The Arena novel Chapter 81

A few weeks later, we’re joined by Avani, his elf friend, Merethyl, Kaylani, and Ishir. Ishir is the best tracker among us. With the work he does searching for missing humans and supernaturals, he travels all over and has the potential to find the hidden bunkers where the Chief is creating his hybrids.

“We have to consider the fact that there will be more dragons,” Bastian says. His mate, Jena, recently delivered their baby, so he’s been out for a while. I left him here while we went to bring down the aArena. He wasn’t happy about it, but I needed him focused and protecting his mate and unborn child, had him laser-focused on protecting the pack while we were gone.

“Not only will there be more dragons, but we need to figure out how this Chief is able to kill them from a distance.”

“I have an idea about that,” Merethyl says. “I asked my brother to do some research for us, and he found that, in the past, hunters would insert small little explosive devices into the brains of supernaturals they were experimenting on. That way, if they escaped, they could kill them before they had a chance to let others know what was going on. One of our kind made it home before the explosive device killed him. That’s the only reason we know this.”

“Do we have any idea what this explosive device looks like?” Avani asks her.

“We think it was like a small pill in his brain. They would have somehow injected it.”

“If it can be injected, it can be removed,” Tana says.

“Or burned out,” Kenna says.

“Perhaps flushed out, in case fire causes it to go off,” Kaylani says kindly, looking at my daughter.

“We need to find our own scientist, someone willing to work with us on this. Someone willing to help us. Anyone have any ideas?”

“Instead of a scientist, what about a doctor?” Galen asks. His mate, Palila, is due to have their baby any minute. I left him to guard the pack when we attacked the arena for the same reason that I left Bastian.

“A doctor could work,” Ishir says. “I know of several scientists, but none that I would trust with this. A doctor who is sympathetic to the supernatural community could be very helpful.”

“Do we know anyone like that?” I ask.

“I might know someone. I’ll need to be careful in how I approach him but let me see what I can find out,” Ishir says.

“Also, we need Zephyr. How much longer is she due to be in the desert, Avani?” my daughter asks callously. I say callously because it’s obvious that Avani has a thing for this elf. I’m not exactly sure what’s going on between them, but I can tell from the look on her face that she didn’t know about Avani and Zephyr. Avani looks more uncomfortable than I’ve ever seen him look.

“She and her baby should be returning in the next few weeks,” he replies.

“Just one baby?” Tana asks him.

“As far as I know. I haven’t talked to her in over a month.” he says and gives a side-eyed glance to Merethyl. Yep, there is definitely something going on there.

“How long do you need to contact this doctor, Ishir?” I ask him, bringing the subject back to our plan.

“A couple of weeks at least,” he says.

“Okay, let’s plan to reconvene in two weeks. Kaylani, can you contact Zephyr and get her caught up on what’s going on and that we’re going to meet here again in two weeks?”

“Of course, I can contact my sister. I’ve only given her time because she’s been laying her egg. But I do know he hatched a couple of weeks ago, so he should be able to fly in two to three more weeks. When he does, she’ll be back. If she is, I’ll make sure she’s here for our meeting.”

“Avani, you and Merethyl continue looking for the hidden bunker or bunkers, and Tana, Kenna, and I will do the same.” I say.

“Can do,” Avani says.

“Alright, I think we all have our instructions. Any questions?” I ask.