Unshift

280 Ava: Debrief

I can’t help but laugh at Lisa’s horrified expression. Her eyes are wide, her mouth hanging open in a perfect ‘O‘ of shock. It’s such a quintessentially Lisa reaction that, for a moment, I can almost forget everything we’ve been through.

We lapse into a comfortable silence, the kind only possible between best friends. It feels like old times, before vampires and shifters and mates complicated everything. I close my eyes, savoring the moment.

“I miss my parents.”

Lisa’s voice, small and fragile, shatters the peace. My eyes snap open to find her staring at her hands, twisting them in her lap.

“I’m sorry, Lisa. The cell phones aren’t working right now. We can’t—”

“I know,” she sighs, her shoulders slumping: “Just wishing I could tell them I’m okay. They’re worried sick, I’m sure.”

I reach out, squeezing her hand. There’s nothing I can say to make this better, so I don’t try. Suddenly, Lisa jerks upright. Her eyes, when they meet mine, are bright and intense. “Ava, Chloe and Mia… they’re not very good people.”

The abrupt change in topic throws me. “What? Who?”

Her gaze darts around the room, landing on the walls, the ceiling, the floor. “Are they listening?” she whispers, leaning in close. “The guards, I mean.”

My face goes blank as I nod, careful to keep my expression neutral. “There’s a place we can go to talk, if we need to.”

Lisa’s on her feet in an instant. “Can my friends come too?”

I blink, startled by her urgency. “Um… I guess so? We’d have to check-”

“Great,” she interrupts, already heading for the door. “Let’s go.”

Bewildered, I follow her. When I open the door, Kellan’s there, his posture tense. I can see the longing in his eyes as he looks past me to Lisa.

“We need to go to the conference room. Can you escort us? And bring Lisa’s friends?”

He frowns, his gaze finally shifting to me. “It would be better to wait a few hours. Ryder’s debriefing Dr. Blackwell right now.”

“That’s okay” Lisa pipes up from behind me. “We can wait.”

Kellan’s eyes snap back to her, filled with a yearning so intense it makes my chest ache. I shut

the door, guilt twisting in my gut as his face disappears from view.

Turning back to Lisa, I find her rummaging through cabinets. “What are you doing?” “Looking for paper.”

11:30

280 Ava: Debrief

Ah.

Vanessa left her notebook, so I grab that, flipping to an empty page and handing Lisa the pen. “Here you go.”

Snatching it out of my hands, she rushes to the table, scribbling across the paper and then turning to face the notebook in my direction.

The words are simple.

Chloe and Mia are traitors. Brought vampires to attack. Party = them too???

My eyes dart to the door, heart pounding. I lean in close to Lisa, my voice barely above a whisper. “Are you sure?” ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

Lisa’s pen flies across the page, her hand shaking slightly. When she turns the notebook back to me, I see POSITIVE!, underlined several times.

Damn.

It took a while for the names to click in my head. Lisa knew everyone’s names more than I did, but I remember now the two girls at the party, with their intrusive questions and their clear disdain for me. I’d figured they had crushes on Lucas; I never would have guessed them to be

traitors.

And why?

They were well–regarded among their peers. Why would they betray Lucas?

It doesn’t make sense.

“Do you want me to have Kellan come in-”

Lisa’s glare in my direction has me snapping my mouth closed, teeth clicking with the force of it. I purse my lips in thought. “Or not. Okay. Why don’t I see if I can figure out the coffee situation without him?”

***

After a couple hours and two cups of coffee, Kellan brings us to the conference room, leaving us alone and promising to bring Lisa’s friends.

Once the door is closed, Lisa launches into everything that’s happened to her since the party, shuddering as she talks about the vampire’s visit to her cell and how it took forever until her cravings for him faded, and about a girl named Marisol.

Marisol must be one of his thralls.

It’s disturbing to know their minds can be so affected by their bond with a vampire, and I wonder if Sister Miriam’s thralls are in a similar situation. It makes my mouth taste like dirt to think about it.

The gnomes are the true surprise of her story. Sister Miriam had refused to elaborate over the details of Lisa’s rescue; of all people, I never expected the gnomes to be her saviors.

The only ones I’ve met are more like secretaries, not ninjas with gadgets and gizmos.

11:30

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280 Ava: Debrief

Though, Tinker’s wings prove that the technology is out there, even in the Fae Ward.

Interesting.

“None of the shifters seem to realize they’re gnomes,” Lisa adds. “It’s like it’s a secret.”

Scratching at my neck, I nod. “They keep things pretty secretive, it seems. I didn’t know they existed until I entered the Fae Ward. I only met two of them.”

“Fae Ward?” Lisa tilts her head. “What’s that?“,

“It’s a section of the city the vampire lives in. You have to go through a portal to get there, and it’s full of Fae-”

“Portal? What kind of portal?”

“You know, the ones that transport you to…” I pause. “Wait. Lisa, you never used portals?”

“No. I woke up in my jail cell. Then, when I was rescued, I…” She thinks back. “I don’t remember a portal.”

I’d been under the impression that portals were a normal method of travel. Now I wonder how prevalent they are. “I see. They’re like these doors between one place and another. Like teleporting. Very TV magic stuff.”

Lisa bites back a yawn, smiling sheepishly when I catch her eye. “Sorry, I’m good. That sounds cool. Better than flying around in a tiny Rubik’s cube.”

The curious part of me wants to go out and look at what she calls a Rubik’s cube, but I figure there’s probably time later to look into something like that. “Well, vampires aren’t allowed in the Fae Ward. It’s like a… Fae haven, I guess? Gnomes are there, too, though I don’t know how many. They’re an interesting people.”

“I like the Grand Sage, but I feel like Elverly’s some sort of strict English governess. One that whips you if you don’t know your manners.”