Chapter Thirty-Eight #2
I nodded once. “When we get confirmation that the council is here, I need you and the others to-”
Ronnie waved me off. “I have everything ready with the descenting spray. Don’t worry.” I nodded and checked the clearing once more. “Let’s head back.”
I turned on my heel and we started back. “Are the guards moving everyone to the Agora?”
Ronnie nodded again and checked his phone. “Yeah. Half are already there.”
I breathed out a sigh of relief. “Any news from Trey?”
He shook his head. “Nothing yet. Thankfully. We aren’t ready yet.” He looked me over. “Are you going to be okay?”
I smiled. “Yeah.” I could feel Nix and Megan both almost ready to pounce.
I pulled out my phone and dialed Rick. “Hey.”
“What’s up? How much time do we have?” He sounded breathless, like he had been running around.
“We still have time.” I waited as he slammed the desk. “Everything okay on your end?”
He growled. “Yeah. I found the files. But it’s taking longer than I thought it would to search for what we need.” Ronnie’s phone dinged.
“Can’t you just search keywords?” I heard him growl again, and I bit my lip to stop my laughter.
“Nice idea, genius. Not like I never thought of that myself. It’s all coded.” He slammed his fist against the desk again. “Every fucking file is written in some stupid fucking code and I can’t decipher it, because each one has a different cypher.”
Ronnie waved his hand at me but I held up my finger. “Are you on my laptop?” Rick grunted at me, so I assumed that was a yes. “Search out the app Codexx.amy.ti; it will make it easier.”
“What the hell is this?” He grunted, but I heard him typing.
“It’s an app I created to decode cyphers. Rowan, and my father used too many to keep up with. So every time I learned one, I coded it in.”
“Yeah, what happens if this bullshit isn’t in your handy-dandy little app?” He snorted as I heard the boot-up noise.
“Amy.” Ronnie tried to get my attention, but I just held up my finger again.
“It also learns. If you have broken any of their codes, input it in and it can learn from there.” I was trying to figure out if we would have enough time to decode and find everything we would need before we needed it.
“Son of a bitch, there it goes.” He grunted again. “This could have saved me a fucking headache, Amy.” I chuckled.
“Sorry, I didn’t know it was all in code.” I sighed. “How much longer do you need?”
“A year?” He groaned. “How much time do we have?”
Ronnie finally called out. “For fuck’s sake, Amy.” I whirled, and Ronnie was holding up his phone. “We have thirty minutes. If we’re lucky.” My stomach dropped.
“Rick…”
“Fuck.” He started typing. “Can this thing decode as I run searches?”
“Yes, yes, it can.” I started running towards the pack house. “Hurry, Rick, we will need anything you can get your hands on, on as many members as you can find.” I hung up when I heard him grunt again and then I shifted. I stopped and looked at Ronnie expectantly.
“You have got to be kidding.” Ronnie shook his head. “I can shift.”
“I know.” Nix growled. “But you are still healing, and you are a lot slower than me. Just get on.” Nix crouched down a little so Ronnie had an easier time, but he still groaned as he got onto our back.
“This is embarrassing.” Nix snorted as she took off. Ronnie’s hands flew to our fur and dug in. “Holy Goddess, you’re fast.” Nix chuffed out another laugh, but I turned inward and found Megan curled around the flowerpot.
What are you doing? I walked over to her and she barely lifted her head.
Nix and I discussed what would most likely happen when the council shows up. She cracked an eye. I will most likely be the odd man out.
I tilted my head as I sank next to her. I don’t understand.
You might need Nix if there is a battle. She sighed as she closed her eyes again. And you might need your magic. But me…you won’t need me.
I’ll always need you, Megan.
She lifted her lip. I know, silly. I just mean my energy can be repurposed for this next bit. Nix is conserving her strength just in case, but I figured I could push my energy into your magic. That way you can focus on the conversation, and, if we need to, I can control our magic.
I ran my hand down her side. You two sure are smart.
Nix slammed to a stop, and Ronnie almost tumbled off. “What’s wrong?” His words were a little breathless.
Nix lifted her snout as she approached the pack house. “I smell magic.”
I shifted back and looked at Ronnie. He shrugged. “It could be your father.” I lifted a brow, and he winced. “I mean, it could be.” I nodded toward the house, and we headed inside.
The Omegas were rushing back and forth, and I checked the progress. Everything looked exactly as I needed it to. Half the rooms looked lived in, while the other half looked still dusty and closed off.
“Why do you want the pack house to look like this?” Ronnie peaked into the closed-off ballroom. “Half lived in.”
“Because I need them to believe it.” We headed upstairs, and I found Greyson waiting by the office. “My dad?” He nodded to the left and turned. He led me to another room and opened the door. Cass and my dad were sitting across from each other. “Hey.”
My dad looked at me with a haggard smile. The I.V. was still behind him, emptying into him. “Hey pup.”
“Hey Daddy.” I walked over and crouched down beside him. For a man who looked no older than twenty-eight, he was really showing his age right now. His skin was a weird grey-green color, and he looked exhausted. “How are you feeling?”
He struggled with his breathing but he grinned. “I’m alive. I think compared to what could have happened…it’s the best outcome.” He chuckled and then groaned. “Fuck, that hurts.”
Cass smiled down at me and then rubbed my shoulder. “I’m going to go check on a few things.” Greyson followed her out of the room, and the door shut. My father waved a hand and sealed the room.
I leaned in. “You should be resting and not doing magic.”
He patted my head. “I wanted to speak to the two of you without being overheard.
Ronnie took a seat across from him and wiped his face. “Please make it quick. The council is on the way.” Ronnie looked at his phone and winced. “We have very little time.”
My father nodded. “I know., that’s why I wanted to talk.” I went to stand, but he grabbed my hand.
“Hey. It’s okay. I’m not leaving.” I rubbed his hand and turned to Ronnie. “Can you bring me a chair?” He got up and brought over the chair that was next to him. I settled, giving my back a brief reprieve from running around the last hour, and I tightened my hand on his. “What’s wrong?”
My dad opened his mouth but my phone rang. I squeezed my dad’s hand, and he nodded, giving me the okay to answer. “Hey.”
Rowan' sounded a little breathless. “Everything is in place. I’m heading inside. Where are you?”
“I’m in the room we set up for my dad.”
“Okay, I’m coming.” He hung up.
“Rowan’s on his way.” My dad nodded once.
He sighed and closed his eyes. “Then I will wait for him to get here. I feel like he might have something to add to what I want to talk about.”
I lifted a brow, and turned to Ronnie, but he just lifted a shoulder. “Don’t ask me. He’s my best friend, but even I’m lost.” I snorted.
There was a knock on the door. My dad pointed at the door. “You are going to have to open it. I sealed it this way so that once we were alone, no one could come back in.”
Ronnie frowned, but he got up and opened the door for Rowan. “Come in.” Ronnie stepped aside, and Rowan walked over to me and gave me a kiss.
I cupped his cheek, and I could feel the tension in him. “Everything okay?”
He nodded his head and lifted me into his arms. My hand was still in my father’s, so it was a little awkward, but finally Rowan settled into the chair with me on his lap. He breathed in my scent for a few calming breaths. “It is now.”
I looked between my mate and my father. “What’s going on?”
My father nodded to Rowan. “Why don’t you go first, and then I will say my piece.”
Rowan’s arms tightened around me. “My guards showed up.”
“That’s a good thing, right?” I felt my brow furrow as I felt him lean in and take another calming breath.
“It would be. If they had good news.” I felt worry climb my spine. “The council brought their full contingent of guards.” Both Ronnie and my father jolted. Rowan nodded. “They also brought the Black Spear.” My father’s breath whooshed out of him.
“They can’t be serious.” Ronnie shook his head. “They don’t have the authority to wield the spear.”
“I believe they've abandoned all claims of being a fair council.” My dad sighed, and I could feel the twitch in his hand. The I.V. was burning him from the inside out, but he was healing. His colour was coming back, and he looked more alive. “This is just another thing that shows me I’m right.”
“Right about what?” I shifted, and I felt Rowan’s breath catch. “And what is the Black Spear?”
“The Black Spear is the only weapon that the first Lycan was gifted from the Goddess. It gives the reigning King the ability to kill a wolf and separate the wolf’s spirit from the human, so that they can never reincarnate as another wolf.
It’s the worst fate possible for a wolf.
” My dad’s eyes flashed to Loki’s and then back to his.
His anger spiked, and the spicy scent of rage rushed around the room.
“But the matter I want to talk about is more important.”
“What the fuck could be more important than that?” Ronnie snorted. But I had a bad feeling.
My dad let out a soft growl. “We have a spy in our ranks.”