Project ERASE

Chapter 8 : Explanations

I was in Ares's apartment, which was three floors below Lucien's penthouse. Just because Lucien didn't want me to know certain things, it didn't mean that there was no way to find out.

"So, what happened after we all left?" Ares questioned as he piled more pancakes onto his plate then doused them with syrup. He was partial to sweets like I was.

"Lucien wouldn't tell me anything, so I got pissed and left. Now here I am," I answered as I put some waffles on my plate. "Invite Niko here, Viking."

Ares paused eating and winced. "After that spat less than half and hour ago, no way I'm going to allow you two near each other."

"Is he always that friendly?" I asked with sarcasm.

"He's always prickly towards everyone, don't take it to heart," Ares assured me. "Niko prefers to be alone with his computers and is quite the anti-social, loner type."

I raised my eyebrows. "Sounds like he and Lucien must get along quite well."

Ares snorted. "If sitting next to each other and not speaking is considered getting along well, they excel at it."

I couldn't help but smile at Ares' comment. "Tell Niko to come here. He never got to finish what he wanted to say to me and I want to know. We'll need to work together in the future, so I'd really like to set things straight with him sooner rather than later."

Ares stared at me for a moment before sighing and reaching for his phone. "Fine."

He called Niko to come up and a few minutes later, the door buzzed and Ares went to open it. Niko came in and when he saw me standing near Ares, he immediately frowned then turned around to walk back out the door.

"Wait. Explain, please," I requested and Niko stopped walking.

Niko turned around and an irritated look took over his features. "Lucien just called me and told me not to say anything because he was going to explain everything to you later. But here you are. Asking me to do what he told me not to."

Lucien already predicted I was going to pull a stunt like this and called Niko beforehand. Though, I'm too determined to lose to Lucien right now. I wasn't going to let Niko leave until I got my answers.

"Lucien's not here, Niko. Besides, you and I both know he wouldn't talk much, if at all," I countered seriously with a solemn expression on my face. "What was Zaire going to say and why would it be better for everyone if I stayed out?"

Niko hesitated for a moment, but gave in as he saw the resolute look in my eyes.

"Lucien was the person that planned the entire rescue. He had the perfect plan in place and it had no loose ends. But he suddenly pulled forward the date we were going to be rescued and because of that, not all the people involved in Project Erase were in the facility when the FBI infiltrated it."

A frown formed on my face as I listened.

"Lucien is well known for being able to make the hardest decisions by choosing the logically best solution in every scenario. He couldn't do it that day because of you."

I winced. Even knowing that whatever Niko was going to say was going to be about me, I didn't expect him to say this.

Niko shoved his hands into his pockets and he had a grim look on his face. "I've always wondered why. But over the years, I've learned that he would do anything to protect you. Always have and I'm guessing he always will. I don't know what's so good about you though."

I was trying to process everything that he was saying and didn't even have time to get offended by his last sentence. 

Lucien ultimately made a last-minute decision to get us all rescued earlier than planned and what Niko just said proved that he was fully aware of the consequences. He knew that because of his decision, Project Erase could start again because not everyone involved in it would be caught. This was why he told me he was always involved.