“Are you sure?” Mendax lounged against the large oak desk in Tristan’s office and rapped his knuckles against its surface. “I’m just saying, she’s been with us for some time now. I hardly believe she would try and betray us now.”
“Yes, but you are also very biased, something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about. You know that Chase and Adrian are inseparable for life now that they’ve true mated.” Tristan stood and steepled his hands on the desk. “You have to pull it together, Mendax. I’ve never seen a woman bring you to your knees before. Face it, they have already preformed the Mauma. Any chance you had of challenging for her is gone. Would you want to do that anyway? Ruin a warriorship over a woman who has clearly already made her decision?”
“She didn’t really make her decision though, did she? We made it for her!”
“We didn’t make it for her, don’t go blaming us. She was connected to him from the moment they laid eyes on each other. If anything blame the Light Warriors but I doubt that will do much. They also have no control over the true mates.” Tristan leaned forward and pressed his Influence on Mendax.
“I think I can handle it myself. I don’t need to be made to stay away from someone.” Mendax threw his hand up to thwart the Influence he felt pressing on his conscious. “I know the consequences of going after another Warriors mate. I will leave her alone but I can’t exactly promise that I won’t still feel something for her.”
“Honestly, I think that we all feel something for her.” Tristan threw his hand up when Mendax’s eyes raised almost to his hairline. “Hear me out. I think everyone feels something for Adrian because she is the only human here that we have been able to successful connect and integrate into our world. Maybe it’s due to the fact that she is part Arinthian but I’m not so sure. She has something about her that is…unbelievably gorgeous. You have to realize that that is an appeal for all of us. Except for the occasional tupping we have been isolated and distant from our world. We most likely all miss the allure of Arinthian women and having one in our presence has messed with all of our minds. You just have to realize the separation between that and her being Chase’ mate. We’ve all come to be close to Adrian, Mendax.” Tristan cleared his throat before continuing. “However, that doesn’t take away from the fact that she’s betrayed us.” Tristan shook his head when Mendax opened his mouth to speak against it. Technik, will you come up to my study and bring Julius and Vectio with you. Tristan sent out a mental note knowing that Technik was most likely the only one with his receiver on. Moments later the three men filed into the room.
“Hey, what’s up with this? I was enjoying a nice long shower.” Julius popped a hip on one of the chairs before the desk and ran a hand through his long wet hair. His eyes were slightly annoyed but the smile on his face announced that he wasn’t really upset. Tristan waited until the others settled into the room.
“Technik is going to tell us what we’ve found and I will let you guys in on the inside information.” Tristan felt the air thicken almost immediately. Julius straightened against the chair, Mendax turned and looked out the window overlooking the vast yard below hanging a hand from the window runner above his head, Vectio sat with his legs wide and a blank expression on his face. Technik mentally sent excel graphs to each of the warriors and lowered his head.
“I found large spikes of Malus activity in the nearing areas. The nearby cities seemed to be empty when we moved here years ago. They seemed to have the smallest traces of activity compared to any other region. It was one of the reasons I was set on us being able to take over this safe house instead of the Korean or European one. Here, in the states, the Malus seem to avoid the smaller areas. Being just outside of New York gives us access to a large metropolitan city but a higher level of security and privacy. Since yesterday the Malus activity in this area has tripled. I’m not exactly sure why but even though they can’t see us and can’t detect our safe house they have gravitated towards this area; and fast.” He cleared his throat and looked over at Tristan. “We are safe, for now, but anyone that leaves this area will be detected. Of course, they won’t be able to track you once you are back in the grounds of the Safe House but that doesn’t mean they can’t just figure out the small lonely house is really hiding something much bigger.” He pushed the lock of hair that had fallen over his eyes back behind its ear where it caught.
“Adrian betrayed us.” Tristan figured there was no sense in sugar coating what he’d brought them into the room to tell them. A dark silence settled over the room as each of the warriors, save Mendax who stood like a statue at the window still, looked up at him. Then it seemed as if all at once they began to deny it. Even Vectio, in his own silent way, looked at him with disbelief. “I didn’t want to believe it either but she purposely deceived me. We were shopping yesterday and she purposely ditched me to make phone calls. How ironic is it that the moment she does that the Malus are crawling all over our asses?”
“But how…how could she do that when she is mated to one of us? That doesn’t make any sense Tristan and I refuse to throw out accusations. Sometimes things that be may not be as easy to comprehend as the eye’s first look. If only the actions yielded a…” Julius was interrupted by a low growl from Tristan.
“No! I have no time for your countless riddles! I have looked at this every way possible. I don’t know why she has betrayed us or who she talked to but I know that whoever it was lead the Malus directly to us just as if we let them in the door.” He fisted his hands and straightened like the leader he was before his team. “We will go back to the mall today, just as she planned, as she insisted. We will find what is waiting for her there.” Tristan looked around at each of them and took in their glowering eyes. “We always thought there was something more to her, to her aura, why she seemed to flow so nicely with us. We don’t protect traitors or spies; especially not in our own home.”
“Tristan…I think we should discuss this. We could definitely be wrong. We could be heading straight into a trap.”
“Her trap, Technik, her trap! But we are definitely smarter than that. So far, she doesn’t know that we are aware. I trust each one of you will keep your mouth shut. Technik you will stay here and guard the safe house and Arinth. Vectio and Julius will accompany me with Adrian, shopping.” He turned toward Mendax and sent a feeler out to the warrior, he had a strong sense that he was not paying any attention. Mendax turned toward his a raised an eyebrow, his jaw clenched tight. “You are going to scout the mall.”
“So…you’re putting me on human babysitting duty, nice.” His voice was irritated and he made moves to leave the room.
“Mendax, you’re not babysitting humans. You’re looking for Malus. You are really the only one that can sense the change in the aura between humans and the Malus since Hunter isn’t here. Obviously, I would need you to be look out. Please, don’t question my authority as it’s not yours to question.” At the last statement each of the warriors stood taller. He threw his weight on them. “We leave in thirty, someone let Arinth know we are leaving and let Adrian know to be ready.” He glanced down at the papers on his desk, dismissing them. Once they’d cleared the space, Tristan sat down heavily in his chair. Chase is going to have his head when he got back and realized that not only had Adrian betrayed them but Tristan put her in harm’s way without speaking to him about it. He didn’t know how deep the betrayal went but the day before her aura had smelled as bad as the mist animals in the forests of Jungelus. If she betrayed him, fine, he’d deal with it but if she betrayed his men, his warriors and he lost any of them he would find her. There would be no need for Hunter’s gifts. There would be no place she could hide from his wrath.
"The only way to be a writer is to write, write and write. The only way...is to write." -Jade Elyzabeth
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