Julie stared at Riley for a moment, and then they both laughed.
Riley felt sure she was worth the money he was giving her. She wasn't important enough to pose any threat to him, and she would be the one taking all the risks. He had nothing to lose and everything to gain. He knew Julie wouldn't betray him, and he was relieved to have someone else to deal with this matter for him.
**
As Riley and Julie were making plans, the party at Loco came to an end. After dinner, Maryann volunteered to drive Alex home. Alex didn't have a fixed address—sometimes he stayed at the Fairfax compound, and at other times, he stayed at an apartment at Oak Ridge High School. On this occasion, he decided to stay at the school.
When they arrived, Alex got out of the car and began to walk away.
"Aren't you going to invite me in?" Maryann asked.
The polite response would have been to agree and ask her inside, but Alex refused. He was aware of Maryann's feelings for him, and he didn't want to give her mixed signals.
**
Later in the evening, Alex called Debbie to talk. She wanted to visit him because they hadn't spent much time together lately. But she was still studying as well as working, so she was extremely tired. Worried about her, Alex insisted she stay home and rest. They chatted for a long time, discussing their plans to have children, and neither of them wanted to hang up.
As they talked, Alex forgot how tired he was; he was rejuvenated just from hearing Debbie's voice.
After she had ended their call to get some sleep, Alex looked out of the window at the bright moonlight. He had been busy running a business and practicing medicine, which meant he had been neglecting his martial arts training for a while. Now, he decided to practice outside and absorb some energy from the moon.
That late at night, the school was quiet. Alex walked out of the school gate toward a deserted hilltop some distance away. The moon was full, and he could feel its powerful energy sinking into him.
He walked slowly, enjoying the feel of the moonlight strengthening him. But moments later, a car stopped in front of him, blocking his path.
Then more cars arrived, hemming him in on all sides. Whoever these people were, they clearly didn't want him to get away.
The doors of the cars opened, and several men and women got out, all of them staring at Alex. In total, there were about twenty people there.
As Alex watched, they were joined by another five people. These five were treated with deference by the others, indicating they held a higher status.
They walked straight over to Alex, their eyes never leaving his face. Their expressions were grim and determined, and the others stepped back a little, giving them room. Clearly, these five were the ones Alex would have to deal with.
He had never seen them before, so he wasn't sure what they wanted from him. No doubt, he was about to find out.
All five of them bristled with menace as they glared at him.
"Who are you?" Alex asked, in no mood to deal with any nonsense. "What do you want?"
"Are you Alex?" one of the men asked, frowning at him. "Are you the one who harmed Gabriel?"
"Did you kill Grace Thornton?" demanded another.
They were all scowling at Alex, clearly angry with him.
"So you're here for revenge?" Alex asked, realizing what was going on. "Are you sure you want to do that? I wouldn't advise it."
He had known someone would attempt to retaliate, but he hadn't expected it to happen so soon.
"We're absolutely certain," a voice called out.
Alex turned to see an elderly woman sitting in the back seat of one of the cars.
"We're not here to kill you, though," she said, her expression fierce as she looked at Alex. "No, we're just going to hurt you, and then maybe we'll hand you over to the Ghosts." She narrowed her eyes. "Timothy won't give us any satisfaction, so we're dealing with you ourselves."
Despite her age, the woman exuded a lot of power, and Alex knew she would be dangerous.
"Who are you?" he asked. "You do have a name, don't you?" He smiled. "It's been a long night. Do you really intend to start a fight right now?"
He was quite relaxed and didn't take these people seriously.
"My name is Bella Fitzroy," the woman said. "And I'm the leader of the Demon sect. I'm warning you—we are more than capable of taking you on, so don't get smart with us."
"The Demon sect?" Alex repeated, frowning slightly. "Why does that sound familiar?" He shook his head. "Look, it's unreasonable to go around accosting people in the middle of the night, so why don't you just get out of my way? I have no idea who you are, so you're clearly not an important sect."
"Shut up!" Bella snapped. "The Demon sect was once highly respected, but sadly, it was discredited a while ago. We've been in existence for thousands of years, and we have many skilled fighters." She glared at him again. "You'll see that very soon."
"Well, Bella, I don't have any quarrel with you," Alex said, shrugging. "So why stop me and try to intimidate me? What's going on? Who sent you here?"
"No one sent us," she said. "My people have long despised you, and we wanted to let you know that. Isn't that a good enough reason?"
"Well, at least you're honest," Alex said wryly. "I like that. But I don't believe that you're just trying to teach me a lesson." He paused for a moment and then continued. "No, I think you have other intentions. You didn't come here just to throw your weight around and introduce yourself. There's something else going on here. Something you don't want to talk about yet."
Bella gaped at him for a moment before her mouth twisted into a smile. "I should have known," she said. "Someone who has made as many waves as you have must still have a few functioning brain cells. Fine. You're right. I do have a purpose for coming here tonight."