They slowly got up, got ready to act, until Derek spoke up, "We know you're there. Come out already!" only seconds after his words, a figure appeared from behind the wall where she'd been hiding, "What are you doing here, Kali?" for some reason, Derek sounded calm, like he knew something the others didn't.
Kali just stood there, looking back at them. She didn't look fierce, she didn't look feral, she didn't seem to be ready for a fight, and she most likely didn't come looking for one. She put both of her hands up before she spoke, "I am just here to talk," she said simply.
"Where's your boyfriend?" Erica wasn't as patient as Derek and Isaac were willing to be.
Kali looked at Erica, leaned her head to the side in a "give me a break" fashion, but she remained silent. No venomous reply, no snarky comments; it really was out of character for Kali. Even Erica was taken by surprise with that.
"Are you actually gonna tell us what brought you here? Or are we gonna have to pull the words out of you?" said Boid.
Derek watched her movements closely. She seemed bothered by something, which was a fact he already knew. At first, he thought she was sorting the words out in her mind, but then the longer he stared at her, the more he realized it wasn't the case. Her attention was clearly scattered around the place, between a few specific spots. She looked down towards the floor, at the center of the loft; that was where she'd stabbed him in the back all the way through to his chest with a metal bar. The alpha pack then proceeded to watch him suffer and bleed his vains out for quite some time. That same spot was where she'd impaled Boid on none other than Derek's claws, for him to die very shortly after.
It was hard for Derek to imagine, but perhaps she did have the ability to feel guilt. Or perhaps that was just what he wanted to believe. In the end perhaps she was just feeling uneasy, because... That was also the place she'd met her fate, in her last fight against the darak, Jennifer Blake.
"He's on his way. I am sure you know who I am talking about," she said, dragging Derek out of his thoughts.
"Yeah, we know about him. The real question is, why are you telling us about it?" said Isaac.
"You spent some time in their company. I am sure you understand why I want to walk away," she, of course, was hinting at the fact that Isaac had been a prisoner of the apprentice, before Maylee, Rosalie and Hilldon helped him escape.
"Horsecrap! You don't just walk away from those people!" Erica did not want to drop her guard.
"No shit! Why do you think I am here? I can't just pack up and go on my marry way. Their henchmen are everywhere,"
"So, you know you don't stand a chance at survival out there on your own, and that's why you came here. Is the great Kali scared?" said Boid, a small smirk drawn on his lips.
"If someone told me I'd live enough to see this day, I'd have thought they were insane!" Erica chuckled at her own words.
"You didn't live...," Kali retorted out of habit. Although, her voice died down at the end.
Isaac wanted to steer the conversation onto a different track, "Did Euriella tell you that he was coming?"
"I wouldn't say that, but she hinted at it,"
"What else happened? You've been with them for a long while now, you won't convince me that this is all you know," said Derek.
"We were supposed to take you out yesterday," she said, as her legs lead her to the couche where she sat, "We split up into groups in order to strike at the same time,"
"And you failed miserably," said Erica, still starring daggers at Kali.
"You're not really dropping bombshells here. You're just telling us what we already know," said Boid.
"Yeah, I was getting to that part. Up until now, Euriella has always kept me and Anas at arms' length, easy to reach but only in dire need,"
"So, basically, what you're saying is that you pretty much have nothing to offer?" said Isaac.
"I am willing to believe you,"
everyone turned towards Derek after they'd heard his words. Even Kali was taken aback; after all, neither her nor Anas ever gave him a reason to trust them, in anyway, shape or form.
"Seriously?" Erica practically leaped off her seat, "She shows up here, doesn't have anything to contribute with, and we're somehow supposed to believe that she's deserting their ranks?"
"I gotta say, I don't always agree with Erica, but... She's got a pretty good point here," said Isaac.
Derek walked towards the massive wall of glass that served as a window in the room, he stared through it for a while before speaking, "I would have been more skeptical if she came to offer us all their secret plans on a silver platter. Judging by the way you and the others talk about this apprentice and his daughter," he looked at Isaac for an instant, then he looked back out the window, "I doubt they'd be the type to share their plans with their pawns," he finished.
Isaac's ears heated up, and Derek could clearly see it. Evidently, that thought hadn't crossed his mind. Fortunately for him, Kali brought the attention back onto herself, "I can tell you where their hideout is. And... Another thing for sure, the ones you need to fear tonight are Kate and the nogitsuné,"
"Why is that?" asked Boid.
"Today, during the meeting we had, Euriella hinted at the apprentice's arrival. After that, she said we were free to do as we pleased until then,"
"Euriella said that? You're sure?" Derek interjected.
"Well, yeah, positive,"
He pondered over her words for a good minute, part of her statements tickled his curiosity, but he opted on keeping that to himself, then he finally spoke again, "The rest checks out then. Kate is the most volatile of the bunch and the nogitsuné thinks in a box of his own. How many of you are there in total?" said Derek.
"If we exclude me and Anas, there's Jennifer, Matt, Kate and the nogitsuné. I am not counting Euriella and the apprentice of course," she said.
"What about the entire army behind him? What do you make of that?" Isaac seemed to be losing patience.
"I am not counting those either, they're just simple supernaturals and chimeras,"
"Are you kidding me? An army of rats is still an army!" said Erica.
Derek's phone buzzed in his pocket, "It's a text from Scott. He wants us to meet him at the hospital," he announced after reading its content.