Chapter 9
ELOWEN
He is waiting outside the bookstore for me when I arrive in Elderwood Hollow.
I panicked after Julian’s announcement. Thornwood is our sister academy.
Olivia didn’t die, but another omega death happening so soon after her illness is too close for comfort.
Too much of a coincidence. And I couldn’t compartmentalize it enough to convince my brain that it was nothing to worry about.
So, I called Gideon Stockwell who arranged to meet me the next day.
With my first heat rapidly approaching, I am worried.
Perhaps I’m overthinking it, allowing it to invade today’s peace when I should be focusing on myself, but I can’t switch it off like an overhead light.
It’s a trait I inherited from my father, and no amount of chamomile will ever erase it completely.
“We should go inside.” His dark eyes dart around Main Street as though he is accustomed to being followed.
We head to the back of the bookstore and sit at a small table in the local history section. My eyes skim the spines, the titles blurring into one.
“There’s been another death,” I open the conversation. “At Thornwood.”
His face blanches. “When?”
“Yesterday. I don’t know anything, but there’s a meeting with Professor Robbins in the library tomorrow to put all the Elderwood omegas’ minds at rest.”
“They’re panicking.” Gideon scratches his eyebrow then pushes his hair away from his face. It’s a nervous tell. “It’ll harm their reputation further if students start leaving.”
“What can we do?”
His attention snaps back to me. “Find out what you can from the professor. I’ve been collating information from the other deaths, trying to find the pattern.”
No wonder his eyes look so haunted. He probably hasn’t allowed himself to grieve his sister, and meanwhile, he has made it his personal mission to investigate omega deaths.
“You must miss Iris,” I say.
"She was my twin." His throat bobs when he swallows. "It was her first heat with a newly bonded pack. She died three days later."
"What happened?"
"Standard protocol, academy-supervised suite, pack present for support.
" Gideon recites facts like armor against emotion.
"Her heat ended normally. She was tired but fine.
Went back to her room, resumed her studies.
" He pauses. "Three days later, security found her collapsed in the library. Dead before the ambulance arrived."
"They said it was natural causes." My voice is tight.
"Cardiac arrest. No prior heart condition. Twenty-one years old and perfectly healthy." Gideon's hands flex. "Administration called it a tragic complication of heat. Paid my family to sign an NDA and accept the official story. Sealed her records."
Something about this sounds off to me. Why would the deceased’s family need to sign an NDA, and why were her records sealed?
"But you didn't accept it." In light of this information, I can understand his determination to get answers.
"Would you?" Gideon's gaze is fierce. "If your twin—your other half—died mysteriously and everyone told you it was normal?"
“No.” I pause.
This has become a way of life for him. Everything he does must revolve around whatever information he can get out of it, and I can’t imagine going to sleep at night knowing that morning will bring the same dark limbo as the day before, and the day before that.
“You said you’ve been looking for patterns.”
"There are circumstantial connections that campus administration refuses to investigate." Gideon says. "Four omegas in less than two years and now another at Thornwood.”
“Four?”
“Helena Raven died at Thornwood after Lydia Jones.” He furrows his brow. “They kept it quiet. I’m not surprised you don’t even know about it. All post-heat. All newly bonded packs. All declared natural causes without an autopsy."
I think about Olivia. “Another omega got sick last week, but she recovered.”
His mouth hangs open. “Post-heat?”
“Yes.”
“Newly bonded pack?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
“Symptoms?”
I feel like I’m being interrogated, but I don’t protest. He’s fighting for justice for his twin sister, justice that he is convinced she deserves, and I pray that Iris knew how loved she was.
“Vomiting. Fever. Restlessness. The nurse said that it was a virus she’d picked up while her immune system was still recovering from her heat.”
“What about the omega? What does she say?”
“She’s fine now.” I don’t know what else he wants me to say.
“I need you to find out if anything untoward occurred while she was heat.”
I shake my head. “Gideon, I don’t know if I—”
“Please, Elowen. Just so I can rule Olivia out of the investigation.”
I sigh. “What do you want to know?”
“Who was with her during her heat. What she ate. What she drank. What medication—if any—she took. Then I can compare her notes to the other omegas.”
“What if her circumstances were the same?”
“Then I’ll have to dig deeper. Someone knows what really happened to my sister, and when I found out who it is, I’ll make sure the whole world knows about it.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
I didn’t tell anyone that I was meeting Gideon today.
Not even Lila. When Olivia got better, it felt as if every omega in Elderwood had been given a second chance, like cats who thought they’d used up their nine lives and realized they had one left.
Then when we heard about the latest death at Thornwood, the black cloud came rolling across the academy once again.
“Thank you, Elowen.” Gideon stands and offers me his hand to shake. His touch is cold, as if he won’t be able to warm up until this is over. His grip is strong. “Please, be careful. Make sure that you trust the people around you.”
I flex my fingers when he releases me. “I will.”