Chapter 181

Chapter 181
Ryker

This is going to be a task I linked Zayne. 
No kidding. What are we going to do? Zayne asked. 
Go see Boss.
We left the room and I could feel my memories dissipating. I still retained some knowledge when my true self was hidden but not enough to remember what I was. Once we got to Boss’s office, I let myself in. 
“Well? How did it go?” Boss mused. 
“As expected. She should be out for the day. We’ll take Justin out after we’re done here.” I told him. 
“So boring, did she scream? Was she scared? What did you tell Justin? I want details here, Ryker.” Boss questioned me. 
I sighed, “Yes, she screamed. Yes she was scared. Justin was told to wait in her room until we got back. He doesn’t know where we’re going yet.” 
“You’re no fun Ryker. I take it Justin will be gone all day? And the 2 of you?” 
“Probably. After we’re done with him I might come back, I might not. I haven’t decided. Who knows if she’ll even be moving around in her room again today.”
“She’s interesting, isn’t she?” Boss grinned. 
“I’m interested that she’s a Navi. Whether she’s actually interesting or not I haven’t decided fully. I want to fight her though. I want to fight Justin again too. I’d love to fight them both at the same time. I haven’t had a good fight in a while. Everyone now is so weak it’s boring.” 
“Do what you want Ryker. Just don’t kill them. I need someone to watch Ariya and if you kill Justin that duty will fall to the both of you. As for Ariya, I need her alive if I’m going to figure out how to beat Drake.” Boss laughed.
“Don’t we already know their weaknesses? What’s the point of having her?” Zayne asked. 
“For one thing, she’ll have the rest of her family coming to me without me having to hunt them down. For another, it’s not about their weaknesses. I mean yes, that’s important too, but I want to know their limits. You really think we know everything there is to know about them?” Boss questioned. 
“It’s unlikely. But we do know enough to be able to kill them.” I said. 
“I want to know more. Ariya thinks she has some master plan that’s going to beat me. I can’t wait to show her how wrong she is.” Boss grinned. 
I smirked, “Master plan huh? I can’t wait to find out what that is.”
“Drake locked it away. You’ll be finding out as I find out. In the meantime, I want you to train Justin more, he needs to stay ahead of Ariya’s abilities. I also want Ariya trained, she’s useless to me how she is now. She needs to be pushed to get to Drake’s level if we’re going to beat him. See if you can figure out how to turn her against her family while you’re at it.” 
\- -

Ivan

“I wasn’t expecting that. I mean it’s not like I could remember anyway but still. Your Uncle, Ari?” 
“That wasn’t something I had planned for. We don’t really have time though, Ryker will likely be back in a few minutes.” Ariya told me, squeezing me tightly. 
I breathed in her scent and kissed her softly on the forehead, “I’ll be back as soon as I can, princess. In the meantime at least we’ll still be able to talk.” 
“It won’t be tonight though.” She said sadly, burying her face into my chest. 
“At least we can be with each other the whole time even if it’s not physically face to face.” I tried to reassure her. 
She sighed, “I know. I should probably lay down though and pretend I’m unconscious just in case Boss comes back with Ryker and them. You should probably sit in the chair by the door. I can bring the others into my mind and have you as an overhead. That way you’re not stuck in my head if they walk in suddenly.” 
I took her face in my hands and kissed her deeply before letting her go to sit in the chair. Ariya laid down on the mat and pulled the others into her mind.
Ariya! Where’s Ivan? Are you guys ok? What the hell happened? Drake’s panicked voice came through my mind. 
It’s ok, but we don’t have much time. Ivan’s listening but isn’t in here with us just in case they come back. There’s too much to explain but we need you to fix the lock on Ivan and I’s minds to include Ryker and Zayne. Ariya told him. 
An image of Ryker and Zayne flashed through my mind. 
Are you crazy? Aren’t they working with Boss? Why would Drake adjust the lock? Keo asked. 
Keo, there’s no time. Just trust us. I pulled you in so the lock could be adjusted and then I could try to show you guys as much as I could before they come back. But it’s ok. Ryker’s not who you think. I mean he is, but that’s not the whole story. Ariya tried to explain. 
She’s right. Ryker is the one that trained me when I got here. He knows who I am. I get where you guys are coming from but you’re only working with a tiny bit of the information. We’ll explain everything we can, there’s just not enough time right now. We need the lock adjusted, then we’ll try to show you guys everything. But after that, I need the 3 of you to meet up with Ryker, Zayne and I in the forest. I told them. 
How can we be sure it’s not a trap though? Drake asked. 
We can’t. So be ready. The lock can always be fixed again, but for now we have to have a little faith. I told them. 
Drake sighed, Fine, everyone has to leave so I can do this quickly. After I’ve fixed Ariya’s lock, I’ll fix yours, Ivan. Then they can show us everything. 
Drake made quick work of fixing the lock on Ariya. I knew the others weren’t thrilled about this but I also knew that if Ryker was going to out me as an Original Navi wolf he would have done it 14 years ago when I was at my most vulnerable. I wasn’t sure what Ariya remembered about Ryker but I could feel that she was sure he could be trusted. After Drake fixed my lock I nodded at Ariya. She connected everyone once again but this time the images of her memories flashed through my mind as if someone pressed fast forward. You would think that I would only get part of the information but it was like she had downloaded it into our minds. 
That’s not possible. Drake gasped.
It is, those are all my memories. Ariya told him. 
I think I would know if I had another child besides your Mom, Ariya. The only memories that were locked for me were the ones that Derek asked me to lock and the ones of the plan. Drake said, confused. 
Ryker isn’t my Mom’s brother, Drake. He’s yours.