42. Something Personal

Chapter forty-two

Something Personal

*LéNA*

I am running late for my date with Vander, but I just wanted to grab that figurine I saw the other day. It's a limited edition, and I know he will love it. Vander is my first boyfriend, and I know it's stupid of me to fall head over heels for him. We don't even know if we'll be mates, and chances are high we'll get hurt, but I just want to indulge in this dream for now.

He is not just hot, but he is also so kind and funny. All the girls like him, which made me stay away from him. But when we met during an online game, I realized how cute he is. He actually listens to what I say and finds me interesting.

Boys usually don't pay me attention, but he did.

I rub my cheeks, feeling how I start blushing when I think about my first time with him on New Year's Eve. Way to start the new year, Léna, with a great boyfriend and lots of plans for the next school year.

I store the figurine in my backpack, grabbing my phone while I walk out through a side entrance. I unlock my phone screen, skimming through my messages. Vander has sent me a little gift item through the online game we play together. He is the cutest.

He makes me feel pretty and lovable. No other guy did that.

I make sure to start typing a reply, thinking about which item to transfer to him. Something cool, something he can maybe use in-game. I'm so engrossed in what I'm doing that I don't see or hear anyone approaching me until someone knocks into me, making me drop my phone. I look up, about to mutter an apology, when I look into eyes so cold they take my breath away.

"Hello there," the man in front of me sneers. "Léna, is it?"

"Who wants to know that?" I ask, taking a careful step backwards. I shift my gaze around, noticing I'm all alone. Fuck, why did I not pay attention to where I was going to?

The man tilts his head to the side. "But my," he chuckles darkly, "did you forget we have an appointment?"

I startle, completely dumbfounded. "What? We didn't—"

I don't manage to finish my sentence as someone grabs me from behind, pressing something against my nose until I feel my consciousness slipping away.

"Not bad." I hear the guy mutter while I'm drifting away. "But nothing like my Azurite."

"HEY!" a familiar female voice yells, though I'm have difficulty putting my finger on who. "Let her go!" Someone tugs at the arm holding me. "What are you doing here? Let her go!?"

"Interesting," the man sneers. "We were coming for you next, anyway."

"Is she—" another man says.

"Yes," he snickers. "She is that other boy's girlfriend. Spared us some trouble by coming here now."

I don't know how long I've been passed out. Sometimes, I'm in and out of it, waking up to being shaken around, just to slip back into a dreamless, endless sleep. When I come to it again, my head feels drowsy, and all my muscles hurt. I'm on a small bed in a barely lit room.

Where is this?

I force my eyes open, my head hurting so much as if something wants to break out of it. What the fuck? Wait, I'm not at home! Like a punch to the face, it hits me all over: I bumped into someone after I went to the mall. They abducted me. Fuck, they abducted me!

And they knew my name!

What are they going to do with me?

I jump up, groaning when a wave of nausea hits me. "Léna, careful," a voice whispers. "There is a toilet. Come, I'll help you."

Shiver over shiver of fear and anxiety goes through my body while warm hands gently guide me to a toilet in the corner of the room. I heave before emptying my stomach. "I'm sorry," I breathe out, tears filling my eyes.

"It's okay," the person reassures me, rubbing my back. "I felt pretty sick, too."

For a couple of minutes, I stare into the toilet bowl until I'm sure there is nothing left to throw up. The helpful person hands me a wet towel to clean up my face. It's only then that I raise my gaze, trying to blink the pain behind my eyes away. I'm not prepared for who I see. "Co… Coralie!?"

Coralie sports a black eye and looks like someone has beaten her. "Hi," she mutters.

"Wait a moment… it was you who saw them taking me away!" I blurt out, suddenly remembering how a person came to help me.

"I spotted you in the mall," she admits. "And I wanted to talk to you but didn't know how to. You know…" her voice drifts off.

"I know," I murmur.

"I lost sight of you, right at the moment when I made up my mind to say hello," she pauses. "To be honest, I didn't really make an effort to look for you, but apparently, I took the same exit you did. That's when I saw those guys."

"And you tried to save me," I say, stunned. My eyes move over her body again, noticing how she is wearing a collar out of silver. They are suppressing her wolf. Damn it.

"I acted on instinct," she says. "We both know I'm not good enough of a person or courageous enough to act so bravely."

"It still counts," I mutter. "Thank you."

"They planned this, Léna," she says. "They knew my name and yours."

"You are right," I say, recalling what happened. "Did you hear anything else?"

"No, just that they said I'm this other guy's girlfriend," she mutters. "But I'm not dating anyone at the moment. Not after…" Her voice trails off again.

"Maybe they think you are still with Arden?" I suggest, my eyes widening. "Fuck, that's exactly what it is, Coralie. I'm Vander's girlfriend, and you were Arden's. That's why they abducted us. It can't be a coincidence."

She stares at me. "You are right. It's not been long since Arden met his girlfriend. Maybe they think I am still with him," she blurts out. "But why? What do they want from us?"

*AURELIA*

It took some convincing for Eric and Arden not to drop everything they were doing and let me come here to investigate, but I truly think their talents are better invested somewhere else, and they are both needed.

"We found this here, Princess Aurelia." One of the guards Eric sent with me shows a plastic bag with a figurine in it.

"It must have been Léna's," I mutter. "She also dropped her phone. Do we have surveillance cameras?"

"Not in that area," one of the warriors says. "They successfully avoided any camera that could have caught them."

"They have been abducting people for years," I say. "I shouldn't feel surprised, but I still am. But why Léna and Coralie?"

"Maybe one of them was in on it?" one guard suggests.

"I am not sure. It's a possibility. But I can't see these guys working with any of them." Besides, I doubt any of these two girls would help someone from a trafficking ring. Not even Coralie. It doesn't make sense, and going by the way Night disposed of one of his own people, I doubt he is a great team worker.

"Are we sure it was our culprits?" one of the warriors asks.

"Yes, Leila saw the tattoo in her vision, and—" I pause. "They lost some of their gems because we came too close to them. As long as there is no ransom demand coming, we have to consider it was done for revenge."

"But why Coralie?" the guard asks. "I mean, you are… not her…"

"Yes, I'm Arden's mate," I say. "But I assume it would be too risky to kidnap me. And maybe someone thought he was still with Coralie. After all, she did put up quite the show during New Year's Eve." I turn around. "Leila saw her running to Léna's help, so we don't know if she was even supposed to be kidnapped."

If she truly did that to help Léna, then it was a surprisingly brave thing to do. What worries me is that neither Léna nor Coralie are fighters. I know from Arden that Coralie never took any actual self-defense classes. As for Léna, she is only sixteen and doesn't have her lycan yet.

This is a mess.

"Aurelia!"

I turn around, my eyes meeting Eric. "Wow, you were fast!"

"Yeah," he says grimly. "I let all my contacts play and got the answers I needed."

"Wait, you found the guy that Nox saw?"

"Yes, we were just skimming through hospital personnel who worked at the time you were there," he says. "He has the tattoo. I sent it to Val immediately so she can verify with Annette."

"Finally, a step in the right direction!"

"Did you manage to find anything here?" he asks.

"Not much. If it weren't for Leila's vision, we wouldn't even know what happened. Night is really organized. Yet, I get the feeling this was personal."

"I think the same," Eric agrees. "It's a risk. Up to now they only abducted wolves with a certain blood type, and until recently only those they thought would go unnoticed for a while went missing. But Léna and Coralie don't have that blood group, and they are very engaged in their packs."

"I think they did it to get back at Arden," I mutter. "They knew he was hunting them."

"But how?" Eric asks. "We have been very careful with our steps. And Arden is our brain. Most of the time he stayed in the background and did research. It's true that he went to the forensics, but it was you and Leila who went to the orphanage, and I was involved also."

"You are right," I say. "If anything, they'd target you as you are a popular figure."

"Furthermore, Gustave has been out too, and no one targeted him or his family," he points out. "Neither Zoé. So, why Arden?"

"And why Vander?" I add.

"Exactly."

I turn around to skim my surroundings. "I don't like these questions," I say quietly.

"Me neither," Eric agrees.

"I don't think we'll find anything here," I say. "I will leave it to the guards. How about we return to the old hideout and see if your forensic team found something? I'm getting nervous."

"I wholeheartedly agree," Eric says. "Let's return. Anything from Arden?"

"He threw himself into work," I say. "He is currently skimming through every photo and video recording that has anything to do with the orphanage in hope of finding Night again, and he has Zoé running his phantom picture through the database."

"Good," Eric says. "We need to find out who this man is."

I can only agree with him. The unsettling feeling in my stomach is getting stronger with every passing minute. Why is someone targeting Vander and Arden now? It doesn't make sense, and it's worrying me.