Jane sharply knocked on the door of Director Goodson’s office before pushing the door open to poke her head in, “Director, there’s been another one.”
Director Goodson bolted up, snatching up his coat and followed Jane out of the building.
He shoved his way through NYPD officers into Nathan Goodson’s SoHo penthouse.
Bile rose in the back of Director Goodson’s throat as he stared at Nathan’s limp body.
He was draped over his bed, stripped down to his underwear and left laying in a pool of his own blood, that goddamned symbol glaring down at him.
He rushed out of the room, snatching up the trash can next to Nathan’s desk to vomit in.
Jane trotted after him, hesitating to reach out, “Sir?”
Director Goodson spit into the trash can, wiping at his mouth, rasping, “Assemble Lore. Now.”
General Perez burst onto the Lore team’s floor, barking, “Everyone up!”
Leevi was the first of the team on his feet, “What’s going on?”
“There’s been another one,” General Perez folded his arms, “Goodson’s on his way now.”
“Who was it?” Chris asked, beginning to fidget.
“Nathan Goodson.”
The former Palhomian swallowed as Jinn approached him from behind, gripping his shoulder.
As General Perez and Leevi broke off to discuss the minutiae of what had happened to Nathan, Chris sunk into his seat, rubbing his hands together.
Jinn pulled a chair over and sat next to him, reaching over to squeeze his hand.
Allen leaned back in a seat from the other side of the tables, “Why is he focusing so much on us?”
“Because these assholes being dead makes our job easier,” Garrett scoffed, his ear twitching, “No offense, Chris.”
“None taken,” Chris sighed, leaning against Jinn’s arm, lacing his fingers with hers.
“Do you think we’re gonna get assigned to this?” Jinn asked, turning to Teddi.
The helicopter pilot folded her arms, leaning against her desk, “Not yet. If this keeps up, yeah. Y’all know where Wynne and Clark’re at?”
“School,” Leevi replied, returning to the group.
“What about Katya?” Allen asked through a yawn, revealing enormous fangs.
“She took today off to dog-sit Bandit,” Leevi stroked his beard, looking through the glass doors to see Director Goodson storm off of the elevator as Jane rushed after him, “Here he comes.”
John pushed open the door to the White Camellia’s private room, sucking in a deep breath, “Gentlemen,”
The men at the table went quiet, turning to look at John as he pulled the door shut.
“There’s been another one.”
Jacob covered his mouth, sighing deeply, “Who was it?”
“Nathan,” John stepped forward, placing his phone on the table, activating the room’s projection capabilities to display photos of the crime scene.
Many of the men in the room grimaced and looked away from the series of images.
“Stop,” Jacob ordered, pointing to the symbol on the wall, “What is that?”
“That’s the symbol that’s appeared at both of the crimes, sir.”
Jacob narrowed his eyes, pulling his phone out of his suit jacket, “Looks familiar, doesn’t it?”
After a moment of silence, the elder man took over the projection, revealing an image of a bright-eyed man with wild coils and a beard.
Jacob zoomed into the cane in the man’s hand, pointing to the carving in it.
John plucked his phone off of the table, crossing his arms, “Do you think Ka’hua could be behind this?”
“Think about it, John,” Jacob laced his hands together, leaning on the table, “He and his wife despise our way of life. There’s no limit to what people like them are willing to do.”
Abel straightened, propping his arm against the table, “Well, let’s teach these savages a lesson.”
“What do you suggest?” Gabriel asked, setting his glass of water down.
“They’re taking our boys, let’s take theirs.”
As Wynne stepped out of her lecture hall and began to walk to a nearby cafe, her phone began buzzing against her thigh.
She sighed, reaching into her pocket and using her fingerprint to un-encrypt the call, “Hello?”
“Trouble’s headed your way, Zafira Niara,” A familiar voice rasped, “Be careful,”
Beep.
Wynne stared at the screen of her phone, her heart making its way to her throat.
She sucked in a breath, closing her eyes for a moment before continuing her walk to the campus McBucks.
Noelle smiled into the autumn breeze as she stepped out of Columbia’s gates, her eyes sweeping the sidewalk as she began to meander around Manhattan.
As she stopped to pick up a coffee, she relished in how calm her life was now that she’d moved away from home.
Sure, having the same routine every day was boring but it was also… nice.
There was something comforting about not being threatened on the daily but she was waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Speaking of which…
“Ichika.”
The violet-haired lab tech almost dropped her coffee as she grabbed one of the fingers that was digging into her arm and began to bend it back.
“Hey, hey take it easy,” her brother bent his knees, wriggling out of her grip.
“Oh you are such an asshole, Aaran.” Noelle jammed her elbow into her brother’s ribs, making him whine and elbow her back.
“Missed you too, Noe.”
She sipped at her coffee, “Why’re you here?”
“I’m doing work for Dad an’ I just saw you,” Aaran shrugged, “Wanted to say hi.”
“Well, hi,” Noelle grimaced.
“Hellos,” Aaran replied, grinning.
She missed her family, of course but the danger presented when she was around her family was overwhelming.
Before Noelle could open her mouth to speak, her brother’s grin faded as he gazed into a crowd across the street, “I gotta go,” He clapped her shoulder, “Be safe.”
“You too,” Noelle mumbled, slipping into a nearby subway entrance, downing her coffee before passing through the security gate.
When she stepped into the apartment, she was greeted by Leslie whining about their empty fridge.
“We’ve been eating takeout for the past week and a half,” Wynne snorted, typing feverishly at her computer, “What did you expect?”
“He thinks food magically appears in the fridge,” Lin replied, placing a glass on the counter, “Forreal though, we got nothin’.”
“I gotta go get Bandit from Katya in a few. Lin can come with me and we can get groceries on the way back.”
“Sounds good!” Lin chirped, proceeding to demand grocery lists from Noelle and Leslie.
After a few minutes, Wynne pressed her laptop shut and stood, snatching up her wallet and car keys, nodding to Lin, “Let’s go.”
The pair silently descended to the building’s garage, getting into Wynne’s car.'
As they made their way to Yekaterina’s SoHo penthouse, Lin relished in the pleasantness of the old show tunes that wafted through the car’s stereo, taking the opportunity to examine his roommate.
When they’d first met at the end of May, she had turned him to mush at one glance. The scars that now littered her body hadn’t entirely healed then, resulting in her body being mostly covered by bandages. Even wounded, there was something about her that was nothing short of otherworldly.
She moved with the grace of an ancient deity, her fingers skillfully dancing over the seam of the steering wheel as her lips parted to sync with the lyrics pouring out of the speakers. It was easy to imagine she had once been the first to fearlessly run into ancient, grisly battles wherein she had perfected her empyrean glare that could send armies running home.
Yet, she remained so painfully human.
Maybe it was the old wounds that littered her muscular form, permanently reminding anyone who laid eyes on her that, despite the sheer power she emulated, someone had gotten the better of her.
Or maybe it was her eyes, despite rivaling the sun in intensity, there was something about them that was... sad. Tired.
What could have possibly happened to make someone as striking as her seem so worn?
Contemplating this, he returned his focus to how her fingertips danced over the steering wheel as the music played, but it wasn’t agitated tapping, she looked as if she were trying to play along with Waving Through A Window as it wafted out of the sound system.
The light had grown long as Wynne pulled into an open parking space in front of Yekaterina’s apartment building,
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