Farran was deeply lost in thoughts and memories from the past when Cedrius fearfully knocked on the open door.

Raising his gaze from the heavy book he’d been trying to read, he gestured him to come in and focused his attention on more present matters.

“So?” he asked with no visible curiosity.

“It’s like you said, my Lord. The girl survived.”

Farran smiled, briefly playing with one of the piercings on his left ear.

“It was Aaran, right?” he guessed and Cedrius nodded, constantly cringing, his hands shaking as he tried hard to maintain his composure. The way Farran always seemed to know the past and foresee the future was one of the things that made him truly terrifying. Because it was as if no one could ever escape his cold, unwavering gaze. “Still, one may as well recognize the courage of that Human family. To watch as their loved ones die, one by one, and still not say a word about the girl they were hiding. Oh well … I guess that even Humans can surprise me in a positive way from time to time. A shame that the best ones are also always the first ones to leave,” he sighed with pretense, even though the pain in his voice was quite real.

“What now, my Lord?”

“Now the young Human must also be under Alexius’ protection, and out of our reach, like her sister,” Cedrius awaited in silence, afraid to repeat the question, and Farran smiled at the fear emanating from him in thick heavy waves. “We’ll just have to wait and see how things develop. The Humans that Alexius decided to protect give us another front of battle. The human world is easy to control and manipulate, and that’s the world they live in. I want you to contact this man and ask him to pay me a visit,” he said, taking a small business card from inside the drawer on his left and placing it on the desk in front of him.

Cedrius hesitated for a moment, ending up crossing the room with careful, suspicious footsteps, and, with a shaking hand, grabbed the card, reading the small silver letters printed on it.

“A lawyer?” he asked, obviously confused, and Farran smiled coldly, his dark-blue eyes looking almost black.

“A friend of a friend. Last night I met someone who’ll definitely help us drag those Humans from the hole they’re hiding in. And, as to be expected, Alexius won’t even hesitate to follow them. Especially now, that destiny has put on his path what seems to be his only hope of salvation.”

“That Human you’ve met, is he the son of that congressman?”

Farran seemed to ponder about how much he should divulge and ended up nodding.

“He is. Why?”

“Because he has been seen more than once circling Alexius’ Territory,” he reported proudly, certain that that new information would interest him, but Farran just sighed as if the matter didn’t concern him at all.

“I see. To be expected, I guess. Don’t worry. I’ll personally take care of that. You just do like I’ve told you. I want to see that lawyer by tomorrow morning,” he demanded in his usual commanding tone and Cedrius bowed deeply, before leaving him alone. The less time he had to spend in his presence the better, he thought, the memory of what Farran had done to the two boys that had allowed Alexis to escape still burned in his memory. Finger by finger, member by member, he’d rendered them to dust piece by piece, through long, painful hours during which horrifying screams had echoed in the ears of all those that had been ‘invited’ to be present as witnesses to what happened to those who failed him.

Farran leaned back on his chair and took a deep breath.

John Donovan.

Throughout his long life he’d known many Human Beings obsessed with money, fame, power, land, even horses or cars. From time to time he’d even met a few obsessed with death and blood. John Donovan, however, fit a completely different category, the one of those obsessed with women. In his case a very specific, special young woman; Sarah Wilson. No matter the object of their obsessions, however, Humans plagued by them all had one thing in common. They never looked at the means, as long as they could obtain what they wanted, sometimes reaching levels of cruelty well above those of his own Race. And, for that reason, John Donovan was the ideal pawn. As long as he could have Sarah Wilson, Farran was sure he’d be able to convince him to do almost anything.