Chapter 8

Veronica looked at the screen of her smartphone, full of worry. It was been a week since Bianca said she would investigate the vampires who had come to her apartment, and until now she has not heard from her best friend. She repeatedly sent chats to Bianca, hoping that her best friend would reply to her messages. Unfortunately, there was no answer. Not even read her text. Likewise with Stephen. Since that day she has not heard anything from the man, making her regret not having asked for the man's LINE ID on the first day of their meeting. Now, how should she contact that guy?

Urgh ...

Why was she so stupid, anyway?

She ruffled her hair, buried her head on the table in Karl Smith's library room where she was now. When she looked up, she found the figure of Karl Smith who was covering under his nose while laughing softly, standing leaning against the side of the table beside her.

"Karl!" Reflexively she jumped in surprise. "When did you come here?"

"Just now," said the man, pulling the chair next to Veronica. "Still here? How are your assignments? Already completed?"

"Not yet ..." she muttered languidly. How could it be finished? Her mind was confused about the two people who had not given her any news until now. After all, since when was Karl already in the library? She had not noticed Karl's presence at all. She knew very well. Could it be that this man possessed the ability to run fast like Edward Cullen? Ah, wait. Edward Cullen in Twilight was a vampire. It would make much more sense if Bianca could run like lightning. Could it be that she did not realize it?

"Nikki? Are you okay?"

For the second time, she was surprised to find that Karl's face was too close to her. Her eyes flickered, admiring Karl's stern facial structure. His thick eyebrows, his thin lips, and his hair pulled back. She just realized that Karl was wearing a piercing in his left ear. Not the flashy type, but from the shape and material, she was pretty sure she would not want to know how much the piercing that Karl was wearing. She faintly smelled the aromas of plant roots, although they were not as strong as at the beginning of their meeting.

"Nikki?"

Her reverie broke immediately, followed by her warm face. Hurriedly she turned her face away from Karl, looking away. “Th-th-that's… fine! I am fine! No problem!"

In her heart, she cursed her nervousness. Her voice sounded trembling even in her own ears as she answered Karl's question. She lowered her head, hiding her face, which must have been blushing violently now. For a moment, there was only silence created in the room before that man's laughter immediately exploded, making her a little confused as she did not understand the reason Karl was laughing at her.

"Why is that nervous? This is not a job interview, you don't need to be that tense," said Karl during his laughter. “After all, you've lived in my mansion for a week. Are you still not getting used to be with me?"

“Mmm… no. I just …"

"Just what, Nikki?" The man stopped laughing, brought his face back toward her until they were a few millimetres away. Karl's half-whispering voice sounded seductive in her ears. Successfully spurred her heartbeat, which became increasingly difficult to control. She found herself swallowing repeatedly as the man brought his thin lips to her ear, before he licked her ear, causing her to let out a low sigh. That man's hand moved to clasp her, while now aiming for her lips, kissing her passionately. She did not have to tell him that she was enjoying the kiss because he seemed to already know it. She closed her eyes, enjoying the kiss that grew deeper and deeper until she was out of breath. Karl did not give her the slightest pause, kissing her until he was satisfied.

"No," whispered Karl, after moving those lips away from her. She could feel her whole body melting from Karl's kiss, staring at the man in confusion.

"No?"

"You are with me now. You can only think about me. "

"Huh? What are you talki—ngh!”

The man did not continue his words, resumed his kissing session which was getting more and more intense until she had difficulty keeping up with the rhythm of the kiss. She took her hand away from Karl's, moving the man's body away from her.

"Please explain what you said earlier!"

That man did not flinch for a moment, then rubbed her lips with his right thumb, giving them a few centimetres. "You're thinking about Stephen, am I right?"

She nodded, not dismissing Karl's question. "Is he all right?"

Karl's face seemed to frown at his question. Instead of answering, that man got up from his chair and walked away from her. She immediately followed the man after taking all her belongings that were scattered on the table.

"Karl, wait—"

Her prosthetic leg hit one of the chair legs, losing her balance. The stuff she was carrying fell on the wooden floor. Karl turned around, grabbing her before her body slammed into the floor. She winced when she saw the iPad she was carrying along with the belongings fell, causing a loud thud.

"Are you alright?"

The man's question distracted her from her iPad. Seeing the man's face that looked so worried about her made her a little happy. No one else had worried about her like this yet—except for her older sister and her two best friends, of course. She allowed herself to be in the man's arms for a few moments, enjoying the scenery in front of her. The man's lips formed a brief smile. Then in an instant, the man carried her without feeling any trouble, making her startled.

“I-I can walk by myself! Put me down!" she exclaimed, panicked. But the man shook his head quickly, walked away from the room, humming.

"Do not want to."

"Get off!"

"I'll put you down later. If I want," said Karl.

Her eyes widened as soon as the man's feet stepped on her iPad. The man stopped walking, looked down.

"My iPad!" she glared at Karl. "You have to take responsibility! That iPad my sister gave— "

"I'll have Rebecca buy you a new one," said Karl, relaxed, walking back to his feet after confirming Veronica's position. “You look tired, so you better rest now. I don't want my cute girlfriend to be sick."

“Gi-girlfriend! Wait! I haven't accept your feeling yet, you know! And who is Rebecca?!”

“My maid who has dragon scales on her left face. The one who delivered lunch on your first day was at my mansion," said Karl again. "And you didn't refuse my kiss earlier, so what's the harm? After all, it's just a matter of time until you like me."

"Th-that ...," she lowered his face, covered her lips with both hands.

"I still have a lot of time. I will make you like me. Just focus your eyes on me," Karl was full of confidence as he said it. "Or do you want three of us together? With Stephen, for instance?"

Her eyes widened at Karl's absurd idea. She immediately took her hand away from her lips, smacking Karl in the chest. “W-what the heck!? Why do you even give me such a strange idea?!"

"Why? I don't mind," Karl's iris turned green for a moment, reminding her of the shape of a snake's eye, turning on the light to illuminate the corridor they were currently walking after leaving the library.

"I'll be the one who will be in trouble ..."

"Hm? Then, you have to decide after this, who will you choose later."

"I can't do that either," she muttered, taking her eyes off Karl. She saw that there were many people dressed in maid uniforms with scales on several parts of their bodies walking past the two of them, bowing their bodies to Karl before resuming their work. The calm type, just like Rebecca. But Agnes—the stern-faced maid who protested when she found out that the man was having lunch with a human, did not have scales on her body.

"Are you curious?"

She immediately turned to Karl. "W-what do you mean?"

"About them, I mean," Karl said, gesturing through his head, pointing at a male servant who had scales on his left face and a different colour from his eyes, making him think of the maid named Rebecca earlier. Realizing that Karl meant these people, she breathed a sigh of relief. Thinking that Karl still insisted on talking about some weird idea, to be honest, started interesting her a little.

“Yes, that… I mean, yes. Why do they have scales while the maid named Agnes doesn't? ”

"Because they came from what the dragon clan often called an outcast group," Karl turned left, leading them down the corridor leading to his room. “The result of a dragon race's marriage to another race. Because of that, their appearance is a little unique. But they are one of the parties most vulnerable to racism among dragons who do not want to accept their existence. So I take them here."

"Oh."

Deep in her heart, she admired Karl Smith even more.

"You know? Additional information: regardless of gender, dragons can still have children. "

"Eh?"

Karl nodded. "The way we make offspring is different from humans. We have a special technique that would be long and very complicated to explain. Even though the dragon clan is conservative, we weren't the type to fuss about gender like humans since long ago. There are seventeen genders in the dragon clan."

"Seventeen!?"

Once again, the man nodded, then lowered her as soon as he arrived in front of her room. "So, here we are. You better go inside and rest. It's already late."

She was still shocked thinking about what Karl said just now. Looking at Karl who looked serious when he said it, it seemed that the man was serious about what he said earlier. So that guy was definitely not kidding. But seventeen? She could not believe it.

"Nikki?"

Her eyes widened as soon as he lowered his head, kissed her lips, then laughed softly. "You keep on dumbfounded. How? Has the magic that made you daydream been released?"

"What the heck ..." she puffed out her cheeks, feeling her face flush again.

Karl rubbed her head. There was a strange ringing sound of a smartphone in her ear, which turned out to be Karl's smartphone. The man took his hand away, grabbed his smartphone while moving away from her a little. The man's face suddenly turned pale.

"I understand. Tell them I'll be right there."

That was all the man said before hanging up on his phone call. Seeing Karl's face made him feel suddenly uncomfortable.

"What's wrong?"

"You have friends from the Pedrosa family, don't you?"

She nodded. Her feelings were getting worse.

"I want to go there after this. Do you want to come along? I guess she definitely needs your presence now."

"What is happening to Bianca? Did something happen?"

"Well," Karl couldn't hide his anxiety. "How far do you know about supernatural beings?"

"Werewolves, vampires, warlocks and dragons."

"There is a lot more to it than you mentioned earlier, but I'll just skip the lengthy explanation. Just get to the point. There is a group that intends to unite all supernatural beings to eradicate the dragon clan from the face of the earth. The group led by an immortal ambitious werewolf named William Schneider. "

"Schneider?" she repeated. Karl nodded.

"Yes. The leader of the Schneider group is different from other werewolves because he is only the immortal one. According to rumours, he is nine hundred years. Much older than me. And I just got word from Stephen earlier, that the Pedrosa family was attacked by their group last week. "

Her eyes got bigger, shock. Her hands moved to find a support that could be used to support her body, which was about to fall. No. She must remain calm. Bianca must have been more shocked than her. She closed her eyes, making self-calming movements until she felt much calmer.

"Shall we go now?" asked Karl.

"Anytime."

***