DPOV
I got out of the cab and signaled to the driver to wait as I approached Eddie. I could tell from here that he was angry, and I didn't blame him. Only Cassie and I knew what was really happening.
"Hey,"
"Hey," he said standing up straight.
"How did that go?"
Eddie gave me a loaded look. "About as well as you think it did. You didn't warn her!?"
"I couldn't," I sighed.
"You handed her over to Carver, Dimitri! What the fuck!"
"It'll only be for a few hours," I said rubbing the back of my head. "Long enough for them to do exactly what I need them to."
"And what is that exactly," Eddie snapped, the tips of his ears turning red. I knew how protective he could get over the people he cared about, and I knew he was pissed at me for letting Rose fall right into Division's grasp.
"Give her the drug."
Eddie's jaw ticked before he lunged at me, fist flying out towards my face. I pushed outwards at him mentally and knocked him off his feet, skidding across the gravel on his back.
"Listen."
"No you listen!" Eddie yelled getting up, "That is my best friend. How could you do that to her?! You'll get her killed!"
"I know for a fact that the drug won't kill her," I yelled over him, gripping onto his shoulders roughly when he was close enough.
"How the fuck would you know that?!"
"Because I've had three very powerful watchers promise me that," I snapped, "Why would I put her in harm's way if I didn't know I could safely get her out? I know how they work, remember?"
Eddie was still breathing heavily as I let him go. I could tell that he didn't know how to process all of this so I did what I could.
"I promise, she'll be okay. The minute she wakes up from the injection they'll give her the immunosuppressant. She'll be fine," I consoled. Eddie looked skeptical but rolled his shoulders back.
"How do you know they'll give her the drug right away?"
"They wouldn't risk waiting."
Eddie nodded and ran his hands over his face. "God. This is all so fucked up!"
"I know," I sympathized. I didn't like this any more than he did. Eddie sniffed and pulled a thick envelope out of his pocket and tossed it at me. Any time someone brought a psychic on Division's watch list in, they got a reward. And this would come in handy.
"Christian said that the old lady you had shadowing the building left," Eddie said and I opened the envelope and counted the money.
"Yes. Should would have been instructed to stay there until I came for the case. Christian had the key, told her I sent her. Her job was done."
Eddie nodded. "I wrote the location of the guy."
"I see that. Thanks," I said closing the envelope and tucking it into my pocket, "Get back to Lissa's."
Eddie nodded and yawned. "Good luck. Hope you live through the night."
I gave him a tight smile. "You too," I said before I turned back to the taxi and slid back in.
"28 Yun Street. Hurry."
The driver was able to get me to the location with a minute to spare and I got out, giving the driver a good tip. He had been driving me all over town tonight. I swallowed heavily and walked into the restaurant in front of me.
I wasn't sure what was in store for me when I walked in, but I needed to be ready for anything. I pulled the gun out that had been tucked into the back of my jeans and checked it, making sure one was in the chamber before putting it back.
I pushed the door open to find a brightly lit room with only four people in it. Two in the back of the room eating, two in the front counting money. I let the door swing shut behind me and the man counting money looked up.
"We're closed."
"I'm not hungry," I said as I passed, not sparing him a glance as I did. My eyes were solely focused on the back of the room. I felt sick to my stomach as I approached. I hadn't recognized the voice on the phone, but now I could place it perfectly. I had met this person as a child, and I remember seeing him sit in my living room with a red haired woman many years ago. I knew this man's face.
Because I also looked into an almost identical face every time I looked at Rose.
I came to a stop at the table and pulled a chair out sinking down in it without a word.
"Punctual as always, Belikov," Abe Mazur said as he poured himself more hot tea.
"I have a problem with being late."
Abe smirked at me as he set the teapot down. "And yet, my daughter is always late. Perpetually. How does that work?"
"I find her lack of time management charming," I said blankly, glancing to the man beside him.
"Pay no mind to Pavel."
I flicked my eyes back to Abe and tilted my head. "I don't have much time."
"I know. You already passed Rosemarie off to the Division, and you are on your way to have your mind wiped. Tell me, how certain are you that this stunt won't get my daughter killed?"
"Very."
Abe raised his brow at me before setting a cup in front of me, steam wafting off the top.
"I'll be there when the time comes," he said cryptically."
"When the time comes?"
Abe leaned back in his seat and folded his hands in his lap. "Do you think that this was all your idea?"
"Pardon?"
"Your mother, myself, my wife, Sarah Frank, and Lissa's parents have been planning this for a long time. Do you think I liked leaving my baby behind? Leaving her to grow up without her father or mother, or a place to call home? We all have our parts to play. I knew that my daughter would meet you, that she feel a connection to you immediately. I knew that you would be taken by here too, and I don't blame you for that. We knew that you would fall into Divisions hands, just as we knew that Janine would. Janine…my darling, is not as drugged as you think she is."
"I don't understand," I said quietly. Abe sighed and picked up his chopsticks and gathered a mouthful of food, chewing slowly as my patience began to wear thin.
"We all knew that it was dangerous to have our children play the man roles in this war, but nobody would have expected it all to be started by you."
"Where do you think the final components for the drug came from? Division didn't stumble upon it. It was given to them by the right people. None of this was an accident. Every thought, every decision you all have made, we already knew," Abe explained and I could easily understand why Rose use to say that Abe didn't need to push people to make them believe him. He had a way with words that made me listen closely.
Our parents had been planning the destruction of Division since we were born. We just had to carry it out. The final take down.
"I know that you won't remember this conversation, of course. But I want you to listen to me very carefully."
I nodded and Abe leaned over the table, his eye boring down on mine. "When this is over, you'll make a home for my girl. You will be the person she needs. When this is all over, you can go anywhere you want. But you have to take care of my little girl, because I can't guarantee that I will make it across the finish line."
In front of me no longer stood a man that could push my mind to do the unimaginable, nor was he the man that was whispered about in my hometown. The man in front of me was a father, a man whose only thought and concern was his child.
"I will," I said standing up and extending my hand out. Abe looked at my hand and nodded, taking it.
"I hope that I will get to know my son-in-law when this is over."
"I hope I get to know my in-law."
A small smirk rose to Abe's face as he shook my hand. "Pavel will let me know when the time comes."
I looked at Pavel and nodded, coming to the understanding that he was a watcher as well. I let go of Abe hand and lifted the cup in front of me. Abe nodded at me and I drank the whole thing. I didn't know why, but I felt like it was necessary to drink it. I set it down and looked at both of them.
"Who is Sarah Frank?"
Abe sat back down and poured himself another cup of tea. "Cassandra's mother."
I nodded and licked my lip. "Do they make it out? Janine and Sarah?"
Abe shrugged. "Only if you do your job right."
I scoffed to myself. No pressure there.
My eyes opened and the pungent smell of water and fish hit me. I groaned and pushed myself up, staggering to my feet. There was a man standing a few feet away from me smoking a pipe. His fingernails were long and dirty, and his face had traces of dirt too. He puffed on the pipe and looked at me.
"Thirty years ago a woman told me that you would be on my boat. That was four months ago. She also told me that you would be back," he said getting up from his chair and taking a pot that was on the table top he shuffled past me and tossed the water off the side of the boat and came back, setting the pot down back down.
"She said that she was proud of you. And that she is grateful for taking care of her daughter."
"Rose?"
"Cassie."
I nodded and rubbed my eyes, groaning to myself as I stretched. How long had I been lying on the floor of the boat? The man tapped the table, sliding a red envelope towards me. I cleared my throat and picked it up and ripped it open.
Go Home.
"What did you do?"
"I wiped your mind of nine hours. Just like you asked. That's all you need to know."
I nodded with a shrug and collected my things that were laid out on the table and headed towards the boat caddy that was waiting for me. I didn't like the feeling I had. It felt like I had a large chunk of time missing from me. I didn't take long for me to get back to the pier, and it took about a half-hour to get back home.
Home. Without Rose. That I did remember.
I sighed and unlocked the door, pushing it open and then closed it behind me. My body ached and I stunk of fish. I shrugged my duster off, draping it over the arm of the couch. I took a few steps into the kitchen when the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I went to turn but a hand gripped onto the back of my hair and my whole body felt like it had come alive with fire. My breath was robbed from me as I collapsed onto the floor, convulsing slightly. It felt like someone had connected an electric current to every nerve and fibre in my body.
I managed to roll onto my side enough to see a pair of shoes. Brown leather shoes. My eyes travelled up and I found Adrian standing over me with a cigarette in my mouth.
"That was just too easy," he said with a sigh, taking a drag from his cigarette. He sighed and walked towards the dining table and moved it to the side, opening the false panel in the wall and pulling out the case. I tried to form words but could, simply gasping in pain. Adrian pulled the case up onto the table and opened it.
Adrian opened the case and lifted the vial out and examined it, taking the cigarette from his lips as he did so. The door slammed open and my eyes flicked over, my eyes landing on a face I recognized. Elena and her right hand Isaiah. Isaiah took his sunglasses off and started to open his mouth when Adrian cut him off.
"He dies slowly. Tasha promised me that, and a great deal of money," Adrian said before turning to me.
Elena huffed and tossed a duffle bag onto the floor and kicked it towards Adrian. He smirked and set it on the table too.
"Did you really think you could slip out of town with this? Do you know how many people would kill for this?" Adrian asked me, crouching down so he could look at me better. My vision was starting to blur as I looked at him and he smirked, standing up again.
Adrian put the vial back in the case and closed it, lifting it off the counter and giving it to Elena. I tried to get to my feet but couldn't and watched in agony as the Strigois left with the drug. The only way I was going to get Rose back. Adrian watched the door close behind him and bent down to open the duffle bag. I could hear footsteps come down the hall and the door swung open, Cassie standing there.
"Adrian! Get him up!" Cassie shrieked.
"Oh shit! Right! Sorry man," Adrian said jumping up from the bag and over to me, resting his hand on the side of my face and the pain stopped. I gasped and panted, my limbs relaxing and unconstricting. I swallowed thickly and took Cassie's hand as she bent down to help me up.
"My letter told me to tell you-"
"That Carver has Rose. I remember that part."
Cassie's brows knitted together. "What?"
"I wrote her instructions before I went to bed last night. I wrote it on your card to remind me in case the stitch took more of my memories than anticipated," I said rolling my shoulders back and then looking at Adrian.
"You okay?"
"Yeah. That hurt like a bitch."
Adrian scoffed a laugh and shrugged. "Hey, you told me to make it believable. You can't fake that," he said running his hand through his hair. "The tingling should go away shortly."
I nodded and looked around the room, noticing that nothing was out of place. Cassie was standing by the window, looking out of it from the side with a worried frown.
"So was everyone's instructions that complicated?" Adrian asked, "There was a lot on there."
I smirked at him. "I knew you could handle it."
CASSIE
Things were thankfully going the way we had hoped. Adrian and Dimitri were standing in the kitchen discussing what to do next when the telltale tingle in my mind pulled me out of my gazing.
I pulled my phone out and had the number ready to go when the vision flashed across my vision.
The guy I saw walk out with the case was setting it down on a table, Tasha sitting not that far off on the counter. There were two men talking quietly, heads bent together as they spoke. The oldest man turned towards the case and opened it. He picked up the cased syringe and tossed it towards the other man, but as it travelled through the air it was no longer a syringe, but a bottle of soya sauce.
"What is this!?" the man demanded.
The older man's face was stunned and turned to look back at the case as it flicked back to red. The man yelled and tossed the case across the room, turning his gaze on Tasha.
I blinked out of the vision and hit dial on my phone, bringing it up to my ear. I didn't have to wait long for her to answer.
"Didn't see that one coming, did you?"
"Do you really want to do this, little girl?" Tasha asked with disdain clear in her voice. "I know where the drug is. More importantly, I know how you die. Have you figured out what the tiger means yet?"
I glanced at my open notebook on the counter, the drawn tiger starring up at me. I smirked to myself and hung up, setting my phone on the table.
"They just realized the case was a fake," I called out, smiling at myself despite Tasha's words ringing in my ears, "They're pissed."
Dimitri nodded and mentioned he was going to change and shower, leaving Adrian and I alone in the meantime.
"You good, colour bright?"
I looked up at Adrian and nodded. "Yeah," I said looking at my notebook, "I'm just getting tired of drawing dead bodies."
Adrian came over and picked up the book, flipping through the pages. Over the last few days, I had almost filled the book and that was concerning to me. The future was tumbling through me so quickly that I couldn't keep up. Adrian looked from the pages to me with a raised brow.
"I keep trying to draw something different, but I can't. It has something to do with how I die."
"It's a tiger," Adrian said confused, "We're in the middle of Hong Kong."
I huffed and blew some of my hair out of my face, crossing my arms over my chest. "I'm serious. I don't know how I know, but I just do."
I licked my lip and looked down at my boot, scuffed and dirty and splotched with paint.
"I know that don't act like I care sometimes… But I don't want to die," I said quietly, my voice betraying me and breaking. I never liked to admit my weakness, but I was scared. Adrian sighed and wrapped his arm around my shoulders and I rested my head against him, taking a minute.
"Cassie, it's not gonna happen, okay?"
I sucked in a breath and lifted my head. "Just tell me I'm a crappy artist and that I'm wrong."
Adrian smiled. "You are a crappy artist. And you are wrong," he said gently, taking the handful of pages that were filled with tigers with bloody faces and tore them out of the book, crumpling them up between his hands.
"Listen, you've already done enough. The only thing you need to worry about now is staying safe. You hide, until this over, you get me?"
I nodded and wiped my face, clearing my throat as Dimitri came back in. He looked at my tear-stricken face and the torn notebook, but didn't say anything.
"She's at 212 Bayten Street," I said thickly. Dimitri nodded and gave the back of my head a brotherly stroke and hugged me, resting his chin on my head.
"Find somewhere safe, we'll see you soon."
I nodded and pulled back, giving the two a tight smile. "I'll see soon?"
Adrian nodded and smiled at me. "We'll see you soon."
I tucked my notebook back in my back and took the gun that Dimitri extended to me, tucking it in my bag as well. I looked back at the two of them as I opened the door. I nodded at them and slipped out the door, walking blindly through the building until I ended up in the busy streets.
DPOV
I had seen Carver a few times when I worked in Division, and his presence never bothered me much. But being this close to him really made my skin crawl.
"I want to make a deal. The drug for the girl," I said, brazenly keeping eye contact with him.
Carver's lips twitched as he moved back from the door letting me in. I stepped forward and into what looked like a sitting room. I felt a hard shove on my shoulder, and I turned to glare at Victor. I hated him. He thought because he was Carver's right hand he was invincible, but really, he wasn't all that special. He was cocky and arrogant, and it was a bad combination for an agent.
"Dimitri."
I whirled around and sighed in relief, finding Rose standing in the doorway of a room. She looked unharmed and clean, dressed in a pressed skirt suit that shone as she shifted her weight. But while she looked the same, her eyes weren't the same. When I looked at her before they were warm and soft, but now they were void and blank.
Carver had done exactly as I anticipated him to. He pushed her.
Hey lovelies!
Just a heads up, the next chapter is going to be a rollercoaster! There is dialogue that is from the movie Push. I do not own that content.
