Greykin Valley

| 17 | Silver Traps

Jackson found it hard to believe Kane could just convince people to do things that no sane person would do. "He just...tells them? Orders them."

Julian shook their head. "He doesn't need to order people to do stuff. He burrows into people's brains like a demon doing mind tricks."

"Is he a demon?" Wilson asked.

"No. He's one of those wolf walkers who always talks about keeping bloodlines pure and strong," Julian answered with a grimace. "If he even heard a rumour that someone wasn't from a pure line, he'd strip them of their rank and treat them worse than Omegas, and that was when he was in a good mood."

"And...what happens when he's in a bad mood?" Wilson asked.

Julian went a little pale. "Just killing someone would be a mercy in his eyes. He'd put them through the worst pain...and then he'd let them hang somewhere and starve, or...worse."

Jackson could see that this conversation was upsetting Julian. It was time to change the subject. "Damon said I need to start training. I'm a little freaked out if I'm being honest."

"Training to use your demon ethos?" Julian asked.

He nodded.

"You'll be fine," Wilson said, lightly punching his shoulder. "You've always picked things up real fast. You remember when we were learning formatting shit when we were entry-level? You had that crap down in an hour; took me and some of the others days."

"This is different," Jackson said with a sigh. "Formatting is just typing and pressing buttons. This is like...fighting and using magic."

"Ethos," Wilson corrected. "Whole big difference between the two."

Jackson frowned at him. "Really?"

"Ethos is our energy, and we can convert it into whatever, you know? But then there are things like blood magic and such. So, I guess magic is a craft or skill, whereas ethos is ours," Wilson explained.

"Makes sense," Jackson mumbled.

Wilson nudged him again. "Don't worry, Jack. You'll be fine. I can't speak for Sebastien; I don't really know the guy. But if he's the one the Venaticus assigned to train you, then he's gotta be good."

"Not just the Venaticus, but Lord Caedis himself," Julian said with a smirk. "Have you heard that guy talk? All that...vhat's goving on avound 'ere," he mocked, sticking his teeth out a little.

Jackson couldn't help but laugh with Wilson and Julian. Lord Caedis' accent was hard to digest at first, but the more he heard him talk, the easier it became to understand him. But now that he was thinking about Caedis, a flurry of questions flooded in—things he didn't even think to ask while he was in the man's presence because he had so many other things to focus on.

He looked at Wilson. "Lord Caedis and everyone I talked to at the Venaticus seemed to already know a lot about Lyca Corp. and what they've been doing. I never got the chance to ask, but...do you think they've been looking into the same stuff as us? Like the shipping containers and El'Vorian Industries."

Wilson frowned skeptically. "I mean, it would make sense."

Jackson pondered, "What if they know more than they let on? It kinda felt like they were holding back."

Julian chimed in, "This cadejo virus has been around for a long time. I guess...if we wanted all the answers, though, we could try asking Sebastien. He seems to know a lot about what's going on around the Venaticus and Nosferatu."

Jackson looked around, but there was still no sign of the winged hound. Was he still looking for Lalo, Alastor, and Wesley? He frowned and set his eyes back on Wilson. "What do you know about the Nosferatu?"