"Your combat attacks were different from before. They were still heavy and precise, but the way they made contact with my body, the more I felt numb." He answered and looked curiously at her. "So tell me, what happened to you, Skylar?"
"A lot, Ayed. A lot." Skylar sighed, making him sit.
"Tell me. I might be able to figure out what's happening to you." Ayed insisted on hearing her.
"I've been feeling strange, like I'm changing into something I'm not sure into what." She said, skeptical whether to tell her or not.
"Changing? Like turning into a vampire or werewolf?" he curiously guessed, making Skylar chuckle as she nodded.
"Yeah, something like that. You know that I died and I became a killer because of them. But ever since I've encountered a vampire and became her blood mother, things started to change, particularly when I met Alysia Irie…" she answered, making him frown.
"No…not her…" he quickly reacted upon hearing a certain name.
"He's reacting like them." Skylar thought as he noticed his shocked but worried reaction before asking, "Why? What's wrong with her?"
"Nothing but she had a reputation that would change your life forever. It's true, it happened to me when my pack kicked me out for something I didn't do, and I met her. At first, I didn't understand what she was bubbling about, but I checked it by coming here, and you happened. Through your help, I'm not living like any rogue and didn't fall badly." He answered, recalling his past when he met Skylar for the first time.
"It's strange, but what I found truly strange is that I don't care about it. Like, I literally don't care at all because if I do, I'll be panicking and perhaps chicken out, but I don't." With honesty, Skylar answered his question.
"I know you're strange, but making a werewolf shifter numb like this, something indeed changing and awakening inside of you that you had no idea what." He chuckled, making Skylar playfully glare at him.
"Can you tell?" she wondered.
"Hm, pluck your finger, I need to smell your blood." He replied out of the blue.
"Would that help?" she frowned, asking. He nodded, and since he was feeling his body after resting, he sat up straight beside her.
"I might be able to tell you what's happening. I had that gift." He said, making her frown before continuing, "I mean, whenever I smelled blood directly, I could tell if they were human or something mixed in their blood, making them different."
"I see…" She nodded and plucked her index finger until it bled a little before asking, "So, what do you think?"
Ayed inhaled Skylar's blood, and there was a few seconds of silence, making Skylar a little agitated. He sighed before looking deeply at her, worrying about something, and Skylar started frowning at how long he stared at her.
"Ayed, spill before I force it out of you." She threatened, making the man chuckle.
"Easy there, I'm just analyzing the changes you've noticed happening to you…" Ayed admitted what made him pause before adding, "But I tell you to head home now and to be with your husband and your blood child."
"Why? What's wrong, Ayed? Tell me, or I'll be mad." With a frown, Skylar demanded with her furious tone, making the man shiver.
"You're turning – well, turning is not the right term, you're awakening into something like Alysia Irie." He answered, making her thoughtful.
"Make sense but…" She thought before wondering about something else, "What do you mean like her?"
"Not just any vampire but something more. It's hazy, but your blood needs – him. So, go home as soon as possible and make sure to always wake beside your husband." He seriously answered, but it was still puzzling her mind, making Ayed sigh and continue. "You're markless, and since you found your soulmate, you need to be near him until you two are fully intimate and mark each other."
"Vincencio is my mate? Made sensed my clinginess around him, but…" she thought, and yet, something still confused her. "I don't get it. I mean, why do I need to be around him?"
"Alpha, I can't tell exactly what's happening or the effect of your changes. However, I learned something. First, you're awakening into a vampire, but I'm unsure what kind of vampire or how powerful it would be. Second, you're married to your mate but still markless, which could be lethal if not beside him when your vampire side is fully awakened. And since we can't tell when your vampire side will be fully awakened, to be safe, you need to be around him as much as you can." Ayed explained further, making Skylar think before sighing.
"Now I understand my over-the-top clinginess and worries around him lately." Amused, she chuckled.
"Just stay around your blood child and husband; you might find answers clearly around them." He patted her back encouragingly.
"Thanks for telling me these. It helped clear some puzzling issues in my mind." She thanked Ayed, making him nod.
"No problem. But whatever's bothering you or secrets you're keeping, they'll understand once you share them since they love you." Ayed advised her, making them stand up.
"I know, and I must pack up so I can go home early." She sighed and smiled at him.
"I'll send you off later, and please don't say no." He offered but demanded, making Skylar chuckle as they returned upstairs.
***
As Skylar said her goodbyes to the three people in her life, she began sensing something crawling under her skin. However, Skylar masked it, not letting them notice anything, and went on her way to the platform. She calmed herself by breathing deeply before going to her VIP cabin seat, but instead of walking normally, she exchanged a few hand combat moves with someone, whose identity she had no idea of until her grip tightened and slammed the man's face on the floor, knocking him out.
"Hm, somebody is plotting to kill me." Skylar thought, but a sinister smirk crept out on her lips before adding, "It seems like my travel won't be peaceful today."
As Skylar let the man sleep on the floor, she settled inside her VIP cabin seat, doing a few hours of office work that Medina sent to her, which took her a few hours before she decided to grab something to drink. However, before she could even reach the bar area, she dodged, pushed, or pressed something on her attackers' shoulders, knocking them out. Like nothing ever happened, she proceeded on her way, relaxed and thirsty, but before she could take a sip, she noticed something off about her drink. She sighed and pretended to drink them before retreating.
"They want to play and I'm going to give it to them." She thought and sinisterly grinned before mumbling, "Let's play."
Skylar pretended to be dizzy and stumble on her footing when a man caught her. He helped her out and led her into the luggage area of the train. She let him tie her wrists and feet until his friends joined in, laughing in disappointment at easily capturing her.
"I think what they told us is wrong."
"Well, I don't think that would matter. We got her, and we'll get our money."
"If you say so."
"But don't you think it's too easy to capture her? I mean, they said she's a monster in the business world."
"Whether it's true or not, Hebi must pay us."
"I see. It's him." Skylar thought while listening to their conversation, pretending to be asleep. "Take me to him."
Skylar was grinning in her mind when she felt her phone vibrate, and the song Kiss Me Like the World is Ending by Avril Lavigne began echoing in the area. It alarmed them, and they quickly looked for her phone. When they found it, they were about to hit the cancel button, but it didn't happen.
"Don't you dare." Skylar's tone grimaced after kicking the man who took her phone; luckily, she got it back.
"How did she get off the rope?" one of them softly wondered, but they gulped, trembling at how her smile turned malicious.
"I have my ways." She nonchalantly answered, but her glare didn't waver before warning them, "Stay there. Don't make a sound. I'm warning you."
"Okay. We won't," one of them worriedly agreed. Skylar glared at them before picking up the call.
'Wifey, are you on the way home?'
"Yes, Hubby, I'm on the way home." Skylar sweetly answered her husband, but her eyes still burned, glaring at them.
'Good, I'll pick you up. Text me when you're train arrives.'
"I will. See you later. Love you." She responded before hanging up the call and focused on them. "I planned on meeting the person who hired you, but canceling my important call is something you shouldn't do. You all are going to pay for it."
"As if you…" One of them scoffed, but his neck already snapped, killing him.
"When I say, you're going to pay for it, you will." She grimly said as her aura became different. She became a lethal killer. And without wasting more time, she made them pay by blending in the shadows as one by one, they silently got killed. "Hm, let's dispose of them."
Skylar, as Rose Slayer, began cleaning her unintentional mess by creating a scene on their bodies before pushing them off the moving train. Happy with her cleaning, she waltzed back into the shadow, returning to her old self, leaving the luggage area like nothing had happened.
"Hebi…he seems to know what lies behind my mask…" Skylar thought as she grabbed something to eat from the bar before returning to her cabin seat, thinking. "…but how did he know about it? Wait, he didn't. They said I'm a monster in the business world, which means, they – he didn't know that I'm the killer instead he thought I'm a nuisance in their business, whoever he was working for."
***
The rest of her ride back home became peaceful; no attempts were made during her travel, and when she arrived, she quickly felt his presence. She immediately ran and jumped into Vincencio's arms as soon as she found him at the awaiting area. It was just three days, but they made it feel like it had been years already.
"I see, you miss me." Vincencio chuckled but kissed her temple dearly.
"Like you're not." Skylar refuted sweetly as she savored her husband's presence.
"Guilty. Shall we head home or want to grab something to eat?" he asked as he took her luggage and held her hand as they headed out of the train station.
"Hm, how about we buy something and let's cook together?" she suggested as they reached their car.
"When did you get that confident in your cooking skills?" he teasingly asked, opening the passenger seat after putting her bag in the back seat.
"I've been practicing making sandwiches and salads in those three days I'm away from you." She responded proudly, buckling herself.
"Fair enough. Okay, let's buy something." He grinned and agreed to the plan.
They did bring a few things before arriving at their house. Skylar missed their house, but more importantly, she misses him a lot. Without saying anything, Skylar quickly hugged Vincencio and gave his lips a full, passionate, making-out kiss. It was deep and daring but filled with longing and love that never seems to fade or be forgotten. They pulled away, catching their breath while leaning their foreheads against each other, savoring the moment.
"I love you, Vincencio," Skylar confessed, filled with affection and love that struck Vincencio's heart.
"I love you, too." With a loving smile, Vincencio pecked her lips, but there was something in her eyes that he noticed. "Don't give me that look."
"What look?" She softly asked while their eyes still locked onto each other.
"A kind of look that you want to eat me." He answered amusingly.
"Oh, I am," Skylar responded softly before wondering, despite knowing he would say. "So can I?"
"In time, Wifey and you know why I'm declining to get intimate with you for now." He kissed her temple, reminding her of what they had talked about before.
"I know our secrets in the closet." With an understanding chuckle, she said before changing the subject. "Shall we cook?"
"Don't be upset, Wifey, because Skylar trusts me when I say I'm dying to do it with you, too. But since we have secrets…" He quickly said, clearing his intention of declining her desire, but Skylar chuckled and pecked his lips, cutting him off.
"I know and I understand, but I hope that day will come because I'm dying to devour you." She winked, hoping it would happen soon.
"And you will, but right now, shall we cook together?" he chuckled gratefully for having an understanding wife.
"I already asked that." Skylar adorably pouted as she playfully hit Vincencio's arm as they headed to the kitchen.