Free Web NovelChapter 95: _Chaos He Kept Hidden
Phoenix Flight HQ
Han stood on the balcony of his suite, one hand on the railing holding him back from the bustling Aurelia city below. The other hand held a phone in front of his face, constantly replaying a video.
The video in question was the clip of Ambrose rushing out of the lobby restroom. Then it also rewinded, replaying the empty minutes where he should’ve realistically walked into the restroom.
Han had retrieved these videos from the security logs just so he could look deeper. As far as he knew, Ambrose wasn’t affiliated with any space or teleportation-type Espers.
Sure, he seemed to have something unexplainable going on with Devon and Viktor... but it ended there. Or at least, he thought it did.
He’d considered waiting till after the Vatican City meeting to be able to get a chance to talk to Ambrose. Watch for things like facial expressions and body language while he interrogates him.
Maybe even show the clips to Devon so he could see how shady his new boy toy was.
Yet all those ideas felt too far away to be enacted. And if there’s one thing he loathed it’s waiting. Especially when he could get something done with a few calls.
His phone rang with a call from a private number just then. His forehead creased for a beat before calm settled back on his face.
He knew who it was.
"Speak," he went straight to business, speaking Korean. "Any update? Were your people able to find the C-Rank?"
There was a short pause, making Han lift a brow. The other person should be aware of how much he values his time.
"... We had one of our B-Ranks corner him in Vatican City," the other person finally responded in Korean. "Our latest ping from him was that he’d spotted him and was forcing him into an alley where he could—"
"Straight to the point, brother." Han rubbed the bridge of his nose, keeping the phone glued to his ear.
Another beat of silence passed before the person at the other end spoke. "We lost signal. From the B-Rank we sent."
Han had been two steps away from full-on pacing when the words cut through. He froze, blood running cold as the words rang in his head.
"What?"
"We had his signal," the other person said, voice edged with disbelief. "We were expecting an update from him and then... gone. We no longer got pings from him."
Aether energy built up in the Guide’s chest, his anger swirling like a whirlpool. "Tell me what this means. Plainly."
"It means he couldn’t get a hold of the target to extract the information you needed from his memories," the man sighed. "And it also means our person might be... deceased."
His fingers tightened around the phone before he could control himself. His eyes darkened, the sounds from the city below dying out.
"Hello?" The person blurted in Korean before switching to English. "Hello? Should I—"
Han hung up, slipping his phone back into his pocket. His eyes swept through the city block before pinning on another skyscraper ahead.
"Shit." He cursed, brushing back strands of his black hair.
This could mean two things.
One, Devon found them and eliminated the Esper without second thoughts. But that sounded... so unlike him. The Devon he knew would want to grab a witness.
Extract evidence.
No—this felt like whoever took the Esper out was desperate. Which left only one other possibility. One that was so crazy he couldn’t even begin to fathom how it happened.
"Ambrose." His palms clamped hard around the railing.
★★★★★
Vatican City
"And you’re sure nothing happened here, Mr?" One of the city guards asked Ambrose for what felt like the umpteenth time.
He and his colleague had been questioning him about the noise in the alley, telling him a few reports suggested hearing an explosion.
"Very sure." Ambrose nodded, masking his sniffle behind his hand. "Just came in here to take a call and ended up falling on those trash cans."
He gestured at the alley behind him, keeping his voice calm. Still, his tone was on edge and his hands shook, making him look not so innocent.
The guards exchanged looks, seeming like they were still going to ask him more questions.
"Ambrose?!" a baritone cracked through the pedestrian noises, forcing the men to snap their necks in that direction.
Devon.
He held two plastic ice-cream cups, golden orbs flitting from Ambrose to the guards beside him. Concern flickered on his face. "What the hell happened? I was just about to call."
Ambrose’s mouth parted but all he managed to do was let out a shaky breath. He hid his hands behind his back, like they held evidence of his sin.
"Oh," the other guard straightened. "Hunter Devon. Of the Phoenix Flight Guild."
Devon nodded as he got in front of them. "Yeah, is everything okay here? He’s with me." He didn’t hide it, wrapping an arm around Ambrose’s waist.
After giving each other one last glance, the guards nodded. "Please, no loitering around alleyways. Others could see you doing that and think you’re up to something suspicious."
The words were for him but Ambrose couldn’t even respond. He just gave an uninvested nod, head angling away from them.
As they left the duo, Ambrose let out a raspy exhale. He doubled over, hands on his knees as flashes of what went down in that alleyway raced through his mind.
The blood spraying out of the stab he made. The fear and shock in the man’s eyes. The way his flames devoured him before he could even scream.
Devon’s brows knitted when he saw the shift in his demeanour. "Rose?" He whispered. "What’s wrong? Are you—"
"Home." The word came out too quickly, but he didn’t care. He stood upright again, forcing a tight smile as he snatched one of the ice-cream cups from Devon. "I just... want to sit. Away from all this."
That got Devon’s gears running. "Oh—okay," he kept his hand on the Guide’s waist, leading him away. "I’ll go tell the lady at the counter to give us takeouts."
His fingers lingered on Ambrose’s waist just a second too long, reading the tension he couldn’t yet explain. But he didn’t say anything.
Neither of them noticed it yet, but someone was already watching, piecing together the chaos that should never have happened.
