Lykos ✓

Twenty Three | Work

With the grace of a new day, came the clarity that Rafael needed to sort out the latest threat that plagued them. Aiko was still asleep when he shifted back into his human form this morning. At some point last night, she had stopped crying and then fallen off to sleep, snuggling with his fur. Rafael hadn't had such a restful sleep as he spent most of his time battling his demons.

When he walked into his office, the place was still a mess. Only the dead body had been removed, but all the evidence of the struggle remained. The second he walked in; he knew that this whole was going to be redecorated. He picked up the items he needed and left to go to the library.

The destruction of the room would not kill the memories of the past.

Micah was the second person to wake up, as he wandered into the library. Rafael waited for him to attack him again, now that they were alone, but that anger that Micah possessed was in control. There was plenty of time to release it, when there wasn't a threat lying over their head. The Lykos Estate had not had such a breach in a few decades. The last one had been while they had been moving. The men who had attacked, didn't know that they were fighting beasts, not humans.

"Who was behind yesterday's attack?" Micah was curt. This was business, although his personal feelings were on the back burner, it didn't mean he had to pleasant with his brother.

"Japanese Mafia. More specifically, Aiko's cousin, Erai," Rafael replied. He let Micah's tone slide as he knew that they would eliminate the threat far quicker together than alone. Two wolves were better than one.

"Isn't he the head of the organisation?" Micah asked. He never paid much attention to the mafia world as he preferred to emerge himself in the world of medicine.

"That doesn't matter to me. He's dead when we find him." Rafael and Micah shared a look, as they were on the same page. Usually Rafael was always a few pages ahead but at some point, Micah had caught up with him.

"I'll let Tally know where to find you," Micah parted with those words. There was nothing else that needed to be discussed right now.

Rafael didn't have to wait long. She walked in, glancing at the equipment she had set up, before giving her full attention to Rafael. She was the key player that Rafael and Micah had to evacuate from her current location. With technology increasing drastically each day, Rafael had found the best hacker on the market and that was just Tally.

"I need to know about the real time location of T58," Rafael instructed.

Tally nodded. The mafia had many people with targets on their back. The easiest way to keep secrets was to use code names for each target. If there was ever a cyber breach, the information would be even more difficult to uncover since they target location was separate and the identity were kept as a hardcopy.

Rafael took no note of Tally as she worked. He knew she hated working with someone looking over her shoulder and her best results were done without him monitoring her. It was a risky move; however, Tally's position was a result of certain actions that had taken place in the past.

"Alpha, T58 caught a flight about 6 hours ago, and will land in about 5 hours' time in New York," Tally reported back respectfully.

"I want to know his every move," Rafael replied. The conversation ended and soon Aiko entered the library. She looked at Tally with interest, yet she didn't outright ask any questions. She picked up a book and started reading in another corner.

Three is usually a crowd, but everyone was in their own bubble.

Around lunch time, Aiko and Rafael left the library while Tally continued her usual work, absorbed into the cyber world. Aiko returned with a sandwich and bottle of water.

"I thought you would like something to eat," Aiko offered.

"Thank you," Tally replied with a smile. She forgot to eat often when work took over. There were many channels to keep track of and her list was never ending.

"What are you doing?" Aiko tried to make small talk. Women working in the mafia in her family was unheard of. They were usually pushed aside to be pawns and live in the shadows in silent. This girl held Aiko's curiosity.

"Security," she answered, knowing better than to give her true duties to a random person.

"I see, tell me more," Aiko tried to keep the conversation going. She wanted to know more than that but also, she was testing her. Rafael had told her about the importance of Tally's work.

"Look, you seem lovely and all, but I am trying not to die today," Tally replied bluntly. There was truth in her words since anyone who was disloyal to Rafael met an almost instant death.

Aiko smiles and shakes her head, "I understand, it was lovely meeting you."

If anyone who knew the game of life and death it was her.

Aiko left Tally alone to do her work and returned to the book she was reading. The book had managed to keep her mind off the impending arrival of Erai. If she had the chance, she would never like to see him again. Her only hope was that no one else suffered for her existence.

Rafael returned to the library as well. The room held far too many people to work productively, free from distraction. However, he would deal with it temporarily before assigning Tally a proper workspace. She would be staying for a while since he didn't trust anyone else at the moment.

Tally scribble down something and a piece of paper and handed it to Rafael, "T58 had landed and is on the move."

Rafael picked up the paper and memorised the address. It was time to visit someone who needs to learn his place and there was no one better to let him know than Rafael.

~*~

Who is ready to meet Erai?