Valeria walked purposely down the path to stand next to Mark again even as he tried to calmly answer some questions thrown at him by the media circus. Another bout of camera flashes went off when they noticed Valeria walking back to the front.
"I apologise for being so abrupt," she said, smiling cordially at them while scanning the crowd to see where the evil spirit could be hiding. "It was just too cold out here, I really can't stand the cold," she said coquettishly, while squirming inside at having to behave in such an atrociously air-headed manner.
"Mrs Brinstrone, have you heard of Lex Lindi? Do you know her?" one reporter asked.
"Alright, I think we have answered all the necessary questions, please leave," Mark cut in. He placed an arm around her waist and gripped it tightly. "My wife is cold and we really don't want her to catch a cold out here, right Val?" he added affectionately.
"Right, yes, uh, of course, cold," Valeria said absent-mindedly while still searching the crowd unobtrusively. Then she noticed the black fog swirling over a particular photographer, a short stout man with beady eyes and a ruddy complexion. But Mark is now turning her around and making her walk with him back to the house.
"Mr Brinstrone! One more question.."
"Mrs Brinstrone, were you aware of the affairs?"
The reporters started shouting more questions.
"Mr Brinstrone! Please pose for another photograph," a gruff voice shouted over the others and Valeria knew, it was the shout stout man with the evil spirit hanging over him. She stopped short and looked up at Mark.
"Let's pose a nice photo for them, you know how pictures tell better stories than what we have to say," she suggested.
"Fine, no other shenanigans," Mark warned her under his breath. He turned back to the crowd and guided Valeria to the gate, his hand an iron grip on her waist. She is certain it will leave a bruise, the way he was gripping her so hard.
"We will pose one more for photos and after this, please leave," Mark told the crowd. He pulled Valeria closer to him and smiled at the photographers as flash went off. Valeria smiled and trained her eye on the swirling black fog. It was still hanging around the photographer.
Dammit, she thought. How does one reap an evil spirit in a crowd? Could she just throw her reaping scarf at it?
"Hahah…funny…nope, it won't work,"Ari said. He is standing right next to the gate, just a mere few feet from the evil spirit.
You do it then! She slide him a look.
"Nope, it's your bonus soul not mine…hey, if you don't want to power up, that's not my problem at all," Ari shrugged.
Then tell me how to do this with so many people around! I can't go up to him and ask him if he wants to be reaped, she thought at him.
Ari merely shrugged and gave her a sly grin.
Fine, I will go over to him then, Valeria thought. She pulled away from Mark's vice grip, her added strength from being a substitute reaper sure do come in useful, and walked towards the photographer.
"Hi, do you mind holding this, it's uh, time to go…" she whipped out her scarf and handed it to him. The photographer gave a start and stared at her and then at the scarf in her hand in consternation.
"Mrs Brinstrone?" he asked, puzzled. The other reporters were equally surprised and they crowded around him to look at what she was handing out to him.
"It's uh…time to go…" she said, fluttering the scarf at his face now. "Just hold it for a second,"
The man reached out to push it out of his face and the moment he touched it, the dark fog started swirling into a strong tornado but it appeared attached to her scarf.
"How dare you! You are a mortal!" a face appeared from the fog, its red eyes glaring at Valeria. It lunged at her but was quickly absorbed into the scarf. The man is still holding on to the scarf, looking confused. She snatched it back and stuffed it back into her pocket.
"What are you doing Val, sweetheart?" Mark had walked to her side by now and is gripping her waist yet again. He just saved her from having to explain her strange behaviour to the confused photographer. Mark's timing is impeccable, she thought.
"Oh ah, nothing, let's go back inside, thank you everyone," she gave the reporters and confused photographer another wide smile and a wave. She grabbed Mark's arm and all but dragged him back to the house, with Ari chuckling behind them.
Not funny, demon, she thought at the annoying reaper. He didn't even behave like an injured reaper. More like a delinquent reaper making a mortal do his work for him.
"Hey! That's offensive, I am NOT a delinquent!" Ari protested behind her. She gave an imperceptible shrug and ignored him.
Once they are inside the house and the door closed behind them, Valeria released Mark's arm but he held on to her tightly. He swirled her to face him. He grabbed her shoulders and glared at her coldly.
"What was that? What did you try to give the photographer?" he shook her.
Then he attempted to dug into her pockets but she pushed him away, hard. Mark stumbled back in surprise while Valeria hid a secret smile. She is SO loving her added strength. Even though it was only 3% more but she felt so much stronger. Imagine if her strength is 30% more, she could probably punch through walls like superwoman.
Ari gave a loud bark of laugher at that. "Stop dreaming and settle whatever business you have with him before you are too late to reap your 4th soul,"
She ignored him and turned to glare at Mark.
"I would appreciate that you do not touch me or try to take things from my body," she told him. "I did not give the photographer anything," she added.
She clearly remembered somewhere in the archives in her mind showed that humans will not be able to see the reaping device unless it was their time to go. She was trying her luck by dangling the scarf in front of the photographer and she was glad that he could see it, maybe because he was possessed by the evil spirit.
"If you gave the photographer any information to smear my name, you will not gain anything from it! You can forget about our deal," Mark said.
Valeria rolled her eyes. As if. Does he think she is so stupid to do that right in front of him? What is he smoking?
"What's with your paranoia?" she retorted. She took out her phone and launched her banking app. "I am waiting for the money, please be so kind as to transfer it now," she told him, showing him her balance. She may have been married to a billionaire but she currently only have $50 left in her personal bank balance.
Mark glared at her and took out his phone. He made a call to his bank and informed them that he needed to transfer some funds to his wife. After a few minutes of terse conversation, he hang up. He launched his own banking app and keyed in his pin number. A few moments later, Valeria's banking app pinged. She checked the balance. It is now $2,000,050.
"Good. It was nice doing business with you, Mr Brinstrone, I will go up to my room to rest now and once the circus has left, I will leave too," she told him. She turned and went up the staircase, Ari trailing close behind her, invisible to all the mortals in the mansion.
******
A/N:
Dear readers,
I would like to apologise for the delay in updating. I had a surgery and was unable to work /type for over a month. I am now healing and much better so I will start updating again but schedule might not be as regular as before.
Thank you for your patience and thank you for reading!