Awakening (2 book series)
Awakening – Following Fate Chapter 124

I finally hit the marble surface of the ground floor and skid to a halt before I reach the main door, a sudden thought hitting me right in the head which falters my steps. It's so obvious and yet I facepalm myself for being this stupid and slow to even pick up on it until now. Instead of running around in the dark like a headless chicken, I have the means under my nose to bring Varro to me. I spin on my heel to face my nearest wolf, suddenly enlightened on the easiest method for an outcome.

"Let's go to the security room where Carmen is." I nod the command, raising a brow, only get a gruff wolfy snort in response before my guards turn and push me along the darkest part of the house. No argument when their Luna commands, because Radar isn't here to question anything and no one outside the sub pack would ever dare. "What is with the lack of lighting in here, can one of you not go replace the generator?" I snap in frustration, knowing this is not even a point but already my nerves are taut, and I am all out of whack with tension. I follow closely, one wolf in front and the other falls back to my heel to keep me flanked. Ever aware of keeping me safe and yet it doesn't help settle my inner turmoil at all. My mind brimming with scenarios and thinking this might be the best way to do things quickly and possibly limit the damage to my pack out there.

We get to the room where Carmen has holed herself up and push the door open quickly, sliding inside. She's sat typing away like a maniac, a furrowed brow and determined expression as she chews on her lower lip and nods to signal, she knows we walked in. Her whole aura screams of intense concentration and mild agitation, And I can tell how furiously she has been working to get the frequencies separated already.

"If you want an update then don't get your hopes up. The file was recorded at one time with both sounds, so I cannot pull them apart. I need to try and replace the original deterrent file and replace what I have but Juan has the system so locked up I can't get into anything. I need more time." She snorts as if disgusted, rams a few more keys with heavy prods and keeps on tap, tap, tapping like a maniac as she squints at the only illumination here. The monitor: and I wonder how the back up power is still connected to tech but not to anything else in the house. I wonder if he re-routed all remaining dregs to the security room to make sure his weapons stayed in place.

"It's not why I'm here. The sound system outside for the frequency.... does it also work as a PA system?" I push up beside her, pulling out a swivel stool and drop down to her level pulling her attention for a second.

"Of course, it's what's used to send this sound over the valley. All the speakers outside are connected and playing this on a loop at all hours." She doesn't seem to understand why I'm asking, not clicking on what I would want a PA system for so I cover her hand with mine to get her to focus for a second.

"Is there a mic in here for me to make an announcement?" I press on. My plan is simple.... Call my father out in a way he's sure to hear if he is really here. Bring him to me instead of running around like an idiot trying to replace someone I have never seen. A loudspeaker shout out that says, come see me. Carmen's expression straightens as she thinks for a second and then nods towards the desk to the right side of my tilted body.

"Ummmmm...announcement? Are you going to politely ask the vampires to stop doing what they are doing?" A sardonic tilt of the brow and she squints at me as though I have lost my mind. I flick her in the forehead with an utter sigh of frustration and sometimes wonder if Carmen pretends she's dumb, or if she sometimes really is.

"Carmen, honey... I say this with utter adoration, but, Meadows right...you are not the sharpest tool in the box.... I am trying to call my vampire father out and replace a way to end this. I want him to come to me!" I say it slowly and precisely while widening my eyes as though she's having to translate a foreign language she doesn't know.

“Ahhhhhh. Yeah, huh. I see." Carmen scratches her head, throws me a little sarcastic smile of embarrassment and being dense, and then her face drops immediately to a blank expression.

"Does that mean.....that maybe Jasper...?" She falters on her own words, her voice husky, swallowing hard and then pulls her hands away from mine to go back to furious typing on the keyboard. Her whole posture stiff and defensive in the blink of an eye as she reverts to that inner cave inside her head where no one can hurt her. I can feel the change in her mood and the slight tremble to her lip as she tries to push away the obvious pain that has struck her heart.

"I don't know. Maybe." I avoid her eye and turn to pull a small standing mic from the shadows of the desk towards me and wave my hand airily toward her. "Show me how to turn it on so it can be heard across the valley." I try a subject change and press the importance of this. I feel for her, I do, but right now this is more important.

"Here. It's already set to sound out on every available speaker from here to the other side of the mountain. Hit that button and hold it in while you talk. I will add the mic to overlay the frequency, so I don't have to turn it off." She taps some keys, pulls up some new screens and then nods at me to say I am all set. Her whole demeanor on the defensive and I know her brain is once again transfixed on my idiot brother but she's trying to ignore it.

I clear my throat, inhale with a nervous tremble and pull the mic so it barely grazes my lip as I lean into it. I press the button with my thumb and close my eyes before I start. No time to doubt or hesitate, I just need to do it and be firm.