Despite the vampire’s obvious superiority in speed, Urum was already ready to strike and his ear with a white spot moved before he took off, jumping up and intercepting his enemy in the air.

With the inertial force that pushed his heavy body forward, he managed to hit the vampire in the stomach, pushing him a few dozen meters away from himself, but it was still not enough and in the next moment, the Urum`s wolf felt a burning pain in the rib where the blow fell.

He howled, blocking the vampire’s hand, which gripped the chest with a steel grip, cutting through the flesh and wanting to get to the werewolf’s heart. Without losing a good moment, he gathered himself and grouped himself before clinging with his powerful jaws to the vampire’s arm, tearing out a piece of fresh flesh that tasted disgusting.

The vampire lost concentration for a moment and looked dumbfounded with his eyes, which were not part of his body for a long time, because the next moment Urum literally bit into the vampire’s neck with his teeth, tearing off his head, allowing it to roll down with a thud under his feet.

He was breathing heavily because of his injury, but this was the sacrifice he had made deliberately in order to finish off the vampire as soon as possible.

He caught the sound of jaws quivering with fear and growled loudly, bringing his paws closer to the carriage. There, behind the half-open door, curled up and huddled under a bench, sat a little girl who looked to be only six or seven years old.

His breathing calmed down when he noticed the tears in her eyes. She was a vampire child and could have tried to protect herself, but apparently she had enough prudence in her head not to engage in a fight with an adult werewolf. She desperately shook her head and asked not to kill her. Desperately asked.

Urum wondered if he should return to his human form and talk to the girl, but then rejected the idea decisively. It didn’t matter that she was scared, it didn’t matter that she was just a child... all that mattered was the witches’ faith in his and Nicole’s loyalty. All this was for the good, and therefore, he stopped feeling remorse, looking at the trembling girl.

She picked up the vampire’s bloody head with her sharp teeth and ran back as fast as she could, carrying her victorious proof trophy.

- You did it quickly. – with surprise in her head, but completely hidden behind a facade of indifference on her face, Trish replied, looking at the bloody mess at her feet.

Urum, who had already regained his appearance and was currently busy changing clothes, only measured the witch with a contemptuous look. Even if their situation required him to be on the side of the witches, it didn’t mean that he had to bow down to them in full respect.

His clothes were completely torn and the most he could count on now was his own raincoat. He was thinking about going back and taking the clothes off the vampire’s corpse.

Nicole noticed a bleeding wound in the area of Urum’s rib, but he quickly covered it with a thick cloth.

There was no point in inflating the problem out of such a minor scratch, which would soon be delayed by itself.

Nicole silently stared at the vampire’s dead head and didn’t even want to catch a glimpse of Urum. He noticed it.

Did she feel disgusted with him after he killed an innocent vampire? He was puzzled, but remained silent, continuing to dress.

- So, now will you let us in on your plans? - Nicole squeezed out, her voice muffled.

- There are no special plans. - Trish replied dryly. - We just have to stall for time and reduce the number of vampires around Abion Castle until the right time comes.

- The right time? What are you talking about? - Nicole frowned. – And when it comes.

- Nikki, you’re asking too many questions. - Ashley interrupted. – We don’t know much ourselves, the order was given at one moment and all that was required of us, Trish has just announced to you.

- So you don’t know how long we’ll have to be a direct target of vampires? - she gasped with a laugh, it was too ridiculous. – How long do you think the four of us can hold out against the walls of the castle, which is guarded by the strongest vampires of the kingdom? Of course, the king is not there now, but that doesn’t mean...

She didn’t even have time to finish when Trish pinned her with an interested look. Dangerously interested.

- How do you know the vampire king isn’t in the castle? - she spoke deliberately measured, with a subtle implication of doubt, and this made Nicole shudder and start thinking faster.

- I thought you already knew, since everyone knows about it. - she lifted her chin self-confidently, as if there was not a drop of fear in her veins at that moment, although her knees betrayed her in front of herself.

Trish’s eyelids drooped, leaving small contemptuous slits behind which the sharp gaze of a predator was hidden, and her tongue played with her teeth.

- Rumors about this started at the time when the girls and I were in Norland. - Nicole scolded herself mentally for putting herself in such a situation, but there was no other choice, she had to sacrifice something important to gain time. – I heard that the vampire king removed the protective barrier that always protected Abion from outsiders, hiding it behind an illusion. He did this before leaving the castle.

- And where is he now? Where is the vampire king now? - Trish didn’t seem to believe Nicole’s words at all.

- How should I know? – she almost screamed, actively gesticulating with her hands and indignant. – Do you think if I knew his plans, I would be standing and talking to you now, knowing about his hatred of witches?

She dropped the last phrase on purpose, because it was a well-known fact on which she decided to play. And hit the nail on the head.

Nicole felt devastated because she had once unwittingly overheard a conversation between Thea and Raphael, and now she was forced to reveal this truth to the others. But she hoped the vampires would be able to fight back even so.

- Hmm, that’s funny. - Trish chuckled, but lowered the onslaught on Nicole. – And we all wondered why Abion became so accessible at one point?

- You know, I’m starting to wonder now, isn’t this a trap and a trap? - Ashley was alarmed, who had been trying not to get involved in the showdown between Trish and Nicole up to this point.

- Why do you think that? - Trish asked, who was in charge of their group and had to listen to the worries of the others in order to maneuver correctly in the moment.

- Judge for yourself, according to the elders, for about twenty years Abion was hidden by an illusion and at one moment the barrier was removed, and the king himself left the castle. What could it mean? And all this coincides in time with our offensive? I feel like there’s something wrong here. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Nicole inwardly grinned at Ashley’s stormy fantasy, but after all, everything really looked like that, if only she didn’t know that it wasn’t planned in advance.

- Then we just have to check it out. Trish calmly concluded, which surprised the others. - It’s such an advantage to prove yourself for the sake of our great supreme witch. She will definitely appreciate it.

Ashley jerked her head sharply in Nicole’s direction and there was an expression of concern on her face. Did Trish hear her words? Has she assessed all the risks?

Ashley didn’t want to die young.

Nicole, on the other hand, saw herself in Trish, the girl who had recently idealized and admired Lillian, trying to be in her line of sight.

Obeying Trish’s orders, they obediently moved to the walls of Abion’s castle.