41. One Step Forward, Two Back

Chapter forty-one

One Step Forward, Two Back

*ARDEN*

I look around the hideout. It's exactly like Annette described it. There is only one door, tightly secured, and every window has planks in front of them. There are silver chains in every room. A corridor leads past them, and the bigger room has to be the one where they took the photos.

"Annette is a brave girl," Aurelia says. "She has to be traumatized by what happened, yet she was able to give us such a detailed description."

"It's the adrenaline of her escape," Eric says quietly. "She is still living off it and off her wish to save Meg. Once it wears down, reality will hit her."

"I'm just glad she is in a good pack and has a loving parent," Aurelia says.

Eric nods. "Me too."

I open the door from the big room leading further into a corridor. Annette hasn't been in here, so she couldn't describe it. There are several bedrooms that are completely empty now, and "A library," I mutter.

"They weren't able to take all their belongings with them," Eric says.

"Yes, they were still very effective in their clean-up," I point out. "There is not even a scent lingering around, nothing. Goddess, I hate to admit it, but this Night has to be very intelligent, and at the same time, he shows a complete lack of empathy."

"He has to be completely crazy," Eric mutters.

"I'm not sure," Aurelia says, looking around. "He is way too organized and controlled. This guy is a psychopath who knows exactly what he is doing."

"I have to agree with that," I say.

"There is a door leading to a basement," Eric points out, sending some of the warriors who accompanied us downstairs while we keep looking around. It doesn't take long for them to notify us.

"Prince Eric!" one of them calls out, while another man dashes upstairs and past us, emptying his stomach once outside.

"That can't be good," Aurelia says.

"Do you want to stay here?" Eric asks her.

"No," she says. "I will be alpha, eventually. If I can't stomach it, I have to learn how to." She turns to us. "Let's go."

We carefully make our way downwards, following the voices of the warriors, before coming into a room with a foul scent. "Why didn't we smell that from upstairs?" Aurelia asks.

"They are clearly using something to diffuse any scents," Eric says. "This is insane. Arden is right. They are not stupid."

"Prince Eric." One of the guards looks at Eric with a sad, torn expression. "We… we found someone."

He makes way for us to look at the person behind them, the body of a man. "That's Denis," Eric says sadly.

Aurelia carefully moves to a second body, gently tugging the blanket away. "And Juliet," she whispers. "Oh no…"

"Fuck," I curse, brushing through my hair. "Fuck!"

"And an unknown female body," Eric mutters. "Oh, damn it."

"There is something else." One of the warriors gestures for us to come closer. He looks shockingly pale and almost like he is about to throw up as well. The foul smell increases when we get closer, and we all cover our mouths and noses with tissues. "It's not a beautiful sight," he breathes out.

Aurelia is the first to catch a glance, letting out a shocked gasp before turning to the side and heaving slightly. That's not a good sign. If something unsettles her like that, it can't be good. "By the Goddess," she says blandly.

Eric and I glance at what she just saw, both of us taking a step back simultaneously. "Is that…" I breathe out.

"Yes," Eric says, clasping a hand over his mouth and coughing slightly. "Never have I ever seen something alike."

I take a deep breath, gazing at the plastic bag again, full of dismembered body parts. I can barely keep my composure. "What do you think?" Aurelia asks, clearly struggling too.

I take a shaky breath. "The way he died, it was personal."

"And the other bodies weren't?" Eric asks while the three of us step back. He turns to the guards. "One of you, call the headquarters. We need someone with experience in forensic medicine here. No newbie."

The pale-looking guard is the first to answer. "I will make that call," he blurts out before dashing out of the room.

Eric turns to look at us. "Arden?" he asks.

I nod, taking it as my cue to continue. "Well, the other two were just killed and left here. So, it leaves two options for this person here. It was very personal, making Night so angry he literally slaughtered them for whatever reason. And probably also to make it harder for us to find out who it is."

"If we find his head," Aurelia says, a shiver going through her body. "Then we might be able to take a photo and ask Annette if that's one of the guys."

"You think it's one of the men?" I ask.

"Why else would it be so personal?" she asks. "The victims are clearly the ones lying behind us. And this here doesn't look like Meg."

I gather my courage and look at the dismembered body again, gazing at one of the arms. "Clearly a man's arm. You are right." I pause. "It looks like they took Meg with them." I know she is probably in a terrible state. What Annette told us gives us real reason to worry, but I can't help but feel relieved that at least one of our victims might still be alive.

Eric, Aurelia, and I are waiting at the hideout until Eric's requested forensic medic appears together with his assistant, a young she-wolf who is also working for the Council. I'm almost a little impressed to see how she deals with seeing the bodies, without showing a sign of discomfort aside from a short moment of shock.

"I feel depressed," Aurelia says all of a sudden.

"Me too," Eric says promptly.

I look at them in surprise. "Why?"

Aurelia takes my hand and sighs. "Because it feels like we are constantly losing and one step behind."

"I thought the same when we were standing in the basement," I mutter. "You said it yourself only a couple of hours ago. Is that really true? We know a lot more than a couple of days ago. They had to give up their hideout, which means from now on it will be difficult for them to operate, and they are prone to making mistakes. Plus, if our gut feeling is true and that guy in there was working for them it means their group is slowly falling apart."

"Look at you being the voice of reason," Eric says, slightly amused. He pats my shoulder. "I'm proud of you, Arden. You've come a long way."

I contemplate what to answer and how to react. Words of praise have always made me feel uncomfortable and embarrassed. Fortunately, Eric's phone rings. "That's Val," he says before he picks up.

His words raise both Aurelia's and my attention. Val might be Eric's mate, but I doubt she would call if it wasn't important.

"Wait a moment, Princess," Eric says. "Putting you on speaker." He places the phone between us on the creepy kitchen table we are sitting at. "Go on, please."

"Guys," she blurts out, stumbling over her voice. "You won't believe it! Gustave… he found the picture!"

"What!?" I exclaim. "You mean—"

"Yes, of Night. Okay, he remembered it because it was in a small photo album in Meg's possession."

"Wait a moment," I interrupt her. "Are you telling me that Meg had a photo of him?"

"Not of him in particular. He was part of a group. It was a Christmas party at the orphanage," she explains.

"Fuck," I curse. "That's how he gained her trust."

"We verified it with Annette already. And it's actually Night." She pauses. "Arden, I think they will need you and your photographic memory now."

"Got it," I say. "I will join them ASAP. We have a photo of him! I can't believe it! It means we can finally search for him. Did you tell Zoé to have his picture run through the database?"

"Yeah, Nox told me she is on it. There is something else," Val hurries to explain. "Nox was successful, too."

"You put together an amazing team, Arden," Eric says, impressed. "And Nox is surprising me, as well."

Aurelia smiles proudly at the success of her beta. "Nox is rather quiet, but he is very intelligent and a good strategist," she says. "What did he find out?"

"Remember, he talked about the rune?" Val starts. "Seems like he spotted it in the hospital. One of the male nurses there had a tattoo on his wrist. Nox says he is sure it's the same rune because of the roses surrounding it."

"The hospital," Aurelia says breathlessly. "As we thought, they had someone on the inside."

"We need to split up," I say. "I will head back to Gustave and the others."

"And one of us needs to stay here," Eric adds. "The other needs to go to the hospital."

"You need to do that," Aurelia says. "I went there undercover and am scared someone might recognize me."

"You are right," he says. "I will head there. Are you okay with staying here?"

"Of course," Aurelia answers promptly. "Don't worry. I will talk to the forensic once he is done and see if the trackers you requested find any traces." She looks around. "I feel like we are missing something," she mutters.

"What's on your mind?"

"So, this guy, Night, is a well-organized psychopath, but how come he is that good?" she asks us.

We all stay quiet at her well-placed question. "Maybe," Val says from the other side of the line. "He learned it somewhere? How to hide his traces?

"He had to," she mutters.

"Maybe from his father," I offer.

"Yes, that's an option, but then his father had to have learned it from somewhere," Aurelia says.

Eric looks at her thoughtfully. "You think his father at least was a pack wolf first?"

"A very well trained one," Aurelia points out. "Almost like a trained sentinel. Sentinels go through difficult training. I'm doing it too for my alpha training, but it's rare that someone is that good."

I frown. "You have a point," I mutter. "I haven't thought about that."

"I will look into it," Val offers. "We do have Night's picture now. Maybe he resembled his father. I will reach out to the packs in France and see if they ever had a particularly intelligent sentinel. If this doesn't help, I will expand my search further to other European packs."

"We believe he is European?" Eric asks.

"I do," I say. "He is way too accustomed to our ways. Judging by how well he knows this land, I'd say he is either French or migrated here when he was really young."

"Thank you, Valerie," Eric says into the phone. "This is a great help."

We are about to bid our goodbyes when Val interrupts us. "Wait a moment before you hang up. Leila is on the other line," she mutters before muting us for a moment.

"Leila?" Eric asks. "Then, she had to have a vision!"

"Please let it be something good," I mutter.

"Has it ever been something good?" Aurelia asks.

I look at her. "Not really," I admit.

"Guys," Val blurts out, startling us. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!"

Valerie cursing is rare and not a good sign. "What happened?" Eric asks, anxiety in his voice.

"Leila had a vision. It's not good, not good at all. She saw Léna and Coralie."