The Veil of Darkness
Chapter 271: Spirit Cores

Chapter 271: Spirit Cores

"Calm down, love. She’s doing this on purpose. Don’t give her a reason to point a finger at you." Valerius whispered the words as he pulled her into a hug, hiding her face against his chest while softly patting the back of her head with one of his hands.

Damien and Kenric were also right there and while none of those two spoke anything out loud, Annalise felt their comfort seeping through the mate bonds and enveloping her into a warm embrace.

It didn’t take long for Annalise to calm down with the help of her husbands and while a part of her was still mad at the witch for even thinking about laying her hands on her man, but the mature side of her understood Valerius’ words.

"Are you feeling better now?" Valerius asked after a while as he probably felt her calming down through their bond. He pulled away enough to look straight into her eyes while he awaited her response.

Slowly, Annalise nodded her head in affirmative and immediately felt Valerius relaxing as if he had been worried about her all this time. And to her complete surprise, he completely abandoned his discipline and placed a warm and soft kiss on her forehead in front of their host.

"Let me handle this, alright?"

Annalise didn’t want anyone to spell out loudly that her husband was asking her to show trust in him and that was the least she could do in a situation where she was of no help to them. So, she took in a deep breath before nodding her head with a determined look on her face.

A soft smile appeared on Valerius’ lips as he took hold of her hand with his before entangling their fingers together. All four of them returned to their seats and the first thing Annalise noticed was how the witch was eyeing Valerius’ hold on her hand.

The possessive part of her stirred again but this time, she held herself back and tried to ignore the witch.

Valerius conjured a bag and placed it on the table before pushing it toward the witch who was observing his every single movement very closely.

"What is this?" The witch asked as her gaze turned toward the bag but at the same time, she made no effort to look inside it.

"Something that can make you agree to help us," Valerius answered straightforwardly without beating around the bush. His expressionless face appeared just as cold as the tone he was using. If Annalise didn’t know better, she would have mistaken him for a heartless and harsh man.

It seemed like Valerius’ words finally made some sort of curiosity ignite inside the witch because she eventually picked up the cloth bag and loosened its mouth to peek at whatever treasure it was holding inside.

The immediate gasp of surprise that skipped the witch’s lips had Annalise, Kenric, and Damien turning their gazes toward Valerius almost immediately. And while the latter’s expressions remained mostly unchanged, the little stretch of his lips from the corner made it obvious that he was satisfied with himself and the witch’s reaction.

"So? What do you think?" He asked the witch when the woman hurriedly closed the mouth of the bag and hid the entire thing inside her huge sleeve of the cloak as if she was worried that someone would snatch it away from her, this only made Annalise more curious to know what exactly was inside that bag.

"I would have lost my mind to not help you when I’m getting such a good deal." The witch responded with a bright smile as she took out a black crystal ball and while channeling her energy into it through a spell, she spoke - "I give you my word to help you all in releasing the guardian spirits from the confinements of the dark energy and their bonds with the portals. But this will surely be our first and only collaboration. Us witches seek to stay away from any future affairs of the four realms."

When the witch stopped speaking, the black crystal balls shimmered with energy before going silent and then she handed it over to Valerius who accepted it.

"Thank you for your cooperation."

The witch nodded her head before stating - "We will depart at midnight. You guys can rest in the guest quarters in the meantime. I will take my leave now."

The woman stood up from her chair and was about to walk out of the room before she stopped and turned to look directly at Annalise. When she spoke this time, her words were familiar and meant only for Annalise - "You can’t run away from the darkness nor can you destroy it. As you are its other half, bound to it for eternity."

She watched as the witch finished speaking her part before turning away from her and walking out of the room, leaving Ananlise with a completely blank mind. It was only when her ears registered Kenric’s voice did she return to reality and also realized that she was the only one who had heard the witch’s words.

"What exactly was in that bag? You have to tell us!" Kenric was demanding the answer from Valerius as they were standing up from their seats.

Annalise followed them while also looking forward to hearing Valerius’ answer.

"There were spirit cores inside that bag." Valerius finally answered as they all walked out of the room and another witch found them to show them the way to the guest quarters.

"What?" Kenric seemed the most shocked among all of them and Annalise wondered exactly why. She had heard about the spirit cores. These were magical beads filled with the pure magical essence of a spirit animal, bird, plant, or flower, that they emit either at the time of their birth, maturity, or death, making them a rare treasure.

The Spirit Cores were small in size and they were mostly used for brewing elixirs, and potions, or creating charms, spells, and magical formations, making them really useful for witches. These uses and their limited availability made the Spirit Cores a really valuable treasure.

Annalise could finally see why the witch accepted the deal so quickly.