Luke marched over to Selora with rage bubbling in his guts at the mockery of her laughter, and without sparing a second for prediction, he threw a slap across her face.
Selora's face flew the other way at the impact, and for a minute, just for a swift minute, Isabel's blue eyes vanished into vexed pits of green.
"Luke! What are you doing?!" Mira yelled in panic as she shot to her feet, but he raised a finger at her.
"Stay out of this, Mira!" He scolded, stepping closer to Selora.
"You think you can laugh at me?!" He yelled, and Selora turned back to him with rage
He gasped at the sight of her eyes before they reverted to normal.
Selora tried to summon her claws, but her system's pop-up stopped her.
[Partial Evolution costs 150 mana. Using all your mana on this is not advisable]
She glared at Luke with rage bubbling within her.
"Apologise!" He yelled and Selora glared at him. Suddenly a way to teach him a lesson crossed her mind, and she held onto it.
The mere thought of it pleased her and washed away some of her anger. She moved closer to him, and Luke stepped away from her tentatively.
[Carmine Suggestion Activated]
Selora leaned in closer to Luke with a smirk on her face, and he watched in frozen awe as her eyes turned green again. Completely green this time.
"From now on, whenever you look at your daughter, your body will betray you. Desire will rise like a sickness inside you, and guilt will claw at your mind. You will burn with this atrocious, maddening desire unfulfilled. And the one thing that remains definite is that you will never have her. Never. Not even in your filthiest dreams. You will suffer this punishment… till I say otherwise. "
The words were a venomous, slippery whisper, and Luke just stared at her like he'd just been hypnotised.
"Do you understand?" She questioned, and Luke nodded slowly, causing her to smirk as she pulled away.
"Good. Now go jerk off somewhere and feel shame for the disgusting pervert you are." She added, and as Luke walked away, Selora found Mira staring at her with wide, terrified eyes.
Selora smiled at the beautiful, delicate woman and smirked.
"It's okay, Mira… you've been good. I just need a little from you." She spoke as she walked up to the terrified woman and took her hands.
"Is… Isabel…"
"Shh"
"Isabel, you're scaring me…" She managed to whimper, and Selora smirked.
"That's the beginning of wisdom, sweet Mira." She replied with a full smile.
"From now on, Mira… You wouldn't complain about whatever I decide to wear. You won't question me about my whereabouts either. You accept everything I do… and you convince that stupid husband of yours to do the same." She spoke, and Mira blinked at her as if Dazed.
"Do you understand?" She questioned, and Mira nodded slowly.
"Good." She replied as she gently patted her face and with that, she turned around and made her way to the library.
Next stop, the town Library.
She had just stepped out of the house when a violent, cold shiver ran down her back. She knew this feeling.
She was being watched.
Was it another night binder??
She looked around in panic, but found no one. She wanted to lean into the convenient thought that it was her mind playing games with her, but she knew better than to relish such silliness.
There was something dangerous lurking. Lurking and monitoring her. Something she couldn't find.
'Is there a Nightbinder around?' Selora asked her system, and there was a minute's pause.
[No nightbinder detected.]
This should have given Selora some form of relief, but she didn't know if this was good or bad news.
She was being watched. She could feel it. But if it wasn't another Nightbinder… What or who was it??
Selora took a slow, steady breath, her eyes scanning the area one last time.
Whatever was watching her was skilled… too skilled. It left no trace, no aura, nothing her system could detect.
But she couldn't waste time looking for something that was clearly not ready to be found. Not when there were more important things to find.
She had to continue with her plan if she wanted to be ready for whatever danger that could be coming her way.
Clutching her coat tighter, she turned her back on the invisible presence and headed for the library. Answers waited, and time was not a luxury she could afford.
In a coffee shop across the street, a man with two colored eyes watched as Selora walked away. He took a cup to his lips, and the man beside him whispered to him.
"Why haven't you attacked her yet?"
Ishamiel took a deep breath as he set his cup down.
"Underestimating the enemy is the first step to failure. You have to study first. Find the pattern… find the cracks, so you know where to strike." He replied as he watched Selora stop a taxi.
"But she's getting stronger." The second man noted, but Ishamiel didn't share the same viewpoint.
"Darkness is never stronger than light."
His reply was simple and blunt. Evidence of his views on life.
To him, Selora was a little snake. One he had to study properly to know how to catch. But a power force worthy of fear? No. To him, she wasn't that.
And it was only a matter of time till he discovered if he was right or wrong about her.
Selora on the other hand had was going over her plans. She would search for clues on the location of the next relic in the library.
There had to be something in that library. There was no reason for her to have visions of the same place so many times if there was nothing there for her.
Besides, every other clue, map and rituals pointed there. She didn't know what she was in search of, but it was there.
She just had to find it.