Chapter 196: Accusations
"What? Did the name ring a bell?"
The moment Ivan asked the question, all eyes shifted to Gavriel, watching as he paused for a brief moment, as though something had stirred in the depths of his mind.
Then he lifted his gaze to meet Ivan’s eyes and offered a firm, flat, "No."
The single, clipped word made Ivan narrow his eyes at him, while Eve silently continued observing the man.
Aliana also looked curiously at Gavriel’s side profile, trying to see if she could pick up on any hidden reaction. But he was as unreadable as a blank sheet of paper when he wanted to be.
Releasing a soft sigh, knowing nothing would make Gavriel spill a word once he locked down like this, Aliana shifted her focus and directed the conversation back to the couple.
"Ahem." She subtly cleared her throat before asking, "So... what was that thing out there? And... how did you... take care of it?" It was almost as though even saying the word kill made her cringe inwardly.
Her question brought a sudden silence to the room.
The couple shifted their attention back to Aliana, who looked at them expectantly, patiently waiting for an answer.
Evelyn and Ivan studied the young woman.
Until now, she had only continued to raise questions in their minds about her involvement in everything that had been happening.
So far, her heartbeat showed only signs of her being human, but they still found it difficult to believe she was ordinary with those dangerous dark powers swirling inside her.
They could not help but be cautious about how much they wanted to reveal to her. Especially to the dangerous man sitting beside her.
Instead of answering, Ivan questioned her back. "Are you saying you do not know what that creature was?"
Aliana’s brows pulled together. "Do you think I would be asking you both that question if I knew?"
"We don’t know that...yet, do we?" Ivan’s cryptic reply to her did not sit well either with Aliana or Gavriel.
It almost sounded like an accusation... as if she were pretending to be clueless.
A sharp, sudden clink of porcelain hitting the saucer abruptly pulled everyone’s attention back to Gavriel.
His eyes had turned glacier cold as he met Ivan’s gaze, finally breaking his silence. "It is amusing how you choose to frame your words," he murmured. "You speak as though you are accusing my fiancée of something she has no knowledge of, when you two are the ones who trespassed onto my property at five o’clock in the morning."
Ivan did not back down. "It was a simple statement. You have nothing to get worked up about if your hands are clean."
The temperature in the living room plummeted as Gavriel’s expression darkened.
"I see what this is about," he said, his voice a low, chilling whisper that instantly put the visiting couple on high alert. Their muscles tensed as they mentally prepared themselves for an immediate attack.
"You think we have something to do with that... abomination out there."
The air became thick with a suffocating stillness.
When the couple remained silent, Gavriel let out a dark, humourless chuckle before all traces of emotion vanished from his face. "I don’t know why you think either of us has anything to do with it... but do tell, if we were remotely involved with that creature, do you think it would have attacked us?"
Ivan maintained his stoic expression while Eve simply pressed her lips together, but Gavriel was not done yet.
"That thing almost killed my fiancée today, and you two have quite some nerve to step onto our property and point fingers when we were the ones on the receiving end. Not to mention the fact that we know absolutely nothing about you two either. If anything, you both should be at the top of our suspect list, given your sudden appearance right when that creature happened to be attacking my fiancée."
The sneer in his tone did not go unnoticed by anyone. Meanwhile, the dangerous look burning in Gavriel’s eyes made it abundantly clear.... had that creature succeeded in hurting Aliana, a bloodbath would have been inevitable.
Aliana, on the other hand, listened quietly to every word Gavriel said, and it was safe to say she had never seen him this furious before.
But what baffled her even more was the fact that the couple could even think to point fingers at them. It was as if they genuinely suspected her and Gavriel of being involved in something so absurd.
Aliana couldn’t help but ask herself,
’Why? Why would they think we had anything to do with that creature? Shouldn’t their first reaction have been surprise... or shock... or, at the very least, some sympathy after everything that happened? Why would suspicion be the first thing that crossed their minds?’
Confusion and suspicion that hadn’t been there before slowly began to surface in Aliana’s mind towards the couple. They had appeared at the scene far too conveniently, arriving precisely at the right moment to take down the creature, which only raised an even bigger question in her mind.
How had they managed to do that in the first place?
Aliana remained silent as she observed the couple, who kept their composure perfectly, even after Gavriel spun their accusation right back at them.
Several seconds passed before Evelyn finally placed a gentle hand over her husband’s and let out a quiet sigh.
"We were there because we followed the creature’s trail."
Aliana’s brows lifted in surprise, while Gavriel shifted his icy gaze to the woman and repeated, "Followed it?"
Evelyn turned to Ivan, and the two exchanged a silent look. After Ivan gave an almost small nod, she turned back to Aliana and Gavriel.
"Yes."
Eve continued, "First of all, forgive our rudeness. My husband was trying to determine whether the two of you were involved in the recent incidents taking place in the city."
"What incidents?" Aliana finally spoke, her brows drawing together in confusion.
"A lot of strange things have been happening in the city since our... arrival. Something sinister is at play. Humans have been going missing, only to reappear in random places as deranged beings that attack others before... suddenly dropping dead," Eve informed them.
The revelation stunned both Gavriel and Aliana, especially Gavriel, because it was the first time he had heard of anything like this.
Evelyn continued, "We were trying to track down where they were coming from and who was behind all of this. But until now, we haven’t been able to trace where they are appearing from.
Today was the first time we managed to catch one of them roaming around, so we followed it, which eventually led us to your property. But even we were surprised when it transformed into something as grotesque as that."