Once she dropped the call, Lily immediately got to work.
She picked up the hotel phone and ordered breakfast to be sent up to her room.
Nothing too fancy just coffee, pastries, and some fruit, it was enough to be polite but not so much that it looked like she was trying too hard.
This was the first time she would be meeting someone related to her new leader and she wanted to leave a good impression.
She cleaned up quickly, changed out of her night clothes and into a sharp business outfit which consisted of black pants, a white blouse, a fitted jacket.
Then she sat down to wait and that's when a thought hit her.
'Now that I think about it... I didn't try to confirm if she was really who she claimed to be.'
Her eyes glowed red for just a moment. 'No matter,' she thought. 'I will confirm it myself when she gets here.'
She didn't have to wait long.
*Beep* *Beep* *Beep* *Beep*
The alarm system on her wall lit up, she walked over and pressed the answer button.
"Hello, Mr. Tim."
"Hello, Miss Lily." His voice came through calm. "There is a lady down here for you."
Lily didn't hesitate. "Send her up for me, Tim."
"Yes, ma'am." Tim answered before the line went dead.
She took one last look around the room.
The breakfast tray was set nicely on the table with the chairs were arranged for conversation and the curtains were open, letting in soft morning light.
Everything looked fine.
She walked out to the elevator that led up to her floor and waited.
Finally, the elevator doors opened.
Inside stood Mr. Tim and a young woman.
Now that they were this close, Lily could feel her presence like a pull or better yet like a Kin.
'At least that confirms she has a vampyre bloodline like me,' Lily thought, that was something.
Not proof of who she was, exactly but proof that she wasn't completely lying.
Lily stepped forward and stretched out her hand.
"Hello, Mrs..."
"Maria Morvath." The woman smiled and shook Lily's hand firmly. "Very good to meet you."
Before they could say anything else, Lily turned to Mr. Tim. "Thank you very much for your help."
"Yes, ma'am."
Mr. Tim nodded and turned around to leave as he walked back to the elevator, his mind wandered.
With Jensen, he had always stayed on guard because the madam didn't have many male friends, and none were typically invited here.
But this was a woman and it was pretty common for female friends to come visit even if he didn't recognize this one.
'Though…' he thought as the elevator doors closed. 'I think she is related to that man who came last time.'
He kept the thought to himself after all it wasn't his place to ask questions.
***
After Mr. Tim left, the hallway fell quiet.
Lily gestured lightly. "Please, come in."
Maria stepped inside, her eyes moving around the room for a brief moment before settling back on Lily.
"Have a seat," Lily said to which Maria nodded and sat across from her.
For a second, neither of them spoke as they observed each other carefully.
There was no mistake they were both connected to Jensen.
"You said Jensen asked you to contact me," Lily finally said.
"Yes," Maria replied calmly.
"May I ask how you are related?" Lily asked.
"I am his mother." Maria replied.
Lily's eyes widened in surprise… she scrambled to her feet but before she could rise, Maria chuckled, "Don't bother… we don't have too close a relationship."
Maria broke the news; she knew Lily would eventually find out so she might as well tell her now.
Lily frowned but she didn't ask more questions on the subject deciding to instead change the subject.
"How might I be of help to you?" Lily asked.
"He gave me a task. I tried to complete it on my own, but…" she paused slightly, "…it's not as easy as I expected."
Lily leaned back slightly, her expression neutral. "What task?"
"Finding talents for the family." Maria answered. "Mostly the teenagers and professions with no allegiance that we can easily convince."
"I see," Lily nodded, "Does he have any special requirement?"
"No, just loyalty," Maria said, "The grade of their talent doesn't even matter as long as there is a chance to be awakened."
Lily nodded.
"I already found a lot of talents in that regards but I am having issues with finding Professions like alchemist, blacksmiths and so on." Maria explained.
"I see…" Lily answered, "I should be able to contact a few acquaintances and get the information you need."
"Thank you very much," Maria thanked her.
***
{Back at the Bandit's Camp}
Posey's eyes suddenly snapped open, 'Something is wrong.'
He frowned and lay there for a moment, listening.
The camp was quiet... too quiet?
No, that not it.
It sounded normal, he could still hear the crackle of the fire outside and the loud snoring of some of his men in their tents.
But something still felt off.
Now that he was Level 3 and a Balanced type Body Path, his senses were sharper than most people's and right now, his instinct was screaming at him.
He couldn't tell exactly what was wrong, but he didn't need to.
Posey sat up and reached into his spatial ring causing his sword appeared in his hand as he stood up slowly.
He took a sniff at the air but still nothing except the regular smell.
'Then why do I feel like this?'
He glanced at the cave entrance behind him; it was partially covered with the materials of his tent to hide it. He considered sealing it completely but soon decided against it.
'It shouldn't take too long.'
Whatever was coming, he would deal with it fast.
He walked out of his tent and that's when he saw it almost instantly.
Someone was sneaking out of one of his deputies' tents and he didn't recognize said person.
'Whooo...' Posey's face hardened as he sucked in a deep breath and roared into the night.
"ENEMIES!!!"
The camp exploded into motion as the guards on patrol spun around and ran toward him. Tents rustled as men grabbed their weapons as the scrambled out of their tent.
But Posey didn't wait for his men to get closer as he jumped.
His sword came down with everything he had and full intent to kill.
Jensen jumped back just in time causing the blade missed his chest by an inch.
'Oh well,' Jensen thought although he didn't seem to be concerned by the setback. 'Seems like I have been caught.'
Three daggers appeared beside Jensen levitating just beside him.
'A Mind Path Awakened.' Posey's eyes locked onto the floating blades and his jaw tightened.
'I should take the fight to close range.'
If he could get in close, he could end this fast, Mind Path users were dangerous at a distance, but they typically have weak body.
He took a step forward, but the daggers shot toward him.
Posey twisted his body to dodge, and he was fast enough to avoid three flying blades.
Except they weren't coming for him.