Undercity: Manifest

Chapter Twenty-Four

Dante burst into Zach's office without invitation. 'Did you know about this?' He seethed staring hard at his superior, fists clenched at his sides. 

'Nice to see you too.' Zach replied in an attempt to detract from Dante's fury. 

He didn't respond. His jaw was clenched so hard it felt like it was going to snap. 

'I take it you've spoken to Marcus.' Zach said.

It was at this point Dante noticed Payden looking up from behind her laptop, where she was perched on the edge of Zach's desk. 

'Did you both know?' He asked, this time addressing them the two of them. 

'Only today.' Payden shared. 'Marcus spoke to us while you were training. We didn't have time to warn you.' 

'I assume you didn't react well.' Zach gave Dante a knowing look. 

Dante grunted, afraid any words he said would result in him taking his rage out on the Zach's face.  

'Look, were just as unhappy about it as you are.' Zach finally claimed sensing that Dante was holding back. 'But there's nothing we can do. The decision has been made.' 

Dante's rage subsided enough for him to re-engage with the conversation. He relaxed his stance and put his hands in the pockets of his jeans. 'Did you even try to talk him out of it?'

'Of course we did.' Zach sounded offended at the accusation. 'All it would take is for one person to see her use magic and word would get out about her. Who knows how people would react.' 

'And we still don't know who kept her identify hidden or why.' Payden finished. 

There were so many unanswered questions surrounding Sadie and her sister. Not being in control of the situation, not being sure how to keep Sadie safe, made Dante uncomfortable. Even if he wasn't ready to admit it, he knew they were right. 

'She's not ready.' Dante said, releasing the breath he had been holding. 

'She's a good fighter.' Zach reasoned. 

'That's not what I mean.' Dante shot out, harsher than he intended to. 

Payden raised a bow as she looked up at him. Her face flashed with a knowing pain before she masked it and moved her mouth into a forced smile. 'You like her.' She said with a tilt of her head. 

'She's... growing on me.' Dante tried to make his voice as level as possible. 

He could have sworn he saw Zach stiffen. 

What the shit was that about?

'What are you both doing in here?' Dante asked, needing a change of subject. 

The two Mystics looked at each other, clearly deciding whether or not to bring him in on the discussion he had interrupted. 

'You might want to sit down.' Payden suggested, pointing to the empty sofa. Dante did as she asked and waited. 

'I heard back from the Spanish Coven.' Payden began. 'They had no idea what twin study I was asking about. My contact swore there had been no such birth and has no idea where Val got the information from.'

That got his attention, and he sat up straighter in response. 'What did Val say about it?' 

'She's away working on political connections with Coven leaders in Europe. I contacted her last week and she finally got back to me today.' 

'Payden was just about to fill me in with the information when you stormed in.' Zach explained with a slight pull of his brows. The tension between them was as present as it always was.

'Are you waiting for an apology?' Dante huffed out knowing he would rather slit his throat open than apologies to Zach for anything.

'Even a near-immortal doesn't have time to wait for that.' His cousin said on a small laugh. He couldn't help but huff out his own laugh in response as he begrudgingly let some of the tension fade. 

They recovered quickly, and Payden's demeanour turned serious. 'Val says that it's a highly confidential matter and likely that the Spanish Coven is trying to keep it quiet. True to form, she wouldn't go into details about who sent her the file.' 

'I suppose it make sense.' Zach pondered. Though, it was clear he was not fully convinced.

'Do you not find it all a bit convenient?' Dante sensed the other two weren't following so he clarified. 'Sadie turns up out of the blue with a problem nobody has been able to resolve for centuries, and an answer just falls into our lap.' 

'I don't see what anyone would gain from lying about it, especially Val, she didn't even know Sadie until a few months ago.' Zach theorised. 

They all thought for a moment. 

'She has air magic.' Dante remembered he hadn't shared what happened in the combat room. He spent a few minutes explaining how her new magic manifested as she blew the target to pieces. 'I could sense her power even with her suppression stone on.' He finished. 

Payden tapped a few keys on her laptop. 'We still don't know the impact her sister's magic will have on her long-term, especially now the Spanish re-search is a dead end.' 

'If it's even real at all.' Zach threw in. 

Dante contemplated this for a long while vaguely, aware of Payden and Zach discussing several theories and ideas about it all in the background.

'I'll do some digging into old missing person records to see if I can match a timeline to their birth.' Payden's voice brought him back into the present. 

'If we can work out who her parents are, we might get some answers.' Zach agreed. 

'Should we tell her?' Payden asked. 'I don't like keeping things from her.' 

'She's going to have a lot on preparing for the Initiation. Maybe we wait until...' Dante jumped in before Zach finished.

'Tell her.' His voice bordered on an order. Both Payden and Zack snapped their gazes to him. 'She deserves to know.' He said softly. 

The impromptu meeting ended with them all in agreement that Payden would share the information, and that she was looking into Sadie's parents, during their next lesson. They sat together late into the evening, before Dante took his leave, offering to take Payden home.