Perfect Pet

Ch. 19: Light in Shadow

Malik's P.O.V

Madam Moreau had asked me to meet her in her office. The summons made me undoubtedly nervous since the last few times I had been there, it hadn't been good news. Eli had wanted to come along but because she had only requested me, it was better to not push it.

She answered on the first knock and I took it as a good sign that she was as calm and put together as usual, unlike the time before the Council meeting. Whatever she wanted to see me about didn't make her stressed and any tension that had been forming in my shoulders since I was handed the request eased out of me as she sat behind her desk and gestured for me to take a chair.

The confrontation with Brielle from days ago still had me on edge.

"I won't beat around the bush this time," She said, picking up a pen and beginning to scrawl something on a piece of paper already laid out. "I am planning on taking a trip up east to visit a few witches' covens and was wondering if you would like to come with me. We have reason to believe they might information on the Lancers."

I wasn't expecting that. "I thought witches were almost wiped out. Won't it be hard to find them?" Small in numbers, witches tended to use the fact they blended to their advantage and had little if nothing to do with other paranormal creatures. We had offered them the chance to reveal their existence with ours but they had given a resounding no. They were even more vulnerable than we were, years of breeding with pure humans taking its toll on their magic.

Finding them would be hard. Getting their help would be damn near impossible.

"They are. We have a general idea of where they are at but it will take us some time to find their exact location. I would send someone out to scout the area but with our time crunch, that isn't possible."

"What about classes?"

Amusement lit up her eyes, making them glow like the glossiest of rubies. "I think we both know that you don't need them. They are simply a formality and since you already found your Pet, it should be fine if you miss a few."

I dipped my chin at her compliment, aware of how easily the classes came to me and raised a curious eyebrow. "Define 'a few.'"

"That is hard to say. We don't know long it will take us to find the witches and then we need to convince them to talk to us. It could take days or more possibly, weeks." If they ever do hang in the air like a threat of wasted time and disappointment.

The offer interested me greatly, being able to meet the fabled witches tempting, but there were more important things to hold me back.

"Madam Moreau," I said, standing up with my palms pressed to the desk's surface. "As much as I appreciate the offer, I am not sure I feel comfortable leaving Eden without me for such a long period."

"I figured as much," She sighed, tucking her hands under her chin. "It hurts to know that even a year ago I could boast Rigryce being one of the safest places on the planet. Now, I don't know anymore."

"It isn't your fault. It's the bastards that don't care for anyone but themselves."

"I know," She sighed, closing her eyes briefly. "It just hurts seeing everything I have worked so hard to create crumbling around me."

"It's bent but hasn't broken yet. We will fight until we have no reason to."

Her soft expression was a thing I never expected to see on the normally stern headmistress's face. She breathed out slowly to regather herself before saying, "Don't rush your decision now. Take a few days to think it over and we can come back to it. I would hate for you to miss out on such an opportunity."