The horses continued to gallop, keeping a small distance from each other as they moved past the trees in the forest, with Eve and Vincent riding on each of them.
Lady Aubrey had never stopped her from learning things men knew, while most elders didn't allow their girls to ride on the horses and preferred they learned to be good at housework and be a good wife and daughter-in-law. Though Eve did learn to sit on the horse when she was eleven, as years went by, she took the horse along with Eugene to the fields before they rode on it.
A smile spread on Eve's lips as she moved against the wind, and pieces of her hair pulled out of her ponytail to fly on the sides of her temple.
When her horse came closer to Vincent's horse, her eyes fell on the pureblooded vampire and she felt her heart slip in her chest. His silver hair was pushed to the back because of the wind, and he looked confident. The man looked confident with everything he did, making her wonder how one could achieve to be so comfortable in their own skin as Vincent Moriarty.
After they had entered the deeper side of the forest, Vincent pulled the reins of his horse and said, "This looks like the place."
Eve pulled the reins of the horse she was riding. The horse neighed before softly clip-clopping against the wet forest ground from the previous night's rain. Dismounting from the horse, she looked at the trees that now surrounded them. It seemed quiet, except for the gentle rustle of the leaves.
"We are meeting a person here?"
"Mhm," Vincent dismounted from the horse before patting its mane.
Eve looked back and forth as they had entered the heart of the forest, and she had seen not a single person apart from them. She asked him, "People don't live here except for some of the outcasts like the witches or the rogues."
Vincent turned to her and offered her a bright smile with his eyes shining. He remarked, "Haven't you heard of this saying? It is the fastest approach that is always illegal."
"I think it would be better to wait." She had waited for so many years. What was a week compared to it? But Vincent had already started walking, and Eve followed him.
If Vincent had taken her blood and spoken about taking a piece of her hair, it only meant one thing. They were here to meet a witch. Though people around her had grown wary of the vampires and werewolves, nobody could digest the existence of the witches who were notorious for taking lives.
Eve walked close to Vincent, looking around the place and asked, "Have you met this witch before?" The ground was muddy and murkier than when they had started to walk, where the horses were stationed.
"Two times," Vincent replied, pulling out the direction dial that pointed the red arrow ahead of them. He shouted, "Gwendolyn! It's Vincent Moriarty!"
"Doesn't seem like she's here," Eve whispered, and she turned behind on hearing the leaves rustle.
Vincent walked two steps ahead, his eyes scanning the place carefully. He responded, "She's a shy and adorable woman. Gets scared easily by seeing another woman of her beauty."
At his words, suddenly an arrow flew at them, and Vincent caught it with ease. The end of the arrow was hot, and Eve noticed the fumes. She whispered, "I don't think she wants us here."
"Oh, hush," Vincent looked back in the direction of where the arrow had appeared. He called the witch, "Gwendolyn! I need your witchy woo-woo help, come down wherever you are hiding."
When one of the branches creaked ahead, Eve's eyes fell on a beautiful-looking woman, who jumped from the tree branch. Her eyes were blue and her hair black. Right now, she glared at Vincent and shouted,
"Get out of here. I don't want to do any business with you."
"Don't be like that Gwendolyn. I know you are upset with what happened last time, but it won't happen this tim--"
"You tried to kill me!" The witch raged.
Suddenly the beautiful witch's appearance changed, where her perfect teeth were imperfect with only a few teeth in there, while her hair turned dry and frizzy and she morphed between a young and old woman with no eyebrows and a crookedly pointed nose. This was the true appearance of the witch.
"But I never killed you, I let you walk away with less injury than the last. Let us be civil and help each other," Vincent tried to win the argument with the witch. "I need you to find me a person. I will let you pass the next time we come across each other."
"I will fucking kill you before that!" the witch retorted and laughed while her head wobbled like a doll and so did her body. The witch pulled a rope from a tree's side and a series of stakes were released in the air, coming from every direction and heading where Vincent and Eve stood.
Vincent turned to look at Eve, whose eyes were wide with the speed the sharp stakes were flying toward them. He stepped in front of her and watched her eyes close as if ready to feel the stakes pierce through her and his body.
Eve heard most of the stakes hit the ground in force. During that time, she didn't feel even one stake touch her. Instead, it felt as if everything had turned dark. She opened her eyes, only to meet darkness again.
And then, slowly, the light started to fill in and around her, where Eve realised she was shielded by something black and big. As the shield moved away from her and towards Vincent's back, her mouth turned dry on comprehending what they were.
"Wings..." Eve whispered, noticing the enormous bat-like wings.
The wounds it received from the flying wooden stakes healed in two seconds as they disappeared behind Vincent's back. Her eyes went back to look at Vincent, who looked annoyed.
