35. Gemstones II

Chapter thirty-five

Gemstones II

*ARDEN*

T he night ended with many surprises, and today started with some more. The first one is that when we meet for a very late breakfast with everyone, Léna is still here. It seems like she stayed the night. Vander looks incredibly happy and never lets go of her hand.

Marilou arrives with Terry, both of them already marked. And Tori and Lion arrive together, not holding hands or anything, but they are talking with each other, which is already a huge improvement.

I am about to bite into my baguette when Vander suddenly stares at me. "You are marked!" he blurts out.

Right, not everyone noticed yesterday.

"When did that happen!?" Tori exclaims, before jumping up to squeeze Aurelia. "So happy for you."

"No, seriously, when did that happen?" Lion asks, flabbergasted. He and Tori were probably too preoccupied with their own issues last night to notice how Nox, Valerie, and Jazz called us out.

Aurelia grins. "Secret," she says.

The others pester her with questions, but she grins and stays quiet. You are enjoying that, aren't you? I ask curiously.

Yes.

How come? I ask. Sorry for being curious. Just want to understand.

She chuckles softly. I am not really mysterious, she says. Or secretive, usually. So, this is fun for me. It's the first time I've got them guessing.

I'm still unsure if I understand completely, but she is happy and is having fun, and Cato is happy that our mate is happy, so I am also.

"So." Aurelia directs the attention to Terry and Marilou. "You two will be the talk of school," she says with a chuckle.

"True." Terry grins, beaming with pride. "The guys in my class will be so envious."

"And once you graduate?" Aurelia asks. "Did you already think about what you will do?"

"We haven't talked about it yet. I feel it's probably too soon to make decisions," Marilou admits. "I wouldn't mind moving to Silverlake, but I also really like it in Red Claw. Luna Annalise is so supportive of me. She is like the mom I never had, and my former boss, Renata, she only has me."

"I actually wouldn't mind moving to Red Claw," Terry admits. "It's not far away from Silverlake, and I know Auri will have a lot of support from Lion, Nox, and Tori."

"Exactly," Tori says, "because I won't leave Silverlake."

"That's another plus on the list," Lion tells her.

"Right," she says. "Make sure to put it down."

The others look confused when Lion scribbles something into his small notebook, but as someone who loves making lists with pros and cons, I totally get them. They are trying to rationalize being fated to each other. If that's helping them, I am the last one to oppose.

"I think Liam would be happy about your support," Aurelia tells Terry. "You are a lycan, and Red Claw is the only really mixed lycan-werewolf pack."

Terry looks so relieved that it's almost touching. "You wouldn't be mad if I left to live with Marilou?" he asks, turning to Tori. "And you would be fine?"

"Of course," she says, squeezing his arm. "You always watched out for me. It's okay to think of yourself now. And as you said, you are basically around the corner." She pauses. "And I'm not alone here."

"I will watch out for her," Lion says to Terry. "Don't worry."

"Somehow I do find that worrying," Terry mutters.

"And I'm in Red Claw too," Jazz says. "So, Terry and Marilou aren't alone."

"We are friends with the beta female." Marilou laughs. "Jazz is also working with the pack witch. She is popular. Oh!" She perks up. "And I'm friends with Dave, Luna's human friend, and his mate, Raffy." She turns to Terry. "I bet you and Raffy will get along so well!"

Aurelia's friends start discussing all the possible options for Terry and Marilou, but unfortunately, I have to cut it short. The break was much needed, but Meg and the other victims need us more. Aurelia seems to think the same because she looks at me.

"Gustave and Zoé will come around lunchtime, right? Which is pretty much now."

"Yes," I say. "Leila and Emilien also said they would be back to work in the early afternoon."

"Well." Aurelia smiles. "We can't leave them waiting."

I feel so relieved she initially made the first step. Technically, I'm not shy about cutting a meeting short to return to work, but I have never been sociable anyway, so this whole experience—having brunch with such a large group of friends—is new to me.

"I'm coming too," Nox says.

"Aw, such a pity." Jazz sighs. "But, I guess it can't be helped."

"We'll be heading back to the States in the next couple of days," Terry says. "But I'm glad we'll see each other again soon."

Val smiles sadly. "Well, as for me, it will be a longer goodbye, again."

Jazz squeezes her instantly. "We made plans, remember? I'm returning in the summer with Ari."

Val beams. "Promise?"

"Absolutely!"

"I will clearly stay behind with Aurelia," Nox says. "I have already changed hers and my tickets." He turns to Vander. "I don't know if you made up your mind yet, but the offer stands, Vander."

"He's right," Aurelia says. "We'll be happy to have you, and Léna can visit as often as she wants to. You can also finish school here and then move to us or join us immediately. Whatever you prefer."

"Is that really an option?" Vander asks. He looks much more relaxed and happier compared to when shit went down with Dad. "I've been thinking recently, and staying here at the Council until I'm done with school doesn't sound too bad anymore. And then maybe I could come and stay in the same pack as Arden."

I look at him thoughtfully. Are you sure? I link him. I promised you I wouldn't just leave you behind.

I am sure, he says. And I've been thinking. You are mated to an alpha. You have been through so many hard times, and I don't want you to stay back with me. You go with your mate and learn about her pack, so that you are prepared for when she takes over. You are allowed to be happy, too. I was selfish.

You weren't selfish, I say. You were in shock. And you are my little brother and the only family I have. You are allowed to be selfish with me.

He smiles and nods.

"Actually," Lion interrupts the short silence. "Tori and I were talking last night."

"Yeah," Tori agrees. "And… we wondered if we could stay a bit longer?"

Terry blinks. "What?"

"We want to date properly," Tori says. "And mend our relationship, and see where it takes us, and we both feel it would be easier to do here, in Paris, far away from home."

"And with none of you around," Lion says bluntly.

Tori elbows him.

"What?" he says. "It's true! They're a distraction."

"What Lion means is that we want to focus on us, and being here in a foreign country with not many people we know will force us to rely on each other, and it means we can spend time with each other exclusively," Tori says. "School will start soon, but I already talked to Mom, and she said she will talk to school and tell them I will return a week later. My marks are good, so it shouldn't be a problem."

"I actually think that's a good idea," Aurelia says.

"You are welcome to stay," Val says joyfully. "I'm happy that not all my friends will be leaving at once."

Aurelia, Nox, and I leave the others at the brunch table and hurry to my office. Once there, I notice two things. First, the other four members of the team are already waiting for us, and second, Eric—because, who else?—has cheekily put a mistletoe above my door. I smile, grabbing Aurelia and making sure to kiss her before we enter the office.

"I'm trying not to be envious," Emilien mutters.

"Happy New Year, to you too." Gustave sighs.

Zoé giggles. "I'm actually happily single at the moment."

"You are also pretty young, honey," Leila says softly. "You have plenty of time to fall in love. No rush."

"And the best thing is, now that I have actual work outside of the pack, no one pesters me about finding a mate as soon as I'm eighteen and making pups," Zoé says. "I can make my own choices now."

"Did you enjoy your day off?" Aurelia asks her.

"It was great." Zoé beams. "But I'm glad to be back here. I can't celebrate and relax when I know our victims are still suffering."

"I feel the same," Gustave says.

Leila nods. "I think we all do."

I take that as my cue to gesture for Gustave to fill everyone in on his findings. "My friend drank too much," he says, "so we called it quits after midnight. I didn't mind because I'm not that sociable to begin with. I spent the time reading and working through the books I borrowed from the council. I also tried using the app Zoé set up and used my own search algorithm. And that's what did the job."

"Really?" Zoé asks.

"Yes, I roamed the online database of the Council for runes and witchcraft, and found the rune. It stands for peridot."

"Peridot." Leila frowns. "Like the gem. But what does it mean?"

"A codeword maybe?" Aurelia asks.

"Or a categorization," Emilien muses.

"How are the auctions doing?" I ask Zoé.

"72 hours are over tonight," she says. "I will bid on them. Let me check, briefly."

While Zoé checks on the auctions and everyone ponders over Gustave's findings, I receive a surprise message.

Call me, it says. Alexander.

"Alexander," I mutter. "I will give him a brief call."

Fortunately, Alexander picks up immediately. "Good," he says, "you didn't make me wait. I hate waiting."

I ignore his display of arrogance and come to the point. "I assume you found something?"

"Yes," he says. "There are some weird activities happening throughout different vampire covens. As predicted, it's mostly the full-blooded and high-ranking covens. I contacted my brother, Silas—the one your mate talked about—and he will keep an eye on what's going on in the US. As for here, we have some very old covens all over the continent. Vampires are old and well versed in remaining hidden."

"How is that going to help us?" I ask.

"Not at all," he says. "Only vampires will be able to deal with vampires, however…" he pauses. "I found something interesting while tracking their movements on the finance market and while checking their accounts. There are a number of transactions named after gemstones."

"Wait… what? Like peridot?"

"Oh, so you knew that already?" he says. "Yes, I also found one called topaz, several quartz ones. Ruby. I don't know about you, but I personally doubt they are shopping for actual gemstones."

"They are also tattooing them on the victims," I mutter.

"Gemstones have many mythical and magical meanings," Alexander explains. "We vampires love them. You could say for some it's an obsession to have the most expensive and rare gems at home. I won't lie to you, I love them too. The actual stones, though. However, despite our love for this type of stuff and going by the names of the transaction and as you said, also the fact the victims get tattooed with rune names, the person who abducts them has to be well-versed; very well-versed. Some of these gemstones are oddly specific—a normal person wouldn't know that."

"I'm pretty sure our main culprit is a werewolf, or he wouldn't be able to move so easily in our world," I say.

"Wolves are too brutish and rustic, and don't care much for gems," Alexander says.

"That's quite the generalization," I say.

"Whatever," he dismisses me. "You have to admit that wolves don't necessarily care for a lot of luxuries. So, whoever it is that kidnaps your kind has to either come from a certain background—"

"Old money maybe," I muse.

"Yes, because we are talking about gemstones like hydrogrossular or tourmaline. Any regular person wouldn‘t know these. Even if your culprit looked up the meaning of them randomly—"

"You're right. Even then, it doesn't make sense because he is using runes for them. So, either he practices witchcraft, or he is a gem geek."

"Exactly," Alexander says.

"Thank you, that did help," I admit. "What are you going to do now?"

"Deal with the culprits on our side," he says shortly. "I can't believe they sank that low." He pauses. "Good luck to you and your mate. Be careful."

"You too."

I hang up, turning around and noticing the others looking at me. They pretty much pieced everything together by listening to my answers.

"So, that's how they call the victims," Aurelia says. "They name them as gems and then sell them. The auction… Zoé..."

"I've just opened Denis's auction again," she says. "Look at that."

We come closer, looking at what she points at. Next to the picture of Denis, the countdown, and a short description, there is also "A small gem," I mutter. "It looks like jasper. How did we miss that the first time?"

"We were too focused on other things," Aurelia says.

Leila taps her lips. "Wasn't there a small crystal collection with Meg's possessions?"

"Really?" Aurelia asks. "I can't remember."

"I only noticed it later," Leila says. "They were not particularly polished or anything, but definitely small gemstones and crystals. I'm pretty sure there was a piece of dolomite, quartz, and coral with it."

I turn around fully, now, my heart starting to beat faster. "She had them in her possession?"

"Yes."

"Someone for sure gifted them to her," Aurelia says breathlessly.

"That's too much of a coincidence," I say. "Two of us need to get back in touch with the director of the orphanage—"

"Leila and I can do that," Aurelia says. "He already knows us."

"Good, then the auction—"

"I'm keeping an eye on it," Zoé says.

"I will help," Emilien offers. "I will make sure we have the money to bid on it."

"Good. Nox, Gustave, and I will go to the storage area, where we have Meg's possessions and all the folders from the orphanage."

"Got you," Gustave says.

Nox nods. "What are we looking for exactly?"

"The person who gifted her the crystals," I say.

"Are you sure he let his face show?" Leila asks.

"Yes, going by how obsessed he is, I think he made sure to watch her. He gave her presents," I say. "There is no way he did that from a distance. I am sure he wanted to see how she smiled, how she opened them..." A shiver of horror goes down my spine. "He...he kept Meg for a reason: she is his favorite gem."

"Goddess," Nox mutters. "Let's make sure to find her and release her from that prison she is in."