Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Bethany has truly outdone herself in planning and executing Cassian’s graduation party.
Banners in Fairhaven’s navy blue and burgundy hang from the stairs, and all the hors d'oeuvres are plated on silver trays covered in deep red linen napkins. It’s a beautiful party, like something my father would have had me throw, and its guests are no less prestigious.
Pack Leclerc is a powerful pack, touching many industries, and their friends are just as powerful.
From doctors to tech moguls to film directors and lawmakers, the party is abuzz with alphas that have left their mark on society along with their packs.
It’s a crowded party, but that hasn’t stopped Cassian from introducing me to just about everyone.
It’s only for the first alpha I meet, a famous movie director, that I bare my neck, but instead of smiling, she takes my hand and shakes it. “We don’t do that here,” she says with a faint smile.
It’s a revelation. Had I tried to shake the hand of any of my father’s associates, I would have been punished—and thoroughly.
“Your mate is destined for great things, as is your beta,” she goes on. “I’ve never seen two more talented mages in one pack before.”
And she has yet to meet Ian and Luca, who are mingling across the room. I had thought Luca might be uncomfortable, but he’s affable and open, enjoying the party just as much as I am.
I smile at that. Somehow, through the bonds of love, I have surrounded myself with powerful and talented mages.
I’m whisked around the room by Cassian, shaking the hands of politicians and tech CEOs, all of whom have nothing but praise for my mate, but I know even more than they do what a great man he is.
At one point, I slip into the kitchen to help plate more hors d'oeuvres, and it’s there I find Simon, tucked away from the festivities, sitting with his mother and sister around the kitchen table.
“You should be out there,” I tell him. “You’ve accomplished the same as Cassian. You should be proud, and you should be celebrating.”
“Big parties like this give my brother hives,” Ellie teases, hazel eyes sparkling with mirth. “Especially when he’s the center of attention.”
I stoop to give him a quick kiss, and he takes my hand and nuzzles it.
“Believe me, kit-kat. I’ll be more than glad when this is over.”
“Just go mingle a little. Stand with Cassian. You never know who you’ll meet,” I plead.
He sighs. “Fine, but only for you.”
Their little family leaves the kitchen, only to be replaced by Gerard and another council member. I go to Bethany’s side to help her with the hors d'oeuvres, but it becomes immediately apparent that she’s eavesdropping on her husband’s conversation, and I do the same as I fall in beside her.
“We have to do something about Holden, Gerard,” the female alpha councilor, Annette Claude, says in a low voice.
“The council is starting to splinter, and fear is running rampant. We’re just rebuilding after the attack by the Soldiers of Saint Aldous, and I know Baphomet’s Prince has greater, more devastating plans in store for our council and for our countries. ”
“I’m trying to hold everything together,” Gerard tells her.
“What we need is a special election to oust Holden, but there would be an uproar and backlash. As much as I hate it, his side isn’t just the Soldiers.
There’s anti-omega sentiment spreading among the population that we must quell before it truly gets out of hand.
We’ll have more than the Soldiers to deal with if ordinary citizens take up arms in their support of the Prince’s grand plan. ”
I shudder beside Bethany. Of course I’ve seen the changing tide, the rise of a conservative movement sweeping the United States and Canada, but to hear Gerard speak of it scares me. The other omega stops plating hors d'oeuvres to grasp my hand and squeeze it.
“And what of the Canadian Prime Minister’s reelection?” Annette asks him.
“He’s nothing more than a puppet for the Soldiers,” Gerard scoffs.
“I think I’ve heard enough,” I whisper to Bethany, who nods and joins me in taking the plates to the servers she’s hired for the party.
I’m making another circuit of the room with Cassian when his phone buzzes in his pocket. “Jack,” he says in a low tone, just loud enough for me to hear, while flashing me the screen. We quickly excuse ourselves and make for his father’s study. Cassian answers on the very last ring.
“Jack, what is it? Are the omegas all right?”
But it’s Graeme who responds. “Cora’s gone,” the royal detective inspector says, his voice thready with panic. “She took my phone and credit card, and vanished.”
One by one, Marcus and the rest of my pack join us.
“She stole from you?” I ask, incredulous. Cora is many things, but I never thought her a thief.
“It was her best option, the right move. I’m glad she did. She’ll be safer with both.”
“Do you know where she’s headed?” Ian asks.
“I do not. She didn’t say anything to me. Not even goodbye. She just vanished. Simon, if you’re there—”
“I’m here.”
“I was hoping you could track her based on cellphone pings and credit card transactions. Can you do that?”
“As long as the cellphone is on. The transactions will be easier. Text me your information. The line is secure.”
Graeme sighs. “Thank you all. My priority is finding her. I have to. I need… I need to find her.”
Graeme ends the call just as Gerard and Colin join us in the study.
“What seems to be the matter?” Gerard asks, voice low as he shuts the door to the study behind him and Colin.
“One of the omegas has disappeared from the castle,” Cassian explains.
“Do you want my help tracking her?” Colin offers, and Simon gratefully agrees.
I think back to my fight with Cora. She wants to help. I can only guess that she saw the map on Simon’s computer. If she did, this is all my fault.
“I think she’s heading to New Jersey,” I say, my voice thick with emotion. “She’s going to investigate the facility my father is using.”
“She purchased a ferry ticket to the mainland about an hour ago,” Simon says, drumming his fingers on the desk in the study. “Are you sure she’s heading to New Jersey?”
“It’s my best guess.” I sigh, taking a heavy chair and dragging it beside him before Ian steps in to help me. “We fought about it yesterday. She said she wanted to help.”
“Her magic is too new,” Ian protests.
“That’s what I told her,” I say. “She didn’t take it well.”
Ian shakes his head and shuts his eyes. “This isn’t good. She’s practically defenseless out there. You said her shield work is poor still?”
“As poor as mine was after you taught me to call my magic. She’ll need a lot of work before she’s able to defend herself, but she does have her affinity.
She’s lightning fast, so hopefully she can flee at any sign of danger.
” Not that I think she will. She was acting like an omega possessed with the need to make herself useful, to help our cause.
“She’s heading south,” Simon mutters. “She just stopped at an ATM and took out fifty bucks. How did she know Graeme’s passcode?”
“She must have followed him out of the castle at one point and caught him taking money out,” I guess.
“She’ll be harder to track if she’s dealing in cash,” Simon says with a sigh. “We can only hope she runs out quickly. For what it’s worth, she’s heading south. She’s about an hour south of New Brunswick already.”
“Damn, she’s fast,” Luca says with a whistle.
“She is,” I agree. “Her affinity is basic, but incredibly powerful.”
As the party dies down, we remain in Gerard’s study, left to our own thoughts.
Jack calls us an hour later, just as frantic as Graeme was. “Anything?”
“Juniper thinks she’s heading to a facility in New Jersey,” Simon tells him. “She’s made one purchase and one ATM withdrawal from Graeme’s account.”
“She’ll need the money,” Jack says. “Her affinity burns a lot of calories, and she goes through running shoes very quickly.”
“That’s great intel,” I encourage. Saints, Jack and Graeme must know Cora better than anyone, and I think I know why.
“She’s keeping Graeme’s cellphone off,” Simon tells us. “She’s being smart about this. It’ll be hard to get ahead of her.”
“We have to get her back,” Jack says, his voice low, full of emotion. “She’s too important…”
To them, I realize. Cora is incredibly important to them.
“I’ll talk to my dad about using the plane,” Cassian promises. “If she lingers anywhere, we can head in and grab her.”
If only he knew how fast Cora truly is. This is going to be a race against time and speed, and I don’t know if we’ll win.
Ian, Marcus, and I are going to check on the omegas, Graeme and Jack, when I get a call from a burner. I answer it tentatively, knowing Simon has encrypted the line and made it impossible for anyone but him to track it.
“Juniper?” Hawthorn’s voice comes through the line, and I immediately put the phone on speaker.
“Hawthorn!” It’s so good to hear my brother’s voice. “I’m here with Ian. You’re on speaker.”
“Hawthorn, good to hear from you,” Ian says.
“And you, man. You taking good care of my sister?”
“The best,” I cut in.
“You’d better be,” Hawthorn says, but there’s no tease in his voice. If anything, he sounds exhausted.
“Hawth, what is it?”
“It’s our father. He’s completely bugged out of his duties as CEO, and Aspen hasn’t been around either.
I’m holding the company together on my own, while still trying to figure out what the hell is going on with Father and our dear brother.
Something’s going on, Juniper. I can tell, but I can’t investigate.
My hands are tied. I can’t get caught doing anything suspicious right now, or I’ll be ousted and lose my ability to work this thing from the inside.
All I know is that Father has been traveling between Fairhaven and New York a lot, and neither he nor Aspen have been at headquarters in months.
I’ve gleaned what I can from his flight records, but that’s all I’ve got to go on right now. ”
“Father’s experimenting again,” I say softly, fear lancing through me. “In New Jersey. He must be flying into New York and then driving to wherever it is he’s going.”
“I hate to ask this, but I need your connections to find out exactly where he’s going. And to take him down. You said he’s experimenting again? Fuck, that can’t be good at all.”
“On omegas, we think,” I say, my voice low. “I’ve seen it.”
Hawthorn curses. “But can you help? I really hate to put this on you. I’m supposed to be your older brother, taking care of shit like this, but I can’t act. I wouldn’t be calling if I had any other option.”
“It’s too risky,” Ian protests.
I shoot Ian a quelling glare. “We’re already on it, Hawth.
We believe he’s experimenting on omegas again in a facility in New Jersey.
We’ve tracked him there, but our search radius is still too big to act.
But as to what he’s doing and why? We have scraps of information, nothing more.
I don’t know how he’s experimenting on them and to what end. ”
“Despite what you did in freeing those omegas from the collar facility, I don’t think he’s running short on test subjects,” Hawthorn says, his voice tired.
“I’m sure there are more of them, but I haven’t been able to track where he’s getting them from, and I can’t investigate any more than I already have.
Willow was trying to free test subjects from Rose Pharmaceuticals facilities, but she’s in the wind now that she’s been fired. And she couldn’t free all of them.”
Saints, how many more omegas could my father have imprisoned? I have to free them, to give them a fighting chance before the worst happens.
“I truly hate having to ask this of you, Juniper. Saints know I wouldn’t if I had any other choice.
I’m the one meant to be protecting you, keeping you safe,” Hawthorn says in a tight voice, and I realize Hawthorn has no one but me.
Not with Willow powerless to help the omegas now.
I have my pack, Graeme, Jack, and the resistance.
My brother, wearing himself out to fight the good fight, has no one. I have to help him.
“I swear I’ll protect her,” Ian promises. “You have my word.”
“Juniper, you’re the bravest woman I know.”
If only I could feel as brave as my older brother thinks I am. If only I could overcome my fear of my father and his dastardly schemes. He must be working for Baphomet’s Prince, which only frightens me more.
“She is,” Ian adds quietly. “The bravest.”
“I have to go. I’ve got a board meeting in an hour, no doubt about our father’s whereabouts. Please, both of you, stay safe?”
“We will,” I tell him. “Stay safe, Hawth. I miss you.”
I’m working with the omegas when I get a future sight of Jack taking a call. I narrow my eyes and shake it off, thinking nothing of it. Then I remember Cora has Graeme’s phone. She could be calling to check in, though she hasn’t before.
I catch Jack in the kitchen and tell him to head out of the castle’s protective magic, letting him know he’ll be getting a call.
We rush out of the castle, Marcus and Graeme following behind us. We dash down the hill to where cellphone signal isn’t affected by the strange magic around the castle, and Jack’s phone rings just as we hit the bottom of the hill.
“Cora?” he answers breathlessly. He puts the phone on speaker so we can all hear what the omega has to say. “Cora, are you all right?”
“I went to New Jersey,” she admits, her voice gritted with pain or exhaustion. “And I found it. I found the facility.”