The tears rolled down Eve's pale cheeks and when they left her, they had turned into pearls. Vincent quickly caught them in the air without letting one of them hit the ground.
With her emotions that had broken free, she realised the predicament she would be putting herself in if people in here were to discover who she truly was. She tried to hold back her tears, but it was hard to do with Noah's body in front of her.
She wanted to cry more, but this wasn't the place to do it.
Vincent placed a comforting arm around her shoulders and said, "Let us finish what we came here to do. I will keep them distracted so that you can take your time."
Eve couldn't stop staring at Noah's body, and she faintly heard Vincent's words before she nodded and whispered, "Okay."
"Just a little longer," Vincent promised her, and he walked past her and the table to reach where the three physicians worked for the Council. He said to Ms. Clarks, "Show me the sample."
"Here it is, Sire," the woman stepped away from the device to let Vincent step forward.
While Vincent spoke to the council members, Eve was left next to Noah and her hand trembled when she raised it towards him.
Eve whispered in question, "What happened to you, Noah?" In some part of her mind, Noah was the person who would always be there around. Even though she had never admitted it out loud, she had always depended on his wisdom and believed it. The man was kind and pure, and knowing that he had reached his end this soon was baffling.
Eve slowly slipped her hand into his resting hand to find the truth of what had happened to him. His hand was cold as ice. She pressed her fingers on his, half wanting to support him, and she finally closed her eyes to read his memories.
But after thirty seconds of Eve trying to read Noah, her eyes snapped open and she screamed loud enough for the people in the room to be startled.
One of the male physicians turned and asked, "What happened?!"
Vincent, who heard Eve's scream and her heart racing in her chest, was quick to leave where he was seated and came to her side. Eve had moved away from the table and had fallen on the ground.
"Eve! Are you alright?" Vincent tried to read her, and all he found was her being scared. Her body trembled, and he grabbed her before having her stand.
"Is the lady alright? Did something happen?" Asked the other male physician, who looked at Eve, then a dead Noah and then the room as if waiting to catch Noah's ghost floating around.
Vincent offered a slight smile and responded, "The lady isn't used to seeing dead people. It would be best for me to take her out of here, and let her rest a little. I will talk to you later, Clarks."
The woman nodded briefly, watching the couple leave the laboratory room. Vincent noticed how Eve looked as pale as a ghost, and she didn't speak but stared. He took her to his office room, burning the wood logs and having her sit on the couch before putting a spare blanket around her, which he took out from the room cupboard.
Vincent then poured a glass of water for Eve before bringing it to her.
"Drink it," he said when he noticed the reluctance in her eyes.
Eve took it with both hands, while Vincent sat down next to her, watching her blue eyes dilate. She took a couple of sips before returning the glass to him. Her eyes watered, and more tears slipped from her eyes and this time, he didn't stop her, and neither did she. Pearls bounced on the ground, moving in a different direction but not too far from where they sat.
Vincent gave her heart some time to settle, and he then patiently asked her, "What did you see in Noah, Eve?"
Eve's eyes moved to meet Vincent's gaze, and she shook her head, "Nothing."
Vincent frowned at Eve's words, and he asked her, "What do you mean nothing?"
It wasn't that Eve wasn't able to see Noah's memories, because when she did... "It felt cold and dark. I have touched things that hold no memory. Like an empty shell... But his, I can still sense the coldness like an abyss of darkness." There were goosebumps on her entire body.
When Eve had closed her eyes while keeping contact with Noah, it was as if she had fallen into an endless darkness that didn't let her breathe or see. There was literally nothing in there. She whispered, "Someone did something very bad to him..." She shook her head, with tears still gleaming down her eyes. "I cannot read him, Vince. The longer I tried to read him, even though it was barely a few seconds, it felt like I was inking myself with it for an eternity."
Eve wanted to help Noah but was scared to read him again. Because she had found nothing in there but an empty shell.
Vincent put his arms around her and buried her in his protection. He said, "It's alright. We don't have to find things through him," he gently rubbed her back, feeling her body run through tremors before she broke down further into an uncontrollable fit of pain.
They stayed the night at the Council. Eve slept on the couch of Vincent's office room, while he watched over her. Hours passed, and before the wake of dawn, someone knocked on the door. When he opened it, he noticed it was none other than Patton.
"Mr. Moriarty, you are back!" Patton exclaimed, and Vincent's eyes narrowed.
"Hush your excitement. The lady sleeps and I prefer that she rests and doesn't wake up," Vincent replied in a low voice, and Patton's eyes, which moved to look at a sleeping Eve, and he quickly zipped his mouth.
Patton nodded, and Vincent waved his hand outside before stepping out of the room and closing the door behind him.
"How was your trip to the North, Sire? Is the palace as stunning as it appears from afar?" Patton asked, but Vincent replied,
"How would you feel if your lover was stolen and you found her after many years?"
Patton blinked, wondering if this was some sort of a puzzle and he asked, "Uh..." Was there another woman before Lady Genevieve? Thought Patton in his mind.
"Angry is the right answer. Especially when you find out the person who stole your lover is dead," Vincent stated with a grim expression.
The councilman's eyes furrowed, slightly confused, and he nodded and added a shrug to it, "I guess, Sire. Did you hear about what happened to Duke Noah? It is all everyone can speak about right now."
"Mm, we visited him before coming here. Did you hear anything interesting about it?" Vincent asked the man.
"Word is that the poison that was used was the nightingale. Used by a witch, but the flower from which the nightingale is made, it has gone extinct. You will not find it anywhere, Sire," Patton explained to him with a constant frown. "Is it possible that the potion was stored for many years?"
"That's highly unlikely. It must have been obtained by a witch who runs in higher circles than the ones we catch and kill," Vincent hummed thoughtfully. On seeing Clayton walking in the other corridor, he said, "Patton, stay here at the door. I will return in two minutes."
Patton nodded, guarding the door behind him. Vincent caught up to Clayton, and the Head Council looked slightly surprised by the pureblooded presence at this hour.
"Are you here waiting to hear about Noah's autopsy?" Clayton asked Vincent.
"I came here for a special autopsy myself but something is amiss. Clayton, did you take a look at Noah's body? Make contact with his body?" Vincent questioned the small-looking vampire.
Clayton paused his footsteps and faced Vincent with a sullen expression. He said, "Seems like you found something similar to I have. Was it Eve?" And though he questioned and Vincent stared back at him, he continued to say, "Something is strange about the body. Usually I can detect something at least. Some sort of emotions or threads of ability, but right now. Noah's body echoes like a blank slate. As if there was nothing in there."
The Head Council appeared to hold an unsettling feeling in his chest as he thought about it. He said, "The poison was given by an B list witch. Though it doesn't make sense why a witch would go so far as to kill a Duke, and I don't think Noah was a weak man. I have seen him fight before."
That made sense, Vincent thought to himself.
With the witch's poison running in Noah's blood, the first and obvious suspicion would be the witch. But that wasn't who they were supposed to look for. Vincent said,
"Considering how Noah was good at combat and not any regular person but a Duke while he was a werewolf, he probably let his guard down with the person whom he was with, or the one who stabbed him," Vincent stated, and it had Clayton nod in agreement.
"I heard from the Sullivans that Noah was on his way home from the East side, and both he and his coachman was found dead," Clayton told him.
"Coachman too?" Vincent asked.
"That's what his family told us. His coachman's body was found in Theserk Hills, and Noah's body in the inner edge of the forest," Clayton explained before he sighed. "James Sullivan mentioned that he had sent Noah for a family work to the East, and it is possible that the person who was targeting their business, is also responsible for his nephew's death."
"Where is the coachman's body?" Vincent asked as he didn't remember catching sight of it.
"The head was severed from the body. It's in the laboratory. Not of much use," Clayton added then, "A quick interrogation was with the people of Woodlock, inside and out, but no one saw them enter the town. Strangely no one saw them at Theserk Hills either, so they were lured in the forest."
"It is a plausible theory," Vincent remarked. "I have a favour to ask from you, Clayton."
"I cannot give you access to the case if that is what you are going to ask me. Because the Sullivans want the werewolves to work on it and don't want any vampires," Clayton said, which had the pureblooded vampire tilt his head in question.
"Is it because they think the vampires have a hand in the Duke's death? That's quite interesting and makes me wonder where it's coming from," Vincent's eyes narrowed a little. "Anyways, that's not what I was going to ask for. I need to have access to his body after the results of his autopsy is out."
Clayton glared at Vincent, "You ask for the impossible. The Sullivans will not let that happen, and he will be buried like any other respectful person. What do you even want to do by accessing his body?"
"If I say I want to dissect it, would you agree?" Vincent asked with his bright eyes looking at the Head Council, who was nowhere amused by his words. "No one is telling not to bury him. But I need you to keep his body in a preserved state, and I will have it arranged. The Moriarty family are very good at wanting to preserve the dead and the undead. The deceased Duke is tied to something I am involved in. At least until the full moon shows up and leaves."
"If you can have it arranged in two days, all is well. Else there's nothing I can do," Clayton replied, not knowing what and why Vincent was doing. "Even if the autopsy result of the body comes out in a few hours, it will be buried only the next morning. I believe the Sullivans have already begun to circulate the news with the people whom they are close to."
Vincent was more than happy with Clayton's words, and he said, "I will need to know where he will be buried. So that I can prepare the grave space to be accommodating."
"I will let you know once I hear about it," Clayton murmured, and his eyes moved from one end of the corridor to the other end of the corridor. With no one there, he turned back to look at Vincent and warned, "Careful, Vincent. It takes only a little miss for the fault to come fall on you. Any guess on who might have killed Noah?"
Clayton asked this because he didn't believe it was a powerful witch or a witcher who was the cause of the Duke's death.
"I think it would do us well to know what Noah has been up to recently that he was interrupted or if he upset someone one," Vincent replied to the Head Council. "Let me know if you find something," and he made his way back towards the room.
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