Risen

107

"That table is Italian" Peter informed as Braeden placed her feet on the surface

"So are these boots" she countered, causing a snicker to emit from Nova "are we going to talk interior design and fashion or are we going to talk numbers?"

Derek let out a low sigh as he looked at a pair of aviators in his hands, Peter writing down a number on a sheet of paper and sliding it to the mercenary. The redhead sat next to her mate, who had wanted her close after being away from her for the last few weeks, which was completely understandable. Braeden looked at the number that was written down, grabbing the pen and crossing it out, writing down a different number before sliding it back toward Peter.

". . We're hiring you to find Kate, not assassinate the president" he said, looking back at the woman

"I was hired by the Calavera's to find Kate" she informed "you're hiring me to find her first. Going against the Calavera's is what's going to cost you"

Peter crossed out her number, writing new one down and sliding it back to Braeden, who slid it back without looking at it. Peter let out a low groan, standing up from his place and walking toward the spiral staircase, Derek grabbing paper, handing it to Nova, who took it from him. Fire emerged from her hand, burning the paper down to nothing, letting the fire extinguish a moment later, earning an impressed look from the mercenary, never meeting a phoenix before.

"We'll pay" Derek informed "just find Kate, that's all we want"

Braeden looked at him for a moment, nodding slightly before taking her feet from the table, grabbing her jacket and walking out of the loft. Peter closed the door behind her as Derek stood, walking over to his desk,

"Are you insane?" Peter asked

"We spent a week looking for her and came up with nothing" Derek replied

"If we don't find out who told Kate about the vault, we don't get those bonds back!" walking back toward him "what do you think I'm gonna do then, huh? Get a job? My resume is slightly out of date. We got robbed, Derek. Robbed!"

Peter placed a hand on Derek's shoulder, who whipped around, shoving his hand off and roaring at him, fangs extended with his eyes a deeper red that matched Nova's color. His eyes went back to their original green, his fangs retracting,

"Oh, that's a new look for you" he said "why are they darker?"

"I don't know" Derek replied "but I'm willing to pay to find out"

∆

"Hi" a male voice spoke up

Nova looked up from her locker, turning around and seeing a freshman behind her, a smile on his lips,

"I'm Liam" holding out his hand

"Good for you" she replied,

She turned back around, grabbing her math book, closing her locker and spinning the dial before walking to class.

"Hey, wait!" He said, jogging to catch up to her "I don't know your name"

"I didn't say it" she countered

"Can I know it?" He asked

"Nope" shaking her head slightly

"Sorry, dude" Stiles spoke up

He wrapped an arm around Nova's shoulders, doing the same with Malia when she tried to walk away from the classroom,

"Thank you" she muttered

"No problem" dropping his arm as they walked into the classroom

"I hate math" Malia informed "it's pointless"

"It's school" leading her to her desk "school is important, math is essential"

"To what?" sitting down and looking at him

"Knowing how much to tip as restaurants" sitting behind her as Nova sat behind Lydia

"And less important things like medicine, economics, engineering . ." The strawberry blonde listed

"Tipping" Stiles smirked

"All right" Ms. Flemming, the math teacher, said "volunteers to the board. Lydia, Diego, Malia"

"Um. ." Malia muttered "I didn't volunteer"

"I volunteer as tribute" Nova said, raising her hand

One thing she knew about the teacher, she was a secret book nerd and favored The Hunger Games. Ms. Flemming gave her a smile, nodding her head slightly in confirmation, which caused Malia to shoot the redhead a thankful smile. Nova winked in response, getting up from her seat with Lydia and Diego, walking to the board and grabbing the white chalk and beginning to write on the board.

"So, freshman trying to flirt?" Lydia asked

"Is it the hair?" Nova asked, glancing at her "is that what got his attention?"

"Well, you are the only official redhead in the school" shrugging slightly as she worked on her own math problem "that just so happens to favor a red lipstick shade I can't seem to find"

"I hate to tell you this, but the lips are like the hair" showing her work "all because of the old bird"

X = 25

She drew a box around her answer, putting the chalk down and walking back to her desk.

X

"An axe murderer?" Kira asked

"A family-murdering axe murderer" Stiles confirmed

"I already heard about that" Scott replied

"What, what?" looking at him "you did? How?"

"My mom called me" shrugging slightly

"Gran called me" Nova added "they knew we'd see it on the news, so they thought they should give us a heads up"

"Perfect, let's go" Stiles said

"We've got econ in five minutes" Scott replied

"All right" looking at him "did you forget the part about the family-murdering axe murderer?"

"Did you forget that your dad's the Sheriff?" Nova asked "they don't think it's supernatural related, so they want us to stay out of it. Can't say I blame them, after all the crap we've been through"

"Are you guys kidding me?" looking at her "there's a family-murdering axe murderer and we're not going to do anything about it?"

"Maybe we should just let the adults handle it" Kira shrugged

". . So the three of you, you just want to stay here, school, go to class" looking at all of them "never heard anything so irresponsible in my life" walking away

"See you at tryouts?" Scott asked

Stiles waved his hands as the bell rang, Nova legging out a low sigh as she walked to class, shaking her head slightly at Stiles words.