Killing the Wolf

40. The Exception

At least they were still alive, Fay thought thinking about what she had heard through the open line. Darren, too, was alive. Something good in the darkness.

"Fay," one of the fighters called her," the back up is here."

Fay was still kneeling next to Darren but turned her head to see a welcome sight: 40 fighters appeared from the forest. The relief gave her body permission to relax. But the feeling didn't last long as the grimness of their situation reminded of itself. Fighters for the Raven to manipulate.

She saw Younge and Wilson. Seth had sent his most trusted men.

"Seth, you need them by your side," she sighed into his mind. "You fight with them covering your sides."

"I need them to help you," he replied. Once again he was out of breath. Running, probably.

Fay didn't want to say anything else. She felt her fear-filled thoughts would only distract him. He could feel her emotions but she wanted to at least save him from words. Her words of telling what difference did any of this make. Henry Trinh had just manipulated Darren's mind and the protector in her hadn't seen it coming. Now there were 40 more fighters to manipulate.

"Just be safe," she whispered.

"Fay, we will survive this."

"I haven't sensed any fear in you."

"I've been a bit busy for fear," Seth chuckled.

"Yeah. What's keeping you busy? Armageddon?"

"No no. I'm trying to keep up with Shawn. Boy can run."

"What's going on?"

Seth didn't answer for a while. It made Fay uneasy.

"Sorry, darling. I got distracted."

"Seth, what's going on?" Fay frowned.

"Trinh. We're going to get him. And before you say anything, he can't manipulate alpha minds."

It was still dangerous. Her wolf surfaced. But she realized it wasn't because of Seth. She saw a man in a dark suit walking towards her from the direction Darren had run from.

"You better hurry then. He's here."

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Henry Trinh was such a strange sight in his black Armani suit and leather shoes. Fay prepared her mind to experience the pain, but it didn't come. He stopped a hundred feet away. He looked like every other Raven she had faced - unfaced and masked in darkness.

"Good morning, Fay," he spoke.

Fay didn't answer. She couldn't. Her lips wouldn't open. Nor could she move.

"Come here," Henry said. Fay didn't move but noticed her body rise from the ground and glide towards him.

I'm going to die, she thought. Adrenaline kicked in but it didn't help. She couldn't move or stop her body from gliding across the air.

"That's better," Henry said. With a thud, he dropped her on her feet. Fay felt her jaw muscles relax. She could talk again.

"What do you want?" she asked. She feared his answer, so she was surprised to hear: "I already have what I want."

"You want us all dead," Fay said.

"I don't have a preference whether you are dead or alive."

Fay frowned.

"Then why all this? This is your doing, isn't it? Finnigan is nothing, just your tool."

"Yes, Finnigan is nothing. But war gives opportunities to men like me. Sometimes you let it happen."

"And Serafina? Just another tool for you?"

That made him frown.

"No."

"You're lying. That serum you gave her, it's green blood. Bluff. You gave her that so she would go and die."

"I sent Serafina to California because things can happen in the chaos. I don't want things to happen to her. She's the exception."

The stonefaced raven had a flicker of emotion in his eyes. Fay's eyes widened.

"You love her," she whispered.

He didn't know. That made her laugh. Hysterically. The all-mighty Henry Trinh didn't know.

Henry looked at her. If her hysterical laughter startled him, it didn't show.

"You love Serafina. You thought you sent her to safety. But you sent her to die in the hands of fifteen Onijas."

The look on his face was priceless. So priceless, that Fay took a swing at it. But just as her fist was about to hit him, he disappeared. He had never been there. It was all in her mind.

"Never mind," she spoke into Seth's mind.

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Two more chapters to go! They're coming tomorrow!

I'd love to hear your thoughts! What do you think is going to happen.

M