{19}

"Wow, lover boy, it's not that I don't want to save my daughter. Trust me, I'm willing to trade my life for hers. But she definitely will be against it if she found out that we're putting our own lives at risk to save her." 

The 6 of them nodded silently, the way that their head were hung low made them seem as though they were 6 young children receiving a lecture from their mother. 

"We are going to save her but we need a very concrete plan and solid backups." 

Youngjae tapped on his chin absentmindedly, pondering over Angeline's words. "The only solid backup we have is the police. We can't trust any Vampire in our clan because we've no idea how many of them have broken the sire bond." 

Yongguk shook his head, "It's not possible for us to rely on the police for backup. Daehyun is still the main suspect for the murders of those political figures." 

Angeline got up from the chair she was sitting on abruptly, pushing the chair backwards. "There, we've figured out the first task we have to do. We have to clear Daehyun's name." 

It was though every single one of them made a secret agreement to glance at Daehyun right at that moment. 

Daehyun shifted uncomfortably, obviously not liking the looks he was getting from them. 

He held a hand up at them, as though he was trying to stop a pack of wolves from lunging at him. 

"Okay, okay, I admit that I was too caught up with my desire for some bloodshed but I didn't expect that there would be such a huge twist in things." 

Youngjae rolled his eyes, "It would be so much better if you just said a simple sorry, you egoistical fool." 

Despite the severity of the current situation, the bickering between the two parabatais temporarily soothed the anxiety that all of them felt. 

They all knew that Soah didn't have the ability to heal like all regular Vampires so it was a race against time. And it was a race that they couldn't afford losing. 

The fate of Leah and Zelo were in their hands as well. They had to make every single minute count. 

The whole lot of them got down to work immediately, sorting out the case files first and scribbling useful information onto the chalk board. 

"Shouldn't it be easy to prove Daehyun's innocence? We just need to prove that he has an alibi." Himchan shifted his eyes from the chalk board to the rest of them, the gears in his head turning. 

Angeline shook her head in disapproval. "It's not easy. The police won't be that willing to believe in Daehyun's words, or any of yours. From the moment that you guys have helped break him out of the prison, your words are no longer credible." 

"Speaking of which, there has been no news about Daehyun escaping from the prison." 

Shrugging his shoulders, Yongguk offered an explaination, "They already have enough things on their plate to deal with, the riots and all." 

Youngjae hummed in response. "Things have gotten pretty bad in the city and soon, it will start to spread outwards." 

"I've an idea." 

"Oh look, someone has finally spoke up to clear up the mess he has created." Youngjae said sarcastically. 

Daehyun ignored him, silently cursing at Youngjae in his mind. "You guys will bring me in to The Prophet and the leaders of the police force will be present to witness the whole ceremony." 

"Ceremony?" Youngjae repeated after him, his tone disbelieving. 

"It's a ritual which puts you under immense amount of pain and you merely describe it as a ceremony?" Youngjae's brows were scrunched together, his voice thick with emotions. 

Daehyun had already heard the "No" in Youngjae's voice before he even voiced it out. 

The ritual that The Prophet conducts whenever the truth needs to be known is a similar ritual that Soah went through when they needed to draw out her identities. 

But the ritual was much more complicated when it involves an Elder. Because an Elder is at least seven hundred years old, they have the capability to conceal the truth with lies. 

In order to take away that particular ability, The Prophet will have to cause immense pain to the other party to break their defenses down. To put it in a simpler way, it means that the other party will be tortured. 

"I'm not going to let you do that to yourself." Youngjae said softly, brushing a hand through his hair. 

"Think about the pain that Soah might be going through right now, Jae. If I've to go through that to make her suffer for a shorter period of time, hell, I would be willing to do that without batting a single eyelid." 

"There's got to be another way, okay?" 

"There is actually another way." 

Although Angeline was gazing into Daehyun's eyes, he felt as though her eyes were fixated on some place far away. 

"I could cast a spell on you, a spell that makes you speak the truth. Even the strongest being wouldn't be able to resist the power of a Witch, the police should be educated enough to know that." Angeline paused abruptly, earning a curious glance from Daehyun. 

"What is it that you're not saying?" He probed. 

"It's not going to be easy." Angeline said, her voice serious. 

••• 

"I'm starting to regret this." Daehyun muttered, his eyes shuffling between the witches that surrounded him and the demonic symbol that was carved on the floor he stood on. 

Okay, scratch that. He was standing in the centre of the demonic symbol. He was literally going to be the centre of whatever was going to happen next. 

"Why is a demonic symbol involved in this again?" His dark orbs searched the room for Angeline. He gazed apprehensively into her eyes after he finally spotted her in the poorly lit room. 

Technically the room wasn't lit at all. The only light source was the candles that framed the demonic symbol he was standing on. It definitely wasn't enough to convince Daehyun that he wasn't going to be tortured or anything. 

Angeline simply looked past him without answering his question. Although they can't be seen, Daehyun knew that the chief constable of the central police station and the other witches were hidden in the darkness. 

They were all watching him, he could feel their eyes on him. 

"It's going to be okay." Daehyun heard Youngjae's voice before he saw him emerging from the shadows. 

His pale face was illuminated by the weak candlelight that burned around him, making his face appear a few shades paler. 

"The ceremony is starting soon." Angeline said softly, placing her hand on Youngjae's arm. It was a signal that he needed to step back. 

Youngjae nodded and took a small step back, his eyes gazing into Daehyun's all the while. Daehyun's eyes did not move a single inch even though Youngjae was no longer visible, the darkness had swallowed him once again. 

The flames on the candles blazed suddenly, burning brighter and standing higher. Daehyun flinched and felt himself taking a small step back. 

*There's nowhere to run, idiot. You're literally being surrounded by these creepy candles.* 

"Kid, the more you fight it, the more painful it will be." 

Angeline's serious voice sounded like it was echoing in Daehyun's head. 

"Hey, no one calls me a kid. I'm The Vampire King!" 

Those words, which were at the tip of his tongue, were not given a chance to be heard as darkness engulfed him soon after.