Reaching Answers (Artemis University #8) - Erin R Flynn Page 0,10

ideals, but it would be nice if anyone was ever consistent.

While we had all been taking sides and handling the fallout, all of Ainsworth’s black market contacts and associates went underground. Not to the Underground—the supe terrorist organization—simply went dark and underground. I’d had to specify that or had others make sure that was clear to me several times. Others thought it was a serious problem and were startled how efficiently they’d pulled it off.

I’d snorted. Hunting evil in the dark was a specialty of mine. Working in the shadows meant less eyes to see what you were doing as well. We had more than enough to go after them when we had the support and were ready. We’d get them.

Now we could be tactical and strategic, taking them out one at a time with accuracy instead of have to do it like FBI raids and with sweeps that lost too much in big nets. They would be stupid now and think no matter how many were caught that they were safe because they were smarter and better equipped.

I’d seen it dozens of times and knew how to handle it all.

But they had clearly been ready for Ainsworth to get caught. That was what people on our side were saying over and over again.

I had a different answer. Ainsworth had set up a plan for it all to go dark in case the shit hit the fan and someone tied to him got caught. That made much more sense to me. He was the Bond villain that had a self-destruct button on his lair or ship in case the good guys ever showed up so there was no evidence to tie him to his crimes.

He seemed that kind of guy and smart enough to plan things that tightly. The supe police weren’t idiots from what I’d seen, and he hadn’t even been on their radar, nor the black market, before we’d given them everything we’d had. That was a good villain.

A smart one, which was the worst kind to go up against.

But he was locked up with the wolf shifter council, and given what they’d already made him confess to and released clips of to supe media to play… He wasn’t getting out. Ever.

His head was going to be separated from his body from what I’d heard.

I would cheer.

Loudly.

What I wasn’t happy about was the other new issue in my life—one of so many—and that was the hobgoblins fighting. Ryfon wasn’t the only one who had known the truth about my birth and what the last name Vale meant.

And shit went down from there. People were confused and trying to figure out what had set off so many of the generally happy hobgoblins, but of course they wouldn’t talk about it.

But there were a lot pissed they were kept in the dark.

That I was kept in the dark.

I was too but after I’d calmed down a bit, I’d accepted Ryfon’s request to explain last week, going to the kitchen after hours and sitting down with him.

“You were drowning, Princess,” he had said, his tone pained and his skin turning blue with sadness and grief. “You had such a huge burden placed on you and were struggling so much. At first, I could not believe it was you. I thought you lost. You had to be since I knew Queen Meira would never have left you to this fate. When I saw you and knew it was you, I realized…”

It hit me hard. “That she was dead and things had gone drastically off the rails.”

“Yes, exactly that,” he had choked out. “And how could I tell you that? How could I be the one to break apart your world again after your world shattered, and you were dropped into the supe world after all you suffered? I could not do that to you! Not yet. Not when there wasn’t even hope you could find others. Why tell you and put this all on you when you didn’t even know…”

“If I could save them,” I had sighed.

I didn’t have a good response in light of what I’d just done to Mel. He told me his concerns of my running, knowing I had been close several times. They couldn’t chase me or help me in the way I needed. I honestly understood all of that.

It left me only truly upset I had to hear it from someone like Neldor instead of him that I trusted. He was right not to tell me originally,