~ ROWAN

Leaving my mate alone after an argument with my sister probably wasn’t the wisest decision but there were things I needed to confirm before I made my suspicions known.

I couldn’t just accuse my sister of working with our enemies, not without proof and not based off a ’hunch’.

Aria was stubborn, she always had been and she always would be. She could be very narrow minded once she believed something and nothing could change her mind on it. I hoped that was the case now because nothing else could truly explain why she would go out of her way at every turn to blame Nyssa for everything going wrong.

"Anything?" I asked Jeremiah who shook his head.

"It’s very hard to recreate her movements for the past week if we don’t even know where she went. My men are asking around but it’s tricky without getting people suspicious."

"Anything with her phone yet?"

"We’re making better progress on that actually. I should have an answer in a few minutes." He went silent for a long minute. "Can I ask why we’re looking into your sister?"

I opened my mouth to speak then promptly closed it. Even if my hunches were correct, the last thing I wanted to do was put my own sister on fucking blast.

"Just keep searching."

I glanced down at my phone in my hands, fighting the urge to call up Nyssa.

It would be so easy to just fucking text her and yet, I couldn’t bring myself to do it I told myself I was busy but I knew that was a fucking lie. It had more to do with the guilt that was clawing at my chest and the self-loathing that threatened to swallow me whole.

Aria was my sister, and if my sister was directly responsible for trying to turn the pack against her then... fucking hell.

"We’re in!" Jeremiah yelled. "The details have been sent to your email. They were able t get everything: her calls, her messages, and even her emails. Every single place she went to is listed and I’ve sent that to my men. They should be able to tell us where she went and when."

If my suspicions were correct, then her meetings would be clean. The vampires were too smart to meet out in the open. The only one who risked that was Allister and he had a shit ton to lose.

I pulled up the email and scoured through her messages and calls, trying to find anything out of the ordinary. Most of them were normal calls to the guards, the hospitals and a few people at her office.

Nothing truly stood out to me until I got to the calls from yesterday. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

"What time was the boy found?" I asked.

Jeremiah stilled next to me. "I don’t know, but I can ask."

"Do that... and find out when Aria arrived there."

He stepped out of the room and returned a few minutes later. "The boy was found around noon, and Aria showed up a few minutes later, why?"

"According to this, Aria made a call to a guard fifteen minutes before the boy was found. I need you to find that guard for me. I want to know what Aria said to him."

His lips pursed but he nodded. "Of course."

As he walked away, I dialed Aria’s number. It rang twice before going straight to voicemail which was very unusual for her. I tried a second time and this time, it didn’t connect at all.

I had to find her before she realized we were onto her.

I rose to my feet and grabbed my keys, intent on finding her at home when my phone rang. I glanced down at it, my lips turning down into a frown when I saw Eric’s name flash across my screen.

I rushed to answer because Eric never called, not unless it was important and it was about Nyssa.

"What’s happening? Is she safe?" I asked immediately.

He went silent for a minute. "I... there’s a problem."

"Fucking spit it out," I snapped. "Where is my mate?"

"I don’t know."

Everything stilled.

The air suddenly felt too tight and the room felt too fucking small. I opened my mouth to speak but no words would come out because for a moment there, it sounded like he just said he didn’t know where the fuck my mate was.

I didn’t know when a low laugh escaped my lips. "You better be fucking with me right now. Where is she?"

"Normally, I wouldn’t worry but it just feels like something is wrong and—"

"Eric!" I snapped and he sighed.

"Aria came over almost an hour ago and said she wanted to talk. Nyssa suggested they take a drive. She was supposed to be back over half an hour ago. I tried to call her but she isn’t answering and I tried Aria but—"

"Fuck!" I cursed, rushing out the door. "Call every fucking guard at the patrol borders to keep an eye out. I want everyone searching for Aria’s car and for my mate."

He swallowed audibly through the speakers. "Yes, sir."

I hung up, not wanting to hear anything else he had to say. This was the second time something was happening to Nyssa under his protection, and while I knew it wasn’t his fault, Aria was the common denominator both times, I could not help the feeling of rage that directed itself towards him.

"Your Majesty, I—" Jeremiah went silent when I brushed past him. "What’s happening?"

"Nyssa is missing."

He cursed low and followed after me. He managed to get into the passenger seat just before I sped off. He didn’t speak, he just pulled out his phone and began tapping furiously away at it.

"They found Aria’s car," he said softly.

My favorite thing about Jeremiah was how quickly he was able to put things together without me asking.

"Any sign of Nyssa?"

He shook his head, his expression grim. "The car is empty."