When Serafia finally left the room, Ara could breathe again. 

She looked at Yunho on the ground, and it took every atom in her body to not move towards him. Edith was looking on, skeptical at how Ara had acted earlier. The week or so spent there made her familiar with Ara's habits, and her remaining awfully silent was not common. 

"You know the boy," she concluded.

Ara crossed her arms, "What makes you think that?" she murmured. 

Instead, Edith smirked. "You're an open book at times, witchling. Your face tells it all, what he is to you," she circled Ara like a vulture, watchful of her every move. "Could he be..."

"Do not jump to conclusions Edith," Ara answered coldly. "He's just...someone I used to know,"

"Used to?"

"We're no longer on talking terms," she lied. "I'm just surprised how he got entangled in this..."

"Well if he no longer is important to you, I suppose we can proceed with her plans," Edith continued and snapped at the other two witches and together, they pulled Yunho from the ground and dragged him away. His muffled grunts almost made Ara reach out for him, but she couldn't show that. Not yet. Even though all she wanted to do now was touch his face, you're alive. You're alive.

"Where are you taking him?" she asked as they moved him out the room.

"To the cellars until the next full moon, best to keep him half alive until the next full moon," and Edith paused. "Unless you do wish to save him?" Then she flashed that conspicuous, menacing grin of hers again, as if she knew things Ara didn't. 

She realised it was almost as if Edith wanted her to do the opposite.

She narrowed her eyes as she watched the old hag walk out the room. "I told you before, little witchling. We witches are not the forgiving type, neither do we keep our promises."

"So you'd rather I betray her? And when she realizes what I've done and wrecks vengeance on you and this coven? Then what? Do you double-cross me?"

Then she truly laughed. "Serafia is part fae of the Unseelie Court. It's her birthright to be ruthless, not practical, but bloodthirsty. It's in her blood to revel in the pain of others, her kind bask in bloodshed and suffering. To them it's all a game, and they want to win," she looked behind her one last time, at Ara staring back at her. "But you are the Corpsewitch, and I have no doubt you shall pay her back, tenfold."

The second the elevator sounded with a cheerful ding! and several people turned their heads when they saw a boy and girl still in their sweats and messy hair dash through the hallway. 

But Mingi didn't care, and for once Elise said nothing to protest as well. 

When they had stepped through the faerie portal, they landed in the middle of the city, through one of the alleyways and Mingi's phone blared with dozens of missed calls and another incoming one. Unconsciously holding Elise's hand as they navigated through their city's busy morning streets, he answered the call from Eric.

"Sir where have you been?!" Eric exclaimed through the phone. 

Mingi rolled his eyes, "Okay okay, I'm sorry for going MIA again. I swear I'm fine-"

"The Chairlady couldn't reach you when she noticed you weren't in earlier this morning. Master Mingi, she's gone to Adamas to protest,"

Mingi stopped walking, and Elise crashed into him. Frantically, he put Eric on loudspeaker. "Eric, what do you mean? What protest?"

"For some reason the other shares of the company are being nullified when there had been no such discussions! It's not just her, sir, all the shareholders have gathered," 

Elise looked at Mingi, "That means my father's there too," as far as Mingi knew, Mr. Pevensie was indeed a relatively large shareholder of the company as well, if not just a little less than his own mother. 

"S-She can't just do that, won't there be lawsuits?" Mingi stammered. "She can't just do that without explaining-"

"Sofia Jeong is gone, she hasn't been seen since the conference announcing her transition of power!"

Elise leaned in closer, her expression tense. "Wait, if all the shareholders are gathered there...Mingi, this was planned."

Mingi frowned, "Elise, what are you-"

"You said she was ruthless, she'd do anything to get her way. We saw and heard what she said in the scrying glass, she'd give away all the money if she could get what she wanted,"

Mingi stumbled back when it hit him, "No..."

"We have to warn them, now. Your mom and my dad are there, they're in danger,"

Even when they reached the Adamas building, as he tried calling his mother, his heart was beating out his chest. They were running past security, multiple of the guards chasing from behind. "Mom, pick up pick up pick-"

'The number you have dialed is unavailable.'

He groaned and kept on running, until they were at the 20th floor of the company, where the main conference rooms were. Elise glanced to her right and pointed, "There, the meeting's over there," and they took another run, a few security guards were heard shouting for them to stop from behind. 

It didn't take them long to navigate, because multiple other people were shouting, their voices boomed from the wide open doors of the main meeting room. "I know that voice, that's my dad," Elise noted.

Together they pushed their way through the confused staff who were all staring awestruck at the commotion going on.

"We demand a meeting with Sofia Jeong!" Mr. Pevensie demanded for the third time, his hand slamming down on the meeting table. "And we will not leave until she gives us an explanation,"

"We were never told about our stocks being nullified! Is this even legal?!" someone else cried.

"This is ridiculous, has she ran away with the money?"

"We are, I do not care what these documents say, we are still shareholders of this company," Yejin Song reiterated. "And we wish to see the chairperson."

"Mom!"

Immediately Yejin turned around, and saw her son, much to her surprise. "Mingi?" she frowned despite being relieved her son was alright. "What are you doing here?"

Mingi panted as he held her hands, "Mom, there's no time to explain. You, you all need to leave. We have to leave now!"

Mr. Pevensie shot the same confused expression. "Elise, what is the meaning of this? Your mother and I were worried sick, not a call since-"

"Dad, please listen to us, this is a trap. We have to leave now, right now."

"What are you talking about?" Yejin asked. 

"Please just listen to us-"

Suddenly the doors of the meeting room slammed shut, so loud that it made some people jump in surprise. 

'Attention to all, this is a state of emergency. Please evacuate the building at once.'

Yejin widened her eyes as multiple people tried to pry the door open to no avail. More people pushed themselves against the door, and yet nothing happened. Everyone was frantic, some looking out the window, on their phones.

"Mingi, what is going on?" rarely did his mom look this nervous. 

"The doors are locked!" someone exclaimed in panic.

"I heard someone say there's a bomb!"

And people just started screaming in panic, fearing for their lives. For split second, Mingi and Elise looked at each other, they had a feeling this was going to happen. "Dad, listen to me. This isn't normal business, we just came back from the other side,"

Mr. Pevensie's eyes flickered, "The other side? Elise, what were you thinking? I trusted you to keep yourself out of harm's way, that necklace was never meant to be used-"

"Sofia is planning to hurt you all, with the shareholders gone she can do whatever she wants with the money," Elise stopped him by cutting in. 

Yejin scrunched her eyebrows, "Where did you learn all this? Both of you? And Roger, what other side are you talking about?" and she turned to her friend. "What is it that I don't know?"

"Yejin this is not your concern-"

"Mr. Pevensie, but I know about it. Look, there's a lot we can't explain right now, but please believe us when we say you're lives, ours are in danger if we don't leave this place,"

But Mingi knew that was pretty much useless at this point, they were stuck there with no way out. He turned to Elise, "So, uh, what's the plan?"

Elise didn't have an answer yet.

Serafia glanced at the clock on the wall, any minute now and Abel would come knocking on the door to her room. So far no one had shown up to the house in fits of rage.

The enchantments she had laid upon the house a few days prior proved to glamour it from sight so far, she didn't need angry humans barging in demands for compensation. 

Which to be fair, she never quite understood humans' obsession with money, like it was their most prized possession of the world. Of course, they were unaware of far more precious things on this earth.

Even Araminta Kim, with all the power she possessed as the Corpsewitch, she too, was a slave to riches.

And yet Serafia was still at a loss. She knew from the information Abel had obtained, that she was no ordinary girl. She had captured and almost killed her brother, who posed no such supernatural abilities, yet he was nowhere to be seen in the coven.

Just who was Araminta Kim?

And Yunho, Serafia thought grimly, his sacrifice would have to wait a little longer. Her neck felt empty, from where Jocelyn's dove necklace had once hung. It had always been lovely, delicate moonstone carved in the shape of the bird of love and peace: things Jocelyn always was. Pure of heart, and full of love. 

Things Serafia was not, and it still remained a mystery how such opposites had attracted her. 

Jocelyn once said the good in her was hidden somewhere, that it was buried under all the cruelty and bloodshed she had seen in Unseelie. She thought a life away from it all would change that, as if it were some sickness in her that could be, had to be cured.

People could call her wicked, vile, selfish; it did not matter long as she had what she wanted in the end.

And once Jocelyn returned, she'd prove to her how very wrong she was. How her wickedness was her benefit, and it would allow them to be together again. Like how they had always wanted, things could be turned anew.

"Mistress, the message from Unseelie has arrived. A message from the King," Abel said after closing the door behind him. 

She would never admit it, but Serafia had been holding her breath the entire time, until the message had truly arrived. She had less doubts about the King of Unseelie wanting more human slaves, but still, the cards in her favour had never been certain. 

"Read it to me," she said to Abel, and she found herself finally relaxing back into the chair. If it weren't for Jocelyn, she'd never even considered liaising with King Baine, for what he was and how she had feared him when she was still part of his Court. 

He terrified her still.

"Will the humans in the building be transported directly to Unseelie, Mistress?" Abel finally asked after reading out the last sentence of the letter. "Will you be there?" 

Serafia considered it carefully, "I have to be there, lest we want for the King to doubt our intentions. The bargain will depend on my negotiation,"

"And the boy? Do we leave him at the hands of the coven until the full moon? I am concerned that those witches will double-cross you-"

"They wouldn't dare," she answered, with her entire belief. "After all they are human, they have much more to lose than I do."