On mere examination with my eyes, I could confidently say they would be alright, but if my energy levels didn't go down in an hour or two, I'd give them all a boost when the doctors weren't looking.
Technically illegal, but would I really let such good magic go to waste? I think not.
"They'll be okay," Tanner pointed out, and I realized he was back at the doorway. "Can you hook up Lisette? I'd do it but I sense Alaric on the verge of waking up."
"That ain't good." I frowned. I could only imagine a cranky Alaric, ready to short-circuit the entire building. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn’t witnessed the whole fiasco myself.
He was lucky I always backed up everything on my computers or I would have lost all the medical data I'd collected, from Bianca's injuries to Charles's growing global warrant.
"You're going to induce him again?"
"I doubt that's going to work this time," he admitted. "Maybe I can seduce him."
My blank stare made him smirk. "It really does work when I try hard enough, though Bianca is better at it."
"She's still stable," I whispered. He slowly nodded, worry etching into the lines of his face as his eyes seemed far away. "I didn't know."
I knew what he was referring to and I slowly nodded and looked to my right to see Lisette's sleeping figure resting on the white medical bed.
"We all have to hide what should be easily discussed without judgment," I quietly stated. "Even if it means we're not like every other normal individual who doesn't have it hard."
"How do I even bring it up?" Tanner pondered. "We...didn't know about what truly happened in the alley. We knew she had a dark past and she put it all away for Jade's sake...but nothing like what Charles revealed."
"You know the guy who did it is still alive."
The news had his eyes grow wide as he turned his attention to me. I leaned my back against the wall and allowed the darkness within me to creep into control.
Opening my eyes, I looked back at him with serious orbs of darkness.
"I looked into it before Alaric short-circuited everything."
"You didn't lose-"
"Everything's backed up and securely protected. No one, not even Charles, can break into my new system, though I doubt that's on his mind at this moment in time."
"I thought she killed him." Tanner was clearly assuming, and he had every right to.
"In a world of magic, you think they can't easily find a doppelganger?"
"Fuck," he cursed. "You don't think he's going to try and-"
"I've researched what he’s been doing for the last five years, and it’s intriguing how he seems to be in contact with a few familiar individuals."
"Who?" Tanner's voice was deadly.
"Charles, Ross, and one more that I need to confirm. As for his plan for payback, I think that's exactly what Charles was doing in exchange for a hiding place or protective immunity in the black market."
"Fucker," Tanner hissed and clenched his fists.
"I have a lock on him. Every move will be tracked. He won't be able to come near Bianca, let alone any of us, but there's something I'm going to have to look into."
"The way you're speaking is as if there's a rat in our midst." He was catching on, which only made me smirk in delight.
"You're getting to know me better."
"Not this dangerous side of yours," he dryly commented. "Who?"
"I can't say. The walls have ears," I declared. "But I'll reveal it shortly. Just need to talk to a certain squad."
"They wouldn't," Tanner pointed out and I nodded.
"I know they wouldn't, but they're going to have to realize they're tools in all of this and will put us and Lisette in danger if they don't smarten up."
"Why did they pull away from Lisette?" Tanner questioned.
"The exact reason why Charles was fighting to ensure Lisette never met Jade."
"Are you trying to hint that Lisette is a Hive Queen of her own?"
"A queen that's connected to another queen. Can you imagine for a second the heightened danger of having two Hive Queens that are connected to quadruplets?"
"But the R-squad aren't in the same predicament as the Maxwells," Tanner reasoned.
That actually made me chuckle. "Assumptions aren't stronger than hidden mistakes. You'd be surprised how similar the two groups are, and yet they butt heads."
"You're not saying the enemy wants to manipulate the R-squad before they can figure out their true connections with Lisette, are you?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying. And that's why Charles kidnapped and enslaved her for ten years, hoping that very connection would shatter and she'd become a cynical mastermind that would kill each of them in an act of revenge."
Tanner was staring at me with wide eyes and I pushed off the wall and moved past him into the room.
"Go get Alaric calmed before we have an issue stabilizing all the patients in the hospital. We'll discuss this later once I've finished my research and have a little talk with the R-squad."
"Don't go all lethal on them," Tanner warned.
I looked back to give him a wide smile. "I'd never do such a thing."
"Liar." Tanner shook his head. "Why would I advise you? You do what you want."
"That I do, but in comparison to my father, I actually take advice when I feel like it," I concluded. "See you soon, and make sure you get a bit of a nap yourself."
He nodded and began to walk down the hall, leaving me to close the door and the curtains to give Lisette some privacy.
Hooking up the machines would be easy, especial since she was in her school uniform instead of her tight leather combat attire from earlier. I wondered when during the battle before our arrival she’d gotten the opportunity to change, but it seemed irrelevant to think about as I began to flick on the machines.
So much was happening and we'd yet to start the Christmas holiday. I wasn't sure what my plans would be during the two-week holiday, especially with the turn of events.
I already knew Charles wouldn't dare be a fool and try to come out of hiding. He could have tried to embark on a journey to a different universe than before, but in his current state of weakness, that could be suicide.
Traveling with magic through universes was one of those off-the-wall conversations that I'd been finally getting a chance to dig into thanks to Lisette's aid. I couldn't figure out how she was so knowledgeable when she had to be under Charles's watchful eyes all the time.
She'd somehow managed to create connections far more powerful than what we had as an entire agency.
Scary.
I could see why she was an agent at an early age, but with what I was becoming more sure about, we'd need the R-squad to transfer departments.
Another tricky gamble.
Agencies were tricky about transferring even one agent who was powerful. I couldn't imagine four of them. I couldn't grasp more info on the R-squad, and Leonardo was also a mystery, but I was secretly hoping Lisette would be able to aid me in my research like she had been with this investigation on Charles.