Warning Sign [Chapter 7]

[Flynn]

Flynn shook his head at Amalea's question, since she hadn't even come close to whacking him. It was hard to see how she could have, with both arms supporting Oakley, but that wasn't really relevant. So, he simply let the conversation move on to Aeryn. His eyes followed Lea's gaze to the woman in the distance once more, only just then noting the altar that was just within her reach. If he had to guess, she wasn't about to leave without some form of bribery. This was where she conducted her business, and taking the location for an undisclosed period of time probably wasn't something she would be willing to do for shits and giggles. That, or threats, but he couldn't have said which one would work out in Lea and Az's favor.

"Driven out or a setback, that doesn't change the fact that they got out of there damn quick. Whatever the case may be, if they found what they were after I think that we would have known by now. Whether the Foundation made a public statement about it, or simply acted," was his eventual response to Lea's assessment of the siren situation in the tunnel systems that ran beneath the city. He honestly wasn't sure what information he might find from their warehouses, but he supposed it was worth a shot. At the very least, maybe he would come across some valuable artifacts he could just...take off their hands. No big deal. "At the very least, I suppose I can snoop around for intel...maybe something that might point us in the right direction..." he mumbled, still staring off into the distance at the ritualist.

The touch to his shoulder drew his attention back to the group, his eyes snapping to the mute vampire as if she had screamed. Maybe, for the sake of all involved, he should tell her not to touch him. Any average night, it wouldn't have been a problem, but he hadn't planned ahead for dealing with a stranger. Not that he knew this was supposed to happen. Either way, he watched her wander off and then finally signed. "On second thought...I'll stick around...just in case. The three of you will all be....otherwise occupied, someone might as well be the eyes and ears of the places." Meaning...he had every intention of snooping around the mansion. Because...why not?

And that said, he was more than content to leave the ritual, demi-fae business to Lea and Az. Plus, the bribery and/or threatening of the resident ritualist seemed like something that could turn nasty fast. So, he moved further into the mansion in Oakley's direction, though his eyes never stopped roaming the area for long.

[Oakley]

Somehow, she had managed to find herself in a corner. The wall met her on either side, and her head met the hard surface, allowing her to feel safe. While others might feel confined, this was the only position that she could allow herself to relax in. Around her, the hushed sounds of their whispers and the padding of feet reached her ears, but soon, that began to fade away. It was the buzz that started first, and then a high-pitched whine that she had long since convinced herself was imagined, and soon – there was nothing. Nothing but utter silence as her mind began to piece together the route needed to take her into the first system. Within seconds, she ran into a wall, but it took her no time to break it down. In her mind, there was nothing but color and symbols, symbols that had become a part of her.

Finding the first file node, she pieced together what she needed and flipped through what she didn’t. There was nothing of note, nothing of importance, and so she moved on. On the outside, it might look as though she had turned into a corpse. There was no movement, no twitch. Her stance was completely relaxed, and in this state, she was vulnerable. Yet, she trusted those around her. Even when she had heard Flynn approach, she trusted him. Somehow, in her bones, she knew him. Maybe it was his connection with Azraeth, maybe it was her own insanity sinking into her soul – she knew him. At the next node, she sifted through the nonsense, the e-mails that meant nothing to her.

The schedules and the… wait. It was almost missed. She had almost tossed it aside, but between the sexual content and the begging for a date, there was something there. It was one line, a simple, little, unassuming line – but to someone like her, it meant the world. Pulling herself from the system always reminded her of the time she had been wrapped in webbing, only this time, she couldn’t peel it from her skin. It stuck to her mind, and when her eyes opened, they resembled something akin to a hurricane. Slowly, she lifted that stormy gaze to the man near her, and she blinked once – twice – and then she smiled. It was a bright smile, a pleased smile, and she knew she had to look insane.

She couldn’t tell him, though. She couldn’t speak the words, nor could she call across the room to Amalea. Instead, she rested back against the wall, and reached out to the one she could speak to. ‘There is a building near… near the labyrinth. They speak of it. I almost missed it, but they spoke of hiding something there – something important. I do not know if it holds any bearing to what we are searching for, but… it seems quite the coincidence. It is a start for Flynn at least, da? I will keep searching.’ The words were spoken in a rush, and then she was pinching the bridge of her nose as she began to lose herself back into the tangled web.

[Amalea]

”Can’t argue with any of that. The siren we met at the ball, though… she had a conversation with a councilman who mentioned setbacks, so I think it’s safe to assume between that and the Admin not having a meltdown, they didn’t find it.” She gave the man an odd look for his mumbling and staring. ”Not a fan of Aeryn?” She asked quietly.

”The more eyes and ears, the merrier. Really can’t be too careful lately. Not that I’m expecting trouble. No one really has reason to come after us here and between Az and I, I don’t think demi-fae will be an issue either.” She couldn’t help but smile as he wandered off towards Oakley essentially leaving the pair to the task of summoning demi-fae to do their bidding. Now, they just have to get rid of Aeryn.

She eyed the rival ritualist for a moment. One of them was about to go through the door and it wasn’t going to be the red-head. Aeryn certainly didn’t have customers at the moment and it didn’t seem like people were queueing up to make requests. So there was no reason the woman couldn’t take a day off or something. Besides, this altar had been here long before the interloper had moved in. Damn squatter. One way or another, the woman was going out the door.

Smiling sweetly, she approached the woman in an effort to politely ask the woman to vacate the premise for the rest of the day. Amalea was a strong believer in using honey over vinegar but it seemed Aeryn wasn’t really a honey type of woman. Vinegar was a great second choice but still the woman didn’t want to budge. It wasn’t until the red-head threatened the woman’s business that they came to an understanding with the woman making a fairly quick exit.

Smirking, she walked over the altar and started pulling items from her bag. ”Looks like we have the place to ourselves. “ She called as she placed an assortment of used syringes on the structure; she wasn’t sure why the demi-fae liked them, but she also didn’t think she wanted to know. Turning to Az, she grinned, ”I’m guessing you were thinking of having our fae friends see if they can’t hunt up a key?”