Page 14 of The Last Ultimatum: Part 2

They all gathered around the table in the dining room where I was already sitting.

I wasn’t technically a part of Bravo, not even fully on loan to them at the moment. They were just the suckers stuck with babysitting me. I knew everyone was terrified I was going to run off half-cocked and do something stupid. It was why I’d been holed up in this ridiculous penthouse for the last few days.

“What’s going on?” Taylor asked before I could.

“Woody checked in and said one of the Tribes his team went to check out was just gone. It’s like they vanished. Patrick’s calling in with an update. Thought it best if we were all here for it,” Silas explained.

I started to get up and move to my bedroom before they told me to go to Taylor and Grant’s where the dampener was setup so I couldn’t eavesdrop.

“Stay,” Silas said. “I know you’re going to need to hear this too.”

I sat back down and the others filled in the empty seats.

When his phone rang, I jumped a little as nervous energy lit my body. I had the strong urge to get up and start pacing again, but somehow I refrained.

“Patrick, you’re on speaker. I have my full team plus Lachlan here.”

“Good. I’m afraid I have some disturbing news.”

“More disturbing than a vanishing Tribe?” Baine asked.

“You mean the one Charlie team found? Or the one Eliott’s group just found.”

“There’s more?” Silas asked.

“There more. It would appear the Collector’s also attacked Ravenden back here in the States.”

Everyone went quiet and then questions exploded all at once.

“Settle down, I may be able to provide some answers.”

“You’re in Ravenden? Why? Isn’t your mate basically about to explode? She was enormous the last time I saw her,” Tarron said.

“I won’t tell her you said so. And yes, the baby is due in three weeks. But also, this was that important. With all of you gone, I had to recruit some of the interns to assist me. With Collector activity at an all-time high, we had to check on ourallies. We all know the ravens are of particular high interest to the Collectors.”

“Cut to it. What happened?” I asked.

“There was an attack, a very calculated one and I fear that perhaps it’s being used on the Tribes as well. I’m sending over information through a secured email.”

Mine dinged first, well, Taylor’s.

“Go ahead and open it,” she told me.

I nodded and clicked the link.

There was a full report on fires set throughout Ravenden, fires that were causing an airborne toxin that was paralyzing people as vans pulled up and gathered the fallen. It was like something out of a post-apocalyptic novel.

I shuddered trying to decide if that or being shot with a tranquilizer was worse.

“Did Charlie find fires throughout the Tribe?” Jake asked.

“They did. I just got off the phone with Woody who confirmed it.”

“Well that at least explains that. These fires are knocking out, not killing though, right?” I asked.

“Correct.”

“So where are they taking them? That must be a pretty big facility. How is this flying under our radar?”

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