by D. N. Hoxa
And I thought I couldn’t dislike Edison more…
He looked the same as he did last time. His wavy hair fell on his forehead, and his blue shirt looked like it was covering big balloons attached to his chest. I swear, his boobs were bigger than mine.
“Edison,” I said with a nod as he stepped up to shake my hand, smiling a plastic smile himself.
“Raven.”
The blood in my veins froze. It felt like a lifetime since I’d been called that, and I preferred it that way. That name represented Star Watson, the assassin. I detested it with all my heart. But correcting Edison would most likely result in a fight at some point during our meeting. And I could not—would not let him win. That would cost the lives of three more shifters. Was I willing to risk that?
“Welcome,” I said instead. It seemed I wasn’t.
“Sir,” said Aaron and bowed slightly in front of Edison. His body language showed just how much he hated it, but he did it anyway. We were all in this together and sacrifice was necessary in times like these.
“Aaron, m’boy!” Edison said as if he were greeting an old friend. “You look good.”
I almost rolled my eyes. Last time we’d been at his bar of drunks, he’d barely acknowledged Aaron’s existence. But I guessed things had changed since he was now in charge of the Base.
Aaron took his seat behind the desk without a word, keeping his chin raised and his expression neutral. I took a seat next to Edison.
“To what do we owe this pleasure?” Aaron asked, and once again I wondered why it was that Aaron seemed to hate Edison when every other shifter I knew worshiped the ground he walked on.
“I received news that the Raven is back with new information. I have some interesting news, myself,” Edison said, his smile filled with secrecy.
“And what would that be?” I asked without missing a beat.
“After you, my dear,” he said with a nod. Such a fucking gentleman.
My tight-lipped smile told him exactly how much I wanted to share with him, but then again, he knew I had no choice. He shared with us first, and we’d already made a deal. So with a deep breath, I put aside personal issues with the guy, and I spoke.
Everything I shared with the Elders, I shared with Edison, too, because I was sure that Arlion would do the same, if he hadn’t already. He listened patiently and carefully to every word that we said, and after I wrapped the story up, he took a second to think about it as he scratched his stubble-covered chin.
“I can confirm the information you have about Samayan. My sources claim he’s changed, too,” he finally said.
“What did your sources say?”
“The halfs feel him differently now,” Edison said.
Not surprising but still as alarming.
“And the new news?” Aaron asked.
“Ah, yes. A Council’s Nephil is dead. She supposedly had a car accident in North Carolina about a week ago. I sent some shifters to investigate. It seems the body was torn apart hours before the car blew up,” Edison said.
My heart skipped a beat for a reason that Edison was not aware of.
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.” He nodded. “I’ve seen the reports myself. They’re killing their own again.”
“The name,” I said, and I almost shook his shoulders to make him talk faster. “What was the Nephil’s name?”
“Carey Gordon.”
I knew Carey Gordon. She wasn’t older than a century—maybe two. If I remembered correctly, she worked in the finance department. She was really sweet, too. Kai told me a few things about her, things I shared with Aaron and Edison.
“She was having an affair with Shaw.”
Shaw was a Council member, the only Nephil among them. The opposite of Arturo, he was just as awe-inspiring with his light blue eyes and blond curly hair that should’ve made him look young and innocent but did the exact opposite.
“Yes,” Edison said, a bit surprised.
“How do you know?” Aaron asked.
I shrugged. “Kai told me that that’s why she got where she was in such short time.” I couldn’t say if that was true or not, though.
“What else did he tell you?” Edison asked.
“Not he. She.” Kai, the Council’s SKO rat. It definitely wasn’t the time nor the place, but Edison still laughed. And that pissed me off. “You wouldn’t think her name is funny if you saw her shift.” It wasn’t that I was trying to protect Kai’s honor or anything, but the head-shifter just knew how to get under my skin.
“I’ve seen everybody shift. Not impressed,” he said, smiling victoriously.
I returned it. “Not even by a leopard who can control her animal perfectly?” Kai couldn’t control her animal—not even a quarter of it—but I would’ve said anything just to get Edison’s smile off his face.
And I did.
“That’s not possible,” he said, shaking his head.
I grinned. “Like hell it isn’t,” I said, but the confused look on his face made me a bit restless. “What?”
“Your friend Kai can't be a leopard,” Edison said, and for the life of me, I couldn’t find anything on his face that said he was fucking with me.
“Of course she is. I saw her. She is a were-leopard as sure as you are standing here in front of me right now.” I couldn’t believe he was making me doubt what I’d seen with my own eyes. It just pissed me off more. “What…” with a deep sigh, I shook my head. “Why are we even discussing this?” We had much more important stuff that could use our attention. Like Carey Gordon.
Edison leaned closer to me, resting his elbows on his knees. When he spoke, he did so with the weirdest smile on his face. “Because were-leopards were eradicated almost a hundred years ago.”
This time, I was the one laughing. “Yeah, right.” But nobody was laughing with me. Not even Aaron. He was looking at Edison with that look, the one that said that the head-shifter was telling the truth. Shit. I turned to Edison again. “What do you mean, eradicated? Eradicated by who?”
“By the Council, of course. What is the name of your friend?”
“Kai Cynthia Novak.”
But the head-shifter shook his head. “Impossible. The last and only known leopard family was that of Napoleon Haven. Novak was never a shifter name.”
“Are you absolutely sure?” I asked again because what he was saying simply didn't make sense to me. I was sure as hell I’d seen Kai turn into a leopard. It had been magical. I would never forget that moment, ever in my life, though it had been very short-lived.
“I know my history, girl,” Edison said, a bit offended. I couldn't have cared less.
“But it doesn't make sense!” I stood up to walk around the office because I could no longer stand in one place. “I saw her with my own eyes, just as clearly as I’m seeing all of you.”
And I’d learned history. I’d learned it in detail because Simmons had made me. She never mentioned anything about were-leopards being eradicated, and neither did the books I learned from.
“And I am telling you that the last family was wiped off the face of the Earth almost a century ago by Samayan and the rest of his muppets. Do you doubt my words?” Edison said, and he slowly stood up, too.
He looked at me like he was expecting me to challenge him. I rolled my eyes. Now he was just being as childish as I was.
“I’m not doubting anything. I’m just trying to make sense of your words because right now, they’ve lost me.”
Reluctantly, Edison took his seat and sighed loudly.
“How old is she?” Aaron asked me.
I shrugged. “Around forty, I guess. We never talked ages.” I took my seat again and turned to Edison. “Tell me what happened with the Havens.”
I almost expected him to tell me to go to hell, but thankfully, he didn’t.
“The leopards have always been neutral. Never of the Council, but never of the Elders, either. Something happened, something Napoleon did that pissed Samayan off. I think he
refused to do something the Council asked. He was a scientist, a very well-known shifter, too. So the Council did what they always do. They burnt Napoleon’s house down with all of his family in there.”
“Did they find all the bodies?” Aaron asked. He was the only calm man in the room. Except for the guards. I couldn't tell a difference between them and a statue if asked.
“Yes, they did,” Edison confirmed.
“Is there any chance that one of them escaped somehow? What if the guy had an affair or something and Kai was born from it? What if…” something! Anything at all that wouldn’t make me feel like I wanted to doubt my own sanity.
“Could be. But all the bodies were accounted for. All seven of them. No trace of a were-leopard was ever found since. I had no idea the Council had one. How could that have escaped me?” Edison asked, rubbing his face with his giant hands.
“Could be because she’s been permanently assigned to Lyndor. She very rarely leaves,” I said because I couldn’t exactly say never. I’d seen her at the SKO conference in the video.
“Damn it,” Edison whispered.
“Okay,” I said when I realized we weren’t going to get anywhere with the subject. “We will figure this out, whatever this is. I will have Kyle research and find everything he can about Kai. Right now, we need to focus on the proof we need to show to the SKO. And Edison, I’m going to need you there.” As much as I hated to, we really needed to put Kai away for the moment.
“I will be there,” Edison said without hesitation.
I nodded my thanks. I was going to need as much back up as I could get if I was going to make a hundred sups believe anything I said. “And I will bring Snow with me, the shifter who was with Emmet before he got killed. He can prove that he saw guards, probably Royals, right before he left Emmet.”
“Perfect,” I said, already excited. “But that is not enough. I am going to gather everything I can, and I ask you to try and do the same. We’re going to need everything we can get our hands on.”
Edison understood perfectly. With a nod, he stood up. “I will get on it right away.” He made for the door and his guards followed soundlessly, but just before he disappeared, Edison turned to me again. “Maybe you’re not as hopeless as I first thought you would be, Star,” the head-shifter said.
“No, I’m not,” I whispered to no one in particular when he shut the door. Aaron sighed loudly as if he was exhausted now. “Why don't you like him?” I asked.
Aaron flinched. “It’s not that I don't like him. He’s just…not what I have in mind when I think of my leader.”
“What exactly do you have in mind when you think of your leader? Because I imagine a real shifter would picture their leader as a shifter, wouldn’t they?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Aaron said, half a smile playing on his lips, exactly because he knew that’d spike my curiosity further. The bastard.
“Exactly what it means.” I grabbed my hips in my hands and challenged him with my raised brow. “Is there any particular reason why you don't picture your leader as a shifter?”
“I never said I didn't picture my leader as a shifter. Just not as Edison.” His smile only grew wider.
If I were a bit more mature, I would’ve dropped it. I wasn’t.
“Why won't you tell me?” I hissed. His all-knowing smile pissed me off.
“Why won’t you tell me?”
“Tell you what?” I asked, but I wasn't faking it. I really wanted to know what he thought I was hiding.
“Whatever it is that you’re keeping from me.”
I laughed a little. “How can you be so sure that I’m keeping a secret?” I teased. If only he’d fall for it…
Aaron slowly stood up and held my eyes all the while. “I’d tell you, Star. But I just…can’t.”
Ugh. I would’ve kicked him in the balls by then if he were anybody else. “But what I do know for certain is that you’re hiding something. Something pretty huge, too. And I’m going to find out soon.”
I almost grabbed the sun-shaped necklace that pulsated steadily against my chest, but I smiled wider instead.
“Then it’s on,” I said with a wink.
“Whoever finds out first gets…what? What do you want?” The moment was so filled with tension, I was surprised we could still breathe.
You, naked, on my bed?
God, my own mind seemed to work against me. I flinched at the stupid, exciting thought and got my shit together.
“How about…a question?” I mumbled. “Whoever wins gets to ask the other a question that they have to answer with the absolute, a-hundred-percent truth.”
Aaron immediately reached out his hand for me and I shook it. “Deal.”
By the time we walked into Kyle’s new office, my head was an ever bigger, hornier mess. Once the thought of Aaron naked took over my mind, there was no stopping it, and this just wasn’t the time for things like that.
At night, on the other hand…
Get it together! I hissed at myself, and I wrote down Kai’s name on a small post-it for Kyle.
“I need to know anything you can find on her. Anything at all is valuable.”
Without even looking at me, Kyle took the piece of paper from my hand and nodded.
“Any news?” I asked.
He nodded again and then typed something on his keyboard. The room was empty but for the three of us. I had no idea where the guards were, but thankfully, that thought reminded me of another. I turned to Aaron.
“I know you’re busy, but can you…” Shit. It was impossible not to bring up his father, and that sucked balls. “…let me in on everything you’ve done in the Base recently, starting from…you know, where you picked up?”
But before Aaron could answer and I could die of awkwardness, Kyle spoke. “Here. This is what, um…You Know Who sent.”
“Oh my God! Lord Voldemort sent this to me?” Okay, okay, I was way out of line there, but I just couldn’t help myself.
Kyle rolled his eyes, but he didn’t reply. Instead he ignored my giggling altogether. I knew he meant Sam, and I was thankful that he wasn’t using names. I leaned in to check a map that had appeared on the screen closest to us. A bright red dot showed South Dakota, and the date November thirteenth was written in tiny little letters right beneath it.
My breath caught in my throat. I knew exactly what that meant. I started to panic.
A little over a week? That wasn’t enough time! Not nearly enough.
“Star, relax. It’ll be fine,” Aaron said, obviously recognizing my panic.
“But it’s too soon!” I hissed.
“Yeah, but we’ll manage,” he said, and his fingers wrapped around my arm as if he was trying to comfort me.
“How the hell will we manage? This isn’t a game! We’re going to blow it.” And I couldn’t think of a single thing we could do about it. My blood was boiling in my veins. I needed air desperately but even it refused to cooperate when it felt the state of mind I was in.
“The least we can do is try,” Aaron insisted.
I wanted to shout at him that it wasn’t enough. We’d gotten the perfect chance, and now we were going to miss it because we wouldn’t have time to gather proof.
“What’s done is done. We cannot postpone the time. Panic is not your friend right now. We need to get to work,” Aaron continued. “We’ll try our best. It’s all anyone can ask.”
His voice soothed me, and so did the way he caressed my arm. I almost leaned against him to rest for a second. He was right. We had to try. A little was better than nothing.
“Okay. We need to find Arturo,” I said and then turned to Kyle. “Call me the second you find out anything else.”
“Um…can I…talk to you? Alone?” Kyle barely said as if someone had a gun to his head. I almost told him to spill it out already when I realized what alone meant. So then I turned to Aaron.
“I need a minute with Kyle. Meet me with Arturo and Jack in your office in fifteen?”
<
br /> Aaron stepped back and crossed his arms in front of him. “What’s this about?” he asked, eyeing both me and Kyle suspiciously.
“Nothing. It’s personal. I’ll see you in a bit,” I said.
He raised both his brows in question. A moment later, when he saw that I wasn’t about to explain or let go and let him stay, he shook his head and headed for the door.
“Hit me,” I said to Kyle when we were finally alone. He turned to open a drawer I had no idea existed under his computer desk, and he took out two documents. He put them in front of him and started talking.
“Your man Thomas was a real Casanova with the ladies back in his younger days,” he said with a grin. “But all of them—at least those that are on record—were human. The only supernaturals who’ve had anything to do with him are these two,” he said, pointing at the files in front of him, “a fairy and a demoness.”
“Go on,” I urged him when he stopped to take a breath.
“Thanks to your good Uncle Samuel, I was able to get inside the fairy database. Seems Thomas has signed some sort of a contract with the fairy. They keep files, too, in case you didn’t know, but they use halfs since, you know, the big egos and such. And as for the demoness, I was able to call…”
“Kyle!” I cut him off, my impatience wearing thin. “I don’t mean to be rude, but I really don’t give a shit where you got the information. I just care about the information.”
Kyle frowned. “Fine. The fairy’s official address in the Fairy Realm is written here but the demoness—you’ll have to summon her from what I read. I printed the spell for you right here,” he said, pointing at the first paper in front of him.
“Thanks,” I mumbled but didn’t tell him that I didn’t do spells.
“I also printed a list of the human women on record, but they’re probably all dead by now,” Kyle finished with a shrug.
I smiled widely and then leaned in to give him a kiss on the cheek. He jerked back and looked at me like I’d slapped him.
“You really are a genius, Kyle. Thanks, man.”