The ride back to the Enclave was silent.
Mara sat near the window with a pale face, her tablet resting on her lap. The screen was cracked in three places, but it was still working, barely. She had woken up before they left the Velvet House, but even now, her eyes looked unfocused.
Tomas sat across from her, one of his arms was wrapped in bandages.
Darius sat near the front, his eyes were closed, but everyone in the car knew he wasn’t sleeping. Ilyra was sitting beside Lucian and Lucian...
He sat near the back, looking out the window.
He had not said anything since they left and... Ilyra couldn’t help but find it strange.
This was the sa man who was joking in the middle of the hidden basent, insulted a Fifth Veil Host, mocked a Greater Incubus, a being who could wipe out an entire city if he ever descended properly.
And now...
He wasn’t saying anything, not one casual remark, not one lazy comnt, he didn’t even complain.
The more Ilyra looked at him, the stranger she felt.
Then, she looked at his left hand.
It was gone.
No, it wasn’t a cut, or a wound, the entire hand above the wrist was gone.
The stump was wrapped in bandages, but the cloth had already soaked through in so places. Ilyra had used seven healing charms on it before they left.
But the only thing that did was stop the bleeding, nothing else.
The bone didn’t regrow, neither did the flesh form, Ilyra’s healing charms weren’t that strong.
"You should have gone with the dical team."
Ilyra spoke as she looked at his hand, then at him. Lucian looked at her, then he grinned.
"I’m touched by your concern."
He answered in his usual, playful tone that almost seed normal.
Almost.
Ilyra could still sense sothing was not right, even though she couldn’t point it out.
"I am serious. The longer you wait, the worse it will get."
Lucian waved the stump with a grin—
"I’ll be fine~"
"Stop moving that!"
Ilyra raised her voice.
"I barely stopped your bleeding and I don’t have any more charms!"
"Seems like you spent it all on .
You really do care for , huh.
Seriously, I am touched.
I am also free for coffee this Monday."
Lucian smiled, Ilyra, however, didn’t fall for it.
"Lucian."
She called his na with a serious look on her face as she stared at him.
Sothing was wrong.
Not with his hand.
With him.
His voice was calm, playful even but... it was too flat.
His shoulders seed relaxed but it didn’t feel natural, the sa was true with his breathing.
Is this... about his disagreent with the Captain?
She wondered inwardly.
But then—
"I’ll be fine, Ilyra.
I promise."
Lucian looked at her and smiled, then, he turned back towards the window. It was clear he did not wish to talk any longer and Ilyra...
She decided to respect that, though her eyes still looked at his missing hand in worry ti and ti again.
The remaining ride stayed silent. Mara glanced at Lucian a few tis as well, she looked like she wanted to say sothing as well, but honestly, she didn’t have the energy, neither did it look like Lucian wanted to talk.
As for Tomas...
Honestly, he wanted to talk too, well, he just wanted to express his gratitude for everything Lucian did, he planned to thank him for saving his life, but the air in the car felt... too heavy for him to say anything.
So he remained silent, thinking of thanking him another ti, all while looking at Lucian’s missing hand and feeling guilty about it.
If only he was strong enough...
Tomas closed his eyes.
After so ti, the vehicle finally entered the Enclave’s lower garage, the doors opened and the early morning’s cold air rushed in.
Darius stepped out first, followed by Tomas and Mara. Ilyra stepped out slowly, her eyes were still on Lucian.
Lucian ca out as well.
Then, he smiled.
"Long ride."
No one said anything.
The group then walked into the elevator, the elevator did its thing where it continued to descend for 5 minutes straight.
Then, they all walked into the Enclave’s receiving hall, this was where the hunters returned to after attempting a mission, got so rest and dical aid before giving the reports.
A few personnel were already there.
dical staff, two security officers.
But the person standing in the center of the hall was not soone the team expected.
Claire Voss.
She stood with her arms crossed, with the sa cold and unreadable expression as always and the team paused.
To think soone like her would co all the way here...
Every single one of them glanced at Lucian, after all, it was obvious she didn’t co here for them, Claire Voss was not soone who waited for teams to return from missions.
’Makes you wonder if he really is just a normal new recruit...’
Ilyra couldn’t help but wonder in her head.
Then, as she looked at Lucian standing there, as she rembered everything this man did today—
’Normal recruit my ass.’
She shook her head.
A new recruit?
Even an experienced hunter wouldn’t be able to pull off what he did.
He very obviously was not a ’normal’ new recruit, no matter how much those files on him tried to make it so.
And as Ilyra thought about all this, Claire walked towards Lucian.
"Miss Voss. You waited for ?
How romantic~"
Lucian laughed.
Claire, however, did not.
She just looked at his missing hand and frowned.
According to Dr. Sable’s report, a wound like that should have recovered in three to four hours but...
From what she knew, nearly five hours had passed since the Enclave teams were called for cleanup, that would an the wound was at least five hours old and...
There was nothing.
The wound hadn’t healed at all.
Or was it...
’Was the entire arm sliced off?’
Claire wondered in her head, but that didn’t seem possible either. The blood on the bandage looked old, plus, even the most inexperienced healer wouldn’t bandage the wound if it was healing on its own.
Sothing was wrong.
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