AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Alfredo thumps the table with his fist. “Where do you get off insinuating a thing like that?! My brother had no business with any Noctu scum. He would never have had dealings with those lowlifes. It’s an affront to even suggest such a thing.”
His father raises a hand to silence him. And Alfredo complies instantly, if reluctantly.
In a calm but clear voice, Mr. Fabrici says, “I can only agree with my son. It’s out of the question that Alessandro would do that to us. He made mistakes in the past, but he’s always been loyal to the family and the Tempes. He understood his responsibility as a future member of the Council, and he was trying to improve himself. That’s the reason he joined the hunters, and he was able to demonstrate his commitment in that capacity. My son did everything he could to thwart the Noctu, and I refuse to allow his name to be dragged through the dirt. He gave his life to protect the family.”
“That’s right!” his wife concurs, glaring furiously at Ayden. “And I’d like to know how those filthy Noctu were able to kill my son. He was an experienced and exceptionally good fighter. He had a powerful key spirit. He would never have been defeated so easily.”
“You’re right,” says Ayden, trying to take some of the wind out of Ms. Fabrici’s sails. “Teresa and I tried to help him. And Alessandro put up a good fight. But when one of the Noctu attacked him from behind and another one from the front, he had no chance. He couldn’t evade all the fire hexes, and one of his opponents landed a deadly strike. There was no saving him. He died on the spot.”
“The aftermath of the fight paints a very unclear picture,” Matilda follows on. “It’s hard to say how many Noctu were in the fight, but one thing is clear: powerful hexes were used. There were also traces of blood. Two sources have been identified – Ayden and Alessandro. But the third and fourth are unknown to us.”
“They must be from the Noctu,” I say with a shrug.
“Oh, so you injured them but couldn’t kill them?! Not one? Two hunters and a student with a fire spirit?! This stinks to high heaven!” Alfredo snarls. He glares at me and Ayden. “I say we question them separately. We might learn some more details that way.”
Speechless, I stare at Alfredo and see the restless flicker in his eyes. He’s furious, and he’s determined to pin the responsibility for his brother’s death on someone.
“Are you suggesting that we’re withholding information?” Ayden asks.
“I’m not saying that. I simply believe that we can jog your memories if you each walk us through the experience again separately.”
His voice sounds calm and composed. But the expression on his face makes it clear that he’s not.
“We’re simply here to have the events explained to us again. I don’t see why it’s detrimental to have them both in the room at the same time,” Albert Cunningham interjects.
“Oh, come on, they’re not children. I’m sure they can handle standing in front of us for ten minutes on their own,” Montrell’s daughter argues. “And I agree that it could be more effective to question them separately.”
Cunningham’s daughter nods too. “It’s always best to hear a story from as many different perspectives as possible. So we should make the most of this opportunity.”
“Fine, if you insist,” her father concedes. “Then Ayden, we’ll ask you to please leave the room for a short while.”
Ayden glares at all the Council members. I can see that he’s conflicted and wants to say something but then decides to keep his mouth shut – which is probably a smart move. Protesting wouldn’t change their minds; it would just anger them and maybe even turn them against us. So he turns around, flashes me a look of encouragement, and leaves the room.
Chapter 5
Vanessa Tumberland folds her hands and looks at me intently. “Now, I’ll ask you once again to describe everything that happened in detail, from the beginning.”
My heart beats faster, and I try to speak in a steady voice. I describe the events again in sequence, as discussed with Ayden and Noah. I embellish my account with a few unimportant details so it doesn’t sound too rehearsed.
Ms. Tumberland doesn’t interrupt me once or ask me any questions, and when I’m done, she’s silent for a while.
“Which hexes did you use in the fight?” she asks eventually.
“Well, Ayden, Alessandro, and I have fire spirits, so obviously we fought with that element. The three Noctu had earth, water, and fire spirits,” I lie, in order to explain all of the potential evidence, although those last three all came from Alessandro’s spirit.
“Considering how many of you were in such a small space, you all seem to have moved around a lot. That is, there were impacts everywhere, and the Noctu appear to have been standing very close together.”
I don’t evade her searching gaze, although I know she doubts my story.
“The cellar’s not very big, that’s true. We tried our best to keep out of each other’s way, but obviously that was sometimes difficult, so we often wound up pretty close to our enemies.”
Mr. Cunningham nods, looking at me attentively. “That makes sense to me. Especially as the fight appears to have been short-lived.”
“I couldn’t say how long we were down there, sorry. I lost all sense of time.”
“And after my brother was killed, the Noctu just fled?” Alfredo probes aggressively. “You pursued them with Ayden, and the Noctu decided to escape through a window even though they outnumbered you?”
“Like I said, we injured two of them. I guess they were hurt badly enough to make them turn tail and run. I assume you saw the blood trail.”
