The Arena novel Chapter 50

When we get home, Kenna can’t stop talking about Cedric.

“Cedric recognized that he’s her father?” Ishir asks.

“No, he just realized that she’s my daughter. He thinks you or Avani are her father, or he alluded that you might both be.”

Ishir gives me a ‘you’ve got to be kidding me’ look.

“Momma, when can we see him again?”

“I don’t know, sweet girl. I don’t even know how to get ahold of him.”

“He left his number in your bag.”

I look at her, frowning. “He did?”

“Mmhmm, when you were shifting, he put it in your bag. I saw him.”

I walk to my bag, opening it, and there it is: a note from Cedric:

Tana,

Here’s my number. Please use it.

Cedric

And under that is his number. I look at it. It looks vaguely familiar. I don’t remember ever calling him before, but I take his number and put it in my cell phone.

I convince Kenna to continue training the following weekend, but the weekend after that, she wants to see him.

I finally suck it up and call him. It rings twice.

“Alpha Cedric,” he snaps.

“My apologies, Alpha. If you’re busy, I’ll call back later.”

“Tana.” The entire demeanor of his voice changes and relaxes.

“You sound busy, I can …”

“No, honestly, I was just wondering if I would hear from you.”

“Well, I wanted to invite you to join my daughter and me at the mountain again this weekend if you’re not …”

“I’m not, and even if I was, I will make my schedule work to fit yours. Should I plan to be there Friday night or Saturday morning?”

“My schedule and our need to fly don’t allow us to leave before Friday night, so Saturday morning would work best.”

“I’ll see you then, Tana.” I start to hang up. “And Tana?”

“Yes.”

“Thanks for calling.”

“See you Saturday, Cedric.”

For the next couple of months, that’s how it goes. Every other weekend, Kenna and I train, and every other weekend, we spend time with Cedric. He watches us as I train Kenna and even provides some input here and there about things that he sees from the ground.

I’m back at work, digging through my files on The Masters, Inc. I’ve run up against several dead ends. These people are good, but I’m better, and I will find them.

“Ms. Blaze. A Mr. Thierry is on the phone for you,” Ms. Larken says on the intercom.

“Put him through, please, Wren.”

When my phone rings, I pick it up. “Mr. Thierry. How can I help you?”

“Ms. Blaze. I would like to get a status update on where we are with finding The Masters.”

“Oh, Mr. Thierry. I apologize, I’m not prepared to give you a full report at the moment. I’m working on your file right now and can give you an overview of what I’ve found.”

“I’m coming to town later this week, Ms. Blaze. I would like to meet in person.”

“Oh, uh, give me a moment.” I check my schedule and Edur’s as well. “Would Friday work for you, Mr. Thierry?”

“I think it will, Ms. Blaze. I have some other business to attend to while I am there, so I’ll plan to stay the weekend.”

“Okay then, I’ll see you soon, Mr. Thierry. I look forward to finally meeting you.”

“Oh, I definitely look forward to meeting you, Ms. Blaze.” Okay, that was weird.

“Have a nice day. Goodbye, Mr. Thierry.”