Chapter 29 #3
“Fuck. No. Absolutely not, Daxen. That’s a haunted-ass journal and dagger, and you’re just—” I wave my hands at him, appalled, “carrying them around like they aren’t obviously possessed by Benedict The Damned.”
“Just because you’re freaked out doesn’t change anything.” He replies flatly. “Who knows how long that satchel’s been down there. Years, probably.”
“How, though?” Gav asks, brow furrowed. “How did it get down there? Are we sure his teammates didn’t bring it back?”
Dax nods. “Both males are stationed in Seattle now. I checked the logs and followed up. Neither reported bringing anything back from the mission. The debrief they filled out matches what I saw in the logs.” He shrugs.
“They didn’t find a body, nor any of his things.
One of them, Silvan, did mention that the mission creeped him out. ”
“Creeped him out, how?” Gav asks, and I groan.
“Said he thought he saw Benedict at one point. Just standing there in the trees. When he went to investigate, there was nothing. Claimed he couldn’t shake the feeling, though. Like ants crawling under his skin. Even before Benedict disappeared.”
“Alright.” Gav leans back on the couch with his hands clasped casually over his flat stomach. Totally at ease. Not at all losing his shit like I am. Neither of them seems to be taking this as seriously as they fucking should be.
“So let me get this straight,” Gav continues.
“We have a Bastard-in-training who disappeared over a century ago and whose body was never recovered. His gear showed up today, and no one knows how it got here. Not only that, but it showed up right before the entire compound’s electric grid randomly fried.
Oh, and you walked in on the Omega standing in the dark, clutching a dagger that none of us want to put down. ”
I reach into my pocket and unwrap a piece of Double Bubble, popping it into my mouth. I need something to do with my hands. And my jaw.
“If you blow a bubble and pop it in my face, I swear to the Fates, I’ll hide this journal in your room and never tell you where I put it,” Dax threatens.
“You know, you’re supposed to be my packmate,” I grumble. “We have a fucking Bond.”
“Exactly. Which is why I‘m morally required to tell you to stop chewing your gum so aggressively. It’s annoying as shit,” Dax snaps back.
Gav extends his hand, palm out. I grin smugly and slap a piece of gum in his palm with dramatic flair, and he smirks, just to piss off Dax.
“How’s the research going with Riven?” He asks, unwrapping the gum. “Any idea what’s going on with the anomalies?”
Dax sighs. “Riven thinks they all have something to do with ley lines. And he’s got me meeting him at Redmark every night to spend hours poring over old fables and children’s stories.”
He rubs his palm down his face, exhaustion evident in every tense line.
“I don’t know what he thinks we’re going to find, but I’m having a hard time disproving his theories.
The shit he’s saying isn’t wrong. The data doesn’t lie, and whether these ley lines are real or not, the anomalies are occurring along them naturally.
” He looks like he’d rather chew glass than admit that Riven might be right.
“It’s like the universe laid down a grid of energy-based fault lines.
Not for earthquakes but for… other things. Stranger things.”
He stands and grabs a jar of roasted peanuts off the snack cart, popping a handful in his mouth. “Things haven’t slowed down in the last few days. They’ve just been happening in more secluded areas.”
Gav runs his hands down his jean-clad thighs. “Alright. Any news on the blood?”
“Nothing.” Dax not only looks disheartened, but he sounds like he thinks he’s somehow to blame for the lack of answers. I can see it. He feels responsible for not being able to keep ahead of this.
“You know what I think?” I ask, popping a bubble obnoxiously.
“I’m dying to know,” Dax deadpans.
“I think that Varenthrall injected Idril with magic blood, too.”
“Explain,” Gav drops back in his seat.
I sit forward, propping my elbows on my knees.
“I mean, it makes sense, yeah? We found two Omegas, and they both have weird new abilities after being injected with Varenthrall’s magic blood.
Now, we’ve got Varenthrall’s Omega daughter at our compound, and crazy shit keeps happening every time she’s worked up.
Makes sense if she’s got magic abilities popping off randomly, too. ”
“Shit,” Gav’s palm rasps over his stubble. “You may be on to something. I can’t believe no one else put that together.”
“But her initials don’t match any of the vials. Her name isn’t on the list.” Dax shakes his head. “I.V. doesn’t exist.”
“Doesn’t mean anything.” I counter. “She lived with him. Maybe he was doing it without her knowledge. Or maybe he just didn’t bother writing it down. Shit, maybe he’s keeping the proof off-site or something. Just because we didn’t find it, doesn’t mean it’s not out there.”
“It’s worth looking into,” Gav agrees.
I grin. “See? I have good ideas. I know it physically pains you to admit it, so go ahead and blink twice to acknowledge.”
“You’re a fucking menace,” Dax mutters, but he smiles.
I can’t help but smile back. For a second, there, he doesn’t seem exhausted or like the weight of the world is resting on his shoulders. He doesn’t look like he’d rather be anywhere but here, or like someone just told him all his fundamental beliefs are bullshit.
For a second, he looks like the Daxen from three weeks ago. Before our lives went off the rails. Before our brother was almost killed. Before the coma. Before the Omega.
I just hope I can hold it all together long enough to stop the rest of him from unraveling.