Chapter 223

Sebastian's suit jacket still carried a faint trace of ambergris. Evelyn watched his retreating figure, the wound between her shoulder blades throbbing with sudden pain. She bit her lip to stifle a gasp, but her trembling hand knocked over a glass on the coffee table.

The shattering sound was followed by a glow from her phone wedged between the couch cushions.

[Mr. Valdemar, someone on the dark web is offering a billion for the Divine Elixir formula.]

Evelyn's finger hovered above the screen. The message slithered into her vision like a venomous serpent. She remembered Sebastian's bloodstained hands in the mine shaft—proof he'd never stopped hunting for answers.

"Of course..." Her lips curled into a mirthless smile as the jacket slid from her shoulders. Fresh blood bloomed across the beige upholstery, vivid as the crimson moon over the mines that night.

The taxi driver glanced at his rearview mirror for the third time.

"Miss, do you need a hospital?"

Evelyn concealed her bloodied hand in the shadows. "Stop at the next alley." She counted out bills, leaving faint scarlet smudges on their edges.

Rusted hinges screeched as she pushed open the abandoned pharmaceutical factory's gate.

Joanna froze mid-experiment, the liquid in her test tube emitting an eerie blue glow. "Boss?" Her goggles clattered onto the counter as she knocked over two racks of petri dishes.

The metallic tang of blood filled the air. Evelyn leaned against the doorframe with a strained chuckle. "Still have that bloodhound nose, I see."

"You're hit?" Joanna peeled back the blood-soaked fabric and gasped. Three knife wounds resembled viper fangs—the deepest one exposed a sliver of white bone.

"Too many strays at the cemetery." Evelyn collapsed onto the operating table, watching the flickering overhead lights. "Check who's been stockpiling Rh-negative blood lately."

Joanna's forceps tightened around the alcohol swab. "The Elixir again?"

Amid the hum of refrigeration units, Evelyn closed her eyes. The blinding "1 billion" on her phone screen merged with Sebastian's fathomless gaze. The surgical lamp burned crimson against her eyelids—just like the rain-soaked night when he'd cradled her face with bloodied hands.