Keeper (Erityian Tribes Novella, #5)

06 : A Keeper's Job

It felt strange to be alone in this still and silent ocean after staying for days in Shima.

After Nel informed me about the meeting of the next-generation leaders, I tried contacting them again but that girl was probably driving and I knew Cliff and Jett wouldn't risk their lives to answer my call.

An hour later, I received a holographic call from Cliff. His face flickered in front of me, and even though the quality wasn't good, I could see the horror on his expression.

"Save us," he pleaded.

"From Nel again?"

He drew a shaky breath and I realized he was still gripping the seatbelt tightly. "We're going to die."

"Oh, c'mon, you cowards!"

I heard Nel's voice and a second later, the view expanded and I could see the three of them: Cliff was on the passenger's seat, horrified as the car seemed to accelerate; Nel looked thrilled after days of being confined; and there at the back seat was Jett, whose face was already as white as chalk.

I heaved a sigh. "Nel, stop tormenting their poor souls."

She chuckled. "Hey, I'm not!"

Several minutes later, she sent me the message of that Shinigami that we saw during the fight. I forgot his name.

Yllka Shrine, huh?

I searched the location from our servers and found out that the Yllka Shrine that was located in the Transylvanian Alps was the intersection point of all the main bases of the four tribes. I tried calculating the distance from here to Romania and the time it would take me to go there. That Nel . . . she was asking for the impossible.

It turned out I needed at least three days to go there so in the end, I couldn't participate. Well, she said they could only bring two companions so I guess she really didn't need me to be there.

"Alright, don't worry, I'll keep you three alive."

"I think I'll die before we can reach Romania—"

Before I could see his expression, the line went off. I was alone again in this vast ocean.

***

"Yeah, I have booked your flights," I said while checking the details from my other device. "Be careful. There are Shinigami and Nox bases in Europe."

No agents were available to take them to Romania using private planes so I was left with no choice. They would go to Romania the humdrum's way.

"Alright," Nel said. "How about you?"

"Going back to CIA, I guess."

I was still in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and it would take me a day to reach Japan. Fortunately, my devices were working well. I could track their location and keep enemies away from them, if there were any.

Commander Priam also messaged me, asking my whereabouts, so I told him my current coordinates. I remembered our last conversation and how he agreed to turn Midnight and Obsidian over the Jikko clan once they captured them. According to him, the three Executives—Von, Fenn and Yue—were already following their tracks after Kyo and Lionel gave the details they had gathered from torturing the apprehended zuersts and zweites.

It must be hard for them to face Dale once again as he was their colleague, their co-Executive, before he revealed himself as Midnight, the figurehead of Nox.

I waited until I could see the three boarding the plane. Nel was wearing eyeglasses so everything that I was seeing was from her point of view. Of course, they were also in disguise and wearing contact lenses to hide their red eyes.