Chapter 27 Can’t
Cyrus walked into the room they were using to hold joint meetings, and did his damn best to not look at Ender, which was hard as the Gorgon was staring, or more like glaring.
Despite not meaning to, as Saffire began to speak, he found himself locked in Ender’s gaze.
His face instantly felt as if it had been lit on fire, and it took everything in Cyrus to not get up and run away when his heart started to race.
Even more so the moment an odd look of triumph entered Ender’s eyes, as an almost vindictive smile slipped onto the Gorgon’s face.
With Cyrus’ face red as can be, and the man spectacularly failing to avoid looking at Ender, for the most part, it was a struggle for Killian to keep the smile off his face, but he managed. Well, he did when it was his time to talk, as the information he was presenting wasn’t exactly a happy topic.
Killian met Ender’s oddly smug yet tired gaze, and said, “After some pointed questions, Agent Ambrose has managed to narrow down and create a list of seventeen children who would in no certain terms be safe if returned to their parents and/or guardians.
“Further digging brought us to the conclusion that it would be in the best interests of ten of those children to be taken under the care of Cryptid Means.”
“That—” Ender started to respond, but was cut off.
“You can’t be serious, Killian,” Agent Ludvik Burrow, a Fire Sprite, snapped. “We can’t just—”
“Agent Burrow, I don’t believe you were asked for your opinion,” Cyrus cut in, his face still flushed, but his tone was clipped.
“He indeed wasn’t,” Killian mused with a smile, his gaze flicking around to the faces of the other Bureau agents that were present.
Seeing that many of them looked like they had way too much to say, he added, “But I’ll excuse the rudeness, for now, by being ruder.
Agents who don’t need to be here for this conversation—and you know who you are—get out. ”
“I—”
Ludvik tried again, and he cut him off, letting just a hint of his ability to compel seep out as he spoke in a warning. “I know it’s been a while since we’ve interacted, Ludvik, but I’d think after our last interaction you’d remember clearly that I don’t like repeating myself.”
At his words, the Fire Sprite stood, his face pinched.
He obviously wanted to argue, but left quickly with the others, leaving him and Cyrus alone with the upper-level individuals from Cryptid Means.
Ender’s people were surprisingly quiet, even if they did appear amused, but he’d noticed that they usually were more quiet when near them.
Or more suspicious. Yeah, the line of trust between their groups was very thin.
“Now, as I was saying, it would be in the best interests of these children if no one, government included, knows where they are.”
There was barely anything in the world that would prompt Cyrus to even consider, let alone agree, to skirting procedures and laws, but this was a special case. The group of children were all rare species, and there just wasn’t a way for them to guarantee their safety if they were to take them back.
If this was under normal circumstances, they would have tried, but in this case, with the safer, even if illegal, solution being right fucking there, it hadn’t really taken much for Cyrus to agree—hadn’t even been an argument.
The Fate had just quietly listened to what he and Severo had come up with, and agreed after a few moments.
“That won’t be a problem,” Ender drawled with a smile. “I do ask that you avoid digging into those children when we are connected to the world again. The less flags raised the better. One can never be sure someone isn’t watching.”
“I’ll make sure of it,” Killian agreed, before hesitating for a moment, and then asking, “I would be grateful if you could find some way to communicate to us when they have all been sent to safe homes.”
The Gorgon pursed his lips, before nodding. “That shouldn’t be an issue.”
Ender left the meeting feeling completely vindicated. Fucking asshole Severo! I’ll show him fucking paranoid, the motherfucker!
Oh...but what if it was just in his head? No! It couldn’t be…
He wasn’t the only one who saw it the other day, and like, everyone at the meeting at least noticed something was off with the Grimm! The looks alone proved that!
But what if he was having multiple hallucinations at once?!
As soon as they’d made it back to their ship, he spun around, facing Soren. “You saw it too, didn’t you?!”
The Harpy frowned. “Saw what?”
“Yesterday and today, Cyrus was blushing, wasn’t he?! Yesterday, specifically right before he fled the room with his small rain cloud.”
Soren blinked. “Yes, he was. He is admittedly acting very weird, but what about it?”
“I KNEW IT!” he cried. “I’m not being paranoid at all!
And like, it’s more than just Cyrus being weird.
I caught him and his pretty Siren staring today!
I’ve had the same feeling of being watched since yesterday, and I think they’ve been doing it anytime I enter the same damn room as them!
On top of that, the Grimm keeps sputtering and blushing!
But Severo was like ‘oh, you’re just being paranoid, Ender. ’ The FUCK I am!”
Soren chuckled. “I mean, to be fair, you are super paranoid on the regular.”
Ender glared. “Fuck you.”
The Harpy eyed him pointedly. “You look tired.”
He rolled his eyes and started towards his quarters, snapping, “Just ask the damn question.”
Soren followed silently until they entered Ender’s room. “How bad is it?”
Taking a seat on the couch, he looked at his brother, and felt a touch of worry for his safety, because the fact was, shit wasn’t good. “I’ll be sleeping in the cell tonight.”
“It’s that critical already?!”
“Yeah, it is. Have them move a bed in there. Preferably not the one in here, as it’s going to be torn the fuck up.”
Though, he wasn’t sure if anyone would survive if he broke out, so his efforts to keep the nice bed intact may not even matter.
“Where are you, memories-wise?”
He took a deep breath. “I unburied them all.”
“What?!” Soren’s eyes grew wide. “How are you that far already? It has always been at least a six-day countdown from the day after the first dream! That has never happened until day—”
“I know! I don’t understand what is going on, but that is where I’m at.”
“Fuck!” Soren rubbed his face. “Ender, I don’t know if these barely holding it together ships can withstand you rampaging for long.”
“I know…” He smiled. “And if the time comes, where I am about to break through the cell…eject it.”
“Ha.” Soren let out a bitter chuckle. “No.”
Ender’s gaze narrowed. “That wasn’t a request, it was an order.”
“Still, no.” The Harpy’s eyes sharpened, and the smell of fire started to seep from him, as the air near the man heated up from the man’s anger. “You listen here, little brother. You can order all you want, but there is no way in hell I will eject you into fucking space.”
“You’ll do it, or you’ll be risking the lives of every fucking person on these blasted broken ass spaceships. Children’s lives, if you didn’t remember!”
Soren flinched. “You would never hurt a child.”
“I don’t know what that side of me will do, Soren.”
“Do you even realize what you are asking me to do?!”
“I know.”
“DO YOU?! Do you really, Ender?! Do you know what happens when you disconnect part of the ship from the whole, specifically a prison cell?!” Soren shouted, before his voice broke.
The Harpy was practically whispering when he finally continued, “The power cuts off first, and the temperature plunges. Then, the only question is whether you’ll freeze to death first, or suffocate when the oxygen supply finally runs out.
You’re asking me to kill you.” The Harpy took a shuddered breath. “I can’t, Ender.”
“Then find someone who can.”
“Why go so far?! We can just disconnect our ship from Brick Bond. Even if you rampage, with no one there, you’ll most likely calm down quicker than normal, and once it’s over, we’ll track you and then—”
“It won’t work. They need this ship, more than half of the food supply is being stored here now. And in case you forgot, the Bureau has the rest. That little fact was just discussed during the meeting, remember? You also helped with the move.
“And before you suggest the escape pods, we already know there is no planet close enough. If there was, we would have sent someone for the drugs I needed in the first place. As it is, by the time the people Cyrus sent come back, it will be far too late. Those things don’t go fast. Though maybe it would be better if I did leave in one.
I’d die instantly the moment I lost it.”
The man began to shake his head. “I can’t, Ender… I can’t…” Soren’s tears spilled over. “I can’t…”
Ender stared at the pain on his brother’s face, hearing how broken he sounded, and smiled sadly as he softly said, “I know. It’s okay. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked you. But…I do have to find someone who can. You know that, right?”
With his tears falling faster, Soren just kept shaking his head in silent denial.
Ender stood and pulled the Harpy into a hug, the Cryptid’s arms coming around him quickly. “I’m sorry, big brother.”
“You shouldn’t even be here!” Soren’s hold on him tightened.
Ender rested his head on his brother’s shoulder, and for the first time in a long while, he just let himself be held. “But I am, and we have to deal with it.”
“This is all that damn Fate’s fault!”
“Mmm, a pain in the ass man for sure. But I suppose he is the best option. I need to talk to him anyway. I doubt he’d have any qualms about doing it, regardless of how weird he’s acting.”
“When…?”
“Tomorrow. I don’t think I can put it off any longer than that.”