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Vidar enjoyed the feeling of having Charlie pressed up against his side and he was relived Caine looked as good as he did.
“So?” Caine asked as he was scratching Shadow. Vidar was amazed by how quickly the little black animal had become a part of their little family. Vidar told them what had happened after they had left. He could see the glint of regret in Caine’s eyes as Vidar in short described the battle outside the planation house.
“After Popov was dead, we took the other two out through the front door after Henry had disabled the fire trap. By that time the rest of the newly turned vampires had been dealt with and we let the our allies decide what would happen to Drakos and Sato,” he said.
“And what was the decision?” Charlie asked. Vidar hesitated, he still didn’t know if he wanted
her to hear all of it. “I’m not delicate, Vidar,” she said with a sharpness to her voice. He k*ssed
her temple.
“No, you’re not,” he agreed and told himself he couldn’t protect her from the uglier parts of their life forever. “Drakos and Sato were torn into very small parts and I would guess most of them are residing inside the creepy crawlies of the swamp now.”
“How did you do the clean up?” Caine asked.
“Popov did most of the work for us. He had put in triggers that would make the entire area go up in flames. We just used his own plan to remove the traces of what happened, we added som demon fire for good measure. We also scattered some bullet casings to give it a more modern feel. Last we heard, the police is connecting it with the bombing in Vegas. The working theory is that it’s a gang war,” Vidar told them.
“I think I have an idea on how we can reinforce that,” Charlie said. Both men looked at her.
“Ples tell us,” Vidar said. He was curious about what that amazing brain of hers had figured
out.
“We can use PRAM,” she said. Vidar had no idea what she had just said.
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“What?” Caine asked.
“The software Luce and I created. Pattern Recognition And Manipulation,” she proudly told
them.
“PRAM,” Vidar said. She nodded.
“While you were sleeping and you were out fighting, I needed something to keep me occupied. So I got to thinking and made som adjustments to the software. I was thinking about how it would be nice to have an extra layer of protection against snooping humans. And that led me to think that if my software can recognise patterns, it wouldn’t be such a big leap to have it manipulate them to create the narrative we want them to tell,” she explained. Vidar looked at her. He thought he understood what she was saying, but technology wasn’t his strong suit.
“Baby, are you telling me we can use PRAM to create digital traces?” he asked.
“Yes. We know the government, for one, scans the digital lives of everyone, looking for patterns, just like we did. But on a much larger scale. So by using PRAM we can alter some of the details to create a pattern that shows what we want it to show. We don’t even need to create new evidence. I used parts of the tracer technology to create a way to alter already existing traces. It will be very hard to see that the evidence was tampered with,” she
answered.
“You are brilliant,” Caine said. He sounded at awe. Vidar shared the feeling.
“You are, this is something I never even would have thought about,” he agreed. Charlie
smiled.
Η
“Thank you.”
“I will let the clan know. We can discuss it when we meet them the day after tomorrow,”
Vidar said.
“We are having a Thursday club meeting?” Charlie asked and sounded exciting.
“We are. It’s about time things return to normal. And we have to welcome out newest
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member to the table,” he told her.
“Who?”
“Liwei, she is staying state side. Seems she and Jun has worked things out. At least to the point where they can be on the same continent,” Vidar told her with a chuckle.
“Amazing! Then I can hold her to her promise to train me.”
“We can do that, lilla lo,” Vidar said and looked at Caine. Caine nodded.
“I know, but I think this will be better,” she told them. Vidar got a feeling there was something she didn’t tell them. It felt like sha had made a plan of her own. He would trust that she would tell them when the time was right. The front door opened and for a second Vidar tensed up and saw Caine do the same. “It’s just Huxton,” Charlie informed them and Vidar recognised her brothers scent. It didn’t take long before Tyson were telling them dinner
was done.
“I’m starving,” Caine said as they headed down. Huxton greeted both Caine and Vidar with a smile. He looked tired but genuinely happy. they sat down to eat and Vidar enjoyed the feeling of being a family. Aiden and Liam had become a little better at hitting their mouth when eating since he had seen them last. It was incredible how fast they evolved, he thought.
“Does this mean we can move back home?” Tyson asked. “Not that we haven’t loved staying
here,” he added. Charlie smiled.
“Yes, it’s safe,” Vidar told them. The both looked to relax at that. The rest of the time they were eating they discussed more mundane things. As Charlie and Caine cleared the table and Tyson got the twins cleaned up, Huxton asked to speak to Vidar in private. Vidar showed him
into his office. Vidar didn’t tell him that both Caine and Charlie could listen to them without
problem. If Huxton needed to have the conversation in private, he would get it. But Vidar would end up telling both Charlie and Caine about it so he didn’t have an issue with them being able to hear.
“First. Thank you for keeping my sister safe and sending her home when you did,” Huxton
said. Vidar nodded.
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“It was for the best,” he simply said. It was Huxton’s turn to nod. “But that is not why you wanted to talk.”
“No,” Huxton agreed. “James is being released tomorrow. He has an ancle monitor and his allowed range is no where near Grim INC or your apartment. But I thought you should know. I know there are… thing you can do. Now more than when I thought you were a simple mafia boss,” Huxton said and chuckled. “I’m asking you to refrain from it. I know James has been an idiot and some of the things he did to Charlie I won’t forgive him for. But I don’t want him to end up dead.” Vidar looked at Huxton. He had fantasised about killing James, at one point it had been his favourite daydream. But he found he didn’t have the need anymore. Charlie had chosen Vidar, more than once and in more than one way. James was no longer a threat.
“I won’t touch him as long as he dosn’t go after Charlie. If he comes for her, all promises are null and void, any one of Caine, me or Charlie may end up killing him at that point,” Vidar
said.
“I guess that is fair. Thank you,” Huxton told him. Vidar smiled.
“To be honest. If he stays away I don’t think we will spare him mush thought. We will have so much to do. It’s time for Charlie to learn how to be a vampire and she has school and work,”
Vidar said. Huxton smiled as well.
“I like that. She deserves to have all of that in her life. I shouldn’t be saying this, because as
her older brother it’s my role to be hostile toward the men in her life. But she was fortunate to find you, you have been good for her.”
you.” They got up:
“It means a lot coming from you. Thank joined the other in the living room. Charlie smiled at Vidar and hugged him.
“Thank you for handling it like that,‘ she linked him..
‘It’s just the truth. James has no place in our lives moving forward, so why bother thinking of him? I think it’s a worse punishment for him to keep living knowing what he lost,‘ Vidar told her and k*ssed her. Huxton and Tyson was starting to plan their move back home and Caine was reading. Vidar was satisfied with sitting on the couch, keeping an eye on everyone and holding Charlie. Tyson and Huxton were the first one to head to bed.
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“I think I’ll head to bed,” Charlie said a short while later.
“I’ll join you,” Vidar told hem and they said goodnight to Caine. Vidar still had the feeling there was something Charlie had on her mind. They got into bed and he pulled her in closer until she was resting half on top of him. ‘Are you going to tell me what is going on in your mind?‘ he asked in a link.
‘I have a couple of things I want to talk to you about,‘ she confessed.
‘And you have been holding it in?‘ he asked.
“Yes, I wanted us to have time to talk and not be disturbed.‘ It sounded serious so Vidar
k*ssed the top of her head.
“Tell me,‘ he urged her.