Chapter 90: Such People are Useful
While Lordi Payne focused on alchemy the elixir, Sun Elaine returned to her residence on Ghost Shade, her face taut with unease.
With a flick of her wrist, she deactivated the defensive wards and stepped inside—only to freeze.
The air turned to ice.
Luca Dawnwick lounged in her main seat, one leg draped carelessly over the armrest, his sharp eyes locked onto her the moment she entered. A predator who had already marked his prey. The lilies' glow seemed to dim, the courtyard's whispers silenced under his chilling aura.
"Senior Brother Dawnwick..." Sun Elaine's voice quavered, her every instinct screaming at her to flee, but his icy gaze chained her in place. Her heart hammered, fear clawing her throat—memories of his last assault, his boot grinding her face, flooded back. She forced a smile, sugary and brittle, stepping closer with feigned warmth. "A pleasant. What brings you here? I—"
THUD!
Her words choked off as Luca's boot lashed out, a blur of savage force. It struck her chest, sending her flying like a ragdoll.
CRACK!
She crashed against the courtyard gate with a sickening crunch, wood splintering, blood spraying from her lips as she crumpled to the stone. Pain seared through her ribs, each breath a knife-twist, her vision swimming. "He'll kill me—gods, he'll kill me!" Panic surged, her cunning drowned by raw terror, her body shaking as she clutched the ground.
"Bitch," Luca Dawnwick growled, rising to loom over her, his face a dark storm of menace, devoid of mercy. His voice was a blade of winter, each word a lash. "I ordered you to seduce Lordi Payne. You dare slack off?" His boots crunched the stone, deliberate, closing the distance, his shadow swallowing her.
Sun Elaine gasped, blood trickling down her chin, her voice a trembling plea. "Senior Brother, I-I tried!" Fear cracked her facade, words spilling in a desperate rush. "I went to Lordi Payne, I swear—just now, at the Lab Hotel on Alchemy Peak! But he... he's strange, he won't respond. He rejected me, ignored every advance, every kindness! Look! I-I'll try again, I promise! Please, just a little longer—I'll do it, I'll make him fall! Please, just give me more time—" Her hands scrabbled at the stone, eyes wide with terror, bracing for another incoming blow.