Chapter 14
Dinner was quiet with the only people talking were the members of the High Council amongst themselves about the mission Viria had assigned them.
“It’s in the next town over,” Yale explained, “Under some pub where shifters occasionally go. There will be rogues there who have teamed up with the Morbus so we better make sure to take them out first.”
“How long do you think this one will take?” Fae asked.
“This one’s rather small,” Saun said. “Should take about two days to observe, plan, and annihilate.”
“If you’re saying two then it’ll definitely be four,” Grippin grumbled, “This better be the last of their bases or I’ll go on a rampage.”
“Please, Grippin, you’ve only ever taken out six bases until now,” Tina, one of the rarely present members of the Council said. “I’ve been scouring the whole country with Viria since the beginning of it all and destroyed about fifteen alone.”
“Not like this is a competition!” Yale cried out. “We’re all sick of this.”
“I think we all have the right to complain,” Fae intervened. “Grippin’s health has been ailing rather fast as of lately.”
“Shouldn’t you retire already?” Blake, Viria’s first instructor, asked. “You don’t have to die doing this job.”
“I shall die doing this job,” she said simply and carried on eating. The shifters looked at them uncomfortably. Ivanna and Leon had not joined them for dinner, and it didn’t seem like they would. None of the members of the High Council were bothered, though.
A phone started to ring and Fae picked hers up, “Hello?”
Someone started speaking in a rush over the phone and Fae grew very confused, “Erm, I’m not sure there’s a way to—” she was interrupted, “Oh, there is?...We could try, yes…” her face morphed into confusion. “You went into the forbidden library for this, didn’t you?...Viria you’d essentially be consuming your life force into this and shortening your life span. Do you understand—”
Viria went into an agitated rant on the other end and Fae rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Fine, then. But we’ll do it after taking care of the base you’re sending us to.”
More rushed speaking and the call was cut. Fae rolled her eyes and looked at the members of the Council. “She says to bomb the whole place. The pub itself is owned by the Morbus.”
“Wouldn’t that kill innocent people?”
“She’s asking us to use her bank account to reserve the whole place. All of the members of the Morbus will still be underground for their work. It’s a one day thing so might as well just get this over with starting now, then head over to where she is.”
“What’s she calling us for?”
“A ghoul community needs to be shifted into one of the sanctuaries since they’re being constantly visited and in danger of exposure. They’re pretty powerful and pledged their alliance to Viria in return for cutting everyone else off. Some rogue witches double crossed those ghouls and let the Morbus know about their existence.”
“Good grief.” Grippin sighed. “Rogue witches really are cunts.”
“This is starting to get tiring.” Yale sighed. “How much will Viria take on at once? She can’t save the whole world in a day.”
“She negotiated with three opposing packs in a day and got them to sit down, be civilized, and sign a treaty in the middle of war so I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ivanna said, appearing behind them and taking a seat.
“You guys really underestimate her sometimes,” Tina said.
“It’s not about underestimating her, Tina,” Fae said through her teeth. “She’s only sixteen. I doubt she’ll even sleep tonight and will go on patrol duty there.”
“You guys worry about her too much.” Ivanna sighed as she took a sip of her water. “She can take good care of herself.”
Fae shook her head. Grippin rolled her eyes at Ivanna. “It’s not like you’ve had to be in her position when you were sixteen.”
“Do I need to be to empathize with her?” she countered. “I’ve seen her at her worst, Grippin. And even then, she works better than I ever could under half the pressure. If it was up to me, I would have let her take my place as Morrigan’s next in line, if not for her wanting to go out and take on these missions.”
The shifters were astounded by what they saw. They were all so…obsessed with Viria. It seemed as if there was nothing else they ever talked about but her. Then again, she was the center of everything that was happening in the HQ. She’d taken on such a huge role of responsibility and arranging for all the missions.
“Once this is over, I’m taking her away with me for a few months,” Grippin said firmly. “The kid needs to have a proper childhood.”
“That’s for Viria to decide,” Ivanna replied. She was not affected or agitated in the slightest and Nina was astounded and a little appalled to see that. Ivanna used to be the girl who cried over dead birds and goldfishes. Now she defended a sixteen year old putting her life at risk to fulfill burdensome responsibilities.
This is absolutely ridiculous, Nina thought. She and Viria have lost their heads!
“This is insane,” Cassie whispered to Luke. “Why would Ivanna support something like this?”
“People have their reasons, sweetheart,” he said. “Some kids are forced to grow up and fend for themselves when very young. Something Viria herself went through. I know…”
She looked at him and remembered the life he’d led. He didn’t look her in the eyes but she understood the pain he was in through the bond they shared.
“If you think I have it bad, then Viria’s seen worse,” he said. “I read her diary in her study room, office, whatever. Cassie, she can’t sleep without having nightmares. She spends two days on four hours of sleep. The things she sees are downright scary and she even drew them. I don’t understand what she’s seen in the bases and torture chambers after Morrigan passed, but it wasn’t easy for her. She’s had days where she had absolutely no one to call for help or turn to, Cassie. No one.”
Diana had overheard everything. She remembered how Viria told her about walking away from her mate and self-harming. That alone was enough to depress Diana.
The shifters realized something very profound about the whole thing. Where they had their own struggles and scars, they had predominantly become more focused on their own selves. And although this wasn’t wrong, it did take them away from their sole responsibility of caring for the masses. Viria on the other hand completely moved away from such a behavior and dedicated her existence solely to knowledge, other people, and their development. Luke understood Ivanna knew exactly how Viria worked. She was simply trying to curb one more pressure that would settle onto Viria and make her feel underestimated and under-appreciated.
“Whatever happens,” Ivanna spoke over the arguments, “No one will force Viria into anything. She chose this life and she can very well back off at this point and allow us to carry on with the missions. There’s a reason she’s doing all this, and it’s not on you to take it upon yourselves to help her when she’s doing perfectly fine this way. This is just one more burden she would have to face from within the facility and I will not have your emotional and moral opinions hinder her.”
“How could you let a child fuck herself over like this?” Fae demanded with a fist to the table.
“She wants to find purpose in life, Fae,” Ivanna explained. “You need to stop thinking she is some ordinary teenager when you know she well surpasses even us adults in every way. Viria can’t just sit around and read, or go walking around the park. She doesn’t work that way. She’ll get bored and probably kill herself.”
“She’ll get herself killed with all these missions she goes on,” Yale said softly.
“Would you rather she commit suicide and bear the guilt, or she die honorably a martyr?”
“This is insane,” Saun spoke up. “Are you really comparing what’s a better way to die? Children should not be dying.”
“But she would be, nevertheless,” Ivanna retorted. “Doing nothing would kill her faster than this mission.”
“They’ll never understand.” Luke sighed to Cassie under his breath. “She’s wasting her time. I’m sure these people have lived very privileged lives.”
“I will not waste my time anymore with this argument,” Ivanna said firmly and got up to leave the table.
Viria was fast asleep in the guest room back at the cemetery. It was cool, airy, and very peaceful.
Mitch kept watch over her. He’d never noticed it before, despite carrying her twice, but she was tiny. She was stuffed into the blankets as if they were a cocoon. It appeared she’d never slept so well before in her life, judging from the loud snoring and the drool falling from her open mouth. He smiled at the sight. He still had a lot of happiness remaining to fade away.
He felt himself being summoned by the Heads, so he walked away from his post. He reached the temple in no time and addressed the Heads.
“Any progress?” one of them asked from within the darkness.
“She found their main base,” he said. “The headquarters where it is all happening. She says she wants to shift the whole cemetery using magic to one of her sanctuaries.”
“Is the danger that close?”
“With rogue beings working with them and our allies turned foes, we are susceptible to being forcibly approached. They might dig up our graves and pull us out, force us to move and comply.”
“Well, that doesn’t sound good at all.” One of them sighed.
“She’s called for reinforcements to help with the shift.”
“What I find peculiar,” one of them started, “is that she’s so willing to help everyone with so little to ask for in return. No wise person would work this way.”
“She’s just extremely kind at heart, sir,” Mitch answered.
“No doubt about that,” they replied. “It was obvious as soon her soul was plucked out to talk to us. The soul’s colors reveal a lot about the person. But despite that I think we still have the right to remain cautious for our people’s safety and well-being. Could you investigate her, Mitch?”
“I’m sure she would have nothing to hide if you simply spoke to her,” Mitch suggested.
“I don’t think she would comply with that request with the amount of pain and suffering I saw her soul carry,” a female ghoul said. “She’s grown a thick skin.”
“I find it rather unfair you would want to probe into her personal details implying no consent from her side for that information,” Mitch argued. “She is doing so much for us.”
The ghouls frowned at him and peered over from their mounted coffins, studying him.
“How much do you not feel anymore, Mitch?”
“I do not feel considerably.”
“Your dark energy trails toward her, though,” they mentioned. “You are bringing her a lot of peace. The idea of death must appeal to her since her body and essence so willingly accepts it.”
Mitch could not understand what they were saying. It was true he was trying to bring her peace through surrounding her with dark energy that would deflect dark components of the world and soul from bothering her, but this was something else they were talking about.
“You have come to a standstill in your process of fully becoming an undead,” a gruff voice spoke. “This is…new.”
“Are you attracted to Viria, Mitch?”
“I don’t believe it to be so, no.”
“Think again, young one,” they said. “Something very peculiar is happening here.”
“Nothing is happening,” Mitch said. “Nothing will happen, I can assure you. Not in such trying times. May I be excused?”
He did not wait for a reply and simply walked away, returning back to his post to watch over Viria. He could not feel anything for her. He shouldn’t. He was a dead man, anyway.