Violet Eyes

83: Out of Time

The next morning
Azriel's lair

Nerissa opened the door to the main lounge, she saw Jaya sitting on one of the couches. Sitting on the other couch was his brother, Reiko. They both glanced over at her as she entered, but Nerissa walked over and sat next to Jaya. "Hi, JJ. How are you this morning?" She asked him happily as she brushed some loose strands of hair off her legs. Reiko watched the conversation with an almost bored expression on his face.

"I'm fine, thank you. How are you?" Jaya responded with a normal tone as Nerissa sat down next to him and folded her hands on her lap.

"I'm lovely this morning!" Nerissa responded with a warm smile, even though she was lying. She wasn't feeling very good, her last time seeing Nate was still weighing on her mind, even if she didn't want to admit it. She wondered why those thugs were trying to kill him before she quickly dismissed the thought, coming to the conclusion that Nate had probably said something to piss them off. That wouldn't exactly be off brand for him. She shook her head before turning to face Reiko on the other couch. "How are you, Reiko?" She asked him happily, Reiko looked slightly surprised for a split second before it faded.

"Why do you care?" Reiko answered in a slightly cold tone as he looked at Nerissa with a blank gaze. Nerissa heard Jaya sigh softly.

"There's no need to be so grumpy, Rei-Rei. I asked because I'm curious, that's all." Nerissa said with a chirpy lilt in her tone before Reiko's hard gaze made her take pause.

"My name...is Reiko. And if you must know, I'm particularly excited. Azzy has given me a job to do that I'm rather eager for." Reiko said with a sly smile that sent a chill down Nerissa's spine, even if she wouldn't admit it. Jaya had explained his brothers Gift to her and it was...unsettling, to say the least.

"Oh, well...I'm sure you'll do great!" Nerissa added in a fake cheery tone and added a small smile.

Reiko smiled again as he stood up to leave the room, presumably to go on his mission, "Oh, I will."

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Later that day, Nyx walked down the hall casually with her eyes looking down. She could feel the eyes of other agents stabbing into her as they passed her in the hall. She wasn't expecting the constant stares to make her feel so isolated, just like she felt at her high school. Some things never change.

Nyx opened the door to her mother's office and saw Kyle was already standing at her desk, they both looked at Nyx as she entered. "Thank you for being here so quickly." Elizabeth started as Nyx walked up to her desk. "I called you here because something unsettling has started happening in the city earlier this morning." Elizabeth typed on her keyboard and the screen of light appeared in front of Nyx and Kyle. The two tensed slightly at what they saw, it was photos of bodies. The bodies looked...disturbingly wrong, they had dark green veins creeping across their skin, converging at different spots. The neck, the wrist, the side of their face. Each of them had wide eyes and open mouths.

"The police have labeled the cause of death as cardiac arrest, but judging on those strange veins on the bodies, it's more likely that a Gifted is at fault here." Elizabeth said with a tired tone as she leaned back in her chair. "It appears that this strange infection is most likely inflicted from injection, based on the injection sights on each body. So this could be a Gift related to poisonous blood. I'm counting on you both to bring this Gifted individual down quickly, and be careful. We don't know what they are capable of."

"It won't be an issue." Kyle said casually as he turned around and waved above his head. Nyx exchanged a look with her mom before she turned around to follow Kyle. As they both left, Elizabeth tapped one finger on the surface of her desk a few times. She was also beginning to notice a change in her daughter's behavior...