Chapter 157
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" Listen to me, Lana, you should calm down." - As if from the fog came the calm and a bit hypnotizing voice of Mike. He stood next to the hospital bed, leaning slightly and watching the face of the raging girl intently, trying to catch her gaze.
"No!" - Lana howled again starting to squirm on the bed, trying to break the chains. - "Release me immediately! How could you do this to him? How could you let him go with that bastard ?!"
Her screams were interspersed with growls and the thud of chains. As soon as she found out what Greg did as if something exploded inside her chest. The wolf inside whined, growled and freaked out. Lana could not cope with that hurricane of emotions and the despair raging inside.
Paul walked away from the window looking anxiously at the girl who had already managed to tear her wrists and ankles into the bloody mess with handcuffs. Then peered at the calm face of his friend.
"Listen, Lana! Stop throwing a tantrum!" - Finally, Paul couldn't take it anymore and snapped at Lana, with irritation. - "Do you think we wanted this? But we know Greg longer than you and understand that he is like a donkey. When he decides something, then he will never give up. Besides, you were dying. Do you think Greg would forgive himself if he acted differently? Would you in his place?"
Lan snarled at the redhead guy. Her fangs had already advanced to their full length, and her face had partially transformed. This look made Paul shudder a little, but he suppressed his desire to step back. On the contrary, clenching his fists, he moved closer and continued.
"All your anger and screams are now meaningless. You just came to your senses after you almost visited the other world. Even if we'll let you go, what will you do? Run to daddy? So what? Like this, you will not change anything. We barely coped with ten shifters on our territory. You just add one more hostage to him, and even the victim."
But Lana seemed not to hear him at all. The only thing that stuck in her head right now was to find Greg. Now! As if her heart was slowly covered with an increasing number of small cutting wounds, and it won't stop until his not beside her again. Each second apart was like a torture.
"Your screams just break my soul, girl." - Sounded the serious and at the same time slightly mocking voice of Frank from the side of the door. Lan immediately stopped twisting in chains and lifted her head. Frank didn't wait at the door and approached the bad, appearing in her line of sight.
"If you calm down now, then you will understand how stupid you are acting." - He said in a gentle tone as if trying to persuade the child.
But Lana did not hear his words. All her attention was directed only to one thing now, his hand ...
"Frank ..." - She finally whispered. He, noticing where her gaze was directed, and smiled sadly. His face was pale and even his usually disheveled wheat hair looked grayish.
"Don't worry about such a small thing." - He replied, pointing to the empty sleeve. - "I'll be fine. This happens when you don't calculate your strength and weakness. Do you understand?"
Hearing these words, Lana immediately frowned at Franky's hint.
"Guys, can you untie her already?" - Meanwhile, Frank turned to his two friends, who all this time anxiously looked at him. Mike and Paul have of course already heard about what happened, now they were more worried about the psychological state of a friend.
"Should you even be up so soon?" - Paul asked with concern, coming closer to Frank and carefully peering into his face. Mike, meanwhile, hurried to fulfill a friend's request and freed Lana from the chains. But the girl stayed froze in an awkward pose on the bed, not knowing how to act anymore. All this seemed more lka a nightmare, and she really wanted to wake up right about now.
"How could I lie quietly and stare at the ceiling, bored, when the walls were shaking from Lana's howling. I thought you had something interesting going on here, so I came." - Frank said with a grin, not paying attention to the worried faces of his friends. He went to Lana's bed and sat down on edge. His gaze was thoughtful as if he was weighing something inside. Noticing wet disinfecting wipes on the bedside table, Franky took a couple and began to wipe the girl's ankle smeared in blood gently.
"You know," - he finally spoke. His voice was quiet and somehow seemed rough, like gravel. - "More than ten years ago, when Greg and I were in the army, I also succumbed to feelings. But sometimes the heart tells us not the right decision. Especially at times when you need to think soberly and coldly."
Lana listened with bated breath to the words of the guy, although something prompted her that she would not like this story at all. Frank's eyes clouded and his voice became even lower.
"You know, some rules in war, you learn very quickly. How to move, where you can not stand, what you should not do. But at critical moments, all knowledge can just fly out of your head and you, like an idiot, just stand and bat your eyes. Or even worse, you do everything the other way around, putting yourself and others at risk. Like me at that time, when I listened to the heart, not the brain, and Greg, who tried to stop me."
"There was a girl in our squad. We were close friends and eventually became something more. That day we had to cross one alley. We knew that snipers appeared there frequently. But the duty should be done. Everything was good ... And then Anna saw on the other side of the street a child lying on the ground. She did not even hesitate to rush to him, although we were told more than once about such traps. But it's one thing to hear, and quite another to see it firsthand. She did not even have time to reach the middle of the street as she was shot in the leg, and then in the thigh."
Lana inhaled sharply, feeling her heart squeeze from pain. Her hands began to tremble, but what could she do? How could she comfort him now? Frank looked as if his thoughts were very far away now. As if he had returned to that day, to the dusty streets of a half-ruined, war-dismantled city.
"I've heard more than once that snipers always do so. They don't kill their prey right away, but only wound to lure more people in. I knew it. I f*cking knew it. But at that moment the brain seemed to go in overload. There was only one thought in my head - just to reach her in time. Yet I didn't. Got two more bullets just a step away from her. I fell and crawled in the dirt, watching as the third bullet smashed her head. Greg was smarter and was able to find a sniper first. And then forcibly dragged me on his back to our camp, while I, like a damn b*cth, wept and swore at him and everyone around me."
Frank paused and looked up at Lana. In his eyes, she read everything that he could not say. All these emotions and thoughts slashed at her mind, sobering up and making Lana terrified by her own actions.
"But I don't know what else to do ..." - she whispered, her voice cracked. "Even if we find the father now, how can I get him to return Greg? Can we even find him? We can't just sit and wait, hoping that this ... that he will just let go of Greg if we remain silent during the Council meeting."
"We do not need to be quiet." - Ryan's confident voice came from the door. The guy entered, carrying in her arms Maddy, who already did not even resist, deciding for the time being to bear the strange desire of this reptile to play the role of her personal means of transportation continually. Moreover, his closeness for some reason reassured her.
"What do you mean?" - Frank asked, turning around to his new friend. Ryan looked at him with displeasure, but apparently, restrained himself and didn't reprimand the disobedient patient, yet again.
"The Council meeting will be held tomorrow. We do not even have to look for Ian, he will most certainly be there, plus this year the Grand Council will be held at one of the estates of Winterbourne. I'm sure until then Greg is in relative safety. Yet Ian is not a fool to destroy such a big trump card."
Lana rolled this idea over in her head. The guy's words really sounded convincing.
"But even if we got there, how to make the father to give Greg back?" - Lana asked the most crucial question after a short silence. - "There will be a lot of shifters from different clans. We can't attack him there!"
"We will not attack him." - Ryan replied with a shrug. - "All according to the old plan. We will come to tell the truth and make the Council pass the final verdict on it."
"But what about Greg ?!" - in horror exclaimed Lana, jumping from the bed. - "The father is not one of those who just bluff. He will kill..."
" Shhh! Don't be so emotional. It is making me nervous. I hate all things like feelings. Ewww!"- Marina said with disgust, entering the room. In her hands was a tray and a stack of documents under her arm. Looking around, she found a bedside table and immediately went to her slowly. Only when the tray was neatly placed on the bedside table, and the paper was laid out on the bed, Marina turned again to those who looked at her impatiently.
" Rejoice! I'm here to save the day! I cleaned the training hall and found an exciting thing." - She began by taking out a couple of sheets of paper from the pile. - "I remembered that I accidentally left several samples of our new nanochips on the rack. Unfortunately there everything was broken, and it was impossible to find any remains. But then I noticed blood on the broken glass, and a thought occurred to me. After all, it was on this rack that Ian threw Greg at the very beginning of the fight. That time Greg still wasn't wearing mask and gloves. He could well have hurt his arm or neck being slammed so hard against the numerous bottles."
Marina looked at everyone with a triumphant look, as if she had just revealed to them the secret of the century.
"Marina, this is, of course, all very well. But we did not understand anything. Can you be express it in dumber words?" - Frank hurried to express the general idea seeing as Paul already opened his mouth. The girl sighed in disappointment, but still continued the clarification.
" On the shelves, there were two types of nanochips. They got mixed up. As a result, even the slightest injury was enough for them to activate and enter the bloodstream."
"This is amazing. But how will it help us that you infected Greg with some kind of unknown horseshit?" - Reaching his limit, snapped Paul. He always hated, when he couldn't get something. That's why he couldn't deal with this woman at all. Well, any woman to be precious.
But Frank was first to spoke up this time.
"By any chance are these nanochips somehow related to the one that gives out a signal and which can be transmitted through ..."
" Yes, exactly." - Marina hurried to cut him, ignoring the suspicious looks from Paul and Mike. - "I have already done some research and was even able to find the echoes of a possible signal. So far we have only an approximate location. Although it is a bit strange ... "
The girl chose one of the sheets and showed everyone the map, on which a place was marked with a circle. And this place was in the middle of the ocean. Where nothing should be.
" God!" - exclaimed Lana, the first to guess what it means.
" I think you should not panic so much." - Marina said, soothingly. - "Perhaps there is some kind of laboratory on this island and Greg is just sitting there in one of the cells. Your father puts his experiments only on shifters anyway. As a scientist, I wouldn't use him for any experiments even if he would really annoy me, be I in your father's shoes."
"Ah! Sister's love! That's cute!" - Snarled Paul, staring daggers at Marina
Lana turned pale. The rest did not look particularly convinced. The atmosphere began to heat up noticeably when silence was interrupted by the calm, cold voice of Mike, who had not even seemed to move up till now.
"You said that there were two types of nanochips. What about the second type, and what happens if you mix them up?"
Marina frowned, looking away. Then a little chewing on her lower lip, finally answering.
"Well, I think only Greg can now tell us about it ..."
_______________________________
Authors note
I wish you all a very Happy Christmas!
I hurried up this chapter, and I hope to make a bit more tomorrow, though I don't have any Christmas vacation as most of you.
My Christmas will be on the 7 of January.
But still, I wish you all enjoyable and delightful holidays. Lots of presents and affection from your loved ones!
And thank you so much for staying to this point with my novel!
It really means a lot to me. Sorry if I couldn't fulfill all your expectations!
I'll keep trying!
Love you all!!
Warm hugs and million kisses!
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
" Listen to me, Lana, you should calm down." - As if from the fog came the calm and a bit hypnotizing voice of Mike. He stood next to the hospital bed, leaning slightly and watching the face of the raging girl intently, trying to catch her gaze.
"No!" - Lana howled again starting to squirm on the bed, trying to break the chains. - "Release me immediately! How could you do this to him? How could you let him go with that bastard ?!"
Her screams were interspersed with growls and the thud of chains. As soon as she found out what Greg did as if something exploded inside her chest. The wolf inside whined, growled and freaked out. Lana could not cope with that hurricane of emotions and the despair raging inside.
Paul walked away from the window looking anxiously at the girl who had already managed to tear her wrists and ankles into the bloody mess with handcuffs. Then peered at the calm face of his friend.
"Listen, Lana! Stop throwing a tantrum!" - Finally, Paul couldn't take it anymore and snapped at Lana, with irritation. - "Do you think we wanted this? But we know Greg longer than you and understand that he is like a donkey. When he decides something, then he will never give up. Besides, you were dying. Do you think Greg would forgive himself if he acted differently? Would you in his place?"
Lan snarled at the redhead guy. Her fangs had already advanced to their full length, and her face had partially transformed. This look made Paul shudder a little, but he suppressed his desire to step back. On the contrary, clenching his fists, he moved closer and continued.
"All your anger and screams are now meaningless. You just came to your senses after you almost visited the other world. Even if we'll let you go, what will you do? Run to daddy? So what? Like this, you will not change anything. We barely coped with ten shifters on our territory. You just add one more hostage to him, and even the victim."
But Lana seemed not to hear him at all. The only thing that stuck in her head right now was to find Greg. Now! As if her heart was slowly covered with an increasing number of small cutting wounds, and it won't stop until his not beside her again. Each second apart was like a torture.
"Your screams just break my soul, girl." - Sounded the serious and at the same time slightly mocking voice of Frank from the side of the door. Lan immediately stopped twisting in chains and lifted her head. Frank didn't wait at the door and approached the bad, appearing in her line of sight.
"If you calm down now, then you will understand how stupid you are acting." - He said in a gentle tone as if trying to persuade the child.
But Lana did not hear his words. All her attention was directed only to one thing now, his hand ...
"Frank ..." - She finally whispered. He, noticing where her gaze was directed, and smiled sadly. His face was pale and even his usually disheveled wheat hair looked grayish.
"Don't worry about such a small thing." - He replied, pointing to the empty sleeve. - "I'll be fine. This happens when you don't calculate your strength and weakness. Do you understand?"
Hearing these words, Lana immediately frowned at Franky's hint.
"Guys, can you untie her already?" - Meanwhile, Frank turned to his two friends, who all this time anxiously looked at him. Mike and Paul have of course already heard about what happened, now they were more worried about the psychological state of a friend.
"Should you even be up so soon?" - Paul asked with concern, coming closer to Frank and carefully peering into his face. Mike, meanwhile, hurried to fulfill a friend's request and freed Lana from the chains. But the girl stayed froze in an awkward pose on the bed, not knowing how to act anymore. All this seemed more lka a nightmare, and she really wanted to wake up right about now.
"How could I lie quietly and stare at the ceiling, bored, when the walls were shaking from Lana's howling. I thought you had something interesting going on here, so I came." - Frank said with a grin, not paying attention to the worried faces of his friends. He went to Lana's bed and sat down on edge. His gaze was thoughtful as if he was weighing something inside. Noticing wet disinfecting wipes on the bedside table, Franky took a couple and began to wipe the girl's ankle smeared in blood gently.
"You know," - he finally spoke. His voice was quiet and somehow seemed rough, like gravel. - "More than ten years ago, when Greg and I were in the army, I also succumbed to feelings. But sometimes the heart tells us not the right decision. Especially at times when you need to think soberly and coldly."
Lana listened with bated breath to the words of the guy, although something prompted her that she would not like this story at all. Frank's eyes clouded and his voice became even lower.
"You know, some rules in war, you learn very quickly. How to move, where you can not stand, what you should not do. But at critical moments, all knowledge can just fly out of your head and you, like an idiot, just stand and bat your eyes. Or even worse, you do everything the other way around, putting yourself and others at risk. Like me at that time, when I listened to the heart, not the brain, and Greg, who tried to stop me."
"There was a girl in our squad. We were close friends and eventually became something more. That day we had to cross one alley. We knew that snipers appeared there frequently. But the duty should be done. Everything was good ... And then Anna saw on the other side of the street a child lying on the ground. She did not even hesitate to rush to him, although we were told more than once about such traps. But it's one thing to hear, and quite another to see it firsthand. She did not even have time to reach the middle of the street as she was shot in the leg, and then in the thigh."
Lana inhaled sharply, feeling her heart squeeze from pain. Her hands began to tremble, but what could she do? How could she comfort him now? Frank looked as if his thoughts were very far away now. As if he had returned to that day, to the dusty streets of a half-ruined, war-dismantled city.
"I've heard more than once that snipers always do so. They don't kill their prey right away, but only wound to lure more people in. I knew it. I f*cking knew it. But at that moment the brain seemed to go in overload. There was only one thought in my head - just to reach her in time. Yet I didn't. Got two more bullets just a step away from her. I fell and crawled in the dirt, watching as the third bullet smashed her head. Greg was smarter and was able to find a sniper first. And then forcibly dragged me on his back to our camp, while I, like a damn b*cth, wept and swore at him and everyone around me."
Frank paused and looked up at Lana. In his eyes, she read everything that he could not say. All these emotions and thoughts slashed at her mind, sobering up and making Lana terrified by her own actions.
"But I don't know what else to do ..." - she whispered, her voice cracked. "Even if we find the father now, how can I get him to return Greg? Can we even find him? We can't just sit and wait, hoping that this ... that he will just let go of Greg if we remain silent during the Council meeting."
"We do not need to be quiet." - Ryan's confident voice came from the door. The guy entered, carrying in her arms Maddy, who already did not even resist, deciding for the time being to bear the strange desire of this reptile to play the role of her personal means of transportation continually. Moreover, his closeness for some reason reassured her.
"What do you mean?" - Frank asked, turning around to his new friend. Ryan looked at him with displeasure, but apparently, restrained himself and didn't reprimand the disobedient patient, yet again.
"The Council meeting will be held tomorrow. We do not even have to look for Ian, he will most certainly be there, plus this year the Grand Council will be held at one of the estates of Winterbourne. I'm sure until then Greg is in relative safety. Yet Ian is not a fool to destroy such a big trump card."
Lana rolled this idea over in her head. The guy's words really sounded convincing.
"But even if we got there, how to make the father to give Greg back?" - Lana asked the most crucial question after a short silence. - "There will be a lot of shifters from different clans. We can't attack him there!"
"We will not attack him." - Ryan replied with a shrug. - "All according to the old plan. We will come to tell the truth and make the Council pass the final verdict on it."
"But what about Greg ?!" - in horror exclaimed Lana, jumping from the bed. - "The father is not one of those who just bluff. He will kill..."
" Shhh! Don't be so emotional. It is making me nervous. I hate all things like feelings. Ewww!"- Marina said with disgust, entering the room. In her hands was a tray and a stack of documents under her arm. Looking around, she found a bedside table and immediately went to her slowly. Only when the tray was neatly placed on the bedside table, and the paper was laid out on the bed, Marina turned again to those who looked at her impatiently.
" Rejoice! I'm here to save the day! I cleaned the training hall and found an exciting thing." - She began by taking out a couple of sheets of paper from the pile. - "I remembered that I accidentally left several samples of our new nanochips on the rack. Unfortunately there everything was broken, and it was impossible to find any remains. But then I noticed blood on the broken glass, and a thought occurred to me. After all, it was on this rack that Ian threw Greg at the very beginning of the fight. That time Greg still wasn't wearing mask and gloves. He could well have hurt his arm or neck being slammed so hard against the numerous bottles."
Marina looked at everyone with a triumphant look, as if she had just revealed to them the secret of the century.
"Marina, this is, of course, all very well. But we did not understand anything. Can you be express it in dumber words?" - Frank hurried to express the general idea seeing as Paul already opened his mouth. The girl sighed in disappointment, but still continued the clarification.
" On the shelves, there were two types of nanochips. They got mixed up. As a result, even the slightest injury was enough for them to activate and enter the bloodstream."
"This is amazing. But how will it help us that you infected Greg with some kind of unknown horseshit?" - Reaching his limit, snapped Paul. He always hated, when he couldn't get something. That's why he couldn't deal with this woman at all. Well, any woman to be precious.
But Frank was first to spoke up this time.
"By any chance are these nanochips somehow related to the one that gives out a signal and which can be transmitted through ..."
" Yes, exactly." - Marina hurried to cut him, ignoring the suspicious looks from Paul and Mike. - "I have already done some research and was even able to find the echoes of a possible signal. So far we have only an approximate location. Although it is a bit strange ... "
The girl chose one of the sheets and showed everyone the map, on which a place was marked with a circle. And this place was in the middle of the ocean. Where nothing should be.
" God!" - exclaimed Lana, the first to guess what it means.
" I think you should not panic so much." - Marina said, soothingly. - "Perhaps there is some kind of laboratory on this island and Greg is just sitting there in one of the cells. Your father puts his experiments only on shifters anyway. As a scientist, I wouldn't use him for any experiments even if he would really annoy me, be I in your father's shoes."
"Ah! Sister's love! That's cute!" - Snarled Paul, staring daggers at Marina
Lana turned pale. The rest did not look particularly convinced. The atmosphere began to heat up noticeably when silence was interrupted by the calm, cold voice of Mike, who had not even seemed to move up till now.
"You said that there were two types of nanochips. What about the second type, and what happens if you mix them up?"
Marina frowned, looking away. Then a little chewing on her lower lip, finally answering.
"Well, I think only Greg can now tell us about it ..."
_______________________________
Authors note
I wish you all a very Happy Christmas!
I hurried up this chapter, and I hope to make a bit more tomorrow, though I don't have any Christmas vacation as most of you.
My Christmas will be on the 7 of January.
But still, I wish you all enjoyable and delightful holidays. Lots of presents and affection from your loved ones!
And thank you so much for staying to this point with my novel!
It really means a lot to me. Sorry if I couldn't fulfill all your expectations!
I'll keep trying!
Love you all!!
Warm hugs and million kisses!
" Listen to me, Lana, you should calm down." - As if from the fog came the calm and a bit hypnotizing voice of Mike. He stood next to the hospital bed, leaning slightly and watching the face of the raging girl intently, trying to catch her gaze."No!" - Lana howled again starting to squirm on the bed, trying to break the chains. - "Release me immediately! How could you do this to him? How could you let him go with that bastard ?!"Her screams were interspersed with growls and the thud of chains. As soon as she found out what Greg did as if something exploded inside her chest. The wolf inside whined, growled and freaked out. Lana could not cope with that hurricane of emotions and the despair raging inside.Paul walked away from the window looking anxiously at the girl who had already managed to tear her wrists and ankles into the bloody mess with handcuffs. Then peered at the calm face of his friend. "Listen, Lana! Stop throwing a tantrum!" - Finally, Paul couldn't take it anymore and snapped at Lana, with irritation. - "Do you think we wanted this? But we know Greg longer than you and understand that he is like a donkey. When he decides something, then he will never give up. Besides, you were dying. Do you think Greg would forgive himself if he acted differently? Would you in his place?"Lan snarled at the redhead guy. Her fangs had already advanced to their full length, and her face had partially transformed. This look made Paul shudder a little, but he suppressed his desire to step back. On the contrary, clenching his fists, he moved closer and continued."All your anger and screams are now meaningless. You just came to your senses after you almost visited the other world. Even if we'll let you go, what will you do? Run to daddy? So what? Like this, you will not change anything. We barely coped with ten shifters on our territory. You just add one more hostage to him, and even the victim." But Lana seemed not to hear him at all. The only thing that stuck in her head right now was to find Greg. Now! As if her heart was slowly covered with an increasing number of small cutting wounds, and it won't stop until his not beside her again. Each second apart was like a torture."Your screams just break my soul, girl." - Sounded the serious and at the same time slightly mocking voice of Frank from the side of the door. Lan immediately stopped twisting in chains and lifted her head. Frank didn't wait at the door and approached the bad, appearing in her line of sight."If you calm down now, then you will understand how stupid you are acting." - He said in a gentle tone as if trying to persuade the child.But Lana did not hear his words. All her attention was directed only to one thing now, his hand ..."Frank ..." - She finally whispered. He, noticing where her gaze was directed, and smiled sadly. His face was pale and even his usually disheveled wheat hair looked grayish."Don't worry about such a small thing." - He replied, pointing to the empty sleeve. - "I'll be fine. This happens when you don't calculate your strength and weakness. Do you understand?"Hearing these words, Lana immediately frowned at Franky's hint. "Guys, can you untie her already?" - Meanwhile, Frank turned to his two friends, who all this time anxiously looked at him. Mike and Paul have of course already heard about what happened, now they were more worried about the psychological state of a friend."Should you even be up so soon?" - Paul asked with concern, coming closer to Frank and carefully peering into his face. Mike, meanwhile, hurried to fulfill a friend's request and freed Lana from the chains. But the girl stayed froze in an awkward pose on the bed, not knowing how to act anymore. All this seemed more lka a nightmare, and she really wanted to wake up right about now."How could I lie quietly and stare at the ceiling, bored, when the walls were shaking from Lana's howling. I thought you had something interesting going on here, so I came." - Frank said with a grin, not paying attention to the worried faces of his friends. He went to Lana's bed and sat down on edge. His gaze was thoughtful as if he was weighing something inside. Noticing wet disinfecting wipes on the bedside table, Franky took a couple and began to wipe the girl's ankle smeared in blood gently."You know," - he finally spoke. His voice was quiet and somehow seemed rough, like gravel. - "More than ten years ago, when Greg and I were in the army, I also succumbed to feelings. But sometimes the heart tells us not the right decision. Especially at times when you need to think soberly and coldly." Lana listened with bated breath to the words of the guy, although something prompted her that she would not like this story at all. Frank's eyes clouded and his voice became even lower."You know, some rules in war, you learn very quickly. How to move, where you can not stand, what you should not do. But at critical moments, all knowledge can just fly out of your head and you, like an idiot, just stand and bat your eyes. Or even worse, you do everything the other way around, putting yourself and others at risk. Like me at that time, when I listened to the heart, not the brain, and Greg, who tried to stop me." "There was a girl in our squad. We were close friends and eventually became something more. That day we had to cross one alley. We knew that snipers appeared there frequently. But the duty should be done. Everything was good ... And then Anna saw on the other side of the street a child lying on the ground. She did not even hesitate to rush to him, although we were told more than once about such traps. But it's one thing to hear, and quite another to see it firsthand. She did not even have time to reach the middle of the street as she was shot in the leg, and then in the thigh." Lana inhaled sharply, feeling her heart squeeze from pain. Her hands began to tremble, but what could she do? How could she comfort him now? Frank looked as if his thoughts were very far away now. As if he had returned to that day, to the dusty streets of a half-ruined, war-dismantled city."I've heard more than once that snipers always do so. They don't kill their prey right away, but only wound to lure more people in. I knew it. I f*cking knew it. But at that moment the brain seemed to go in overload. There was only one thought in my head - just to reach her in time. Yet I didn't. Got two more bullets just a step away from her. I fell and crawled in the dirt, watching as the third bullet smashed her head. Greg was smarter and was able to find a sniper first. And then forcibly dragged me on his back to our camp, while I, like a damn b*cth, wept and swore at him and everyone around me."Frank paused and looked up at Lana. In his eyes, she read everything that he could not say. All these emotions and thoughts slashed at her mind, sobering up and making Lana terrified by her own actions. "But I don't know what else to do ..." - she whispered, her voice cracked. "Even if we find the father now, how can I get him to return Greg? Can we even find him? We can't just sit and wait, hoping that this ... that he will just let go of Greg if we remain silent during the Council meeting.""We do not need to be quiet." - Ryan's confident voice came from the door. The guy entered, carrying in her arms Maddy, who already did not even resist, deciding for the time being to bear the strange desire of this reptile to play the role of her personal means of transportation continually. Moreover, his closeness for some reason reassured her."What do you mean?" - Frank asked, turning around to his new friend. Ryan looked at him with displeasure, but apparently, restrained himself and didn't reprimand the disobedient patient, yet again. "The Council meeting will be held tomorrow. We do not even have to look for Ian, he will most certainly be there, plus this year the Grand Council will be held at one of the estates of Winterbourne. I'm sure until then Greg is in relative safety. Yet Ian is not a fool to destroy such a big trump card."Lana rolled this idea over in her head. The guy's words really sounded convincing. "But even if we got there, how to make the father to give Greg back?" - Lana asked the most crucial question after a short silence. - "There will be a lot of shifters from different clans. We can't attack him there!""We will not attack him." - Ryan replied with a shrug. - "All according to the old plan. We will come to tell the truth and make the Council pass the final verdict on it." "But what about Greg ?!" - in horror exclaimed Lana, jumping from the bed. - "The father is not one of those who just bluff. He will kill..."" Shhh! Don't be so emotional. It is making me nervous. I hate all things like feelings. Ewww!"- Marina said with disgust, entering the room. In her hands was a tray and a stack of documents under her arm. Looking around, she found a bedside table and immediately went to her slowly. Only when the tray was neatly placed on the bedside table, and the paper was laid out on the bed, Marina turned again to those who looked at her impatiently." Rejoice! I'm here to save the day! I cleaned the training hall and found an exciting thing." - She began by taking out a couple of sheets of paper from the pile. - "I remembered that I accidentally left several samples of our new nanochips on the rack. Unfortunately there everything was broken, and it was impossible to find any remains. But then I noticed blood on the broken glass, and a thought occurred to me. After all, it was on this rack that Ian threw Greg at the very beginning of the fight. That time Greg still wasn't wearing mask and gloves. He could well have hurt his arm or neck being slammed so hard against the numerous bottles."Marina looked at everyone with a triumphant look, as if she had just revealed to them the secret of the century. "Marina, this is, of course, all very well. But we did not understand anything. Can you be express it in dumber words?" - Frank hurried to express the general idea seeing as Paul already opened his mouth. The girl sighed in disappointment, but still continued the clarification." On the shelves, there were two types of nanochips. They got mixed up. As a result, even the slightest injury was enough for them to activate and enter the bloodstream.""This is amazing. But how will it help us that you infected Greg with some kind of unknown horseshit?" - Reaching his limit, snapped Paul. He always hated, when he couldn't get something. That's why he couldn't deal with this woman at all. Well, any woman to be precious.But Frank was first to spoke up this time."By any chance are these nanochips somehow related to the one that gives out a signal and which can be transmitted through ..."" Yes, exactly." - Marina hurried to cut him, ignoring the suspicious looks from Paul and Mike. - "I have already done some research and was even able to find the echoes of a possible signal. So far we have only an approximate location. Although it is a bit strange ... "The girl chose one of the sheets and showed everyone the map, on which a place was marked with a circle. And this place was in the middle of the ocean. Where nothing should be." God!" - exclaimed Lana, the first to guess what it means. " I think you should not panic so much." - Marina said, soothingly. - "Perhaps there is some kind of laboratory on this island and Greg is just sitting there in one of the cells. Your father puts his experiments only on shifters anyway. As a scientist, I wouldn't use him for any experiments even if he would really annoy me, be I in your father's shoes.""Ah! Sister's love! That's cute!" - Snarled Paul, staring daggers at MarinaLana turned pale. The rest did not look particularly convinced. The atmosphere began to heat up noticeably when silence was interrupted by the calm, cold voice of Mike, who had not even seemed to move up till now. "You said that there were two types of nanochips. What about the second type, and what happens if you mix them up?"Marina frowned, looking away. Then a little chewing on her lower lip, finally answering."Well, I think only Greg can now tell us about it ..."_______________________________Authors noteI wish you all a very Happy Christmas!I hurried up this chapter, and I hope to make a bit more tomorrow, though I don't have any Christmas vacation as most of you. My Christmas will be on the 7 of January.But still, I wish you all enjoyable and delightful holidays. Lots of presents and affection from your loved ones!And thank you so much for staying to this point with my novel! It really means a lot to me. Sorry if I couldn't fulfill all your expectations! I'll keep trying!Love you all!!Warm hugs and million kisses!
