Evelyn stared at Damien for what he had to say about the elder council that had been established since the time the council had started to exist.
"Are you sure you are speaking about the same people who run in high command and who are respected and not to look down at?" she asked him.
"It might be a bit of a hard thing to digest but I don't think it should be an issue as we know many council members are corrupt but the question comes in the highlight of which one is the most corrupt," Damien knew that if there was someone who he could pull on to his side of favor that was Evelyn. He took her feelings for him to his own advantage right now. The woman was a pureblooded vampire but there were a lot of things that didn't meet or come in front of her eyes.
Evelyn was part of the elder council for the last four years but sometimes brawns of hard stuck rule didn't workout while working in the council where there were insects who wormed their way in and out without anyone's notice.
"Tell me who were the council members who picked the venue for the second exam," he demanded, his eyes strained on her for an answer which he had come here for.
She let out a sigh and then replied, "Krane, Ava, and Linguine," at her words he asked, "Linguine doesn't come in the elder community. Why did you choose him?"
"They wanted to add a non-member in the group so that there would be fairness. We lost a man two exams ago. We had to fill the spot which was a temporary one," Evelyn answered him and continued to say, "The two of them have been working for the longest period of time, Damien. Both Ava and Krane. You suspecting them will only result in backlash without any proof."
"Damien Quinn doesn't do things like others without proof. Some of us have already had a doubt after what happened in the exam."
Evelyn pursed her lips, looking at Damien pull out a cigar from his pocket, asking her, "Do you want one?" he offered her and she took it without any hesitation. Lighting it up, she smoked from the cigar.
"The girl. Penelope, she is a witch isn't she," Evelyn confronted him.
"She is? Why do you think so?" Damien asked her back. The woman gave him the longest stare before saying,
"Even though the name in the registry is a male and the end results of the exam spoke about two white witches who belonged to the church, truth is the last standing was not a male and a female after the exam but two females who were from the church," Damien might have thought she didn't pick up some of the details but Evelyn was a pureblooded vampire who worked for the council. Of course, she would have noticed and she had tried to trail back the path after finding the reports. Before Damien could feed her bullshit she said, "There was a fire in here and it was spotted by a man. Do you know what he told me?"
"To have a good day and mind your business?" Damien gave her a smile that made her huff again.
"He said apart from the three poles that were fixated with a vampire and a human who was sacrificed, there were two females he saw at the other side of the forest. One of them was Penelope," Evelyn took another puff from her cigar, turning her head she let the smoke out of her thin red lips.
"Did the person see their faces clearly?"
Evelyn's jaw ticked at this question.
She had asked the man while back tracing on what was found and what happened but the man didn't remember the night clearly. It was a human who was scared to go any further away from the ground where the ritual had taken place. When she had questioned the human, his answer had been he had seen two women but when it came to the question of wanting to identify them, he was unable to do it.
"You should really not go poking your nose everywhere and keep it just where it is needed, Ev. Too much poking will stab you back," Damien didn't bother to complete his cigar and threw it on the ground, stamping it with his expensive boot.
"Is that a threat? It does mean you agree to what I just asked you," Evelyn's eyes narrowed, looking at every movement that he made.
"Consider it more like a warning."
She didn't understand why the man would send the girl to the council exam where she could not only be exposed but also be killed. By the looks of the forest ground, all she had smelled was death that had spread across the land.
"You must not love her enough to send her to a death trap if you knew something like this was going to happen," she commented. She continued to smoke to see him smile, a crinkle of mischief in his eyes.
"She wanted to be part of the council. It was a good way to tell why she shouldn't be part of it," Evelyn gave him a look of disbelief. But Damien had other reasons why he didn't care to share with the vampiress. Penny was one of the most capable witches of her time and with the help of Aunt Isabell's books she had come far enough to make her a commendable woman, "There are other things in the council and the black witches have somehow wormed their way in. Creed was part of it."
"But the man passed away with the unknown disease of heart explosion," she responded back to him, "Creed showed no sign of unfaithfulness to the council."
"You would be surprised," he gave her a sarcastic smile. He pulled the pocket watch to flip it open and look at the time in it before flipping it back and putting it in his pocket, "The black witches have been taking the aid of some of the council members to get through and the council exam was another method which failed horribly for both the sides. They are trying to change the structure of the witches."
"What do you mean?" her eyebrows furrowed together.
"They are using humans and vampires to replace their body parts so that they can change how they look. There have been many cases that have come up. Cases that started from Valeria and moved to the land of Bonelake," he explained it to her and asked the question again, "Who sent an order to look at the church?"
"Councilwoman Ava. If I know Penelope is a witch, I am sure she must have got the whiff of it too and it is only time someone catches up to the girl. Even if it is for fun, I don't know why you would send someone you love to get burned," Evelyn knew the man was twisted and it was something she loved about him. An attractive quality, "You know it does fall in my favor. She dies and I have less competition."
"There is no competition, Evelyn. In a few weeks, you will receive an invitation but I will be needing your help in the council day after tomorrow."