"Isn't it ironic....You were the one who told me to stay away from here. Yet here you are waiting for me to come..."

"Well... you shouldn't have stolen my heart, if you didn't want me to cling to you."

"I didn't steal your heart Mortivus. You gave it to me."

Sera felt she had gone insane. She would like to have the textbook dreams back again. But they were nowhere to be seen. The time she was awake was spent pondering about what the hunters were trying to achieve and her sleep was plagued by these dreams... It was the first time she heard that name... Mortivus. It felt familiar.... Where did she hear it before?

She didn't want to ponder over it anymore. She already had so much on her plate already. Ah! And that Prophecy didn't help either. It just states things, no way of actually achieving it. She felt overwhelmed. She had no idea what the hunters were trying to do. Were they actually trying to perform blood magic? But they would need a witch for that. Didn't the witches hate the hunters? So many questions....but no answers.

She had to get ready for today. The alliance, that's what Seraphina was calling the team in her mind, was planning to meet at Celestine today, specifically at the office in Celestine and discuss the information they have gathered till now.

✧✧⁠✧

The gang was gathered in the office. There weren't any major developments in their hunt for the hunters. Now they all were wondering about the blood aspect.
"Wouldn't they require a witch or wizard to even think of working with blood magic?" Cassius put forth his doubt.

"That's true! But there were no witches in the base. But Sylvia and I had heard the hunters talk about transporting the blood to the other bases. They probably aren't just keeping the blood in storage..." Sera trailed off.

"Then what will they do? They need to extract the energy from the blood and all right?" Theron said what was going on in his head.

Sera's eyes widened, "That's it! They are using a carrier!"

"What's a carrier?" Leo asked.

"It's a powerful artifact used to store a witch's power, in this case the blood energy. Most witches use it to store their energy and then get a boost when they need it. They are quite rare honestly. But it's the only feasible way of working with all that blood." Sera speculated.

"Normally, a little bit of blood goes a long way.... What are they even going to do with all that blood energy?" Sera felt very conflicted. The hunters were collecting huge amounts of blood, yet they haven't used it for anything yet.

"What if they are planning to raise an army of the dead!" Nik put forward his wild conspiracy.

"That sounds more like a climax for a film." Sylvia shook her head.

"Ya I guess, it doesn't sound like a movie..." Nik rubs his neck. "Oh! There's something I wanted to show you guys." Nik took out a tab he had brought. There was a map on the screen where some areas were highlighted. "Here are some areas where I detected a high frequency of CCTV footage tampering. Well it's just an estimate I can't really be sure if it's caused by hunters though. If they are the ones behind it, that would mean they have a very skilled hacker on their side."

"I could look around those areas. See if there is any usual activity. But the hunters have been quiet recently." Syl suggested. "I could accompany you! There is a very nice tech store. I could use some new supplies." Nik wanted to get a feel of the area too. "We could head there after this, lil bro." Syl agreed. "Don't call me little! But deal!"

"Can I have a look at the map?" Leo asked. "Sure...if you tell me your middle name." Nik tried to.fulfil his curiosity. "Nice try! Not happening!" Leo seemed a bit flustered, not meeting Nik's eyes. " I was just joking here you go!" As Nik was passing the tab to Leo, he came in contact with Leo's hand and formed a mental connection with Leo, for just a moment.

'I hope he won't find out that my middle name is Lucius. All I think about when I introduce myself with my middle name is that it matches Lucius Malfoy. Goddess! That's embarrassing. I kind of... like Nikolai. Maybe after all of this I could ask him out, if he is interested...'

Nik blushed because of the later part of Leo's thoughts. He was going to ignore it for now, he didn't mean to spy on his feelings. Sometimes he just couldn't control his power. But that doesn't mean he wasn't going to tease Leo. So with an evil smile he said, " So...Lucius, huh! I didn't really expect that!"

"How did you know! Cas, did you tell him?" Leo blushed. Did his best friend set him up? "Don't look at me!" Cas denied. "Don't blame him...I have my own ways." Nik said with a mischievous smile. "But how can you.... Wait a minute! You have enhanced mental abilities, don't you? How much did you hear?" Leo went pale. Did Nik know he liked him? "Just a thing or two about ... Lucius Malfoy." Leo was both relieved and embarrassed. "Well this is embarrassing!"

"No it's not. It's a perfectly normal middle name. Hey, if it makes you feel any better, the wizard king's name is Orion Dorian Moonborn." Sera consoled Leo, while she smiled, it felt nice to make fun of her vile grandfather. Everyone had a laugh. " That cracks me up every time I hear it, cousin." Nik chuckled. " That's the best thing I have heard all day! Can't wait to share it with Lyra." Cassius smiled. " Not if I text her about it first!" Theron jokes. "Hey! I reserve this piece of informatics as her brother. You are not allowed to text her regarding this." Cassius failed to hide his smile. "Ah! The 'brother privilege'! Can't say anything against that" Theron smiles too.

Cassius felt happy. He knew there was impending doom knocking on their door. But he learned a lot from the people in this room. He was trying his best to be a better person free from his previous prejudices and understand the feelings of his friends and family better.

✧✧✧

Nik was looking around the tech shop. Well this wasn't exactly a legal establishment. He was looking at the signal jammers when he noticed another customer there. The customer seemed very nervous and jittery. The customer dropped the package he was looking at. Nik bent down and picked it up. "There you go..." As he passed it to the customer, their hand came in contact.

'Did he figure out I am a hunter?... Please no... I don't wanna fight. Come on Victor, just grab the stuff and go home.... Wait, I can't go home... I need to report at the base. God! That bunker smells so bad.'

Nik's head hurt with the ambush of thoughts and emotions. No! He couldn't let go of this opportunity, it was the key to find the hunter bases. Victor must be the hunter's hacker. Nik grabs Victor's hand. He wanted to try to form a stronger connection. He knew it was possible, he had read about it in books. "Are you alright? You look like you are about to faint." Nik stalled. "I ... am alright. Could you ... please let go of my hand." Victor tried to twist his hand out of Nik's hold. "Oh! That's great! But be careful with all this stuff. They are quite delicate." Nik stalled some more, he could almost feel the connection forming. "Yeah ... I ... know" Done!

Nik let go of Victor's hand and left. He was now outside the store, waiting for Sylvia. They needed to go meet Sera. Victor was heading to the hunter's bass. Goddess! His head hurts! This Victor had mountains of anxiety. This was not what he thought a hunter's mind would be like. "Ahh!..." Nik grabbed his head, he felt the connection almost breaking as he felt Victor's fear. No! He couldn't let that happen. This was their chance, he can't lose it.

'God! I hate that world war bunker! The road to it is so rocky ... the one from 5th Avenue. And all those hunters look at me like they want to kill me. That abandoned house on top of the bunker is so creepy...'

That's it! Nik's eyes widened. He got the location of the hunters base. Syl walked towards Nik and saw him being hunched over, grabbing his head. "Are you okay! Nik?" Syl kept her hand on Nik's shoulder. "We need to go home. I know the location of the hunter's base."

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