Anger of the Devil

4. No rest for the wicked

Lena began to feel the flutters in her stomach as she approached the office building. Though she felt ready to get started again, she also felt weird walking into that building knowing who would be missing; Ben, Anders… Lena stopped and shook her head as she refused to think of the third person who would be missing. Just the sheer thought of him made her feel sorrow in every cell of her body, and she couldn’t let herself go through those emotions right now. 

Lena took in a deep breath as she walked inside the house. She quickly made her way through it until she stood outside the conference room where she stopped. She closed her eyes as she slowly counted to three inside her head. She then opened her eyes, straightened her back, and walked inside. 

Several people turned their heads to look at Lena as she walked inside the room. She quickly scouted the room to find a seat. Not far from her sat Lucas, and she chose to place herself next to him. As she sat down, she mustered up all her authority before she spoke. 

    “Thank you all for coming.”

She was about to say something further when she noticed most of the people in the room looked at her weirdly. The confidence that she had forced in herself slowly faded away as she started to look around. 

    “What?”

Jess laughed a bit, but she soon stopped when Carl nudged her with his elbow. Jake was smirking as he spoke. 

    “Well, I think we’re just surprised by your choice of seating.”

Lena furrowed her brows as she turned to look at Carl.

    “Why?”

Carl coughed a bit before he answered. 

    “The head of the pack that has called the meeting usually sits at the end of the table.”

Lena looked at the others once more before she slowly got up. 

    “Right… and I guess that is me.”

She started to walk towards the end of the table with hesitant steps. There was only one chair at the end of the table, and the marks of the man who used to sit in it were clear. Lena could feel her heartbeat raise as she touched the chair. The sorrow started to form inside of her, and she had to take in a long and deep breath to calm herself, however, the scent that hit her was an even stronger reminder of the person who would usually place himself in the seat. Don’t. You need to be strong now! Sit down and show them and yourself that you can get through this! Lena felt her confidence come back little by little, and she suddenly felt collected enough to sit down in the chair. She then regained control of her facial expression as she watched the people inside the room again. 

    “I’m going to get straight to the point here. Things are not good. In fact, things are f*****g horrible. 162 people died in less than an hour and amongst them were some wise and great people. Nadia did incredible, but the man who knew just a little about magical abilities has disappeared, and though Anders has disappeared before and later found, I don’t think we can count on that sort of luck once more. So, we need a plan and we need it now. Does anyone have any idea of who could know anything about the Red Cross Crows, how to beat them, and how we can train Nadia to fulfil her potential?”

The room went silent. The only sound that was heard was the deep breathing of despair. However, Lena wasn’t about to give up. 

    “Nathan, what about your father?”

Nathan looked confused. 

    “What about him?”

    “Could he possibly know something?”

Nathan opened his mouth but didn’t say anything, but a voice of an older man was soon heard from the other side of the table. 

    “Whether Dominique Dugrey knows something is not only possible, it’s probable. However, as long as you work with my daughter, he’ll never tell you a thing. Just the fact that you have worked with my daughter is enough for him to never speak a word.”

Lena looked at James Harlow as he spoke. She then redirected her eyes to Nathan who now looked sad. 

    “Though… before he and I became mortal enemies, I did hear him speak about the Red Cross Crows. He had discussed them with one of his other allies, someone you now have ties to; the late Hector Black. Apparently Hector was quite interested in them, and he had found a book about them, a book that told the tale of the group and their strengths and, maybe more importantly, their weaknesses. But sadly that is all I know.”

Lena could feel her heart race. She had known that the former Alpha of the Lake Maroon Pack had researched the Red Cross Crows, but she had never heard about this book that told the tale of them. A dark thought started to dawn on her as she contemplated whether others had known about this book without having told her. As if her thoughts could be heard, Alexander Harlow spoke. 

    “Have you seen him? Dominique Dugrey may know something, but he would only know what Black had told him. There’s another Black, and he might know something as well.”

Lena closed her eyes and contemplated what to say when Kendrick spoke. 

    “Our Alpha hasn’t said anything since he was incarcerated. There is no point in talking to him right now.”

Everyone slumped back in their seats, but Kendrick’s words were soon followed by another voice, a voice that had been a pain to Lena since she had stepped into the very same building they were now sitting in for the first time. 

    “Well, he hasn’t said anything but ‘I’ll only speak to Lena’ at least.”

Lena snapped her neck towards Neil. As their eyes met, he gave her a taunting smirk. It wasn’t news to Lena. Both Kendrick and Patrick had reported it to her, but they had both warned her not to go until she was ready. Kendrick had even stopped her when she almost ran to the cells after having gathered enough strength to get out of bed. When she had asked him to move, he had looked at her with fear in his eyes as he had shaken his head. “There’s an evil there, Luna, that made even me shiver” had been his response. 

    “The Luna will go when the Luna feel strong enough.”

There was a clear warning in Kendrick’s voice as he answered Neil. Neil, however, just acted as if he didn’t notice. 

    “Well of course, I just thought since she suggested that we should contact someone who hates half the people in this room that we should open all options.”

Neil tried to look calm, but the wickedness in his tone was unmistakable. 

    “Your Alpha is not the same anymore, everyone knows that. Why would he talk? Dominique Dugrey may not be a friendly man, but he is still a man. You know this can’t be compared.”

Jake had put on his dominant Beta voice as he almost scolded Neil. The frown on Neil’s face gave away that Jake’s tone had an impact, but he still kept his back straight. 

    “I think he’s right though. We won’t know what we’re dealing with unless we speak with him, and it’s not as if we have the luxury of time.”

Lena turned to look at a man she didn’t know but assumed was one of Alpha James’ men. She then turned to look at her brother, Lucas, who sat with his eyes plastered on the table. His frown was strong, but it was the creases of sadness that truly hit her. 

    “I think he’s right too.”

Everyone shot their heads to look at Lena. Everyone, even Neil, looked completely taken back by her words.

    “We need to look into every opportunity we have, and this is one. And yes, we do not have time to wait any longer.”

Lena got up and shot everyone a look as she spoke one last time. 

    “I expect you all to think hard. l Everything can be of value. Everything.”

She then turned her head to look at Kendrick. 

    “Will you go with me?”

She didn’t know if weakness in the voice was a thing through mind linking, but is it was then she would have had it. 

    “Of course, Luna.”

Kendrick then got up and they both walked outside.

It wasn’t long after that Lena slowly entered the cell block. A loud banging noise rang in the air as she stepped inside. The wolf-like creature in the cell closest to her was the source of the noise, and it wasn’t long until she saw smoke fill up inside its cell which made it calm down. 

    “This way, Luna.”

Kendrick guided her towards the end of the corridor where Lena noticed a small sensor. Kendrick swiftly put a keycard on the sensor and a door opened. Lena could feel her heart pounding hard in her chest as she stepped inside. There, behind armored glass, she saw a man sitting calmly on the floor. His head gently turned, but only a little, as they entered. 

    “Can he see me?”

Kendrick shook his head and Lena let the tears fall down her cheek. A small creepy smile formed in the corner of Logan’s mouth as he started to speak. 

    “My love. You finally came.”

As if the mate pull guided him, Logan suddenly looked right at her through the tinted glass. Lena swallowed hard as she saw the dark flames dancing within his eyes.