A TALK OVER LUNCH.
1422 Words
"I can use a good lunch.. something mild and sugary.", I say to Liam who smiles faintly at my acceptance.
"I know a place.", Liam says calmly before politely taking my bag from me as he walks to the door with his body language urging me to follow.
..
After a fifteen minutes ride in one of Liam's SUV, I find myself sitting across the table from Liam in a comfortable restaurant setting.
The restaurant in question is nothing too luxurious though it cannot exactly be called mundane considering its quiet and spacious vibe as well as the number of zeros on the menu's price side.
"I heard about your sister. I know she's fine but I still gotta ask.", Liam says to ms as we await our food cause we have already placed orders.
"Rita wants revenge.", I inform Liam who doesn't at all look surprised by my words.
"That's normal though considering the anxiety in your tone I can guess there's more to things.", Liam says with his deep blue eyes locking on my soft honey browns for a few seconds. Suddenly, Liam turns his head to his side cause he senses an incoming.
"Your order sir.", A waiter's voice interrupts our conversation as a young female waiter politely places a plate of medium-rare stake in front of Liam.
"Thank you.", Liam says calmly while the waiter blushes slightly at the intensity of his voice. Nodding at Liam's charm, the waiter places a slice of honey-glazed chestnut pie in front of me as I politely nod at her.
Considering my job and personality, I know that I'm not someone's who's easy to read though Liam always seems to do it effortlessly.
"You're right, something's wrong.", I tell Liam who picks up his cutlery at he begins to mindfully cut through the juicy layers of his tender steak.
"Is it something you can tell me about?.", Liam asks while looking at me for a brief moment before looking back at his steak cause he is almost done cutting through a piece.
"I need your help on it so.. yes.", I say to Liam who nods seriously for a brief moment as he awaits my explanation.
For the next twenty minutes, I eat and explain to Liam the series of incidents that had led to my sister's situation while he listens and drops a few questions here and there.
A summary of the story is that recently, I made a deal with some supernatural mercenaries.
There is a very powerful vampire that has been targeting our pack's members and his means are always covered up by dark magic which makes tracking and trailing almost impossible. My pack being principled would never step foot into the dark magic territory even if it means letting a powerful supernatural criminal roam free though their hesitation to act had indirectly led to one of our underground dealings being intercepted by the dark magician-vampire.
This particular dealing has been of a high value to the pack and the proceedings if the deal had been entrusted into Genora's hands who in turn trusted me to act as a proxy for the process as I have proven to be good at it. The time and place for the dealing was set secretly and everything seems to be set on forward though we were compromised. We were attacked by the people we were supposed to barter with and it turned out that the dark vampire we have failed to hunt was a proxy on the other side.
In the end of a short but bloody clash, we lost the goods we have come to barter with as well as the lives of almost a dozen elite wolves.
It was the first high level mission that Genora had ever been entrusted with since her term as an Intern Alpha and the failure of her first high-class mission is a permanent stain to her legacy. Being a female and the only heir, striving to lead a traditional pack with a solid legacy of success and strength is already pressuring enough especially when one considers the fact that Genora needs the elders trust and backing to rule effectively. Add failure of her first big mission to the mix and things become a lot more complicated and hateful.
Genora being as fierce and driven as any other wolf with alpha genes would not be giving up that easily and so, the minute the fight for the barter was over Genora secretly sent every of her personal squads to completely enclose every possible escape route that the thieves could possibly take out of the area of trade.
The people who compromised our deal had been wearing masks but since I have relentlessly been on the dark vampire's trail I recognised him as well as the fact that he can use dark magic to cover up his trails. Knowing this and sensing my friend's desperation I acted on my own.
I reached out to a dark mercenary group that specialises in dark magic hunts and promised them an astronomical sum if they could get a hold on those thieves and the goods in their possession. Things definitely didn't work out for us that night but something even worse had happened by the next morning.
Honestly, up to this day I don't know exactly what we were trading that night though.. me informing the mercenary group on our trade had led to the information spreading to the far dark reaches of the city.
By morning, multiple supernatural upper echelons already knew about the trade and for some reason they were deeply interested in the details of that particular transaction. Genora's failure was made public, the trade was lost without a trace and our transaction details was out here and there.
"I don't see how this concerns Rita ", Liam says with a small frown as he seems to be processing everything I have told him so far.
"Well, during the barter we(My pack members) were also wearing masks and I killed some members of the other side.", I inform Liam who raises a brow as he asks in a tone of confusion.
"Did they do that to Rita because they want revenge for the bloodshed they caused?.", Liam asks with a bit of his wolf in his now chilly tone.
"It's a bit more complicated than that.", I answer with pursed lips as I reach out for the glass of water on the table.
"You don't feel comfortable about talking about it.", Liam says with his deep blue eyes reading me like a book once more. I almost choke on water as I hear him voice out my feelings though he only smiles softly while watching my second-long reaction.
"What do you need my help for?.", Liam asks with his attitude showing he doesn't want to know the rest of the story since it makes my uncomfortable.
"I need to find the person who killed Rita's squad and.. fast.", I say while slightly leaning forward as Liam nods in acceptance of the favor before asking.
"How are you so sure that the killer is related to the failed barter?.", Liam asks with scepticism in his voice as he takes a sip from his own glass of water.
"There was no clue at the scene.", I say to Liam who shows no reaction as I explain what I mean.
"The place where Rita's squad was killed had no trace of the killer. No hair, no scent, no energy signature, no foreign blood.. just nothing. The only new element gotten at the scene was dark energy.", I say to Liam who picks up the clue immediately.
"So you think dark magic is in play and since those people have a dark magic user on their side then they are most likely involved?.", Liam questions while drawing a picture mentally as he looks at me.
"Yes. Dark magic occurs too rarely than to be identified in two consecutive cases without one drawing a connection.", I say with half-certainity in my tone.
"I agree.", Liam nods in agreement with my logic. "One last question though?.", He says while briefly licking his lips as he tilts his head lightly to the side.
"Have you asked your sister if there is any other possible reason why someone would want her squad out of the picture?.", Liam asks calmly though his words instantly throws me into a spiral of thoughts.
'He has a solid point.', My wolf's voice resounds in my mind.
..
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- Writer
