“Who eats this? It’s disgusting!” Valerie angrily threw the rat meat onto the ground.
“Tonight won’t be peaceful, and there’s nothing else here. Just make do with it,” Sterling said good–naturedly, picking the rat meat up again.
Valerie still didn’t eat it and stormed back to their room in a huff.
As night fell, Ryker pulled out a white porcelain bottle and rubbed the liquid onto the back of my hand. The ugly burn scar instantly vanished. I had only mentioned it casually to him that day, yet he had remembered it. It wasn’t until Kaelen told him that the legendary Nightbloom Lily on Crimson Peak would bloom that night, and its nectar was a miraculous cure for burn scars, that he acted. Time was short, and I wasn’t in the
household that day. So, Ryker had Kaelen inform me and then rushed to Crimson Peak to find the herb. On his way back, he was ambushed, which was how he got his injuries.
Hearing this, it all made sense. Everything had indeed been Kaelen’s doing.
*Knock, knock, knock.*
Someone was knocking on the door next to ours. Valerie and Sterling were staying there. To clear the stage, we had to survive until dawn. Ryker and I exchanged glances, fully alert.
The knocking lasted for about thirty seconds. No one opened the door, and the knocking stopped. Soon, Valerie’s ear–splitting scream echoed from next door, followed by the sound of frantic footsteps running down the stairs. I had no idea what terrifying event they had encountered. We didn’t dare go out to look.
The surroundings suddenly fell silent.
*Knock, knock, knock.*
The knocking resumed outside the door. This time, it was our door.
“Is my head in there?” A dry, eerie female voice came from outside.
Ryker wrapped an arm around my shoulder, glancing around warily, afraid something might suddenly appear.
