The Gamma's Dark Witch

21 - Recon

(Nisha)

Cameron took me gently by the wrist, and a warmth shot through my anxiety. I grabbed the ring from the slab of stone. It felt cold against the warmth inside me.

He led me out, and I couldn’t look anywhere but my feet.

“What does this mean?” he asked, and I met his eyes.

“That Laurel is Llana somehow.” I closed my eyes and shook my head. “I don't know exactly what it means.” Besides, everything I knew to be true crumbled beneath me with no explanation besides that everything felt wrong.

“Was Laurel, Llana-”

“Can we call her Laurel?” My voice sounded distant and meek.

“Laurel,” he agreed, “you said she had no memory of anything before she awoke?”

“Yes.”

“Then there’s a question of motives.” He looked away before turning back to me. “We can change others into wolves; vampires can too, I’m not sure about others besides shifters, but do you think this could have been-”

“Chosen?” I asked. I couldn’t believe him. “Did you not just see what I did? The ash? The cottage-” My voice broke, and I swallowed. “I have a hard time believing anyone would want their betrothed burned to d.eath because they want some power that can make grass grow faster,” I spat.

“That’s not what I meant,” he pleaded.

“Then what did you mean?”

“I don’t know.” He ran a hand through his hair again, and I cursed the momentary distraction. “I don’t understand this.” He sounded frustrated.

“I don’t either. This goes against everything I’ve been told.”

He studied me for a long time as if he would find the answer in my face before he nodded slowly. “Now what?”

“I was hoping you had an answer,” I replied dryly, even though I knew he wasn’t asking me.

“Where are the others?” he asked, “your, uh, sisters.” he strained on the word sisters, but I ignored that.

“About a five days journey on foot.” He looked down as if he were mentally calculating something, and I let myself be distracted by the perfect planes of his face. “I need to make a call.” He turned abruptly on his heel, and I followed behind, not sure what to do, but more than anything, I didn’t want to be in this place anymore.

He didn’t look behind him, but he paused at the other side of the stream until I made it across.

The car ride home was stuffy. I felt agitated and confused both inside and as if those feelings were being projected from someone else.

(Cameron)

“What did you find?” Jackson got straight to the point. I noticed he started doing that more often, not because he was anxious about the information but because he was increasingly tired with the twins.

I took my seat next to Lucas and filled in the details of what I told Jackson when I called earlier.

“So. We have a whole lot of nothing,” Jackson noted.

“We’re good at nothing, we go off nothing, we thrive on nothing,” Lucas said, leaning back. Jackson gave him a wary glare.

“I’m not sure what Nisha is,” I admitted, “I don’t know if she does either. She thought she was made by some god or goddess.”

“Her maker,” Jackson cut in, and I nodded.

“But this is too much of a coincidence to suggest that-”

“And you don’t believe in coincidences,” Lucas cut me off.

“Yes, that,” I said, “I thought we would have found something indicating Nisha’s mistake. So many people look similar.”

“Not me,” Lucas mumbled, "I don't think anyone else in the universe could be that d.amn lucky." He flashed me a smile, and I ignored him.

“The ash, the table,” I thought out loud, shuddering. That boulder thing was still etched in my mind, the feeling of it. It didn’t belong to this world. It felt wrong. “It wasn’t an accident. There wasn’t much left for us to go on, but whoever did it knew what they were doing. They wanted to erase the cottage and the area around it completely.” And they almost did.

“And they just left it like that?”

“It would have been lost to the forest eventually. My guards didn’t note any permanent residences or civilization within miles.”

“It doesn’t make sense,” Lucas said.

“I know,” Jackson agreed, “what does Nisha think?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know.” I know she was feeling sharp pangs of sadness that were clouded by confusion and grief through our bond, but I didn’t want to admit that.

“What’s next?” Jackson asked mostly to himself, rubbing his hand over his face.

“I want to request permission to take a team to where Nisha’s sisters are located.” Jackson dropped his hand, his eyes widening. “Not to attack, but to do some recon, see if we can piece anything together.”

They were more powerful than many things I had seen. The moment we saw them for the first time on the top of that mountain, they radiated an eerie power. I didn't want to admit it, but I don't think we had enough sheer power to take them all down.

“How many?” Jackson asked, and we started getting into the details.

I agreed to take a smaller team to scout. If Nisha wanted to come, I would have to let her. She would be a nice bridge to them. Hopefully, they wouldn’t attack if she was with us.

“You’re sure that this isn’t a trap?” Lucas asked. “I mean, I think Nisha is f*****g fantastic. I love how sparkly her hair is too, but like... This just screams trap.”

I thought it over. I debated the fact that she might be using magic to trick me, trick us. I reluctantly had to accept that the bond that we had was real. Lucas had a fake mate before, and when he talked about her and when he talked about what he felt with his destined mate, Isabella, was a world of difference.

My traitorous body felt like what he described with Isabella. I could feel her intentions, sense her, understand her, even when she didn’t know what she was trying to say.

It was beneficial to the cause, so I would lean into it; for now.

“She’s not lying,” I stated. Neither of them argued.

“Just remember, this is going to be hard for her. Whatever the outcome, I just can’t imagine a situation where she doesn’t feel completely lost.” Jackson pinned me with his signature icy stare. “Try to view her as a person and not as an asset for a recon mission,” he added.

I nodded slightly. “Okay.”

“Remind her that she has us,” Jackson went on, “has Isla,” he corrected, shifting his glance from me.

“Isabella and I are there too if she needs us,” Lucas added, and I glared at him.

I was hit with that familiar cocktail of emotions, a pang of something that felt like jealousy, betrayal, and anger. I couldn’t separate those feelings from each other when others talked about her when they invited her as a friend. She was mine to invite, mine to reject, but I was stuck in limbo until we figured out if there was a threat against the babies and what that was.

“Cam,” Jackson said, and I met his eyes. I unclenched the fist that was digging into my palm against my will. “I know this is hard. Once we try to make sense of what is going on, then you can do what you wish. I just - I need to know they’re safe - they have to be safe.” His voice came out a strained mixture of fear and resolution.

“Okay, I’ll figure it out,” I promised.

I went to find Nisha after instructing my chosen teams on the tasks tomorrow. I wanted to leave before dawn, so I had to ask her if she wanted to come. No one had seen her since dinner, and I debated going to check the cameras, but that would waste time. I felt the tether between us. It wasn't sure, it wasn't strong, but it was there even if it was a bit fuzzy around the edges. I leaned into it for the first time, just so I could find her, and felt the warm pull to the back garden.

She was sitting on the grass. Her hair was swaying on the light breeze. Electric, waiting, begging.

“We’re going to scout out the place you were staying tomorrow,” I said gently, hoping not to startle her. She sat motionless beside her hair. “I want you to come to show us the way. We aren’t going to attack. Just try to gather information,” I continued.

She slowly turned her head, peering at me over her shoulder. Her silver eyes were brighter than I’d seen them, glistening under a moonlit pool of unshed tears. “Okay.” She turned back and went back to being motionless.

“I’ll, uh, leave you alone - do you want to be left alone?”

“No.”

Something like relief passed through me, but I wouldn’t unpack that now. I took a silent seat behind her and stayed until she went to bed.