Chapter 62: Next Objective

Emily had barely finished her breakfast when Lily appeared in front of her, already dressed in running clothes, pointing at the door with her whole arm. "Race."

Emily stopped with the last bite of toast halfway to her mouth. "Good morning to you too."

"Race."

"You really don’t know how to say anything else in the morning, do you?"

"Race."

Emily laughed and set the toast down. "Cassian said I shouldn’t push myself yet."

"Oh, please," Lily said, crossing her arms.

"What?"

"I know you want to race me too."

Emily paused, and Lily’s grin grew wider. "You’ve been itching to move around more."

Emily glanced down at her legs, where her toes had been tapping against the floor for the last five minutes without her noticing. She couldn’t deny it, and a slow smile spread across her face. "Maybe I have."

Lily threw both fists into the air. "Yes!"

"You two," Maki sighed from behind them.

"It’s fine, Maki," Yuna said, giggling.

"How is this fine?"

"Emily knows how to pace herself." Yuna glanced toward Emily. "And she’ll stop if it becomes too much."

"I will," Emily said with a nod.

"You’re all impossible," Maki said, staring at them both, and then she followed them outside anyway.

Reinhard offered to act as referee, and somewhere between the house and the yard he acquired a whistle, which nobody asked him about.

He stood beside the starting line with the whistle around his neck and his hands clasped behind his back. "Ladies and gentlemen," he announced to Maki, Yuna, and one confused bird, "welcome to the race of the century."

"Where’s the finish line?" Emily asked.

Lily pointed toward the far side of the yard. "There."

"That’s not very far."

"It’s enough."

"She’s scared," Emily said, smiling.

"I’m not scared!" Lily said immediately.

"You sound scared."

"I’m going to win."

Reinhard raised one hand and blew a short blast on the whistle, which made the bird leave. "Ready?"

Lily crouched slightly, and Emily took a steadying breath.

"Three."

Lily leaned forward.

"Two."

Emily smiled.

"One. Go!"

Lily shot out of the starting line and took an early lead. "I’m winning!"

"You haven’t won yet," Emily said, laughing as she closed the gap.

"Hey!" Lily yelled over her shoulder, panicked. "You’re supposed to be recovering!"

"Then why did you challenge me?"

Lily crossed the line first by a narrow margin and threw her hands into the air. "I won!"

Emily stopped a moment later, laughing and out of breath. "Barely."

"A win is a win."

Reinhard tapped the whistle against his palm and looked at them very seriously. "The judges have reviewed the footage."

"There’s no footage," Maki said.

"The judges are very good. It was a photo finish, and Lily wins by a nose."

"I don’t have that big of a nose!" Lily said.

"You know we’re racing again," Emily said.

Lily’s eyes lit up. "Tomorrow?"

"No," Maki said at once.

"Why?"

"Because Cassian will personally come here and stop you."

"She’s probably right," Yuna said, laughing.

Lily looked at Emily hopefully. "Tomorrow?"

"We’ll see," Emily said with a smile.

Lily pumped her fist. "That’s basically a yes."

"It is not a yes." Maki wrote NO on the back of her hand with a pen from her pocket and underlined it twice.

Lily leaned over to watch. "Three times," Lily said. "You have to underline it three times."

Reinhard watched from the edge of the yard with his hands in his pockets, and for a moment he forgot about the whistle.

Emily was standing there laughing, catching her breath, and arguing about a rematch as if she had never done anything else.

A few days ago, she had needed a wheelchair, and now she was demanding a second race, and that felt like the best possible result of everything he had done.

His phone rang. He checked it, and a message from Lucien appeared. Are you free today?

Reinhard: Depends.

Lucien: I have information about the Lightning Emperor Key.

Reinhard’s expression shifted, and he typed back quickly. Where do I sign? Then he glanced toward Emily.

"The next one?" she asked, noticing.

"Yes."

"Then go," she said simply.

"I’ll be back."

"I know."

"Bring snacks," Lily called after him.

...

He arrived at Eclipse not long after, and Lucien met him with a file already in his hand. "We found it."

"The Key?" Reinhard asked, and his eyes sharpened.

"A confirmed lead."

Reinhard waited, and then he noticed Lucien’s expression. "But?"

Lucien pushed the file across the desk. "But it’s in Helios."

Reinhard opened the file. "What’s Helios? It sounds like a sun-themed resort."

"It is not." Lucien leaned back. "It’s an abandoned Menphis headquarters, and one of the worst places in the region to go looking for something."

He continued while Reinhard turned the pages. "The headquarters was destroyed years ago, and the supernatural experiments inside were never properly contained. Residual energy mixed with biological material, and over time," he paused, "the things living there stopped being normal monsters."

"Abominations," Reinhard said.

Lucien nodded. "Aggressive, hard to detect, resistant to conventional attacks, and capable of spreading contamination."

"That sounds unpleasant."

"That’s the polite description."

"What’s the impolite description?"

"There isn’t one. People stop talking halfway through."

Reinhard closed the file slowly. "If it’s that dangerous, why are we going?"

"Because the Lightning Emperor Key is inside," Lucien said simply. "Normally I’d send a combat team."

"But?"

"You’re still our precious consultant."

"Precious?"

"Very."

"That sounds expensive."

"Which is why we can’t have you dying." Lucien folded his hands on the desk. "You’re going with the Nephilim."

"The Nephilim?" Reinhard frowned. "I still don’t know what those are."

"You’ll enjoy finding out."

Reinhard’s expression brightened slightly. "Archon too?"

Lucien chuckled. "Usually she wouldn’t be assigned to something like this."

"But?"

"She’s apparently interested."

"Then let’s do it," Reinhard said, grinning.

The door opened a moment later, and Archon stepped through, her gaze settling on him. "You wanted me?"

"Apparently you’re my bodyguard."

A pause followed. "Temporary."

"I’ll take it. I’ll try to be a very easy client."

"You won’t be."

"That’s fair."

Lucien pushed himself out of his chair. "Some of your escort are waiting for you downstairs."

Reinhard raised an eyebrow. "They’ve heard about me?"

"Some of them," Archon said.

"Because they heard about the consultant who can see the future?"

"That too." She paused. "But mostly because you’re the reason some of them are alive."

Reinhard blinked. "Alive?" Then it clicked. "Oh. Hollow Meridian."

"That mission," Lucien confirmed.

"I only showed you a possible future."

"A possible future that changed our decision. It was a blessing."

"You really like calling it that."

"Because it was."

Reinhard looked down at the file again. Helios. The Lightning Emperor Key. Emily’s Gnosis.

A faint notification appeared in front of him.

[Investment Opportunity Available.]

[Target: Emily Ashcroft.]

[Current Value: A+.]

[Objective: Enter Helios.]

[Difficulty Grade: C.]

[Success Probability: 90%.]

Reinhard’s eyes narrowed slightly. The Oath Keeper Water and the Life Gold Water were already secured, which left the Lightkeeper Dew and the Lightning Emperor Key, and for the first time, he had a location for the Key. Helios.

He closed the notification and the file together. "Then let’s go."

Lucien smiled. "I knew you’d say that."

Reinhard stood and adjusted his coat, and Archon watched him with her usual calm. "Six of them."

"Six what?"

"Nephilim."

That caught his attention, and Reinhard’s smile slowly returned. "Interesting."

Archon gave him a warning look. "Don’t encourage them."

"I haven’t even met them."

"Exactly."

Lucien laughed and walked to the door. "Come on."

Reinhard followed him into the hallway, where Lucien looked back over his shoulder. "Time to meet the Nephilim."

Reinhard’s smile widened. For some reason, he had a feeling that this mission was going to be interesting.