Ivy sat there, lost in her thoughts. She heard the name 'Vark' and she immediately knew it was Vark Draven. She lifted her head slowly and looked at Elias, who was still shocked after hearing that threatening message from his so-called brother.
'He lied about his name. Seems like he doesn't trust me well enough, after all, I've once betrayed the trust he had for me,'
She thought to herself, her hand pressing against her chest.
Riven, remained clueless about whoever that Vark Draven was. She has been living in Paradise City all her life, so she didn't know about him at all.
She handed Elias the compass with a small shrug.
"I guess none of these are my business," she muttered, turning away. Her voice was cool, but her actions spoke louder. She didn't ask any more questions, nor did she demand an explanation. She saw the look on his face, the haunted, broken look of someone who carried too much. Someone who had been betrayed, forgotten, used.
Of course, he was indeed haunted by the threatening message.
Elias clenched the compass in his hand. He didn't say anything, but the lump in his throat stayed. Riven's loyalty level rose quietly in the system.
> > [Target: Riven Syra | Lust Level: 4% | Loyalty Level: 6%]
He ignored the system notification and stared at the compass one more time. Its glass had already cracked from Elias's tight grip. He told himself not to care about some guy claiming to be his brother. He was sure that Vark didn't have the best relationship with his brother.
As long as they didn't meet, he was safe. Right?
But deep down, he was pissed.
The system never showed him Vark's full memories. Even if he had to access his memory, he had to unlock the memory bleed and that only happens when his berserk level reaches 100.
'There's no way my berserk level would reach 100 if I remain locked up in here. I have to use the memory bleed and see Vark's memories.'
Even when he uses the ability, the memories he gets to see aren't the important ones. They weren't the ones who could tell him who this psycho brother really was. Only flashes. Rage, blood, war. Never names, never faces.
He grunted and shoved the compass into his pocket.
Riven, sitting by her computer desk, glanced back at him. Her eyes lingered on his face like she could read his thoughts.
Just then, the calm in the hideout shattered.
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
The sound was loud and fast, echoing from the corner of the room. Red lights flashed over the monitors.
"Shit," Riven hissed, already standing. Her chair clattered to the floor. "They're here."
Elias jumped to his feet. "Who's here?"
Riven grabbed two sleek rifles and strapped them across her back. She tapped a small tablet on her wrist, and armour snapped over her arms and chest.
"One of the infected got in. Just one, but I have to kill it fast. Before the scanners or patrols pick it up."
Ivy rushed out of the back room, already pulling her boots on. "We're coming with you."
"No."
The word came out cold. Riven didn't even look back at them.
"You two are still wanted. Cops are out there hunting for the intruders who messed with the city's numbers. You step outside and you're dead. Stay."
Elias scowled. "We can help."
"You want to help?" she said, stopping at the door. "Don't touch anything. Especially my room."
Then she was gone.
The door slid shut with a hiss.
Elias stared at it for a long moment. He didn't like being useless. But she had a point. Getting caught now would screw up everything.
He sat back down and leaned against the wall, arms crossed. Ivy stood beside him, quiet. The room was silent except for the soft hum of the machines.
---
The night passed slowly. There was no alarm going off. Just the sound of gunshots echoing from outside.
By morning, soft mechanical whirs filled the space. Riven's robot cleaners were awake and busy. One vacuumed the floor, while another placed two mugs of coffee on the table.
Elias walked into the main room shirtless, hair still damp from the shower. He stretched his arms and yawned.
He wasn't worried about Riven. Something told him she could handle herself. The bloodstained lady in high-tech armour didn't exactly scream damsel in distress.
She walked in through the back door like a shadow. Her shirt was ripped and covered in black, dried blood. One side of her neck had a faint scratch.
"Morning," she muttered, not looking at him.
Elias took the coffee and raised an eyebrow. "Rough night?"
"Could've been worse," she replied and gestured toward the computer. "Come look."
He stepped behind her as she tapped a few keys. Dozens of pictures showed up on the screen. Undead bodies, all mangled and burned. But what caught his eye wasn't their state, it was the mark.
Every single one of them had the same black symbol on their necks.
Elias frowned. "Again with the symbol."
"Yeah," she said, zooming in on one photo. "They were branded. Someone's sending them in. Testing the city, maybe."
Ivy walked out of the hallway, yawning when her eyes landed on them. They were standing close.
Too close.
Elias noticed her pause, the twitch in her brow.
> > [Target: Ivy Ferre | Jealousy Level: +6%]
He grinned to himself.
'Jealous, huh?'
Riven was too focused on the screen to notice. "These weren't wild infected. They moved with purpose. Not smart, but not dumb either."
"So, what's the plan?" Elias asked.
"We find the source," she said. "If someone's sending these things, we need to know where they're coming from."
She zoomed in again. One of the corpses had something in their hand. It looked like a scrap of fabric. Dark green with a faded pattern.
Riven tapped the screen. "That fabric... it's military. Not from this city though. Might be a clue."
Elias leaned closer. He could smell the rotten blood on her.
She felt his glares on her and shyly tilted her head to the side.
"Can you not look at me?"
"Ah! Did I stare too much?" He asked as if he didn't know.
"Yes." She answered softly and suddenly raised her voice. "And move further away, you stink!"
> > [Target: Riven Syra | Lust Level: +2%]
He rolled his eyes. "Just two per cent? Come on. I was shirtless."
Ivy folded her arms and gave him a look. She hated the fact that they were close to each other.
He grinned again.
They spent the rest of the morning going over the photos. Riven printed one out and pinned it to the wall. It was like a warboard. Dozens of images, names of familiar faces of the undead who were now branded as a missing person by their families, places he had been to, and now the compass.
Riven placed it right in the middle.
"Okay, we start from here. Whatever this thing is, it led you to this city. And now undead are showing up here with branded necks. It's connected."
Elias nodded. He didn't like having a target on his back, but he liked mysteries even less. Not that he had had any before. His life as Elias Vael was pretty normal, except when he dreamt of being in Lira's lap, which seemed like a normal thing to him.
Ivy sat on the couch, eyeing the board.
"So... we just wait?"
Riven shook her head.
"No. We dig. I don't know how this is unrelated, but those infected can't enter the city without the alarm going off at the main gate. Someone's letting them in, despite knowing what they are."
Elias leaned against the wall, arms crossed. He remembered seeing the walking red flag that entered without the alarm going off. He was sure Riven was right. He smirked, tilting his head to her.
"You always do this alone?"
Riven nodded. "People can't be trusted."
His eyes softened. "Yeah... I know that feeling."
She glanced at him, then looked away.
> > [Target: Riven Syra | Loyalty Level: +8%]
Ivy bit her lower lip and turned away from the two of them. She felt like an outsider. She wished they could go back to the time when it was just both of them.
She stylishly stared at Elias, but he was focused on the compass and daydreaming about the brother he had yet to meet.
He had tons of things going on in his head.
'If he's coming after me, tracing all of my movements, does that mean he'll also visit Sector Ten? He definitely won't hurt anyone of them, would he?'
He wondered.
"My brother can't be a ruthless monster, can he?"
[END OF CHAPTER TWENTY ONE]