(Two hours earlier, before Xiran went to see Aselia in the med room and after he had placed a call to Rivan)

Rivan knew Xiran would never call him for help until something grave has happened.

"What happened? Is everything alright?" Rivan was worried for his friend.

"Xifin and Sohlia attacked Aselia and she is in critical condition. Hunters are attacking my city and everything seems like a bloody mess. The peace I had worked so tirelessly to maintain is going down the drain." There was so much hurt in Xiran’s voice.

"I am coming right over, don’t worry we will figure things out together," Rivan reassured his friend, he could feel him falling apart.

"I will wait." Xiran cut the call, his wings had disappeared and now he made his way to the med room. He had to see her and inspect the damage they had inflicted on her. His heart was in bloody pieces right now and his mind couldn’t think straight.

Opening the door to the med room he found Doctor Wanstine and his assistant had fitted an oxygen mask to her nose and were tending to her wounds. Electrodes had been attached to her chest and pulse oximeters to her finger, the readings were being displayed on the monitors. Her BP was low and her breathing was unsteady. She was being infused, drips hanging all around her.

"Has the blood been arranged?" He inquired in a grim voice unable to tear his eyes off her.

"I have made some calls but it’s not easy to obtain elven blood these days and we don’t have any in our blood bank." Doctor Wanstine informed him. Xiran remembered his conversation with Mayor Mazitine. He had offered him rare blood on his last visit, Xiran was sure he meant Elven blood. He quickly placed a call to him. He picked up instantly.

"Señor, to what to do I owe the pleasure." Mazitine was always sweet-tongued.

"Do you have Elven blood available?" Xiran’s serious tone had Mazitine on high alert.

"U...mm, I....I..."

"Speak up, I don’t have time for your nonsense right now." Xiran was losing his temper again.

"Señor, I acquired it through proper channels, it’s legal. I assure you nothing illegal took place."

"We will talk about that later, right now I need as much as you have. Send it right over through the fastest means possible."

"Right away, Señor." Xiran cut the call and slowly moved forward. His heart sank at the thought of seeing her in this condition. Her beautiful golden hair was plastered in blood and patches were missing from her head. His heart writhing in agony as he asked:

"What’s her condition?"

"We believe she has multiple fractures in her hands, arms and ribs. We are going to conduct X-rays, CT Scans and MRI, as soon as we give her a blood transfusion and she is a bit stable. She has lost a lot of blood." Xiran inhaled deeply at her words and focused on Aselia’s body which was covered with a green sheet except for the upper part. Her face was bruised and her lower lip was swollen.

"Show me," Xiran asked Doctor Wanstine, who had worked with Xiran for a long time and had never seen him so tensed and agitated. She was a middle-aged woman with light brown eyes and a stern look.

"You don’t need to see."

"I do," Xiran was adamant. She removed the sheet and showed him her ribs and abdominal area. They were severely bruised with red and purple patches. Her right hand was swollen and her knuckles were bruised while her wrists were covered in bandages to stop the blood flow but he was sure they were deeply injured. His heart was brimming with rage and resentment. Why didn’t he keep her safe? The tumultuous emotions raged inside of him like a storm.

"Let me handle this, Xiran. Wait outside, please." Doctor Wanstine touched his hand to bring him out of his deep reflections.

"I am not going anywhere. But I will stay out of your way." He stepped away so they could carry on. Two vampires soon arrived with the required blood bags, Frila received them and handed them to Doctor Wanstine, so she could start the blood transfusion.

Xiran called Frila and asked her to gather Treia, Maxile and Madam Marci in the conference room and wait for him. She nodded and left. He shot one final look toward her, she was tough he knew she would pull through, but she had to pull through. Blood transfusion had started, at least she will be out of danger.

"Take care of her, I will be back in a short while. There is something I need to do." Xiran told Doctor Wanstine before leaving.

He made his way to the conference room. All four ladies were there. Treia was relaxed, the rest of them looked anxious and Frila was on verge of tears.

Xiran walked in and stood in front of them and asked bluntly but in a sinister voice: "Who sent Aselia to room 23?"

Madam Marci’s head was bowed and the poor woman was trembling from head to toe. With tears flowing down her face she spoke: "Señor, it w...as your voi...ce on phone, asking me to s...end her there."

Xiran narrowed his eyes at her and shouted: "You have been working for me for more than a decade now and yet you can’t differentiate between my voice and my brother’s." He wanted to punch the wall at that woman’s stupidity.

"Tr...eia also told me you want...ed to see her, so I did as I was told. Forgive me Señor, have mercy." She begged. Xiran shot a serious look at Treia who still seemed unfazed about it.

"Your stupidity has led to her fighting between life and death right now. I swear if anything happens to her, I won’t spare anyone involved." The woman sobbed loudly.

"Frila you shouldn’t have left her alone, I wish I had known that I wouldn’t have called you. I wasn’t aware she was in the kitchen. I thought she was in her room." Xiran seemed more disappointed in himself.

"She just wanted to learn to make juice so I left her with Madam Marci, as we have done occasionally. If I had known I would never have left her side." Frila was feeling dejected and miserable that she had failed to protect the girl under her protection.

"Take Madam Marci back to the kitchen. I want to talk to Treia and Maxile alone." Xiran ordered Frila who led a crying Madam Marci out of the Conference room.

Xiran focused his attention on the two remaining girls. "Maxile, answer my questions very carefully, if you will lie to me it will not end well for you." She gulped at his serious and cold tone but nodded.

"Do you have any hand in what transpired today? Did Treia involve you in her sinister plan? Anything you overheard and failed to inform me of?" Xiran maintained direct eye contact with her.

"No, master. I had no clue about anything. I swear, I didn’t overhear anything and Treia didn’t tell me any of her plans." Maxile replied softly but firmly.

"She is innocent, don’t drag her. I did and planned everything. Punish me." Treia finally spoke up making Xiran shoot her a deadly look.