Revolution (Book 3 of POE Chronicles)

Chapter 26 Talk the Talk

Chungkit Wong muttered a string of words that caused Lei An and her two minions to stare at him in shock, so I safely assumed that they were swear words. Grandpa's Hugo face remained steady, but the shade of white displayed on his face was a giveaway at his nervousness.

I squinted at the pack in front of us, letting my senses drift outwards tentatively and trying to gauge whether they were friend or foe. It seemed awfully hard to figure out who was on your side nowadays.

Deciding that they were clear of all malicious intentions, I stepped out of the vehicle, breaking the tense stare down that we were lock in for the past minute. Several protests for me to get back into the car were whispered, but I ignored them as well as the ferocious thumping of my heart and advanced towards the pack.

Several of the Lupas flanking the sides immediately retreated, and I slowed down as well as raising my hands up to let them know that I meant no harm. One of the Lupas standing right at the front craned its head at me, and I knew that it was the alpha.

We mean no harm. I sent a message towards it, keeping my palms out and up. The Lupa froze for a second before narrowing its eyes at me.

So it is true. The Lupa stood up taller and straighter, heading towards me. I could hear some shouting from behind, but I was too focused at the present exchange to hear what was said. A girl with the power to talk to us has finally arrived.

You don't seem happy. I questioned, stating it as a fact and not putting any emotions into it. If I had learnt anything with the Legres, it was that however intelligent they might be – they are still fundamentally different to us. They have killer instincts, fierce loyalty and no bs. If anything, I had come to like the Legres more than some, if not most, of the human that I knew.

I am not. The Lupa replied curtly and I felt my stomach twists. Just because this particular pack of Lupas wasn't hostile, it didn't mean other groups wouldn't be. After letting her knew that we had come to renew the peace treaty, the pack threw me a look that I couldn't quite decipher (possibly because of the facial feature difference between human and wolf-legres), we were let past.

"Don't do that." Viktor said at me as soon as I climb back into the car, with a hand over his chest. "It was like we were watching you walking over to get eaten."

I raised my eyebrow at him, feeling just a bit guilty for not giving them any warning. I was too nervous, and ended up acting on my instinct. Grandpa Hugo didn't say anything, but I could see from his frown that he wasn't entirely happy with me either.

Chungkit Wong, however, took the whole incident in stride and told Lei An what I assumed was 'step on the gas', since we were speeding off in no time. He threw me a look that seemed amused, and a bit nostalgic.

"Are we there yet?" Viktor asked, and I was glad he voiced it before I did. We hadn't really been driving for that long, but I was already starting to feel the tension building up inside me. There was something about this particular Ruin that caused the hair on my arms to rise and a tingling feeling spreading across them. It was like someone had poured cold acid into my back.