“I always thought the view of the city from this window seemed rather desolate. Everything’s so far away, you can’t really see the life there. In a dead way it reminds me of the night sky. All black with lights, but the twinkle is gone. I see it as ironic that people find cityscapes which are only long expanses of bright gleaming lights beautiful. So many lights that you can’t see the stars. We stopped looking at the night sky and tried to build it on the ground. All the while drowning out the possibility of seeing the real thing.” Mira turned around to take a good look at the girl who had caused so much trouble.
Natalie was that standard freckled pale that goes so well with fiery red hair. Her thin body trembled, even in the warmth of the room. She rocked slightly as she stared at the floor. They did a number on you didn’t they, Mira thought with sympathy. “You look frightened.”
Deep brown eyes turned up toward Mira. “Shouldn’t I be?” Natalie couldn’t explain the feelings that the strange woman evoked. She felt both safe and nervous to the point of wanting to run and hide.
“Truly it’s up to you. I would be lying to say that there was no need for you to be frightened here. You have something that we need to reclaim and it’s important enough to put you in some danger.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Natalie’s eyes fell back to the carpet.
Mira smiled gently. “I’m not going to threaten you. I’m only going to ask. Where is the tape and film? I want every copy you created. Anything you may have written and names of anyone you spoke to.”
“I don’t have anything,” Natalie whimpered. “There was nothing there to tape. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Mira couldn’t decide if Natalie was lying or not. “You sound as though you’re trying to convince yourself more than me of that.”
Glazed brown eyes met Mira’s stare with an impressively steady gaze. Few people in this age were capable of direct eye contact with her. “There was nothing to tape,” Natalie responded vehemently.
The combination of tone and eye contact was nearly enough to convince Mira that the girl was telling the truth. The only problem was that the girl had previously told an entirely different story. Mira was positive that Natalie had seen something. The Feds appeared to think that a tape was in existence somewhere. “I would truly love to believe that. So tell me why you convinced the Feds that you have something on tape if you didn’t see anything.”
Natalie’s eyes fell to the carpet and she began rocking back and forth in the chair.
Approaching her, Mira tried to sound reassuring. “It’s okay, I don’t want to harm you in any way.” That much was true. Mira didn’twantto hurt her. Whether or not she was going to was entirely dependent on Natalie’s cooperation though. Mira sighed and put a gentle hand on Mira’s shoulder. “Calm down and take your time, think carefully about what you say. I need you to tell me what you did with the tape that the government is looking for.”
Knocking drew Mira’s attention to the door and she crossed the room to open it. Another urgent knock rapped on the door before she had a chance to open it. Pulling the door wide open she leveled an annoyed look on the man who had interrupted her conversation. “What is it Trey?”
Natalie recognized the large dark haired man from her supposed rescue standing there. Her stomach ached a little with remembrance of the man’s shoulder. She didn’t know if she should be grateful for the rescue or annoyed that he had taken her from her quiet white solitude to another set of interrogations. I wonder where these guys will put me when they’re done.
“I’m sorry to interrupt,” the man answered in a gravelly baritone voice. Natalie considered that the reverberating sound was oddly comforting. “The lycan Council is holding a meeting. They know about the break in and the missing patients. The Feds are making them nervous and now they have the Circle working with them. There is cause for concern.”
“How much information do they actually have,” Mira asked with quiet consideration.
“Neither side knows enough about our organization individually to be a problem. To date they’ve all assumed that when we’ve interrupted something one was doing, it was the other. Now they have a chance to compare notes and a reason to start the conversation. It’s hard to guess what conclusions they may arrive at based on what they know.” Trey trailed off in an insinuatory tone, shrugging his shoulders.
Mira nodded. “Now that they’re working together they may figure us out. That would be unfortunate. I truly did not want to get involved in any side at this point. Anonymity has too many benefits.” She sighed heavily and looked back at Natalie with annoyance. If not for the invention of cameras. I would love to go back in time and do something about that.”All right. Do whatever you have to do to keep the damage to a minimum. The Circle may be more easily dealt with than the Council. I want to know what happens in that Council meeting before they actually come to any decisions. The last thing we need is for the lycans to mess things up even more than they already have. I want some insight as to whether or not making a contact within the Council or the Circle may be a necessary evil at this point. Does Luther have any more information?”