Chapter 365: Fulfilling A Promise
Ivan’s face turned whiter than a sheet when he opened the tent flap to find it empty, but a new wave of anger flashed in his dark pupils when he heard Carmela laugh hysterically behind him. It sounded so cynical, so irritating to Ivan’s ears that in a matter of seconds, he held Carmela up against the air by her throat, her back coming in contact with the bark of a tree.
His action was so unexpected and unplanned, that it made everyone take a step back in order to avoid whatever brutality Carmela had unleashed inside of him. Lucy returned to the tent with Madeline to check on Samantha, unable to fathom why Ivan was at the brink of losing his conscience, and to their horror, Samantha’s body was missing.
"How—how is this... how is she gone?!" Lucy glanced at Madeline who had the same worried, yet questioning look on her face. Brian and Duncan joined afterwards, taking a peep into the tent, but there was no one there, and there was barely a thing in the tent that seemed out of place.
"A distraction." Duncan noted after understanding Ivan’s anger, and he stepped into the tent. "While we were distracted by Carmela, Marius... came in here."
"Marius again?" Lucy’s eyebrows sprang up alarmingly.
"How is that possible? I get that we were all distracted, but we would have seen him come in here if that has to be the case, right?" Brian questioned three of them, and Duncan shook his head slightly with his lips pursed.
"He came, and he left." He briefed, "it’s obvious the only way he could get in here was through magic, and he’s taken Samantha with him."
"We shouldn’t have left her alone." Lucy’s face blanched with regret, "I should have stayed behind to watch her. What if he harms Samantha again? And she’s with a child, what do we... What do we do now?"
Stepping out of the tent, their attention shifted to Carmela who was struggling to breathe from the firm hold of Ivan’s hand around her neck. The impact from having her back slammed into a tree made her cough out blood, and she watched, in disbelief as Ivan’s irises took a different shape, something she’s never witnessed before, and she struggled desperately to escape his clutches.