Grace huffed and headed to the hall, where a man wearing a red vest with a pizza box in his hand was waiting while peeking inside the mansion. Andrea was in front of him with folded arms as if guarding the entrance.
“Did you order the pizza?” Grace asked Andrea.
“No. It wasn’t me. But we could share it if the owner doesn’t come forward.”
“How much do I owe you?” Grace asked the pizza guy.
He leaned down his head, his cap partially shadowing his face. “Ten tokens.”
“That’s cheap,” Andrea said. “Does it have pineapple? I can’t eat it if someone ordered a pizza with pineapple.”
The guy hid his right hand behind his back with a slight bow and showed the box to Grace. “No pineapple.”
Grace took a blue bill from her back pocket and unfolded it. “Do you—”
She didn’t finish the sentence because an invisible force shoved her against the door, and the delivery guy flew back as if pushed from behind. The pizza box dropped on the floor when the guy flew back.
“What’s going on?” When she glanced back, she saw Darren rushing to the entrance with his hands glowing with elemental magic.
“Step away from the entrance,” Darren ordered with white glowing eyes and a thundering voice.
“Why are you attacking the delivery boy?” Grace asked out of breath while Andrea held on to Grace’s arms and helped her up.
A blur exited the mansion, and Grace saw Noah grabbing the guy by his neck.
“It’s empty,” Andrea said. “The box is empty.”
“He had a needle in his hand,” Darren explained when he stopped at the entrance. His eyes aimed at Noah.
“Noah,” Grace called. “Be careful.”
The guy squirmed in Noah’s hands until he stopped moving.
“He’s dead,” Noah shouted back, dropping the guy’s body to the floor. He analyzed the body and extracted a needle from the guy’s hand.
Andrea, Grace, and Darren rushed to Noah’s side.
“Is he dead? Really dead?” Andrea asked, holding her hands against her chest. “He’s turning green. Ugh, what did you do to him?”
“Nothing. I didn’t snap his neck. He just swallowed something and died,” Noah explained.
“Was he planning to attack Grace with that needle?” Andrea asked.
Noah shared a look with Grace before replying, “I’m not sure. Maybe it was poison. Who let him in here in the first place?”
“I just opened the door. He was already there,” Darren said, his magic already gone.
“No one checked him at the entry?” Grace asked, still in shock.
Noah surveyed their surroundings. “How did he get here? Where’s his vehicle?”
“We should search for an ID,” Andrea suggested and turned to Darren.
“Why me?” Darren asked.
“I don’t want to touch a dead body.”
“I don’t want to touch it, either,” Darren complained.