It wasn’t that he expected his announcement to be met with great enthusiasm, but the almost stunned silence hadn’t been what he expected either. Considering he had spent the past two days reading over the journal entries, he had expected at least some form of immediate response. Instead, Matalina and Samuel just sat across from him in the open room of the main house, staring at him blankly. The only reaction he received was Mikael’s anxious fidgeting in the seat next to him.

“Are you sure?” Matalina finally asked.

Dean nodded, tapping the pages before him. “The answer is in the jungle of Central America, close to the South American border.”

“And how can you be sure this will lead you to the crystal?” that was Samuel, sounding wary.

“Damian did most of the work, and it’s probably not going to lead to the missing crystal. But it is where Nox found them in the first place.”

“He just found them, lying out in the jungle?” Mikael asked, sounding doubtful.

Dean shot him a glare. “No. He didn’t just find them lying around under a tree. Far as I can tell, he had some text or legend that he was following. There was a temple, a building, something that he found. There were some hostile locals and that’s where he found the set of six tubes that contained the crystals.”

“Rather than asking questions, let’s save time,” Matalina interrupted, gesturing to Dean. “Start from the beginning.”

Dean took a deep breath, flipping through the pages to open up the first page he wanted. The scraps on the page had come from Nox’s own journal. On them were drawn several glyphs, none of them familiar or similar to any he had seen before. They came from the temple Nox found in the jungle, but even Damian didn’t have the translation for them. Dean wondered if Nox had kept the translation secret or hadn’t actually known himself.

“Damian had obviously taken some of Nox’s notes on the temple he apparently found. I don’t think he got all the notes Nox left, though. The guy probably had hiding places for a lot of things, and whatever Damian found was probably what Nox had kept close at hand for studying. He probably meant to get back to it after returning from here. I’m not claiming to be an expert on ancient alphabets, but these don’t look familiar to me. I can’t check it out here. From what I remember, they’re not even remotely similar to the style of the Aztec or Mayan alphabet.”

Hurriedly, he flipped back to the pages where Damian had written about Nox’s journey. One of the biggest hurdles in getting through Damian’s writing was his tendency to use an absurd amount of exposition. He tended to rattle on just as much in his written word as he had done with his verbal speeches. Dean learned quickly that he couldn’t skim over it when Damian went on and on about a topic, either. Damian peppered his ramblings with important information, making it easy to miss them if Dean was impatient.

“Here,” he opened the pages to a hand drawn map with Nox’s scattered handwriting on it.

“Is that Damian’s work or Nox’s?” Matalina asked, leaning forward on her cushion to try to see the page better.

“Nox’s. Damian took out the parts he didn’t want to copy, I’m guessing. Once you get over how much he liked to talk, you can figure out the stuff he read but didn’t copy down. This was the only map Nox ever made and I think he made it while he was still trying to find the place. And before you ask, it’s because it’s such a rough map. No real clean lines. That and the map and writing were done at different times. You can tell because of how bold or faded the lines are in places.”

“If he only drew the local area, how does that help us to know where to start?” Samuel asked, sounding less hesitant than before.

“That was the tricky part, but thankfully someone around here had a book I could use. Chock full of detailed maps and satellite images of all over the world.” Dean’s luck might not always work for him, but sometimes it came through when he needed it.

“Who?” Mikael asked, now eyeing the large book under the sheets of paper.

“Dante, I think he’s a closet nerd. Combing over the maps took me the better part of yesterday. There wasn’t a lot to go on to give me an idea of where to start, other than it was in Central America, but closer to South America. I narrowed it down to places that wouldn’t be near any cities or towns. Figured if it was, it would have been found and mentioned in some magazine or book. Since you only hear about the Mayans and Aztecs in that area, I thought it was safe to assume it wasn’t part of anything anyone knew about.”

Dean opened up the book of maps to the picture he was looking for. “It’s here. The map that Nox drew doesn’t have accurate measurements obviously, but when you take account of the physical landmarks he noted down they match the map. The river he drew isn’t nearly as close as it looks, and the oddly shaped hills or mountains are actually closer than they look on his map.”

When Samuel motioned him closer, Dean got up and brought both the drawn map and detailed picture from the book with him. Matalina leaned in close to Samuel, and they both looked over the two images. Dean returned to his own cushion, feeling a sense of elation and accomplishment. Once he had returned to Mikael’s cabin, he had spent almost all of his time pouring over the information in Damian’s journal. This was a mystery he could sink his teeth into and he felt more confident in the results of this research than he had in his vision that sparked the last adventure.

“Well, you have me convinced that you found where Nox had gone,” Samuel began slowly, handing the page and picture over to Matalina.

“But?” Dean asked.

“What makes you think this is going to help you in searching for this missing crystal?”

“This is where Nox found them. He had plans for those crystals and probably knew more about them than Damian did. I’m betting the bastard even had a good idea what the glyphs he copied meant. This is where the crystals came from, maybe even where they were made. If I can learn what Nox discovered there, I might be able to figure out exactly what they do and how they work. If I know that, I can figure out who would want that missing crystal and what they could do with it. Hell, there might be even more of them out there in the world, meaning I would need all the information I can get to try and hunt them down and destroy them.”

Samuel raised an eyebrow. “And once you get there? You said Nox wrote about hostile natives, not to mention you have no idea how to read anything that might be written there.”

“Maybe the locals can be reasoned with if you aren’t a manipulative asshole, looking to gain more dark power for your own use. Or maybe they were just a tribe that lived nearby that we might be able to avoid.”

“We?” Matalina asked, looking up from the pages in her hand.

Dean winced. “There’s a catch to all of this. Even knowing where the place was, Nox wrote that it was impossible to find without the spirit’s help. He had to…enlist the help of a spirit of that particular jungle in order to find it.”

“Meaning you need a shaman to do it. One that we don’t have,” Samuel said flatly.

And none that they could ask to help them, especially considering the last one to help the pack had been kidnapped while under their protection. “We have something close.”

“You intend to drag Silun into this? He’s just a boy,” Mikael asked, his words pointed and bordering on accusatory.

“First of all, I’m not going to drag him into anything. My plan was to explain it to him and see if he was willing to go. It would be his decision, and an informed decision at that. Secondly, he’s more adult than anyone his age has any right to be. Being stuck in Damian’s hands for a couple of months will do that to a person.”

“That’s part of my point, Dean. He’s been through enough, don’t you think?”

Dean turned to Samuel. “I’ve wondered before, so I’m going to ask now, what’s the age of adulthood with werewolves?”

Samuel’s gaze was locked on his son, “Sixteen.”

“And I believe Silun turned seventeen a month ago, didn’t he?” Dean asked again.

“Yes.”

“Dean,” Mikael protested, sounding as if he were fighting to keep the frustration out of his voice now that Samuel was paying attention to him.

“I’m not saying we throw him into some battle or make him take point. But if I know him like I think I do, he would want to at least be asked. I’m not going to sit around and pretend he can’t help if he wants to. He deserves the chance to decide for himself, not to be treated like he’s made of glass.”

The not so subtle reminder of their earlier argument earned him a dirty look and silence from Mikael. That was at least familiar to Dean. The silence had been sitting between them ever since their argument after Eveline’s arrival in the Grove. The only words they had spoken to one another had been cool exchanges of perfunctory conversation. If they didn’t have to speak to one another, they didn’t.

“Do you have an issue with this crusade of his?” Samuel asked Mikael.

Dean froze at that. He hadn’t expected Samuel to outright ask if Mikael was onboard. He had never included Mikael directly in any decision before, not when it came to one of Dean’s ideas. Then again, Mikael had always explicitly supported Dean before now. It was obvious that Mikael was taking issue with it this time and wasn’t bothering to hide it. Dean didn’t miss the fact that Samuel had also referred to this as one of his ‘crusades’. Like father, like son apparently.

After a long silence, Mikael shrugged. “He’s never been wrong before, has he? If he says this is a good place to start, then I agree with him. If he says that knowing more about the crystals will help find them, then it’s probably true.”

“But?”

Mikael shook his head. “No buts, that’s it.”

As Samuel’s eyes searched Mikael’s face, Dean felt relief permeate through him. It would have been so easy for Mikael to throw a wrench in his idea. Samuel had been a little too eager to hear Mikael’s opinion on the matter. If Dean were feeling cynical, he would say it was because Samuel was hoping for a good reason to shoot Dean’s idea down. That Mikael hadn’t done so left the alpha without an easy out.

Mikael glanced away from Samuel to Dean, as if sensing his thoughts. When Dean returned the glance, Mikael’s face stiffened before facing forward once more. Mikael might not have thrown Dean’s idea under the bus, but their argument wasn’t over. Dean loved Mikael all the more for still standing by him and not bringing his father into their argument. That didn’t change the fact that Dean hated how Mikael was suddenly trying to treat him with kid gloves. He loved Mikael fiercely, but dammit he was still mad at him.

“Right,” Samuel grunted, sounding mildly disappointed. He glanced to his mate, who smiled a little and shrugged. Dean couldn’t tell if that smile was about him and Mikael, or if it was because Samuel was put out. The woman could be as mischievous as she was perceptive, and he knew any of them could be the source of her amusement.

“Is that a yes?” Dean asked, growing impatient at the pause in proceedings.

Samuel sighed. “If I’m honest, I want to say no. We may not be at war, but having our pack at full strength seems a wise decision to me. Yet I’m also not willing to deny your track record, especially after I supported one of your plans that came from a just a dream. You have something more concrete to work off this time, something to actually backup your instincts. And you can quit looking smug about it, too.”

Dean straightened his face quickly. “Wasn’t trying to, I promise.”

Samuel’s mouth twisted in disapproval as he continued. “I also see no point in changing what worked before. Dante and Apollo will go with you. Dante is one of the best trackers we have, and he’ll learn the land quicker than anyone else I could send. Apollo might know a lot about the human world, but he’s still a scout, and as silent as they come. I imagine that will come in handy. Both of them are skilled fighters, but Katarina is still your best bet in a fight.”

Dean grinned. “That and I’m sure she’s getting restless again, since you’ve been keeping everyone close to home.”

Samuel barely repressed a sigh. “Yes, there is that. And we’ve already established that where you go, my son goes, too. Now, this all hinges on whether Silun agrees. I cannot and will not order him to go, as he’s not part of this pack. You wish him to make his own decision, so I leave discussing it with him in your hands. If he doesn’t wish to go, it will be on you to convince one of the other packs with a shaman to volunteer to help.”

Dean didn’t know if that was Samuel’s way of giving Dean more responsibility or just a way for him not to support it further. Dean knew it didn’t matter if Samuel helped further or not. With everything that had happened, the chances of another pack willingly volunteering their shaman for something like this was extremely low. If Silun didn’t agree to it, there wouldn’t be much chance of it happening at all.