Chantel's panic level began to rise, if what she was seeing wasn't due to the luminous fungus, then what is the glow she's witnessing?
Nigel had caught on to what they had said, his curiosity had only risen, this lady could see the glow in his eyes even when she wasn't supposed to, no human was supposed to.
His lips curved into a smile as he licked his teeth. "This just got a hell lot more interesting."
Yet again, she has seen his canine teeth more pronounced than intended, 'was it always like that?' She squinted her eyes to have a better look.
She couldn't quite explain what she was seeing, nor could she have a plausible explanation for what she was witnessing.
"Miss..." Mr Nigel paused, realizing he hadn't bothered looking up her name when he was handed the document by his personal assistant, all he had seen was her work profile and deemed her capable, just like the others.
Chantel was determined to keep her name a secret from this barbaric man, there was definitely something amiss about him.
Racking through his thoughts, he tried to recollect the time the whole commotion had started, if he was not mistaken, her name had been called then.
"What was it..." He pinched the bridge of his nose, bowing down his head, trying to relive his memory in his head.
Snapping his fingers he finally got the name, "Miss Chantel." He chuckled, confident he had gotten it right with her change in countenance.
"What do you want?" She snapped, not bothering to deny the obvious.
"Well you see, you are one of a kind." He laughed.
She couldn't quite understand why any of what he said could be considered funny, nor could she really term herself in such an unreachable manner.
'One of a kind, my ass!' She rolled her eyes.
"You just don't know it." He pressed on, pointing at her.
"Jerk!" She sneered. "You stand by while our teammates die and you talk bullshit about being one of a kind."
Mr Nigel chuckled at her blunt tongue, it reminded him of how he used to be–so opposed to the authority of the pack.
"So this is what it feels like to be opposed." He dug his hand into his hair as he let out soft chuckles.
"What are you talking about?" Raph took a protective stance in front of her.
Sniffing the air, Mr Nigel laughed even more, "you intend to protect her with an injury such as yours?"
Raph growled and was about to lose his cool. Even though he had an injury, it wasn't a deterrent for him to protect her to the best of his ability. The fact he had sustained the injury because of her is a testament to his notion.
"Don't." Chantel held him back, she couldn't afford to see him confronting anyone in his current situation, that might as well spell his death wish. Mr Nigel was no ordinary man, that she could feel.
She could feel something oddly weird coming off Mr Nigel, she wondered why she hadn't noticed it before.
Ignoring Raph, he turned his attention back to Chantel. "You possess the gift given by this cave."
"I think you missed the fact we have passed the holiday season, so I wasn't told of a gift of some sort." She snorted, she was definitely not going to fall for one of his tricks.
Deceiving them all to sign a contract with a large amount of money promised, without knowing the full detail was enough, now he wanted her to believe she had some gift? Fat chance!
"You amuse me little one." He laughed hard, aware of the fact that the weltic runestone approached slowly. He needed to buy enough time before it did.
"Little?" Chantel raged, she had never enjoyed being called that when she was little and now that she was all grown up she definitely had the height to negate being called little.
The manner in which he said it made her inside churn.
"I am not little and neither should I be treated like a child. Goddammit!" She yelled in rage.
"Feisty are we?" Mr Nigel said with a smirk, finally happy he could have some sort of reaction from her. "I like that."
"Who are you?" Raph questioned, still wary about the man who had managed to hire twenty top archeologists.
"I'm Nigel, of course. Who else could I be?" He snickered, his attention solely on Chantel.
He realized they held their hands. It was all starting to rush back to him.
When he was banished to this world, he had been chained to a lame female and left for dead along with several other rogues. Back then, he couldn't understand why he was the only one who had managed to survive the onslaught like the one he had witnessed now.
This was why he had recruited a good number of top archeologists, they could make good use of their expertise to his advantage.
What a silly misjudgement he had made. The humans were weaker than he expected. The death of those quite sickening. He needed them to cause a huge distraction while he got the weltic runestone, yet the majority of them had died.
'How useless.'
If he hadn't used the knowledge he had acquired several years ago, they would have all been dead nonetheless. Here he was met with something familiar again.
"Have you two been holding hands as you made your way here?" His eyes darkened as he made calculative moves in his head on his next line of action to whatever answer he might receive.
"What if–"
Chantel pinched Raph, stopping him from saying anything more. She could sense something wrong, his question was all too suspicious.
"What the hell was that for?" Raph hissed in a hushed whisper.
Shaking her head, she couldn't understand why he couldn't feel the dangerous aura seething off Mr Nigel, he definitely had something up his sleeve.
Answering such a question could spell doom to both of them. His lack of regard for their ex teammates' life was enough, she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing that much detail.
She had to stand up to the situation.
"Chantel?" Raph began to tremble, "please don't do that."