-
She smiled at him. "This may not be a castle but, it is very important to my people. After all, besides slowly sharing some of our secrets with humanity in order to further hide our identity from the hunters, building these research centers serve to advance our own private research and range of influence over the world to allow for better observations to be made of the surrounding areas." She took her hand and grabbed his, feeling the different textures of the skin.
"You did agree to an alliance with me. So did the previous master though, and he eventually went back on his offer. Something that I assure you, is not a wise idea." She let go of his hand before turning around and walking to the pillar that she was standing on top of originally. She had prepared a lie ahead of time, in case she needed to hide her motives or intention. She was trying to buy his loyalty, a stronger loyalty than the one he had already given.
"I assure you though, my motive is a simple and more pure one than the one you think. If I wanted to buy you, I would give you something else instead." As she said that she threw a sly smile his way before continuing with what she was saying. "This money reward is much larger because I want to make sure your pack is taken care of. After all, your second in command is going to be in charge while you are away. This money will make sure your pack has everything they might need while their brave leader is off doing jobs with their brand new ally." She said with a smile before turning back around. "Of course, my people can always take the money back if you would prefer that instead."
-
Kaden raised an eyebrow at the vampire, almost not believing her words, so he took them with grain of salt. The money offer was way too generous and Kaden was almost certain Valeria had other intentions than the ones she was telling him about. Since the beginning, this vampire seemed to be of a complicated and secretive nature, always calculating everything to a science. Kaden knew full well that he would probably never figure her out completely but he can tread lightly and hope this alliance doesn't blow up in his face.
Kaden looked over at Carolina who was tense, but didn't react, which was good. He nodded at the briefcase still sitting on the hood of his truck and the girl moved towards it and took it off the car, cradling the case in her arms. Kaden then looked back at Valeria, "I mean, you offered, so I'll take the money" he gave the vampire a half smile. "I'll tell you one thing though, as you have so kindly offered to take care of my pack by giving us this money, I want to take care of them too. So if at any point you put any one of them in any unnecessary danger, I assure you I won't have a problem going back on your deal either. At that point you can have your money back and hopefully it doesn't end in violence for any of us" he concluded suddenly feeling a bit angry at the doubt Valeria seemed to have in him and his loyalty. What an infuriating woman, he decided in his mind before turning to walk back to his truck, Carolina was already getting into the passenger seat.
"My boys and I will be back tomorrow morning to finish whatever touch ups you may need" Kaden kept his goodbye short as he hopped into his car and started the engine. As he pulled away from the construction site, he kept a watchful eye on the vampire, all the while his mind raced with thoughts. Why did Royce try to go back on his deal with Valeria? Is that what got him killed?...... Kaden truly hoped that he wouldn't fall victim to whatever games this girl liked to play. Dying was not on his agenda anytime soon.
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Katja boarded the private jet her and Etmere were granted permission to use for their transport for the upcoming mission. Her black uniform was simple and light weight for easy movements, but it was also meant to withstand certain weather conditions. The belt of her pants had a handgun strapped to it and her pants had various packets which stored her blades and other small protective devices. When she seated herself in one of the seats on the jet, she pulled out her tablet and began to scroll through some files and intel on their current mission, trying to gather as much information as possible before they went off to Yellowstone. Etmere was close behind her and she didn't look up from her tablet as he boarded the jet as well.
-
She smiled as he started to pull away and she gave a small careful wave to him the leaving wolf, a sly smile on her face as she watched them pull away. Once they were gone, her smile went away. "I know you're listening young one." After which a new being appeared over her shoulder, seemingly coming from under the shirt that Valeria was wearing. It was a small winged human, a Fairy. "Are you sure that we can trust them?" The young fairy asked her. Valeria shook her head in reply. "We don't have a choice though. There are whispers in the shadows of its return. If we're going to survive, not only are we going to need our powers back, but we are going to need allies."
The young fairy flew in front of her searching her face for answers. "What is it? You're the Queen. The vampire responsible for wiping the great holy city of Stonehenge from the memory of humanity. The champion chosen by us fairies." Valeria smiled and started to walk away from the compound where a motorcycle was waiting, hiding away. The fairy flew and landed on top of her head.
"It is the reason humanity and the fae ended the war in mutual defeat. Don't worry though, among the money in the briefcase, is the instructions for where Kaden and Carolina need to meet with me. The address to a nearby private airstrip at the local airport. For now, we will head there and will wait for them to arrive." Valeria grabbed her helmet, letting the fair get off of her head so that Valeria could put on her helmet. The fairy flew around before disappearing into a poof of dust as he went back into the charm that Valeria kept around her neck.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Etmere boarded the plane with Katja and when he did he closed the plane door before walking over to the cockpit. He stuck his head in to give orders to the pilot before walking over to where Katja was sitting, sitting in the chair across from her own. "Yellowstone, the home of one of the more destroyed packs of wolves. They made an enemy with the vampire queen and as such, she murdered all of the members old enough to remember the history of what makes them a werewolf. Left with only the history since the formation of this country and no experienced leader, the pack broke down into a more tribal form. They became one with one of the local native American tribes and is one of the few tribes to live on a reservation in the country. Yellowstone is their hunting grounds and because of all the bad blood between them and the vampires, as well as the, becoming one with one of the native tribes, they're more helpful to us than to the other fae races."
Etmere leaned back his chair and put his feet up on a nearby table as he got comfortable. "That being said, they still work with the fae races in a very tense partnership. The sort of thing that we can take advantage of to hopefully game information on some of the more hidden wolf packs that have blended into humanity too well. Find one of the hidden packs, and we'll have a much better time figuring out what the big time fae races like the vampires and the missing fairies are up to."
