Chapter 204
it all happened so fast.
The little boy, still sobbing, pointed toward the forest. “My brother… Jude’s still in there. I can’t find him.”
Elise scooped the trembling child into her arms and turned to Sharon with an anxious expression. “Ms. Vance, I have to help. I need to go get him.”
“Go ahead. Get moving,” Sharon said immediately.
Elise took the boy to the infirmary while Merrick quickly contacted some of the family’s top fighters to search the forest for the missing child. Within minutes, she led a group into the woods.
The boy’s parents rushed over and grabbed him in a tight hug. “I told you not to go in the forest! How many times did we tell you?” the mother cried.
“We were just looking for Jude!” the boy sobbed. “He ran in first, and then the monster came! It chased us—I didn’t mean to leave him! I couldn’t find him and ran out to get help!”
Tears streamed down his face as he kept glancing toward the tree line.
Reinforcements arrived quickly. Walter hobbled up with his cane, his face tense. “Any news? Did they find him?”
“Not yet, Grandpa,” Elise said. “Just the dog’s body. No sign of Jude.”
She had changed into more practical clothes and now held a tranquilizer gun in one hand. “I’m going in,” she said firmly.
“Be careful,” Walter told her. “Bring him back. Whatever it takes.”
“I’m coming too,” Sharon said, rolling her wrist.
Situations like this weren’t ones she could sit out–not as the head of the family.
Walter immediately tried to stop her. “There are already enough people in there. If they can’t find him, there’s nothing more you can do, Shari.”
As painful as it was, he wasn’t wrong.
A child–alone this long in the forest–against a Velvyn? The odds weren’t good.
Even seasoned fighters rarely made it out alive.
“I know. But if that thing’s still out there, no one here is safe.”
Sharon looked Walter straight in the eyes. “Trust me. I can handle myself.”
The look in her eyes changed–her calm replaced by fire. Her whole presence shifted.
She still remembered how someone had once tried to kill her with a Velvyn. Didn’t work.
But now? One of her people had been hurt right under her nose. That, she couldn’t let slide.
Walter blinked at her, taken aback by her sudden intensity. Then he nodded. “Please… if there’s any chance, Jude is clever. He might’ve found a way to
survive.”
Sharon nodded. “If anything happens to him, I’ll rip that Velvyn apart, piece by piece, and make it scream while I do it.”
As they prepared to head out, Elise offered Sharon the tranquilizer gun. Sharon shook her head. “You keep it. I won’t need one.”
They stepped into the forest, and a sudden chill surrounded them.
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Chapter 204
The terrain was uneven, and Sharon’s dress and leather shoes were clearly not suited for hiking.
“Shari, here, get on,” Richard said, crouching slightly.
This time, Sharon didn’t argue. She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned into his back.
She knew she’d only slow them down otherwise.
Their pace picked up. Elise led the way while Merrick fed his real–time updates through his earpiece.
As they moved deeper into the forest, Elise glanced around and said, “This place hasn’t been right for a few years now. We’ve seen fewer and fewer wild animals. There used to be brown bears, leopards, even lynxes. But lately? Nothing.”
Sharon scanned the surroundings carefully.
‘Velvyn’s not new here. It’s been around for years. That’s why the large predators are gone–not because of the environment, but because they’ve been
eaten.‘
Velvyn didn’t leave signs. It just appeared.
Suddenly, Elise’s expression shifted. “We lost contact with the search team.”
“Where were they last located?” Sharon asked.
“East–southeast, near the swamp,” Elise replied, worry creeping into her voice. “Ms. Vance, I’m going ahead.”
“Wait,” Sharon said sharply, her tone suddenly serious. “Something’s following us.”
Richard narrowed his eyes. “Everyone–stay alert.”
No one questioned Sharon. They instinctively formed a protective circle.
“Ms. Vance, we still need to check the swamp. We’re running out of time.“,
“I know,” Sharon replied. “But going alone won’t help anyone.”
She took a deep breath and then pulled out her phone. “This is a job for professional rescue. I don’t think we’re dealing with just one Velvyn.”
If there had only been one, Merrick’s team would have already neutralized it.
But something had changed.
Her instincts screamed danger.
“There’s no signal,” Elise said, frustration laced in her voice. “We need a special comms device.”
“Seriously, nothing?” Marvin checked his phone. “I’ve got zero bars.”
“There’s magnetic interference here,” Elise explained. “It’s always been a problem.”
“Doesn’t matter. I’ve got it covered,” Sharon said calmly.
She unclipped the metal earring from her ear, quickly converted it into a signal booster, and switched her phone to a different app.
She linked directly to a satellite and sent out a message. “Possible multiple Velvyn detected. Contact Nicholas immediately.”
Help would be on its way soon.
The House of Obsidian specialized in this kind of thing. Nicholas was exactly who they needed.
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Chapter 204
Aaron, intrigued, asked, “Was that code you just typed?”
Yeah. Morse.”
He blinked. “You got that out with no signal. How?”
“I connected to my satellite. Bought one out of boredom a while back. Handy, right?”
Elise was speechless.
‘Who the hell just casually buys a satellite?!‘
