Chapter Fifty Two

*Ariya*


While Justin went to go get food I decided to reach out to Keo.
*Keo?* I sent the link to him.
*Hey, Ari. Everything ok over there?* He asked me.
*Yeah. Boss came in since we have to let him know when I have a memory. I feel like I get more confused each time he leaves the room.*
*What happened?*
I ran through the conversation with Boss.
*I wonder why he’s helping you so much.*
*Me too. But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to take some of his advice. If we all work together we might be able to come up with what to do next and stay ahead of him.*
*True. Now that we have Ivan, we’ll have more information on him too.*
*Speaking of, what’s this about saran wrap?*
Keo couldn’t stop laughing, *Oh you have to tell him about this!*
Keo explained what happened the night that they grabbed him. Ivan had freaked them out but they were still able to successfully do what needed to be done.
I laughed, *Caleb was really worried about his hair, huh?*
*He’s not wrong though, Ari. We gotta figure something out. As soon as he shifts, if his hair changes color it’s going to cause a lot of problems. We don’t need you in there alone. I don’t think he’d let you be there alone but I’m pretty sure we won’t be able to dye his hair correctly either.*
*I’ll talk to him about it. Speaking of shifting, he needs to shift soon. He almost shifted earlier.*
*Whoa. He can’t shift there. If he doesn’t shift back that will cause more problems also.*
*I know. I feel like every time we turn around a corner we’re hit with more problems. What are we going to do?* I asked Keo.
*You guys try to come up with solutions. We will too. Don’t forget there’s 5 of us. I’m sure between all of us we can come up with solutions. You both need to get all of your memories back so work what you can. We can talk about it more later tonight or tomorrow.*
*You guys need to try to get to him. Maybe you can help him when he shifts again.*
*We can try. We’ll look at the address you told me earlier. But Ari, if it’s being watched he might be on his own for a bit.*
*Yeah but you guys were able to lock his memories. You won’t be able to help him?* I asked, worried.
*We were only able to do that because it only took 5 minutes. Him being delayed 5 minutes one time isn’t going to raise too many suspicions. If he disappears again, even if it’s only 5 minutes, that might start to cause doubt. We need to be as sneaky as possible.*
I sighed, *You’re right. I’m worried about him though.*
*Now do you understand why I hated Justin?*
I laughed, *Not completely, but yes. I’m sure the more I remember, the more I will understand.*
*You will. It will become clearer as time goes on. Just be patient. Ivan knows who he is. You should be getting a new memory daily.* Keo reassured me.
*I know that’s supposed to be reassuring, Keo. But getting a new memory each day will mean meeting with Boss daily too. I have to be completely honest with him. If I’m not then he’s going to know.*
*You said he hasn’t used the serum anytime that Ivan was in the room right?*
*True, but my gut tells me there’s more to it. I don’t want to risk not being honest. But I don’t like giving him information.*
*I get it, Ari. But you’re not telling him anything that could harm us. You’re only telling him information that a kid would know. We were kids at that time. Him understanding how the energy manipulation works is like us understanding how a Switch works. Him knowing that Justin is actually Ivan is something that could hurt Ivan. We’re locking that stuff as it comes up. Ivan should always be in the room when you get your memory back. Boss isn’t coming in unless you already have a memory. So we should have time to lock anything we need to before he gets to you. Drake is getting quicker about it too.*
*True. I still don’t like it though. We need to be learning more about them.* I grumbled.
*We will. Him giving you advice tells you things too. Try seeing everything that happens. Don’t dwell on what you’re telling him. Focus on his reactions to what you tell him. Focus on the responses he gives. He’s giving you more than you might think.*
*If I do that he’ll notice, Keo.*
*Good thing you’re not alone then.* Keo laughed.
*Yeah but Ivan doesn’t remember our conversations when he’s Justin. How is he going to help?*
*Drake might be able to do something about that. He has to remember a little bit otherwise he wouldn’t be able to tell Boss when you remember something. Or remember what food to bring back. He just doesn’t remember anything important.*
*Keo, you’re a genius!*
*Shhhh don’t go telling everyone that. I don’t need people knowing that.* Keo laughed.
*Ivan should be back soon. I’ll reach out after we’ve schemed.*
*Sounds good, we’ll work on stuff on our side as well.* Keo said then severed the link.
Drake pushed right after so he could create the lock.
*We need to figure out how to let you do it with the link Keo makes.* I laughed.
*In due time, kiddo.* Drake laughed.
When Ivan came back I breathed a sigh of relief. Ivan flashed his wolf eyes at me letting me know it was him. I held my arms out to him, desperate to be in his arms. He came over to me quickly, scooping me up and sitting down at the same time so the chains didn’t pull at my joints. I buried my head in his chest breathing his scent in. Ivan breathed in my scent as well. I relaxed more in his arms. Ivan kissed me softly.
“You need to eat or your stomach might start waking up the demons in hell.”
I giggled as I moved out of his lap. We ate rather quickly since there were a lot of things we needed to cover.
“So I’m confused, how were you able to be a tracker?” I asked.
Ivan laughed, “I really can’t wait to find out who came up with that. To answer your question, even though my wolf side was repressed to where I couldn’t shift, I still had access to the rest of my abilities. In other words, my sense of smell and hearing. Trackers only need to be able to track whatever it is that they’re looking for. Which means they typically have a heightened sense of smell. They can’t tell the difference in abilities but they can catch a scent of a person. Most trackers can’t track as well as we can though.”
“So you cheated to get to the top.”
Ivan laughed, “Something like that.”
I laughed, “It’s a good thing you did though. Otherwise I’d probably be in here alone with someone else.”
Ivan growled, “Yeah, I guess I did something right as Justin.”