Page 123 of Bruised MC Bear

* * *

When Kiera entered the laboratory, four spikes were laid out on the floor beside the counter where Reena worked. They were just like the ones she had seen while touring the shifter camps today. The tabletop was piled high with old grimoires on one end, and had green and orange liquids in beakers placed at about two-foot intervals along the countertop.

“It is all beginning to make sense,” she said to her friend.

Reena woman looked up from the two thick notebooks in front of her. “Well hello there, Kiera. What are you talking about? These experiments?”

“No. I’m guessing you added something to the boundary spell at the shifter camps, didn’t you?”

The color drained from Reena’s face. “If I could, I would add something to a boundary spell on your mouth! How many times have I told you we cannot speak freely here?” She dropped her pen, closed her notebook, and came to Kiera’s side, dragging her down the hall. “There,” she said, finally inside the greenhouse. “Better.”

“So? Is it you?”

Reena smiled and shrugged. “Maybe.”

“You dragged me here for maybe?”

“Of course not. I promise to tell you what I can as soon as I am able.”

“I saw spikes at the shifter camp today that look just like the ones in the laboratory. Is that part of what you are promising to tell me?”

“Oh, that? Well, yes and no. I work with the Nauru from time to time. They are the only ones who can erect such powerful containment spells. So…yes, from time to time I convince them to use a trick or two to help the shifters.”

“Which shifter do you work with exactly?”

Reena stared at her over her glasses. “Take a wild guess. Actually, don’t, because I do not reveal my sources.”

“Christ, you frustrate me with all your secrecy…especially now. Anyway, can you do one of those containment spells around my room?”

She shook her head. “Sorry love. The Regent will see right through it. I can get away with one here at the greenhouse because I need the spell here. You know? This is where I work, not in your room.”

“And the shifter camp?”

“Believe me, Minassus is happy not to have to deal with reading the thoughts of Commander Oslo and his soldiers. He already believes they’re plotting against him every waking hour, so who needs to eavesdrop on a thousand rumors when you can get the truth once from a reliable source?”

Kiera sank onto the nearest stool. “What exactly are you saying? The Regent has a mole?”

Reena sat beside her. “No. That is not what I’m saying at all, although I would not put it past him. What I mean is when he wants to know the truth, all he has to do is extract it firsthand, right from the mind of the person he believes has the answers. Face-to-face.”

“And how do you ward yourself against him in person? I thought that was not possible?”

“Simple. Don’t get on his radar to start with, and stay the hell away from him if he does.”

“Then as Coco likes to say, I am fucked. I cannot avoid the Regent for a week!”

“What does it matter? You know the truth about the shifter transformation spell. You have not run away screaming…not that you can go anywhere. He cannot replace you overnight, so if you do try to leave, he will find you.”

“Twenty thousand square miles of island is a big place to search.”

“You are not running away, dear, and you know it.”

“Okay. Whatever. I just cannot believe you are so chipper about the fact that I will not live to see my next birthday, or another Christmas, or anything after next week.”

“I am not chipper about it. I’m not happy at all. Trust me, I would fight to get that man to stop using witches the way he does.”

“And why haven’t you?”

“Because everything comes at a price…and sometimes, that cost is too high. Let me explain what I mean. Let us say you decide to run, and you end up doing one hell of a job tucking yourself away. Minassus has seven days to find you. If he does not, and can’t replace you with another one of the Chosen, the ravagers will decimate the troops, and eventually all of Sector Two. If he does find you, and you refuse to perform the spell, well, you will live, but not for long. He would probably have you killed, but then again, he may throw you to the Sector. You will be the most hated person on the island. So my real task is not to save a Chosen’s life…not even yours, dear, and you know I love you to pieces. That goal is too short-sighted. What we need to do is bring about change. Find better ways to protect the sector from the ravagers, then expose the truth about Minassus, and hopefully, he will be the next one to meet his demise. Until then, we do our parts.”

“So my life does not matter. Is that what you’re saying?”

“You know what he always says…sacrifice the one to save the many, and all that jazz. Look, it is the hardest thing for me to tell you all this, but at the same time, think of my position too. Ryan is going to be turned during your shifter transformation ceremony. My only brother. There is nothing I would like to do more than to stop that from happening. Who is to say if he will live to see the end of winter? So I work on the big picture plan. And between you and me, love, I am so close I can taste it.”

“Close as in under seven days?”

Reena laughed. “Who knows. Just keep doing whatever you are doing.” She gripped Kiera’s shoulders playfully. “Speaking of which, can we dispense with all this talk of death and revolution long enough so you can tell me about your date? Were you a complete whore today or what? Tell me everything.”