Order of the Alpha #2

21

I shake my head, "He's stronger now with his lycanthrope heightened. We need something more lethal, less eye-catching. I'm going for subtlety, not ignorant stupidity." I utter under my breath. It was worse now, at least that's what I believed.

Is it stupid for her to go in as his sister?

That thought suddenly swiped through my mind, gears moving and ticking like the hands on an old Roman-numerals clock. Every tick raising my suspicions.

I study her, "You could easily be applicable, even accessible to him if he sees you, his family." I murmur.

She snaps her eyes to me, "Or he would be suspicious of something." She trails to that conclusion, something I already thought of.

"Your abilities have some stance in redirecting feelings, do they not? Am I wrong in assuming you can capably read him like an exposed microphone shouting out every detailed secret? If you were close enough, you could understand a routine or the unpredictable nature he's succumbed to—that way, we can get closer without him suspecting foul play. Unless you'd prefer he keep up with his current routine of kill or surrender or both?" I ask her multiple questions to get her away from my mind and more on mastering a plan I still don't have all the angles on. This ridiculous mission was slowing down a mission that made me stand on the edge of a blade.

She folds her arms, I close my laptop and move to one of the bedrooms, "Do let me know by tomorrow morning—I don't want to be here any longer than completely necessary." I mold into place.

"I do care about you, you know? And I am sorry for leading you on when the Rune Pool is much harder to find than you think, Celestine. It doesn't point you to more than a 'Yes' or 'No' answer. Is Nicolai your mate, yes or no. Is Elias your mate, yes or no? Is it definitive—No." She emphasises, flailing her hands. I don't even blink at her, roaming the supplies we had at hand.

"I don't care for your words on that now. You betrayed me for the likes of an executioner who wants to shove me in a series of trials much like your brother did. I won't have it. I won't walk into that foolishly again. So, whether you help me here or not, this mission goes and it doesn't lag on to wait for a perfect move. We scour the area, find familiarity in our bearings for the first set of events." I instruct, opening a compartment in my bag when I pull out a specialised gun with silencer attributes.

She stares at it, "I can smell the silver in that." She murmurs. Did it matter?

I glance at her, "I may need stronger doses for a lycanthrope. All unless I give Robert and Reina a run for their money. The two of them certainly deserve a little pain." More than a little.

"Why do I sense a barrier in your mind of some kind?" She suddenly asks.

I narrow my eyes, it's the only indication before she furrows her eyebrows, "And how did you really get that ring? Did you forget I could walk into your mind?" She throws the questions at me like one agent would in an interrogation room.

I close up the equipment, "I don't care what you find. You want me to trust you? Stop giving me reasons to trust as blindly as I keep bloody well doing. I relied on you to get away from Nicolai. Being back here makes me sick, so don't make me sicker by throwing suspicious assumptions and wary accusations at me when let's hope for your sake that we're on the same side here. How well can your mind run when it's boiling from the inside out?" I question her, walking to the bathroom with a robe and night clothes.

She straightens, "You are still young and learning, Celestine. I know why you plan on staying angry. I won't ask anything else, but keep in mind that we are stuck together on this mission and I will help you in any way I can. I am all you have to trust here, Celestine." She details in a manner where she's trying to ensure that I had no other shoulder to lean on, or eye to trust to have my back.