Del:
“Cornwall,” Del said. Riordan didn't look up from his paperwork. The stacks of paper choking his desk were taller than ever. With the new influx of wild talents popping up all over the UK, Riordan was not taking a holiday anytime soon.
“The human boy, Finnikin, is from Cornwall,” Del elaborated when Riordan didn’t respond. “There is some suggestion that the family adopted Nyssa when she was younger, though the records are suspiciously brief on the subject. There is no mention of a name, age or even the gender of the adoptee. Though I think it is safe assume that Nyssa was the child.”
“I’m pulling you from the assignment,” Riordan said offhandedly. Del froze.
“What?”
“It has been months,” Riordan continued bluntly. “This was supposed to be a straightforward extraction but there has been too many unnecessary complications. I’m turning this mission over to someone more experienced.”
Del started to talk, hesitated and then fell silent. There was nothing he could say to defend himself, everything Riordan had pointed out was true. Irritation swelled in the back of his throat but he shoved it down firmly.
“Who is taking over the mission?” Del asked after a moment. As if summoned by the question, there was a knock at the door.
“Come in, Vaughn,” Riordan called. A tall blonde man swaggered in, grinning. Del turned to face Vaughn, his face blank. Vaughn was the obvious choice. He knew the ins and outs of the mission. Del had been reporting to him from the beginning.
“Her adopted mother, Connie, has a birthday is in less than six weeks,” Del said, his face impassive. “I have reason to believe she will be in Cornwall for the event.”
“Thank you for your help, boy.” Vaughn’s grin didn’t falter. “But I will take it from here.”
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Six weeks later:
Nyssa’s house was very ordinary. Del wasn’t sure what he expected, but it wasn’t the neat flower gardens and quaint stone walls. Nyssa’s tattered jeans and purple hair did not reflect her upbringing in this normal looking English cottage. Vaughn seemed to be thinking along similar lines.
“Who know this would be the home of a freak,” he sneered. He was apparently of the opinion that race mixing was undesirable. Nyssa’s jinn and witch blood wouldn't win her any favors amongst a lot of the Caul. Del tried to ignore the inexplicable irritation Vaughn’s insult caused. He hardly knew the girl, who should he feel so defensive?
“Sir,” Del said, dryly, “with all due respect, perhaps you should keep your opinions to yourself until after the extraction. There is a good chance someone from the house will hear you.”
Vaughn sent Del a nasty look through the flop of blond hair hanging over his forehead but he fell silent.
They watched for a few minutes more. The plan was to surround the seaside cottage while Vaughn and Del entered and retrieved the girl. Vaughn gestured for team two to take their positions at the back of the property. Team one would stay just outside the front wall in case Nyssa fled. Del moved to enter the home but Vaughn stopped him.
“Change of plans, boy,” he said with a sneer. “You stay here. Sebastian’s coming with me.” Vaughn nodded towards the muscular man crouched next to him. Del flushed with anger. He suspected Vaughn would do something like this. The older man had sneered at Del’s efforts in taking the girl into custody. He’d condescendingly assured Riordan that he, the more experienced Caul operative, would complete the mission quickly. For the last six weeks, Vaughn had attempted to track down the girl with no luck. She had completely disappeared. Eventually, Vaughn had agreed upon an ambush based upon Del’s findings. It wasn’t surprising that Vaughn wanted to take control of the extraction even though he did none of the work tracking down Nyssa’s family.
That didn’t bother Del as much as the horrible feeling he had that Vaughn would make a mistake. Vaughn had no respect for Nyssa’s ingenuity and Del doubted he would be prepared for her willfulness and stubborn refusal to do what is best for her. The only way Nyssa would agree to go with them is if it were her idea. She was the sort of girl to refuse, just because she was told she had to. The scary thing was that she was perfectly capable of carrying out this refusal and escaping.
And Del doubted that they would find her again.
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Not totally happy with the breakdown of this chapter in terms of POVs. Might switch things around later on. if you have any suggestions let me know.