Anada (Book #3)

Receiving Answers

I disliked being inside the hotel room for six whole days, but I must admit that it was better than being inside a car for that amount of time. The only thing exciting that happened was that I was able to speak with the cleaning lady who had said that she had a sister who was a shapeshifter. I found out that her sister was a bobcat shifter. The whole entire conversation was very interesting.
When the sixth day arrived, I took my wing out of its sling and flapped it a few times. It wasn't a smart idea, because I was inside a hotel room. Once I finished strengthening my wings my hotel room was a wreck. Reina had a shocked looked on her face when she stepped out of the bathroom.
"I won't even ask." She said then walked back into the bathroom with her makeup bag.
I made sure that my wing felt strong and sure. There was no real way that I could tell if I could fully fly yet. At least I was healed enough to shift without causing permanent damage.
After a whole week. I was finally able to safely shift back to a human. My wings, spines, and tail absorbed back into my body. My blue and green scaled limbs shorted to smooth skinned arms and legs. The talons on my feet and hands receded as my teeth shortened and dulled. During the whole process my clothes reappeared on my human body.
I walked to the mirror inside the closest. There I was. An eighteen year old girl with green eyes, wavy dirty-blond hair, tan skin, and a ragged red scar going down her right arm.
I touched the long scar that started at my elbow and circled around and down to my wrist. An old enemy had given it to me two years ago.
I rarely ever scarred, but it was a wound that caused me to nearly bleed to death. It was a severe enough injury to cause a lifetime scar that strangers often stared at.
Reina suddenly walks out of the bathroom and smiles, "I haven't seen that face for a while."
I smile back and quickly choose something else to wear.
Today was the day that we were meeting with Mr.Escapade. We would finally be able to ask the questions we had been waiting to ask.
Why did he send us on such a dangerous mission? If it was expected to be that way then why did he not assign more teams for that certain mission?
_____________
An hour later we step into Mr.Escapade's office. I see him sitting in a leather swivel chair. He's wearing a black suit and a red tie. A glass window covers one side of the large room. A strong coffee smell fills the room too.
He motions for us to sit. Only a few of us sit while the rest of us remained standing. I was one of those who decided to not sit.
Mr.Escapade starts the conversation, "I heard that you did well on your latest mission."
Alex, our spokesman, tells Mr.Escapade, "Yes, we did, but we barely managed to. There were some difficulties..."
Mr.Escapade raises an eyebrow as Alex continues, "The number of enemies on the property was too much for us to overcome. We barely managed to fight off the enemy and overcome them though."
"I see. You're saying that the mission was too hard." Our boss says in a non-interested voice.
Alex shakes his head, "No, I'm saying that it was too dangerous. One of my team members was injured, and we all could have possibly been killed."
Mr.Escapade slowly rises from his chair. He hid his anger, but we all saw it. He was angered by Alex raising his voice. It was wrong for Alex to speak that way to a superior, but he had a good point.
We would have never been in this situation if Mr.Liam was still here. Our old boss would have never made us go on such a treacherous mission. He treated us like friends, not workers.
I was surprised when Mr.Escapade spoke to me, "Miss Stone, have you changed your mind about joining one of my special teams? You could do so much more than this."
I stand firm, "No, I work best with my friends. I would rather stay with them."
Mr.Escapade continues to speak straight to me, "Alex mentioned that someone was hurt on the mission. Let me guess. That person was you, wasn't it?"
I hold back any emotion, "Yes, how did you know?"
He walks around his desk and says in that voice of his, "Oh, I can guess easily. You are the most talented on your team so you naturally would do more than your teammates. Therefore, you are the one to most likely be hurt."
Before I can ask a question he quickly pulls out something and places the object near his lips. A high-pitched ringing abruptly fills my ears. Pain explodes into my head. I quickly cover my ears, but it still continues. Whatever he was doing was causing me much pain.
Elias says furiously to Mr.Escapade, "Stop it! You're hurting her!"
The ringing stops, and I glare up at Mr.Escapade. He's holding a silver whistle in his right hand.
He smiles evilly, "I already knew you were a shapeshifter, Anada Stone. This only demonstrates how you have amazing hearing. Humans can't hear this whistle, but neither can dogs. Only shapeshifters can hear such a thing."
"How did you know that?" I say with more anger than I meant to speak with.
He gives me another arrogant smile, "I know everything about you, Agent Anada. You're a dragon shapeshifter who joined this team two years ago. You're an orphan, but both of your parents were agents too. They were murdered by a man named Drake. Every mission since you became an agent has been accomplished extraordinarily well."
How does he know these things?!
"Anada, I have been wanting to assign you to a team with shapeshifters for a long time. You could do so much more, and be with your kind too." Mr.Escapade says as he sits back down in his comfy chair.
I greatly disliked how he had said 'kind'.
Alex cuts in, "She said no the first time. She isn't going to change her mind."
Mr.Escapade cuts him a deadly glare, "Let her answer that question. Did you ever think that she might be bored with her old team?"
They all turn to me. A thick silence hung in the room like fog.
I answer him, "Mr.Escapade, I am certain of my answer. I am completely loyal to my team, and choose to stay with them."
His smile falters, "That is your choice, but I only hope that you don't regret it."
Elias steps forward. A look of fury covered his face. It was an expression he usually wore when someone bothered a person extremely close to him.
Elias spoke harshly, "Is that a threat?"
Mr.Escapade jumped from his chair, "Yes! Because an inferior should do as her superior should say. What is required of her should be done."
I stopped a growl before it could rise up my throat. How dare he threaten us?!
Cold looks were then passed between us and our new boss.
I had no idea why he wanted me to join a shapeshifter team so bad, but I knew that it was not for a good reason.
After glaring daggers at each other for a minute, Mr.Escapade says, "Dismissed. I will contact you tomorrow to let you know about your new assignments."
We left without another word or glance. Hot anger filled us. Nobody cared to exchange a farewell.
Once we're back in the hallway Elias puts his hand on my shoulder and asks me in a truly concerned voice, "Are you okay? It looked like it hurt you pretty bad when he blew that weird whistle."
I shake my head, "I have a small headache, but that is not what's bothering me."
We reached the elevator and I rub my forehead to help clear the headache.
Elias knows what I'm really worried about. I know, because he wraps a secure arm around me.
I'm worried about how our boss just threatened us. Did he threaten to fire us or was it much more than that...?