He was thrown into the backseat of the SWARM’s issued car. Behind him, Felix held his shoulder in a tight grip to keep him from falling on his face. There was no greeting from the two Shadows sitting in the front. But he wasn’t expecting one. The Shadows acted as their name, only speaking when spoken to and liked to keep on a low-profile. The only time he’d ever heard them speak was to each other and even then he could never hear what they were saying.

The Shadows were suppose to be his support when things got dicy in the Veil. It seemed like they were slacking.

Felix pushed him again. He moved to settle into the middle of the seats and glared from under his bangs. If he could without getting smacked, he would have made a side-remark.

“Get that look off your face,” Felix said as he sat down in the car.

It was a small space, their legs pressed together. It was a sure way to keep him from bolting once the car started moving, but he wasn’t an idiot. They were miles from base and any place he went to he would be turned over. It was because of his compliance he was let off from the entire chains most Mekiah war. The collar was the worst of it. The fucking thing always made him break out in a rash.

The door to Cassius’s left opened.

General Iza had been general for over fifteen years. It was before Cassius’s time and before anyone else on the SWARM. He was a no bullshit kind of man, a man that didn’t laugh and sure as hell didn’t care about anyone. His black hair was speckled with gray hairs and though he had many wrinkles, he was a handsome man. It was the angry look he sported that made him look like shit.

In Cassius’s opinon.

“Well?” General Iza sat beside Cassius and immediately lit a cigarette.

The car started and they pulled out from the hotel.

“He was thrown out.”

“And Katson?”

“He’s gone.”

Iza took a long drag. He grabbed Cassius by the back of his neck and jerked him towards him. Cassius closed his eyes. He felt hot smoke being blowed into his face.

“Two months, boy. Two months and you haven’t picked up anything.” Iza shook him. “Look at me, boy.”

Cassius opened his eyes. Iza narrowed his eyes and slapped Cassius on the cheek. Cassius jumped from the sting but didn’t try to move. Iza’s hold on him tightened.

“Now you find that little bitch or you’ll be the one being traded in. Got it?”

Cassius nodded.

Iza leaned back, his eyes still on Cassius. He slipped the cigarette between his lips.

“Good.”

***

General Iza slipped the chain between the arm of the metal chair and latched it into place. He checked each lock. Once he was satisfied with his work, he turned to his desk and opened a manila folder. Cassius moved to place his hands between his legs, the chains rattling with each move. Iza glanced at him from the corner of his eyes, but looked down at the papers. His broad shoulders filled out his white shirt, stains of red down the side. Cassius could guess who it was from.

The Veil wasn’t a hard place to enter if you were a Mekiah. Remu had a hard time because their bodies weren’t made for long exposure, hence why the Shadows never stayed long. They were a fallback when things didn’t go right in the Veil. It was their job to pull him out if he couldn’t it himself. It was this job that made him doubt if he could trust them. He never trusted them in the first place, but as the years went by, he thought he could rely on them to do their one job right. Guess he was wrong.

Iza finished off his third cigarette and reached for his fourth. He’d gone through two on the car ride and one just walking in the building. Cassius had seen the man go through a pack in one sitting, but that had been on their first job together. He couldn’t tell if the habit had gotten better or worse. By the looks of it, it looked like it had fallen stagnant.

Iza leaned against his desk. His eyes landed on Cassius. The look on his face was nothing new. He was obvious with his emotions, always painting a pretty picture for anyone to see. His emotions, however, were bland. Anger was washed down with disinterest and annoyance was served with a side of sarcastic remarks. From those four choices, it was all a guessing game as to which would be dished out. Cassius had made it a game when he was younger. A boy his age was hard to make focus and though beating him had done him some good, it wasn’t enough to squeeze out all of his energy.

They weren’t fun times and they weren’t meant to be. He’d been bred for a reason. That reason being to track.

“Capital has already contacted us for our next brief.” He turned to the tape recorder on his desk and pressed record. “Everything.”

The recount of the mission was left to the bare bones. Capital, AKA the leading Exteru, wanted documentation after every visit to the Veil. It kept track of how many illegal visitations were made and how many tries for a success an employed Mekiah could average. Looking at his scores right now, Cassius was at the bottom tier. It had never been this bad. His first week he’d caught the escapee in one visit and that was without trying. Now, it felt like it would never work again and he had the Third Eye to rely on. But even that seemed to not work.

He couldn’t lie about the demon or that he’d used more magic than he was allowed. But he didn’t mention the bite. He obviously didn’t say how he’d encountered the demon either. They would assumed the demon had crossed the Veil on its own and he was more than happy to keep them thinking that.