The Seasons

Chapter 27

The alarm on the nightstand went off at 5 pm. He scowled as he whacked his hand around, trying to turn it off as he groaned and sat up. He grabbed his phone to see if he had any messages from Neo and scowled when he realised it was dead. He threw it on the bed and got up to shower once again.

After showering and changing clothes, Cairo grabbed the files from his desk he would need for the meeting and stepped out of his room which automatically locked behind him. He didn’t expect to run into Roxy, who was also stepping out of her room, wearing a black suit, her fiery red hair cascading down her back.

She turned to look at him, and she smiled. “I didn’t know you were back so soon.”

He forced a smile. “I’m only here for a short while.”

Roxy stared at him for a minute, her blue eyes narrowing. She walked over, linking her arm in his as they walked to the East wing, where the meetings were held. “You’re not still mad I tried to kill you, right?”

“No, I’m still pretty annoyed,” he deadpanned.

She groaned, throwing her hands up as she took a few steps before him to stare at him. “Cairo, come on,” she groaned. “I apologised. I didn’t mean to scream.”

“You screamed in my ear. I thought I was going to die!”

“Yeah, well, it wasn’t you who died; it was Raph. Is it wrong to say I'm glad it was him? He was so f*****g condescending. Glad it was me who screamed and not Marrisa. I was so glad I was the banshee who picked up on it. Also, in my defence, I ran into both of you, and didn’t know who would die, just that one of you were.”

Cairo rolled his eyes and said nothing. The two continued in silence towards the East Wing, through the more decorated hallways, the carpet grey carpet muffling their heavy boots. Roxy slipped inside, and Cairo followed in after her.

His eyes met Lionel’s, who had already taken a seat. Cairo gave the man a nod, who returned it. Natalie frowned at him, and Cairo kept his face blank as he sat around the giant black, oval table. Slowly, the rest started pouring into the room; the final person was Rex Superno. The whole room stood up as he entered, and only when he had motioned with his hand to sit down did they sit.

It took Rex a couple of minutes to gather himself, and after telling Natalie, she may leave, she did. Cairo watched her leave, and after a whole minute, did Rex speak.

He smiled as he looked around the room, crossing his hands on the table. “I’m so glad everyone could make it. I’m sure you know we have many things to discuss. But first, does anyone have any questions?”

Morgana, the ‘leader’ of the wolves, nodded; her thick dark hair was tied up in a ponytail. “I want to know how far you are along in finding that group, Sir,” she said, her hazel eyes narrowed as she forced a smile. “They killed a wolf from my pack. Her mate hasn’t left his room since.”

“As do I,” said the fae queen, Aspen. She was beautiful, with dark skin and the most stunning grey eyes Cairo had ever seen. Her brown hair was laced with branches and leaves, and her skin seemed to have glitter on it from the way it glistened in the dark room. “One of my children was killed.”

Cairo frowned as he sighed. “I mourn for your loss, the both of you. I’m sure you know I have sent my most trusted person to Moonwane, where the group seems to be working from. He has not found anything yet, but when he does, I will inform you.”

The leaders went around, explaining their body count, and Cairo stared at Rex; they told the person who had orchestrated the whole ordeal their claims would lead nowhere.

“Why is it Moonwane?” Crys asked, his eyes narrowed. Cairo turned to look at him. The man’s pale skin was stretched thin over his muscles, his eyes glowing blue. Crys was the leader of the magic welders. “That is where those kids broke the curse, right?”

“Yes,” Michael said, as his name suggested he was the angel’s envoy and famous archangel. Despite being a warrior, he had a relatively slender frame, golden blonde hair, and beautiful blue eyes. Cairo had once made the mistake of flirting with him. Let’s just say he would never do that again. “Why does Moonwane seem to be at the centre of everything going on? What is so special about that town?”

“What, even Heaven can’t figure that out?” Daimon asked. And, if you hadn’t guessed by now, Damion was hell’s Envoy, one of Lucifer’s eight children. Cairo was just glad Azreel hadn’t been sent; he didn’t need a repeat of his room being burned down by that Luciferian offspring again.

Cairo eyed the angel and demon. They hardly came to the meetings; the other pantheons didn’t, and he was glad. They had their messes, and despite being Entia, getting entangled in a god’s mess was a whole other ordeal, but Heaven and Hell liked to send an envoy now and then. To keep track of what was going on in the mortal world, he was also glad one of Hades’s many offspring hadn’t been sent.

Rex smiled, and Cairo tensed as his eyes landed on the king. He had seen that smile before, and he hated it. “If you look at page five of the folders in front of you, it explains the statistics of that town. Tell me, what do you see?”

When no one spoke, Cairo cleared his throat. “Over the years, the number of humans has decreased, and the number of Entia has increased.”

“Exactly. There is something special about that town; I have sent some of my people out to that town to figure out what exactly draws Entia there. But of course, if you do not have faith in me, you are free to send people of your own there,” Rex said; he smiled, although his eyes seemed to be narrowed, as he dared anyone to challenge him.

“Of course not, Sir,” Lionel said, his jaw clenching. Lionel was the representative of the human government, specifically a remote part of the government, and a select few knew of Entia’s existence. He had brown hair, brown eyes, and pale skin and wore a tight-fitting suit. And he hardly ever spoke.

“Is there anything else anyone would like to ask before we move on?”

No one said anything; Rex smiled as he looked at everyone. “Are you all sure? Great. There are two other things I would like to discuss. But first, Natalie will bring in refreshments soon, so please take some.”

And as if on cue, Natalie walked in, pushing a trolley with various drinks, from water to fizzy soda. Everyone took something, and Cairo stared at the soda before him and tried to hide his scowl. He had seen Wing drown cans of Coca Cola and he never seemed to tire from it. And he did not know how he could fathom drinking it.

After a short break, Rex cleared his throat and asked Natalie to leave; she bowed her head before rolling the trolley out again. “Now, have any of you seen Mary?”

“I saw him a couple of weeks ago, travelling through my forest,” Aspen said, sipping her water.

“I appreciate the information,” Rex said. Aspen just raised her glass a little before taking another sip.

“I saw Mary a few days ago,” Crys said. “He was with someone.”

Rex’s eyes narrowed. “Who?”

“I apologise. I do not know; he was with a man. Tall, long dark hair, dark skin.”

“I see; please keep looking for him and let me know his whereabouts. And, for the final matter, before we leave for tonight, I’m sure Michael and Damian know of Blessing’s.”

“I know they’re rare as s**t, and no god gives them out willingly,” Damian deadpanned.

“What else do you know about them, Damian?”

The demon shrugged. “Not much. As I said, there have been only two instances of gods giving their blessings to humans. Apollo gave one to Hyancith, and Chaos gave one to Sion.”

“And what is the purpose of said blessings?”

Damian shrugged. “I don’t know; it depends on the god. Anyway, I gotta go,” Damian stood up and disappeared in a cloud of black smoke before anyone could say anything. Rex blinked a couple of times as Micahel nodded and disappeared, leaving no trail behind.

“Well,” he said, clearing his throat. “That is all. Thank you all for coming. You may spend the night if you choose to do so, please ask Natalie, and she will lead the way, or you are free to leave.”

Cairo stayed behind as everyone got up and slowly walked out of the room, all whispering to one another. Roxy eyed Cairo, who shrugged before she grumbled something and also left. He frowned when he realised Roxy had not spoken through the entire meeting and then his eyes landed on Rex, and he tensed as the door slammed shut.

~*~