CHAPTER 380: TWO DETECTIVES-I

Meanwhile, the three men who had stepped down from the carriage carried Xavier into the foyer, their boots echoing against the marble floor. They passed the centerpiece statue, an elaborate display of naked men and women bent beneath the weight of stone jars, water forever frozen mid pour.

The thin man let out a low whistle. "First time seeing the place, but I’ve heard plenty. This is Baron Mitch’s estate, isn’t it?"

"The baron’s got a peculiar taste," the shorter man muttered, squinting at the carved figures. "Statues of naked folk in his entryway... I heard he fancies children, too."

"Whatever filth he’s into, that’s not our concern," the bald man cut in with a rasping laugh. "The money’s good, that’s all that matters. If the prey suffers for it, so be it." His chuckle carried a cruel edge, sharp enough to make the other two exchange uneasy glances.

They had just reached the staircase when an elderly man stepped out from the shadows above. Dressed in a crisp black uniform and a perfectly tied red bow, he raised a gloved hand, halting them with practiced grace. Despite their brutish appearance, his voice held only calm civility.

"Forgive me, gentlemen," he said, inclining his head. "But the master requests that you use the servants’ entrance at the rear."

The bald man scoffed, shifting Xavier’s weight against his shoulder. "Ah, of course. Too filthy for the front hall, is that it?" His lip curled as he clicked his tongue. "Fine. But tell your precious master this, he’d better have the coin ready. If not, my boss will come calling. And you know as well as I do..." He leaned forward, his voice dropping to a growl. "My boss doesn’t forgive late payers."

Undeterred, the butler gave a courteous half-bow and stepped aside, gesturing toward the servants’ path. From above, Arabella’s gaze followed the men as they carried their unconscious prize through the courtyard. It was then her breath caught—

The man slumped over their shoulders had unmistakable features: dark hair, a pallor that seemed almost otherworldly, and eyes, even half-closed, that gleamed faintly red in the dim light.

Her heart skipped. Cassius?

No. Not quite.

From afar, the resemblance was uncanny, too similar to dismiss, yet not very exact. His jaw was sharper, his build leaner. Still, the resemblance stirred a cold unease. Could they share blood? An ancestor? Or... something else?

But Cassius, standing at her side, appeared wholly unconcerned with the likeness. His eyes, sharp, predator’s eyes, were instead fixed on the three humans below, their greedy grins spreading wide as a fat-bellied man waddled forth.

The Baron.

His stomach strained against a velvet coat, and when he smiled, a single golden tooth caught the torchlight like a shard of sun. He jingled a pouch of coins into their waiting hands, his laugh thick with indulgence.

Arabella’s unease deepened as the men pocketed their reward.

"Quickly," the Baron croaked, his voice breaking into a wet chuckle. His withered hands reached eagerly for the boy’s face, fingers digging into his chin as though testing the firmness of fruit at market. He turned Xavier’s head this way and that, his tongue wetting his lips as he drank in the sight.

"Exquisite," he rasped, a shudder of grotesque delight betraying his years. "Bring him to my chamber. And bind his hands. Tightly."

Xavier was still unconscious, his eyelids unmoved and his finger without a single twitch. He seemed to be knocked out of cold for good that he wouldn’t wake up unless the ground beneath him tremble or someone slap him hard across the face.

Worried at how quickly the situation was unraveling, Arabella tugged at Cassius’s sleeve. "Maybe we should put a stop to this now. If it keeps going on—"

"Birdie." His voice was velvet over steel as he descended, lowering from the sky into the back garden without so much as a whisper of sound. With a languid twist, he caught her by the waist and set her down as though she were weightless, a fairy spun from starlight. "Do you know the best way to catch a criminal?"

"By catching them red handed?" she guessed.

He grinned, sharp and pleased. "That you know." The smile faded as his tone grew heavier. "But think of that puppet master. He spoke of us so confidently, weaving a story as if he had read our fates already. And yet, if he could truly see the future, why didn’t he flee before a mere loanshark snared him like prey?"

Arabella frowned, pressing a finger to her chin. "That’s true. Do you think it’s magic or witchcraft? Circe could use it when she took over Noah’s body, so maybe other vampires can as well?"

"I doubt it." Cassius’s eyes glinted, dangerous in their certainty. "What I deduce is witchcraft bound to souls. Circe wielded power because she was born a witch, her power followed wherever she nested. But Noah himself could never use witchcraft without her inside him."

Arabella studied him, her voice hushed. "But there is a way for a vampire to use magic, isn’t there? Like you."

His smile curved, dark amusement curling at the edges. "And yet, someone as powerful as me would pretend to be cornered by an old human baron. Tell me, isn’t that funny?" He leaned closer, eyes gleaming with mischief and malice both. "Let’s see how he will act in a pinch. When one is in trouble that’s when they will finally show their true color.

They then followed incognito behind the old butler who became unaware of their presence with the magic that Arabella placed, allowing for both of them to turn invisible from the naked eyes with the only weakness that they would still make noise.

Thankfully, Cassius was good at following someone in secret, allowing for them to sneak in without a single notice.

The baron’s house was glittering with gold ornaments all around, even the ones that were as fancy as the castle, furnitures that didn’t seem to belong to a normal baron’s house.

"He sells humans," Cassius noted while looking at the house. "Seems that while going on an outing, we apprehend a criminal too."

"How do you know he sells humans?" Arabella couldn’t get the hint of it but Cassius shrugged.

"I smell blood, a lot of it but from under the ground where he must have kept the humans he sells."