Louisa's POV
"No, Leo. Lucas isn't going to kill me," I said.
"I don't know what he's going to do, but killing me will not be part of his plan." Continued when I didn't get any response from him.
"But he looked really angry this morning and shouted at Lucian. He had never shouted at Lucian like that," Will said. "They were arguing..."
"What did they argue about, Leo?" I asked.
Leo looked up at me and then lowered his head. He then wrapped his arms around my waist and held me tightly in his arms.
I knew he didn't want to say anything, so I said, "Leo, don't worry about it. A lot of things happened recently and why don't we take a break by going to the Mountainside Village? You can help me to sell some ham and together we'll pick some presents for Gianna and her baby."
Leo nodded and didn't say anything. He looked very worried and I knew he had wanted to tell me something, but he hadn't been able to.
He looked just like a miniature of his brother, but with curly blonde hair and plump lips. I guessed he must have taken those feminine features from his mother.
I noticed something very strange about Leo when I first saw him. It seemed that his physical development was way ahead of his actual age, which made a lot of his actions very puzzling.
He had viciously killed dozens of grown-ups without even getting hurt, yet he was so scared in my arms just now, trembling like a vulnerable child.
By the time we got to the carriage, I saw Colt and Alex had already prepared the carriage. Will was sitting on the edge of the carriage with Snow. When he saw me, he immediately jumped off the carriage and ran towards me.
When he saw Leo, he immediately stopped and tilted his head, sizing him up and down.
"Will, this is Leo. He's Lucian's brother that we were talking about the other day," I said.
Leo walked towards him and bent down, looking closer at him.
"Are you a vampire?" Leo asked.
"Yes," Will said. He looked a bit shy.
"Is that weasel your pet?" Leo asked and pointed to Snow.
"Snow's my friend, not my pet," Will replied.
"That's so cool. Can I hold her for a while?" Will asked.
Will took Snow from his shoulder and placed her carefully in Leo's hands.
"Please be careful when you're holding her," Will said. "You cannot touch her tummy. She doesn't like it and she'll bite you."
Leo held Snow carefully in his arms and petted her.
"Can you be my friend?" Will asked with a frown.
"Yes, of course," Leo smiled at Will and held him up in the air.
Will waved his arms and giggled with excitement.
The sun came out from behind the clouds.
Will's arms were a bit burnt.
Leo immediately covered him with his cape and said, "Let's get into the carriage, Will."
"But I still want to play," Will said with dissatisfaction.
"We can play in the carriage. Do you want to see my tail? I'll show you when we get into the carriage," Leo explained patiently to his cape.
Will clapped under Leo's cape and said, "Great! Tail! Tail!"
Leo held Will up to the carriage and stretched out his arms towards me.
I looked at him with admiration.
"What? Is there something on my face?" Will asked with confusion, rubbing his face.
"No," I smiled and said. "You're getting on well with Will. He likes you. He doesn't like any werewolves, but he likes you."
"Yeah, children like me. So do little animals." Leo scratched his head and said. He looked a bit embarrassed, gently patting Snow in his arms.
Snow stroked her head gently against his chest.
"He's got a heartbeat!" Snow said with excitement. "And he's so warm!"
It occurred to me that since Will was a vampire, he was practically dead. So he didn't have any body temperature or heartbeat.
I got on the carriage and saw Mana and Mata standing in a distance, looking at me.
"What are you guys waiting for? Get on to the carriage," I waved at them.
"Miss, are you sure you want to take us to a village..." Mana said.
"...which is populated by people who will shout or throw stones at us when they see us?" Mata continued.
"Come here. Don't be silly. Nobody will shout or throw stones at you," I said. "I won't let them."
Somehow, leaving both of them unattended in the camp with an angry Josephine didn't look like a good idea to me.
They looked at each other and eventually climbed to the back of the carriage.
They covered their heads with towels and said, "We'll sit here and keep an eye on the surroundings, miss. Don't worry about us."
"We can't stay inside the carriage. When we get sweaty and slimy..."
"...we'll stink, miss."
"Like dead fish in a trench..."
"...covered by rotten seaweeds."
I looked at them and sighed, "OK, but you have to be fastened to the cart. If you get thirsty or anything, just knock on the carriage and I'll let them stop the cart."
They nodded. Then, they crossed their legs and took their seats.
Darren took some ropes from the top of the cart and walked to them.
They immediately lifted their arms, so Darren could tie the ropes around their waists.
"It might be a bumpy ride, buddies," Darren said to them in a whisper. "You need to hold these ropes fast."
His voice was so quiet. If I hadn't had enhanced hearing, I wouldn't have heard him.
Mana and Mata swallowed some saliva into their throats and nodded, holding the ropes tightly in their hands.
"If you see things you don't like, just shout it out. Louisa will hear you and she'll let me know," Darren patted their heads and said.
Mana and Mata lowered their heads and bowed to Darren.
Darren walked back to the front of the carriage and got on before sitting next to Colt in the driver's seat.
Alex was about to get on the carriage after checking the wheels and saw Darren in his seat.
He frowned and said, "Sir, please take your seat inside the carriage."
"No," Darren said and took up the rein in his hands. "I'll take the reins."
Alex said, "Sir, this is my carriage, so..."
"No." Darren looked very determined.
Colt looked awkward and happy at the same time.
"Darren, I know you want to sit with me, but Alex is just doing his job..." He smirked and leaned against Darren.
Darren used a whip to push Colt away from him and said, "One more word I'll tie you up and put you on the top of the carriage like baggage."
Colt looked very turned on and said with sparks in his eyes, "Are you going to tie me up? How are you going to do it? Tell me about it..."
Before he finished his words, Darren had already pulled down some baggage ropes from the top of the cart and pressed Colt against his seat.
Alex immediately jumped on the cart and stopped him with a wry on his face.
"Why don't we put the ropes back and get going? I'll sit right behind you guys," Alex said.
Darren didn't say anything and waved the whip.
The carriage moved forward.
The road to Mountainside Village is smooth. I thought to myself. Why did Darren say it's going to be a bumpy ride?