“It’s me,” the voice poured out of the phone speakers, distinct and identifiable. There was no mistaking who the person was. Maitho confirmed it when he saw Brigid stiffen. For the briefest of moments, her composure slipped. The shock registered on her face. But it was drowned by her control. It was like watching a speeding projector. One slide featured her emotions but before anyone could truly identify what they were seeing, the slide switched.

But Maitho had seen her transformation. Maybe he was even expecting something to happen. None of what he was doing gave him any satisfaction, yet he pressed on. This had to be done.

“He’s in the other room, where he shouldn’t be right now.” The voice continued.

The slow spread of suppressed fury on Brigid’s face was something Maitho expected. He was even prepared to accept that she might try something to attack. The wall of weapons loomed behind her like Jörmungandr’s eyes, watching him with a promise of violence. All it craved was for someone to reach out to it. Take in its many forms. Use its possibilities.

Brigid made no attempt to hide her intentions. She looked over at the walled armory and casually glanced across its offerings. Her eyes lingered on an automatic rifle. “This was supposed to be temporary. I’m not babysitting him,” her voice continued over the speaker. She didn’t give any indication that she even noticed the remark. She was engrossed in her analysis of the weapons. Her hand reached out to Epona’s crossbow and lingered there for a while. A small smile crossed her lips while her eyes looked with longing at the deadly tool. Without moving her hand, she began to look at the other items on display. Grenades, swords, spears, and all manner of guns, from rifles to shotguns and even to snub-nosed revolvers, gleamed under the overhead LED lamps.

“You said I would be rid of him long before the end of the month,” said Brigid to the listener, whose voice wasn’t audible, not even as a faint tone.

She picked up a handgun, looking at it one way and then the next. There was no need for such a show. But she wanted to send a clear message. There was no fear nor concern within her. Nothing could faze her, not even the audio revelation played for her. After she was done with her examination, she casually walked to the sofa and sat down, just like she had when she had spoken to Maitho a few hours earlier. The handgun dangled from one hand like it was a piece of accessory she wanted to showcase.

“He’s undermining my authority.” Brigid’s voice was rising. “My authority,” she exclaimed with a toxic blend of disbelief and rage. “I am the leader of this team. He is a nobody whom you took interest in.”

Soft taps on the carpet that grew louder and then fainter. Brigid was walking back and forth. Back in the real world, she started looking around the security room in a bored manner. She scratched below her ear as she looked at Maitho like she was viewing a crazy person. “I don’t care if he is important to your plan,” she continued on the recording. “Do you know what I had to do to get here? I can’t have this backfire on me.”

Maitho moved towards the opposite sofa. He sat down almost the same way Brigid was seated, by placing himself on top of the armrest. He didn’t imitate her posture however. He wasn't trying to challenge her. Simply out, if she was going to try anything, then he needed to be in close proximity to her.

“If that is the case, then why don’t you do the job yourself Charon?” said the voice of Brigid.

Maitho expected her to react. Maybe even show the slightest bit of guilt or remorse. Even a flicker on her face would have done. Something to show that she wasn’t indifferent to all of the things she had heard herself speak. All he saw was one of her eyebrows go up. A simple reaction that felt so out of place for the situation.

“I’ll have no choice but to let them in.” Those were her last words on the call before it ended.

Maitho switched off the recording and pocketed the phone. If something happened, he wanted to make sure that he had the proof of the conversation with him.

Brigid shrugged. “And?” She scoffed, her tongue running along her upper teeth. “You can’t do anything with that.” She pointed at his phone. “You can’t threaten me, Maitho. I’m not just any Guardian. I am backed by a very powerful entity, if you didn’t already figure that out.”

“Charon,” said Maitho, the name tasting like bile in his mouth. He felt as though someone had plunged their arm into his chest and were squeezing him from within. His body felt weak. The tips of his fingers had gone cold. The air itself felt like it had dropped several degrees.

Brigid nodded by closing her eyes. It was such a gradual motion, like she had all the time in the world. The smile that followed told him that she was humoring him. On her lap, the handgun had pointed towards him. The corner of her lips moved further sideways. “Tell me something,” she said. “Since you clearly brought this to my attention, it means you want to talk. But why? Why did you ask Epona to leave the room?”

The answer was simple. Yet he wondered if he should let out in the open. Should he really confide in Brigid after what he had just heard? But perhaps the truth might do something to change her mind. Make her see things from a new perspective. He wasn’t her enemy. Maybe if he could simply prove that, he might be able to break through the armor she has just erected around herself.

The truth didn't come out. In the end, what came out was an answer borne out of evasiveness, rather than trust. “I don’t want them involved in this, that’s all.”

Brigid shook her head. “You can do better than that. Come on, Maitho.”

He hesitated. There were other words that wanted to reach Brigid’s ears but Maitho prevented them from making their journey. He looked at her. The coldness of her eyes. The apathy of her posture. What could he possibly say to move her at this point? She was gone into the depths of her belief, far beyond his reach. He still had to try something. At that moment, he realized with alarm that all he wanted was to escape that room and turn his back on the entire situation. What about his death? He could cross that bridge when he reached there. He answered. “They’re good people, that’s why.”

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“They?” said Brigid and formed a look of pure surprise. “Wow. You have already made me out to be the bad guy.”

“I never said that. You simply asked about them.”

Brigid’s eyes narrowed as she looked at him sideways. “That’s not entirely the truth, is it?” Maitho didn’t respond. She continued. “Tell you what.” She slapped her thigh. “If you can tell me exactly why you want this talk to be just between us, then I promise you that I will hear your solution. I’m guessing you do have one right now.”

Maitho didn’t. All he could think of was escaping the building. But perhaps that could be a solution as well. He could just ask her to let him go. Besides, there was no reason for her to hold him back. He wouldn’t be around to pose her any threat. “They don’t deserve to see this,” he said finally.

“They don’t?” said Brigid, genuine curiosity in her voice.

Maitho shook his head. He was about to respond when he choked on his own emotions. He looked away as he cleared his throat, making it seem as though he was thinking. Deep down, he wished he didn’t have to speak at all. But he was clinging on to the fact that buried inside Brigid’s dark tunnel was a ray of light that just awaited discovery. “They care about you. I don’t want them to stop doing that.”

“Why do you care?” said Birgid, bemused. But her face slowly started to morph. Realization seemed to dawn on her. “Oh my,” she said, and began to laugh without control. Her reaction lasted long enough to make the seconds agonizing to Maitho. He gritted his teeth. When she was done, she blinked her eyes a few times. “You do care.” She looked at him the way a parent looks at a child who has done something affectionate. “Aw, you poor thing. Good for me, I suppose.”

“I am going to die,” said Maitho. He didn’t like the sound of his voice but such trivialities were beyond his concern now. “Whatever use someone has for me likely won’t matter. Let me go. All of this,” Maitho rotated his finger in the air, “will be just for you and your team. No more me.”

“No more you,” she said and sighed with content. “Such a fine proposal.” Then she became alert. “Tell me something. How did you figure it out? What made you look my way with suspicion?”

She was definitely trying to avoid ending the conversation. He didn't know why. Maybe she was genuinely curious. Or she could be trying to buy time. Either way, Maitho just wanted to get this over with. “Earlier this morning when you met me in the hallway, you mentioned that I have one month left to live.”

Brigid waited for a few seconds. Then she shrugged. “And?”

“How did you know?”

“Raiden mentioned that over the speakers. Are you serious? You really just went with guess work? I mean, I was expecting something ridiculous, but this exceeds my expectations.”

Maitho chose to not acknowledge her. “Raiden never mentioned that. Not once.” He then realized that he was beyond caring. He wanted to somehow attack the smugness on her face. “Then there was the fact that Raiden found me on the third floor. He couldn’t have possibly known Epona and I had gone there.” He was on a roll. A twitch flashed across Brigid’s face. It was a subtle reaction and Maitho noticed it because he was paying close attention. “When I started looking at those little odd events, then I started making connections with other oddities. How did Cray’s men know Epona and I were in the alleyway? How could Raiden have found Quinn near my apartment after he evaded Cray's army? No one followed me out of Cray’s mansion, but they somehow managed to catch up to Quinn? I once thought that perhaps it was all because of Cray’s resources. But something tells me that there is more to it.”

For a moment, Brigid did not speak. When she did, there was a tinge of venom in her voice, even though she was trying really hard to show that nothing Maitho said affected her. “Guess it’s not so ridiculous after all.” She stood up and slowly raised her gun to point at Maitho.

In that brief opportunity, Maitho grabbed the handgun tucked into the back of his jeans and brought it down to aim at her.

Brigid’s eyes widened. “Whose weapon is that?”

“I took it from the guard back at the house where we found Jennifer,” said Maitho. “I still had the one you had given me. I put that on the table. I had a hunch that when you identified the gun you gave me, you won’t check further.”

Ticks began to appear on various parts of Brigid’s face. It was like watching a house of cards tremble a little, but still maintain its structure. “Still wouldn’t help you.”

“I’m not here to hurt you,” said Maitho. “Even though you met Raiden tonight.”

Now her face fell. It happened in an instant. It contorted into something vile. Her eyes were locked onto his with the intention to deliver harm in whatever way suited her. “Were you following me as well?”

Maitho shook his head. “Do you really think you were driving a gray car?” Her eyes widened. “I noticed the extra car in the park lot and asked Quinn to move it. I then asked him to transform into the same car and pretend to be just an ordinary vehicle.”

“So what? You just happened to predict I was going to leave outside? Is that how your power works?”

“No, I couldn’t predict anything for certain. I just wanted to cover all avenues. It was just good fortune that you decided to head out tonight.”

“Good fortune, huh?” she said and let out a quick breath of disbelief. “Something you won’t be having much of tonight.”

“There’s no need for any of this,” said Maitho, another attempt at reaching out to her good nature. “None of this is going to end well.”

That was when the smile that had previously made itself scarce returned. “Not for you.” Then she looked over at the bank of monitors.

Maitho turned his attention to them. At first, he didn’t know where he should be looking. But that moment didn’t last long. His eyes were drawn to a flicker of movement on one of the cameras. It was the view of the building just outside the main door.

Dozens of people stood outside. No, not just dozens. The number of people seemed to block any view of the ground. The congregation extended all the way to the street.

What was more striking were their eyes. They seemed to hold a glow to them, as though something ethereal lay behind their irises.

When Maitho looked at Brigid, she looked like she was about to declare a win. “Who are they?” he asked.

To which, she simply answered. “Draugr.”