Unveiling The Unknown

Chapter 2

Sierra's POV

I could tell Aaron was trying to keep the topic of babies out of the conversation, and I could tell because my mom and Sharon were almost red in the face, trying to hold in their many questions and suggestions for me and what I should be doing. In all honesty, I had no idea what I should be doing. I only wanted to talk with Amisra about her brother and help as many people in the smuggling ring as possible. My being pregnant wasn't going to stop me from doing that; I wasn't breakable, at least not yet, and I had enough power to defend myself.

Another thing I wanted to do was look more into how to unlock all the powers I was supposed to have. The auctioneer had listed to telekinesis, which I had already, future visions, and sharing those visions with Aaron; again, I had that down, telepathy, lie detection, super speed, and super agility, which had increased since meeting Aaron but not to an unreasonable point. They also said I could heal, resurrect, compel people to do what I wanted, have a werewolf bite, or kill another supernatural creature with my bite, disease immunity, and immortality.

I didn't want to focus all my energy on the baby right now. I needed to do these two tasks before we thought about anything else. That was hard when Brooklyn kept yelling things at me, like baby names and additions to our apartment, to give them their own room.

"What about Odessa?" Brooklyn suggested, raising her eyebrows excitedly.

"That's a pretty name," I replied. "How are you so sure it will be a girl?"

"I just know," she said, swishing her tail. "It's going to be a girl, and she's going to be powerful!"

"We already knew she would be powerful; the library books told us that," I reminded her.

A soft knock on the office door stopped our conversation. Caleb, Danny, Selceips, Ipri, and Justin walked in, all looking slightly worried.

"Do we only call people to Aaron's office when there's bad news?" Brooklyn asked, eyeing their expressions. The five of them gathered around our four parents, sitting in chairs.

"Thanks for meeting us," Aaron said. My mom and Sharon looked like they might burst from the anticipation of the news.

"Is someone after you guys again," Caleb asked jokingly, but having a hint of seriousness behind it.

"No," Aaron chuckled. "But we did want to tell you that Aria is going to get a little cousin in a few months." I could hear the happiness in Aaron's voice, even if he were trying to hide it.

"Listen to how proud he sounds already," Brooklyn cooed.

"Oh, my Goddess!" Danny exclaimed.

"No, sh*t! Congratulations, you guys!" Caleb said, smiling ear to ear.

"A baby!" Ipri squeaked. "This is so exciting!"

"That's amazing news," Selceips smiled in her serene way.

"Thanks, guys," Aaron replied, squeezing my hand. "That's only one of the reasons we asked you to come here. There's one other thing we want to talk to you about."

"Are you going to make us the people who get the kid if you die?" Caleb asked, winking at me as I rolled my eyes.

"Only if we want them to live like a cave troll!" Brooklyn laughed.

"Apparently, Sierra is immortal, so I don't think we'll need anyone like that," Aaron joked. "But we wanted to talk to you about Sierra's idea."

"I was thinking, I want to try and infiltrate another smuggling ring as we did in Maine. There's thousands of rings like that, probably all over the country," I said.

"How would you even go about finding something like that?" Selceips asked, looking confused, her large wings folded behind her.

"I thought maybe you could help me with that. You were prisoners longer than I was," I replied.

"Yes, but we never knew where we were being held," Selceips explained.

"Mom," I asked, turning my attention to her. "You never knew how Aunt Andrea went about finding the black market?"

"No, like I said before, she would wait in the city until someone approached her. I'm assuming they have people that patrol the city looking for small things like potion ingredients," my mom explained.

"Maybe that's our way in," Aaron said. "Pretend we want potion ingredients and ask about auctions for creatures."

"Ipri, you make balms and pixie healing potions; maybe you could come with me?" I asked, looking at her tiny frame beside Justin's large one.

"I'm not sure," she said hesitantly, Justin's arm tightening its grip on her shoulder.

"Maybe that's not the best idea," Justin told me.

"Do you think we should put her in a position like that after everything she's been through?" Brooklyn questioned.

"I think it's best to keep any of our new pack members away from smuggling rings. Someone might recognize them," Danny said.

"What if someone recognizes me?" I questioned.

"I don't think that's likely," Selceips said. "You were only there for a day."

"Plus, James and Austin took you straight from here back to Maine before handing you over," Caleb added. "No one from any ring around here would know who you are. They might have only heard that they had a primordial, but there's no specific scent for that."

"Okay," I said. "So what if Aaron and I pose as people looking to get into the auction to buy people?" Everyone looked at me like I had three heads, including Brooklyn.

"You want to what?" she asked.

"No, hear me out. We can pose as a rich couple looking to purchase people to use. We buy as many as we can and set them free," I finished, watching everyone's face change as they realized what my idea would mean.

"So, we buy supernatural creatures and return them to their homes?" Aaron confirmed.

"Only if they want to go," I told him. "We can offer them a place to live here like we did with everyone from the Maine auction."

"Oh, I see," Brooklyn said. "I like where you're going with this!"

"We kill two birds with one stone," I said. "We infiltrate the smuggling ring, getting close to those on top and helping the creatures find freedom and their families."

"That seems very risky," my mom interjected. "What if someone finds you out?"

"How would they? I don't think anyone we set free will run around telling them," I replied.

"Sierra's right," Danny added. "If they cover their tracks well, no one will realize what they're doing."

"We just need to figure out where to go," Aaron said. "We can't just wander around the city hoping someone will come up to us and ask us if we want to buy a fairy."

"Mom, can you remember anything about what Aunt Andrea used to tell you about the black market?" I asked, looking at her with intention.

"I'm trying to think," she replied. "She never really talked about it because most light witches didn't like getting ingredients from smugglers."

"I think once she mentioned a store in the city she frequented," my dad said.

"Yes, what was the name of that?" my mom said, narrowing her eyes in concentration. "Goddess, I wish she was here to ask."

"Calwells... No, it was called Caldwells!" my dad said excitedly. "I don't know if she went into or around that store, but I remember her talking about it several times."

"I guess that's where we'll start," I told everyone.

It was exciting thinking my plan would finally be put into motion. The many faces around the room looking at me told me some didn't agree with the plan. I knew not everyone would, but I think they were more worried something might happen to Aaron or me than anything else.

"Nothing's going to happen," Brooklyn said. "If we could handle Mathew, Austin, and Monica, we can handle anything!"

"Your confidence is always astounding," I told her.

"How long are you planning to do this for?" Caleb questioned.

"I don't know, for as long as it takes to topple it from the inside out," I explained.

"Are you planning to kill everyone at the top?" Danny asked. "Or come back here once you're finished? What if someone follows you?"

"If we have to kill people, we will. These are horrible people doing horrible things to others. Even if we buy all the people they currently have, they'll go out and find others," I told them. "We'll have to come back here after we buy the people, but I doubt they'll follow us. They only want the money; they're not going to care what happens to the creatures once they hand them over."

"You need to look more into your powers, too," Selceips said. "Those will be useful, especially if you can master compulsion and telepathy."

"She's right," Aaron said. "That would open up new doors for us if you can."

"No pressure or anything," Brooklyn huffed.

"When do you plan to start this mission?" Sharon asked, looking from Aaron to me.

"I want a little time to prepare, maybe research the different creatures they could have and my powers," I told her. "Maybe a week? I don't want to wait too long." Werewolf pregnancies were only three to four months; three of those sixteen weeks were already gone. My clothes still fit, but that wouldn't be the case for much longer.

"Why don't our parents go back to enjoying their Saturday? We can talk about this with Danny, Caleb, Justin, Ipri, and Selceips," Aaron suggested.

"I think that's a good idea," I added. "Once we're done here, I'm going to go call Amisra and fill her in. She worked more closely with the people in charge because they used her to heal people and might have more information." Our parents got up and left, hugging us again as they exited. Once the door had snapped shut, Danny looked at me.

"So, will you tell us how you feel about this baby?"

"Wow, she doesn't waste time getting to the point, does she?" Brooklyn said, looking taken aback.

"I don't know how I'm feeling," I answered honestly. "I want to be excited. It's not like I don't want to have kids, but there's so much unknown about who this baby will turn out to be."

"So, let's do some research," Danny suggested. "Let's read some books and figure out who they will be. You'll always be scared of what you don't know."

"She does have a point," Brooklyn said, raising her eyebrows.

"Okay, maybe we can do that a little later," I told her.

"I do think you have a good plan with wanting to go undercover in the black market," Selceips said, sliding into one of the now open chairs. "You'll just need to be careful about presenting yourself."

"She's right," Ipri added, sitting beside Selceips. "The people you'll be dealing with are very high and mighty. We never saw the people that run the ring or anything like that, but some of the people we encountered who work there seem to think they own the world."

"I think we can do that," Aaron told her.

"Okay, we're going to go in and pretend we're in the market for some people. We can start with that store my dad mentioned and see if we can figure out a way in," I recapped.

"And if you can't?" Selceips asked, tilting her head to the side. "What will you do if you can't find anyone?"

"If James and Austin could find a way in, we can too," I told her.

"Alright," Selceips said, folding her hands in her lap.

"I bet Ladreo is going to have some words about us wanting to do this," Brooklyn commented.

"Yeah, and I'm sure he'll want to come with us," I added.

We talked a bit longer with Caleb, Danny, Ipri, Justin, and Selceips. Once we thought we had an excellent plan hashed out, we all went to the dining hall for an early dinner. Caleb had assured us that he and Ernest could handle any pack issues while Aaron and I were undercover. It would only be for a day while we were at auctions. We have chosen fake names and a made-up pack in the northernmost part of Canada, where we hoped no one would be from. After dinner, I went to my office to call Amisra and let her know what was happening. Of course, she insisted on coming here to help along with Clayton. I was looking forward to seeing her again after a month. I went to bed feeling happier about our plan for the black market and happier with the news of our unexpected newest pack member.