The former members of the Oleander Syndicate’s Nether Elite have waited long enough as Miles knew they were waiting in the meeting room downstairs. She met up with the secretary and confirmed their arrival. As she entered the room, she recognized the usual group.

Ryoko and Kayla were sitting next to each other. Natalia was seated next to Ayeka across the table. Ryoko was on her smartphone, and Kayla was staring outside the window. The ladies stood at attention as Miles entered the room.

Surveying the room, Miles stood front and center, “ladies, welcome. As you all know, all your paperwork has been processed and accepted. All of you are now officially a part of Interpol. Not anymore as outside consultants, but as trainees. Yet some of you knew that already.”

Everyone looked at Kayla as she looked at Miles.

“No worries… But I am grateful for your persistence,” Miles assured while having a seat. “Just be thankful the United Nations overlooked everything that happened five years ago and would rather have you as law enforcement officers. Just imagine the United Nations giving policing powers to a bunch of people who were partially responsible for almost creating World War III.” She lectured.

Meanwhile, outside the room, a wandering female jackal kemonomimi with long platinum blonde hair and light purple eyes wearing a black business suit with a short skirt, went up to the secretary, “excuse me, miss, is Miles Renfield in the other room?” She spoke in a low velvety voice.

“As a matter of fact, she is,” the secretary answered while typing on your keyboard, not really paying attention to the person in front of her. “Now, she is at a meeting. If you leave your name and number so she can get back to you as soon as possible… Or you can wait here whichever you prefer…”

“Yes, of course,” the jackal kemonomimi stuttered. “My name is Cordelia Copeland from the… former Oleander Syndicate?”

The secretary thought it was a joke, but she looked up face-to-face with the woman who claims to be. Only to be proven wrong.

Unbeknownst to Miles in the other room, she played out the groundwork of their working relationship, “as I told the officials the other day in Lyon, there are just some things that you have to let go, no matter how painful they are. And despite the Apex Predators were being the most pristine of assistance back then, they figured they want to do something long-term and in-house.”

Suddenly, Miles’s smartphone rang. It was embarrassing for her since she is in three different open cases, so she is waiting on results either of them. She answers the phone, “Renfield. Jessica, I told you before… What you mean she came back from the dead?”

This made most of the audience uneasy as Miles hangs up the phone and leaves the room. There she meets up with Jessica, the secretary.

“Jessica, I told you no prank calls--” as Miles was about to scold Jessica for the umpteenth time, she sees someone she thought she would never meet. It was him. Cordelia Copeland, the female jackal kemonomimi who quit the Oleander Syndicate, is now standing right in front of her.

“The superintendent told me to come by anytime if ever wanted to. So, here I am,” Cordelia stated.

“Cordelia, you’re still alive!” Miles exclaimed in utter shock and excitement.

Cordelia plays it off with a confused laugh, “Um, sorry to disappoint you?”

Miles had every right to be stunned as she had her own set of problems. She didn’t want to be bombarded with everything at once. She temporarily abandoned the meeting and told Jessica that she’ll be back shortly.

While her secretary was tending with the newly minted trainees in the other room, Miles took Cordelia to her office. Speaking to the person that Rahkaze has excellent praise for was a perfect opportunity to get to know not only Alastair better but the Zayne family better.

It was there that Miles spoke to Cordelia for the first time. Funny enough, this is the first time that Miles saw Cordelia face-to-face. She was rather tall, about six feet at least without any high heels on. She also carried a seductive yet imposing presence, having a fit and curvaceous body.

Miles offered Cordelia a cup of tea, “I am so glad that you decided to come back, Ms. Copeland. I knew my heart that you weren’t dead.”

Cordelia accepted the tea, “That’s all right, Inspector. They had their reasons why they wanted to look for me in private. Just like I had my reasons not to come back. I just want to let you know, I wanted to clear the air.”

“Well, that’s wonderful,” Miles smiled.

“I know the Grandmaster, and everyone is looking for me. I don’t want to interfere with the flow of things and cause trouble,” Cordelia wavering.

“As a matter of fact, Cordelia, if you would agree to it, I would have you join our team we a currently building. But for now, you need to go through the same evaluations as everyone else,” Miles offered as this confused Cordelia.

“You’re offering me a job?”

“Why do you think your former grandmaster was able to receive additional funding for the new facility he built? Not only that, having permission to restore his influence?”

“New facility?” Cordelia questioned.

“Yes. The Oleander Syndicate facility was rebuilt and filed the proper paperwork to become an accredited institution of higher learning,” Miles explained while taking a sip of her tea.

Cordelia was beside herself, “w-why would grandmaster do something like that?!”

“A lot of innocent nephalems looked at the place as a symbol of oppression and hypocrisy.”

Cordelia was shocked by this turn of events, “It all makes sense now. Atoning to one’s crimes by giving others a piece of mind. United Nations agree to this?”

Miles nodded as she explained, “Just barely. Your colleagues will be working closely with Interpol from here on out as trainees. More like finding terroristic threats with a daemonic nature attached to it, since we are fully capable of handling such threats as you guys did in the past. If there is a bigger threat out there, it couldn’t hurt to bring along some extra help. As of right now, I am the head of the division, and they all work under me.”

This turned Cordelia’s stomach in knots as this puts a faint smile on her face while staring in her own reflection inside the cup, “I’m just glad everyone was able to move on...”

Knowing this was way too much for Cordelia, Miles decided to ease up for now, “Not everyone... There is a lot of civil unrest among the public. Many others are saying that this is all a stunt to sell… whatever Dolph is selling. I actually liked the peace and quiet...”

Being determined that more than ever, Cordelia gave some words of confidence, “they are not the only ones who moved on. Because I did as well.”

“Everyone else is in the other room being briefed on current cases that are now ongoing. When they’re done, maybe you can talk to them later?”

“No, thanks…” Cordelia declined.

Miles nodded, “Understandable. In the meantime, we did give an open the door to anybody else who wanted to--”

“My former team is already working for someone,” Natalia interrupted Miles.

“Indeed, you have. Obviously, it would be wise to--”

“I work for his Majesty, Bĕhēmōṯ Firas? Also known as the Emperor of the Nether?” Cordelia eagerly revealed as this shocks Miles.

She lets out a depressing sigh as Cordelia, “I know, it’s a bit aggressive on my part. But there are so many things that I have left. Unfinished business with them, I would like to leave unfinished. I hope you do realize that this is the way I handle such hardship and trauma. Fight on and move forward.” She lectures while pulled out a jump drive out of her jacket pocket.

Miles was hesitant to take it from Cordelia, but it was a huge discovery being handed to her on a silver platter. Miles couldn’t turn it down, and the only way for her to consider it bogus was for her to check any kind of lead on Bĕhēmōṯ Firas.

In the end, Miles relented by taking the jump drive from Cordelia. She went over to her filing cabinet and pulled out a folder. It contained the written application for service as she handed it to Cordelia, “this just proves that what you have given us is… truthful and will be used in any kind of case as evidence.”

Cordelia didn’t even bother reading over the agreement as she signed it, “It was nice talking to you, Inspector Renfield.” Cordelia agreed as she left the office.

Immediately, Senna rushed into Miles’s office and bombarded her, “Is that who I think it is?! My god, did Cordelia hit the gym hard!”

“Yes, Senna, she’s alive and takes care of herself quite well!” Miles clarified, but something was bothering her. I worked on the bomb squad in this country for almost a year around that time, the castle, and that syndicate burned to the ground… I guess he’s built to last after all…” Miles vaguely waffled as she looked out the window. “Have you ever heard of the phrase, dawn of fate?”

“Yes, meree apanee niyati ka svaamee nahin hai jaise ki main apane pita ke paapon ke uttaraadhikaaree hoon, main apana apana ghoda banaoonga aur bojh ko aage badhaoonga...” Senna recanted. “Throughout our behavioral studies, Cordelia does fit as our suspect.”

“Partly right,” Miles wavered. “Yeah… I want you to get a hold of that new rookie Crucis Sentinel—what’s the name… Oh! Delta--! Delta Crucis! Call Delta Crucis and ask her to help you to pull up every record on Cordelia Copeland.”

“What kind?” Senna asked.

“Tell her to cast out the net as wide as she can! I mean, before she even joined the syndicate! And, look for back aliases that she’d used— go global! Look for relatives, working relationships with others outside of the syndicate...” Miles ordered as she stares at the given jump drive. “It’s pretty obvious the syndicate knew she might have been the one to have blown the whistle on them. And now, with these wolf girls working under us, they might fuck around and try to kill him while making it look legit. And I will not let this happen.” Miles declared.

“Yes, ma’am!” Senna said as she leaves the room, calling Delta Crucis.