business idea I would like to discuss with Lord Knox"

"Oh, because I wanted to tell you that Priscilla just missed her by some minutes, she just rushed out not long go, saying Daniel Manchester wanted to see her"

Seraphine's mind relaxed, the !emotion of Daniel obviously mean Xavier had something to do with her sudden absence.

"Unfortunately, Lord Knox is stepped out to visit a friend as well, would you like to wait for him in his study for a bit, perhaps, he might come before you finish your tea or would you prefer blood?"

Seraphine almost puked, coughing instead to conceal her expression.

"Tea would be fine" Xavier answered smoothly.

Once the door closed behind them, Xavier turned to her, "we will leave the room as soon as she brings the tea"

"How? the place is upstairs and we might come across the servants, what if we were caught?"

Met with the same silence he gave when she asked about Priscilla interfering. "I might as well be talking to a wall" she muttered.

"Here you go. I'll be back later to check on you, please, feel at home" the contented look on Lady Knox's face was enough for Seraphine to know she and her daughter share a similar goal towards Xavier - forming a relationship with him through marriage. She's already seeing him as her son-in-law, no doubt.

A strong hand wrapped around her waist and before she could gasp, she found herself in the same corridor she was the night before, facing the wall.

"You could have given me a warning before whisking me like that" she snapped, feeling nauseated due to the sudden movement.

"Show me how you get in there"

Seraphine calmed her breathing to regain balance, bolts of nerves tightened in her body as she thought of Xavier's reaction to seeing her eyes for the first time, she wondered if he would back away after seeing her eyes.

She took off her spectacle, seeing as the wall transformed to the wooden door once again. Xavier didn't say anything as he followed her towards the wall. He had lots of questions to ask her but they would wait, he was still fascinated by how they entered through the wall.

Xavier looked around, taking in the genres of books which filled the shelf, there was no time to fully take a tour of the place so he went straight to the point, "where did you see the book?"

Seraphine pointed to top corner of the shelf not far from them, "over there" her eyes fell on the floor where she hid that night, not seeing Francis's handkerchief meant Lord Knox had found it as she had guessed.

The book shook a little as Xavier reached for it, inside the book was a hollow space where lights of various degrees shone from an oval shaped object.

"These are the memories of the people Lord Knox had stolen from" according to the book, the insect store the memories in an egg-like object.

Seraphine watched in awe as the small objects shook, "how did the book contain all the objects?"

"It's a special book which serves as a safe. You can get one if you know a very good witch" Below the book was a rectangular box, it was the only box in the midst of books.

"The insects are in there" Xavier announced

Serahpine carefully looked at the closed shells when Xavier opened the box where the insects were housed. She backed away a little, watching as Xavier picked one shell after the other to feel their weight.

"One shell is empty" he picked one of the insects which was safely locked in its shell, checking out its form.

"It could be anywhere out there, sapping a memory of an innocent wolf"

Xavier suddenly spoke, "We need to leave now"  Seraphine was stil in deep thought, "what could he possibly want to do with these memories?"

"Unless you want Lady Knox to find the study is empty, I suggest we leave now"

Quickly, she opened the door, the moment she stepped outside, she felt a swoosh as she was whisked away again. They had barely sat down, when Xavier drank the two cups of tea on the table.

Lady Knox entered a second later, "I'm afraid my husband is taking too long to get here" she signalled to one of the maids to clear the table.

She got the reason why Xavier drank the tea, the lady of the house would've been suspicious if the tea was still there.

"It's okay, I'll make sure to send word ahead before my next visit. Have a wonderful day Lady Knox" he brushed his lips lightly on the back of her palm.

While Xavier deeply thought about Lord Knox's hidden room and what category of creature the lady sitting across him was, the silence was broken by her question, "how long have you known about my eyes?"

Xavier's lack of reaction to her eyes was what made her think that couldn't be the first time he saw it. She had been so sensitive towards her eyes that she was always careful not to let people see it. She would rather die with her spectacle on, than be mocked because of her eyes again.

"Yesterday" he placed his long legs on the table, folding his arms with his eyes closed.

If only other would react the way he did -feigning ignorance after sighting her bare eyes, it would have been easier for her to go about her business with a spectacle on.

"Why didn't you say anything"

"What's there to say? It's none of my business" He shrugged, crossing his leg over the other, "do you need me to say something about your eyes?"

She shook her head, "I wish others could see it that way, simply none of their business"

Seraphine gasped as her heart slammed in her chest when she saw him brought out one of the shells, "don't tell me you took one of the insects"

With his eyes still glued to the closed shell, he answered, "I won't"

Her heart thundered when she saw a thin ray of light shining in his breast pocket, "did you also steal one of the memories?"

"How many times do you want me to tell you that I don't steal" he looked at her, "your heart might burst out of your chest if you don't calm down"

"How am I supposed to be calm?" Her voice rose, "there's no way he won't know that we have something to do with the missing memories, his wife will surely tell him about our unexpected visit!" blowing out breath of frustration while Xavier was busy staring at the egg, with no care in the world of being found out.

"Are you even listening to me?" She yanked off her spectacle, wanting to dry the beads of sweats that had formed under her eyes.

The next thing she knew, she was plunged into a scene she had no recollection of.

Seraphine watched as two men sat in an office, their lips were moving but she couldn't hear what they were saying. She looked around her surroundings, the dull white walls were bare except for an old horn hanging at a corner. The men had a large torn paper spread on the table, the paper appeared old by how rough and torn it looked, the dogeared on the edge meant it has been carelessly handled. The men seemed familiar somehow. She couldn't pinpoint where she saw the face but she was so sure she had seen it before. The paper must have been quite important by the level of concentration they poured on it.

"Seraphine!" She could hear her name being called from a distance.

The continuous feel of somebody shaking her shoulder pulled her out of her trance, "what happened" she asked Xavier who was hovering over her, she could tell the carriage was still moving, that meant the hadn't gone for long.

"I'm not sure but I think it has to do with this" bringing the egg of memory to her face to see if she could be out again but nothing happened.

"What do you mean?"

"You were out of some sort for few minutes" Xavier knocked on the roof of the carriage to tell him to stop. He continued when his coachman parked and left them by the roadside.

Seraphime had put her spectacle back on, her heart drummed as she waited for Xavier to continue.

"First of all, what are you?"