Claimed by the Prince of Darkness

Chapter 195: Taken Back

With one hand pressed against his bleeding arm, Ezekiel ran through the forest that was located behind the Belmonts’ residence.

Blood soaked through his fingers and it wasn’t from the beating but because the skin he had worn had begun to turn unstable. His breath came harsh as he stopped against a trunk of a bare tree, his vision turning hazy. When he pulled his hand away, there was blood on his palm.

Damn it, Ezekiel cursed. Just one more hour was all he had needed for the treaty to break.

He regretted fleeing from the debt collectors now. Instead, he had endured the beating for Ruelle’s sake, thinking he could still hold the dead man’s face long enough. But right now, Harold Belmont’s skin was turning unstable. He could feel his flesh burn as if something alive were chewing through the corpse from the inside. Rejecting him.

He had slipped out through the window before the ministers and others could see him.

He tried to clench his jaw only for the skin at the corner of his mouth to sag like melting wax.

Lucian Slater. Ezekiel had underestimated the bastard. He hadn’t expected him to gamble on something as petty as debt collectors. His fingers dug into the bark. He turned his head, staring back in the direction of the mansion through the dark trees, his half-melted mouth twisting.

Ezekiel gritted his teeth and swore in rage, "I’ll pay you back for this."

Back at the Belmonts’ house, the guards moved in and out of the corridors and rooms, their heavy footsteps echoing through the place. The sound made the mansion smaller.

Ruelle stood next to Lucian beside her. She glanced back at the room. There was too much blood on the mattress, and the sheets were damp with sweat where her father had lain. To think just a few hours ago, her father had stood in this corridor arguing that she wasn’t allowed to leave the mansion.

Mrs. Belmont fretted, her hands twisting together and she explained, "He was resting in the room when we last saw him. I don’t know where he could have gone when he could barely stand."

"It looks like someone butchered him. How badly did the humans beat him?" Elder Minister Carnifex frowned as his eyes moved over the blood-stained mattress. "A man in that condition should not be walking."

"Mr. Belmont must still be somewhere in this mansion. Unless all of this was planned," Minister Sylvan remarked before his eyes drifted towards Ruelle and Mrs. Belmont, as if weighing them.

Ruelle had expected this. She asked the minister, "Are you trying to say my mother and I had something to do with it?"

Minister Sylvan replied, "Of course not. But someone might benefit from your father’s absence, no?"

They did... her mind whispered. But she wasn’t going to say that to this man. Her father’s absence meant one less person trying to sabotage the treaty. When her eyes met the minister’s cunning ones, she disliked the way he smiled. He looked as though he was waiting for her to trip and make a mistake.

"The debt collectors must have seen us when we arrived," Ruelle explained. "They even came after me once when I was still in Sexton but thankfully the prince was there to take care of it. Which is why I don’t see who else would care enough to go that far."

"Are you sure?" Minister Sylvan asked her.

she stared back at

intimidated by Lucian, she wondered if there was something deeper in play. After all, the Slater

weren’t you inside the room with the patient?" questioned the

replied, "Mr. Belmont didn’t want to get treated and he said he wanted you

leading into the forest, sire. But it stops halfway in the forest. We do not know where Mr. Belmont might have gone after that

stop? Go check again!" Mrs. Belmont demanded with a bewildered expression. "Or I can go

best, Mrs. Belmont," Minister Gaile tried to pacify her. "If your husband was truly taken it is not safe

slight frown that formed on Elder Minister Carnifex’s face and the question continued to sit

with the way he had been limping earlier. Not when he

as ever, save for the faint crease between his brows. It was barely there, but enough for her to

left

His old eyes looked tired, as though he regretted the decision of choosing

ministers could leave, Lucian

eyes moved

failing at their duty." Lucian’s gaze shifted. "I doubt

breath, her eyes shifting to

Minister Sylvan asked raising

council minister’s gaze and then

was the one who offered her." His eyes shifted briefly before returning and he said, "You wanted the appearance of her living with her family. You had it. The Slaters’ mansion

look outside the window, his lips twisting

the circumstances, Miss Belmont and Mrs. Belmont may stay at the Slaters’ mansion. I will send

as smiling right when her father was missing would make them look at her as if she had lost it. Even if Peyton was going to watch over her, she

one of the rooms and then brought a parchment

sure you don’t change your mind

but he signed it. He then turned

believe you know the men your husband owed money to?" and when Mrs. Belmont nodded, he continued, "Visit the courthouse tomorrow. The men who beat your husband will be punished

before stepping out of the mansion, heading towards his carriage. The sound of his boots faded with Minister Sylvan

Don’t you think you are being too lenient with the Slater boy?

"I cannot hold him accountable without proof. Bring me the proof." After a pause he said, "I hope our goals are the same, Sylvan. The end goal is to see the

to

leave, though reluctantly, after

the Slaters’ mansion,