THE RED HIBISCUS HOTEL, Manila

As the guests were starting to leave, Robin had already asked Zephyr and Dani to arrange for their car. Zephyr and Dani drove the car out of the valet parking when they heard a gunshot. 

Zephyr thought it was inside the venue and rushed outside the car. He saw the car with a flattened tire at the back and looked around for where it might have come from. Dani, in the passenger seat, looked at the side view mirror. “Zephyr! It’s from the balcony!”

Zephyr looked at the balcony of the hotel which was at least three to four floors from the ground. 

It was at this time, Zephyr and Dani saw someone running out of the hotel. It was Xavier who must have heard the gunshot. “Zephyr! What was that?”

Another gunshot was fired from the balcony and hit Zephyr in the shoulder. “Oh shit!” said Xavier.

“It will heal in a few minutes!” said Zephyr in a strained voice. “Xavier, can you get up to that balcony?”

Xavier thundered to the front of the hotel and started to parkour the building. 

“Dani! I’ll get another car, Robin and Sophie will be outside in a few minutes. Make sure they’re safe.” said Zephyr.

 Dani abandoned the car and went inside the hotel. As Zephyr went inside the parking lot to get another car, Xavier was on the balcony, head to head with the gunman.

The gunman wore a mask and black clothing. He moved with an agility on par with a vampire’s, dodging every possible strike by Xavier. He shot the pistol with such speed that if Xavier was a younger, less experienced vampire, he would have been dead already. Xavier heard the guests arriving down at the lobby and heard the wedding car roll in. He made the mistake of turning back when he heard this. 

The gunman took advantage and shot in the direction of Robin. Xavier was sure he heard the gunshot and knew that it was a perfect shot but did not see the bullet hit anyone. The gunman missed.

The gunman, also surprised at his miss, was frozen for a second and Xavier used this to knock him out. 

────── ⋆⋅ 𖤓 ⋅⋆ ──────

In the lobby, as this was all happening, the guests heard the gunshot and looked at each other in concern. Certainly, no one was shot but they did hear something. Then, up in the sky were big fireworks. 

Zephyr could now sigh in relief. He handed over the wedding car to Robin. 

Robin saw the hole in Zephyr’s shirt. Although there was minimal blood, it was still concerning. “Zephyr, are you alright?” 

“I’ll be fine. Are you sure you wouldn’t like me to drive? We had another incident just now.”

Robin gave a half hug and a pat on the shoulder to Zephyr. Robin then realized this must have stinged Zephyr’s shoulder and immediately moved away. “Don’t worry, I’ll be able to protect Sophie. You two can follow tomorrow. Dani knows where the estate is.”

Robin took the driver’s seat and they drove to their honeymoon. 

Zephyr looked at Dani who was right beside him. “You heard that, right? The gunshot? No one got shot so it must’ve missed.” he said. 

Dani seemed to be holding something in her hand and as she opened it, Zephyr was surprised. It was a bullet with an engraving of a hawk.

Before Zephyr could ask, Dani said, “I found the bullet. Wasn’t hard really looking for it. I knew it was probably gonna hit Robin.”

Zephyr thought it was suspicious that Dani instantly found a small bullet in a large lobby. But it was better that the bullet was found. He looked up to the balcony to see Xavier who was unhurt. 

Zephyr was glad that the night was over. For Sophie, her night was just about to begin.