1042 Striking A Deal
The fact that Kai had entered Ash's office was no coincidence. When Raven had made the request to meet with her brother, she assumed it wasn't because he wanted to hash out his feelings or challenge him to some sort of honorable fight.
It was clear he wanted to talk to Gary because of his position. There were multiple times when Raven had mentioned his current position, and with nowhere else to go, he had to turn to the Howlers.
So, Amy had decided to call Kai instead. She knew exactly how her brother would react, especially if he learned that Raven had met her behind his back.
Amy had been in contact with Kai several times because it had simply become easier for the two of them.
Constantly, Amy would ask Gary for a few things, such as apartment contracts, to open up bank accounts, and so on. Each time, Gary would have to contact Kai.
In the end, it was just easier for Amy to contact Kai directly, and because of this, the two of them had developed a closer relationship.
This had allowed Amy to contact Kai to set up this meeting. However, the words Amy had spoken to Raven, informing him to never meet her again, were a true message sent by Kai himself.
Now Kai was in the room, and by his side, Austin was standing as well. Meanwhile, Ash felt a little lost in the situation, knowing full well he couldn't do anything and was probably in a position where everything said needed to be kept a secret.
"I guess that leader of yours was too scared to even see me," Raven commented. "Well, as long as you're high enough up the ladder to make some decisions, then I'll speak."
Kai had a smile on his face, but the corner of his mouth was twitching.
"Let me tell you something right now—there are two people in this room who would happily have your head ripped off," Kai said. "We know you were part of the Phoenix Gang, and they took a dear friend of ours away. We've figured out a number of things on our own, so why would we even need to meet with you?"
Raven’s knee was constantly bouncing up and down. A briefcase was laid in front of him, and he seemed hesitant about what to do.
"I know what's happening between you guys and the One Gang," Raven explained. "At some point, he's going to come after you guys.”
"Sure, you can go against him like you did with the Phoenix Gang, but you'll end up losing a lot in the process.
"And I know the strength of the One Gang—you might end up losing a lot more. But what if there was a way to beat them without you getting involved?" Raven asked.
Kai raised an eyebrow, thinking what Raven was saying was ridiculous. What could possibly be in the briefcase that could do such a thing?
"Obviously, you won’t give us this for free. Just tell me your demands," Kai waved his hand, not really caring.
"A place in one of your cities—this one will do—and a card so I can buy what I want.”
"I just want to forget about everything... I don’t want any part in this crap anymore, and that includes Gary and the whole lot of you.”
"Give me these things, and you can have what’s inside this briefcase. I'll never contact or appear in front of you again," Raven declared.
Kai was stroking the scar on his chin, thinking about the offer. Although he had a disliking for Raven, he wasn’t directly responsible for Tyler's death.
Although Raven had killed a few of the Howler members, the same could be said for Kai himself—his hands weren’t completely clean of blood, nor was his conscience.
There was always the chance of Raven going back on his word, but having spoken to Olivia and Marie, Kai knew Raven was an Altered who was incredibly strong. It would be best to stick to the deal if Raven was true to his word.
Although Kai doubted that whatever was in the briefcase could help them, it was worth the chance for a small cost.
"Alright, I'll do what you say, and I won’t even make Gary aware of our deal. That way, you truly won’t have to worry about him either," Kai said.
With the deal confirmed, Raven clicked the edges of the briefcase and opened it up, revealing several Altered solutions.
By no means were these regular Altered solutions. Each one was tainted with a strange black substance wriggling around in the tubes they were encased in.
"These are infected Altered solutions. If you use these, you can have several fighters on your side willing to die for you to go up against the One Gang!" Raven claimed.
Kai looked at the vials with interest, but he wasn’t sure of their strength, nor would he use them on loyal members of the Howlers, knowing what they could do.
Instead, though, he was thinking of something else—words that Elijah had spoken about in the past.
"Where did you even get your hands on so many of these?" Kai asked.
"Oh, it was in the car park where that big fight was taking place," Raven explained. "One of those founders of NIRV was there. It looked like they were going to give them to the One Gang.”
"So, I can assure you these aren’t any regular Altered solutions!" Raven said excitedly.
"NIRV was making a deal with the One Gang… and with infected solutions?" Kai repeated.
In the past, Elijah had vented his frustrations about the White Rose looking for who was behind the infected solutions.
Austin remembered being in one of the tier-three cities and discovering links between the infected solutions and NIRV, but there hadn’t been enough evidence to go after them.
'Maybe with this—one of the founders involved—there's a way to pin all of this on the One Gang… and get the White Rose involved after all… Raven, you have no idea how much you've helped us.'
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