Chapter 403: _She’s Studying Us

Phoenix Flight HQ, Next Day

"Good morning, Hunter Devon." A guard standing in front of the door leading into the Guild’s security room greeted Devon the moment he approached. "Guild Master Magnus and Hunter Augustus are waiting inside."

The S-Rank gave a curt nod before opening the metal door.

On the other side was one of the most fortified rooms in the building; the wall at the very end was covered in security monitors linked to cameras positioned all around the building.

Officials within went about their usual business, either manning certain monitors, discussing findings or potential security breaches or walking from one side of the room to the other.

Standing at the extreme wall were Guild Master Magnus and Augustus, both men’s expressions grim.

That instantly set off the alarms in Devon’s head.

"What is it?" He queried, eyes staying on his grandfather. "I came here as soon as I got your message."

Augustus scratched the back of his ear, clearing his throat. "There’s something you might want to see," a glance at Magnus. "Concerning Ramona."

Magnus turned to the screens, using a remote to operate one. "We found recordings from CCTV cameras. Showing our runaway Black Widow suspiciously close to the building only a few days ago."

The footage played on the screen.

Once it was enhanced, Devon got a clear view of Ramona Richards, standing at the opposite end of the road. While Devon stepped out of his car.

From the angle the camera captured, it was clear she was... watching him.

"Well, that certainly isn’t creepy." He swallowed when he remembered that a cosmic entity capable of deleting universes was supposedly within that woman. "Wait a minute..."

He squinted, looking at the time stamp.

"... Wasn’t this the day a man died of heart failure in front of the HQ?"

"Glad you brought that up." Magnus clicked a button on the remote, forwarding the footage.

Then it got to a frame that showed Ramona crossing to the building... only to be confronted by the man Devon just mentioned.

One thing led to another, and he ended up shoving her shoulder.

Barely a few seconds later, he started having a seizure and collapsed, Ramona gradually stepping away from the scene as more and more people gathered to check on the man.

"Shit." Devon huffed. "Alisha and I saw the aftermath of this from upstairs. And all this time... she was behind it?"

Magnus allowed the footage to keep playing for several more seconds before pausing it once again. The room fell unusually quiet, every pair of eyes settling on the frozen image of Ramona standing perfectly still in front of the building.

Devon folded his arms.

"The more I look at this..." His brows gradually drew together. "The weirder it gets."

Augustus glanced sideways. "What do you mean?"

"He never mattered." Devon stepped closer to the monitor, pointing directly at the screen. "Look at her eyes."

One of the technicians quickly zoomed the footage in further until Ramona’s face occupied almost the entire monitor.

Even through the grainy CCTV quality, one thing became obvious.

Her gaze never drifted toward the man approaching her.

Not once.

Not when he smiled or spoke. Not even when he shoved her shoulder.

She remained focused on the glass façade of the Guild building.

Exactly where Devon had been that day.

Augustus felt an uncomfortable chill creep up his spine.

"She wasn’t watching the civilian at all."

"No," Magnus answered quietly, his expression hardening. "He simply interrupted whatever she came here to do."

The Guild Master pressed another button on the remote.

The footage continued.

The instant the man collapsed, Ramona barely spared his body another glance before returning her attention toward the Guild building itself.

She lingered only a few moments longer before walking away.

There was no panic.

She behaved exactly like someone whose observation had merely been cut short.

Devon slowly rubbed the back of his neck.

"So all this time..." He exhaled. "She really was watching me."

Augustus hesitated. "Actually... not just you."

The other two men turned toward him.

"When she came to Blue Diamond," Augustus began, "she wasn’t there because of me either. At least... I don’t think so anymore." He frowned, replaying the memory inside his head. "She spent most of her time asking about Hunter Ambrose. Then she sat outside the academy afterwards."

Magnus’ eyes narrowed. "The academy."

"And Orion," Devon muttered.

Neither man needed to explain further.

The realization settled over the room with an uncomfortable weight.

Ramona hadn’t been wandering around Aurelia aimlessly.

She’d been quietly inserting herself around the people closest to the SS-Rank Hunter.

Magnus lowered the remote onto the nearby table.

"Whatever she’s planning," he said, "it’s becoming increasingly clear that Hunter Ambrose and his family are somewhere at the centre of it."

Devon was already pulling out his phone. "I’ll call him."

★★★★★

Blue Diamond Academy

Ambrose answered before the second ring.

"Hey, Dev. Everything alright?"

"For now."

The concern in Devon’s voice immediately wiped the small smile from Ambrose’s face.

He closed the office door before leaning against his desk. "Talk to me."

Devon quickly explained everything they had just reviewed inside Phoenix Flight’s security room, carefully recounting the CCTV footage, Ramona’s behaviour outside Guild Headquarters and Augustus’ observations regarding Blue Diamond Academy.

A thoughtful silence followed.

Ambrose remained completely still, absorbing every detail without interrupting once.

Finally, he spoke. "No."

Devon blinked. "What do you mean, no?"

"I think we’re looking at this the wrong way." Ambrose slowly pushed himself away from the desk, beginning to pace around the office. "You’ve all been saying she’s watching us."

"Isn’t she?"

"I don’t think that’s all she’s doing."

Another pause.

Then everything suddenly clicked together.

"The Guild. Blue Diamond. Orion. You." His voice became quieter with every word. "She isn’t following random movements."

Devon’s stomach tightened. "She’s studying us."

"Exactly."

The realisation tasted bitter.

A stalker watched.

A hunter studied.

One did it out of obsession. The other did it because they were searching for something.

Ambrose stopped walking altogether.

"Perhaps," he murmured, "she’s looking for an opening."

Before Devon could answer, an unfamiliar sensation prickled across the back of Ambrose’s neck.

It was faint.

Yet every instinct inside him screamed at once.

He slowly turned toward the large window overlooking Blue Diamond’s courtyard.

His breath caught.

Standing quietly beside the window as though she’d belonged there the entire time was a blonde woman dressed in an elegant cream-coloured coat.

She regarded him with calm, unreadable eyes. There wasn’t the slightest trace of hostility on her face.

Only curiosity.

Ambrose instinctively straightened. "Dev."

"What?"

"I’ll call you back." He ended the call before another word could be exchanged.

For several long seconds, neither of them spoke.

Then the woman offered him a small, almost polite smile.

"It seems," Ramona said, her voice as composed as ever, "we’ve finally been allowed to meet, Hunter Ambrose."

Ambrose didn’t move.

His senses expanded through the office on instinct, aether quietly circulating beneath his skin while his eyes remained fixed on the woman standing beside the window. She hadn’t forced her way inside. She hadn’t shattered the reinforced glass or announced herself with overwhelming power.

She had simply... appeared.

That unsettled him far more.

"I’ll admit," he said after a measured breath, "this wasn’t how I imagined our first meeting."

Ramona’s smile deepened by the slightest fraction. "Neither did I."

[I’d be careful with my words if I were you.] Aura warned. [My readings are still the same as before. Even with her right before us I can’t... sense any energy traces.]

Silence settled between them once more.

Outside the window, students crossed the academy grounds completely oblivious to the fact that one of the most wanted women on the continent was standing inside a faculty office.

Ambrose’s gaze never left hers.

"If you’re here to kill me," he said evenly, "you’re taking a remarkably polite approach."

A small chuckle escaped her lips.

"Well, that’s because if I wished you harm, Hunter Ambrose, we wouldn’t be having this conversation."

Every muscle in his body tensed.

She wasn’t boasting. She was stating what she believed to be a simple fact.

"So," Ambrose replied, folding his arms to hide the subtle tightening of his fingers, "what exactly do you want?"

Ramona studied him for a long moment before answering.

"I wanted to see you with my own eyes."

"...That’s it?"

"No." She took a slow step away from the window. "I also wanted to understand why."

"Why what?"

"Why a soul from another reality was permitted to reach this one."

Ambrose’s expression remained carefully neutral, but beneath that calm exterior his thoughts moved at lightning speed.

Without shifting so much as a finger, he reached through the invisible bonds linking him to the five people he trusted most.

His partners.

Their telepathic links flared to life almost simultaneously.

’Guys, there’s an emergency. Blue Diamond. My office. Come immediately and don’t announce yourselves.’

He severed the message before any of them could respond, his attention returning fully to Ramona.

Not once throughout the exchange did her gaze leave him.

Then, to his surprise, the faint smile on her lips widened ever so slightly.

"A wise decision."