Jaxton growled out, “Enough.” At the authority in his tone, everyone fell quiet and he carried on. “Neena will be here soon. I suggest we settle around the table or she might jump and expect us to help her bodysurf.”
Petra bit her lip. She would love to see Jaxton and Will helping Neena surf over their hands. “Do you know what it’s about?”
Kiarra answered, “Probably about the Earth Talent, although with Neena, who knows.”
Petra met Will’s gaze. He’d been studying the woman’s blood in between his bedside vigils. “Is there something you haven’t told me, Will?”
Will shook his head. “Most of the tests are still running and will take some time to complete. Unless they’ve taken her off the rowan-berry juice, I have no idea what Neena wants to discuss.”
The elemental earth user’s name was Naiyana Chaiket, but preferred to be called Yana. Apart from revealing her name and the fact she was Thai-born and raised near Chiang Mai until age thirteen by parents she wouldn’t talk about, the woman had been quiet. Neena’s orders were to not take advantage of the woman, which included no detailed questioning. The rowan-berry juice was only being administered to keep her from using her powers until a skilled earth user arrived to help her learn to control her abilities.
Eyeing her brother, Petra then looked to Millie. “Are you sure Neena wants Dom here?”
Millie bobbed her head. “Of course. I’m not about to get onto Neena’s shit list by bringing strangers to a super-top secret meeting without her permission.”
Before she could ask any more questions, a cheery voice boomed out, “Let’s get this party started!”
Taking a deep inhalation, Petra turned her face toward Neena. The woman wore a form-fitting, black party dress without any straps. Her hair was twisted up into a fancy hairdo. Neon-colored stars dangled from her ears.
Will was the first to speak up. “May I ask why you’re wearing a dress?” Neena raised her brows and Will gritted out, “Your highness?”
Neena beamed. “I wanted to look pretty. Thanks for noticing.” She waved a hand at the chairs ar
ranged around a table. “Sit down. The sooner we’re done with the boring stuff, the sooner we can crank up the music and start dancing.”
A quick glance at Dom and Petra saw her brother frowning in confusion. As Will wheeled her past Dom, Petra whispered, “Just go with it. I’d suggest keeping quiet until you better understand the way things work here.”
“If you say so,” Dom muttered.
Considering her brother’s penchant for not following advice, Petra only hoped Dom didn’t do too much damage.
As everyone settled around the table, Petra waited to see what would happen.
~~~
Will sat beside Petra’s wheelchair and took her hand in his. Keeping one eye on her no-good brother, he listened as Neena started to speak.
“Let me start with the obvious—because we’re fabulous, we have three of the four Talents on our side. You may think the next step is finding the fourth one. However, you’re wrong. There is a selfish, greedy dimwit we need to take care of first.”
Neena leaned against the wall and took out a mobile phone. As she fiddled with it, Jaxton chimed in. “Care to expand on that?”
Putting up a finger to signal to wait, Will debated pinning Neena up against the wall and shaking some answers out of her. Not only did he have research to do, he needed to talk with Petra in private about her brother. Will was clever enough to know Petra wouldn’t take any edicts well. However, he needed to find a way to prevent Dom from taking advantage of his sister.
Just as he moved to stand up, Neena met his gaze. “I wouldn’t suggest it, researcher man. The fate of the world is in my hands. You just need to be patient.”
Jaxton’s terse voice answered, “Neena, get to the point already. We each have a million things to do. Watching you play with your phone isn’t one of them.”
Neena sniffed. “Only because I love you, Jaxy, will I let your tone slide this time. Eventually, your impatience will get you into trouble.” Jaxton opened his mouth to reply, but Neena beat him to it. “Any-who, a woman is collecting Feiru with latent abilities. She’s completely unoriginal and calls herself the Collector. You all need to find her.”
Neena took two steps to the door and Will quickly asked, “That’s it?”
She shrugged. “I can’t always be holding your hands. Step up and figure it out yourself.”
The DEFEND leader clapped her hands and music blared from somewhere. Before anyone could blink, she rushed out of the room and slammed the door behind her.
The music instantly died down.
Everyone looked at each other before settling on Jaxton. The DEFEND commander cleared his throat. “Just because Neena didn’t spell things out doesn’t mean we can’t accomplish the mission. Kiarra and I know someone who has had a run-in with this woman and will talk with them for more information. Millie, study the transcripts and videos of Giovanni’s interrogations to see what you can find about the woman who kidnapped those three volunteers.”