“That’s impossible.”
“It should be,” Ian agrees. “Unless her honor guard was in on her disappearance.”
“You don’t think he was.”
Ian shakes his head. “I think you and I both have our suspicions.”
Do I dare tell him what happened after I found out Trinity was missing? When Jaime fell to his knees before me to beg me for answers? And do I dare tell him that I may have seen it happen days before it did? It’s impossible magic, but if anyone would believe me, certainly he would. If only I believed in myself enough, believed that the things I see and hear aren’t some delusions stemming from the trauma I’ve experienced at Rad’s hands.
In the end, I don’t get the chance.
“A mage inspector wants to take your statement,” he says.
“It’s not Mattis, is it?”
“You’ve dealt with him before then.”
“More than I’d like. I don’t know why he’s bothering with me. He isn’t going to believe a single word I say.”
“Juniper, you were one of the last people to see Trinity before she disappeared.”
Fuck. All the air is sucked from my lungs and my knees knock together, suddenly feeling like they’re made of water. “That was… that was Saturday!”
“She missed all of her classes Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. The investigation began after that.”
I sway and Marcus quickly loops an arm around my waist, catching me before I stumble. “Saints, anything could have happened to her by now!” And it could all be my fault. My fault for not speaking up. For not fighting harder to bring Rad down.
“I don’t like this,” Marcus mutters. “Omegas are going missing from campus and from town. There’s an alpha on campus acting with impunity and Juniper’s at risk.”
“I don’t like it either,” Ian sighs. “Campuses around the country are turning their omega students away for less. I’m afraid… I’m afraid Fairhaven Academy may be forced to capitulate.”
“And then what becomes of me?” I ask, my voice barely louder than the rustling whisper of fallen leaves skittering down the stone paths that crisscross the quad.
It’s a question I already know the answer to: I end up with a necklace of bites around my neck, mated and forever bound to alphas like Andrew Radcliffe.
* * *
Mattis has once again commandeeredthe headmaster’s office for his interviews, and he sneers when I step through the door, already looking bored. Already itching for a fight, hoping I’ll be the mouthy omega he so loathes.
I take my seat and cross my legs primly. “You requested my presence, Mr. Mattis?” I still won’t give him the honor of calling him by his title of Senior Mage Inspector, not when he seems to have so little regard for the truth or the law he’s meant to uphold.
“Are you aware you were one of the last people on campus to see Trinity Wells before she disappeared?”
“Professor Reinhardt told me while escorting me here, yes.”
“And what do you have to say about that?”
I give him the fight he so desperately wants. “Why wasn’t this investigation started sooner? Was she reported missing before Thursday morning? How many reports did the Bureau disregard before you bothered to investigate?”
The mage inspector begins to rise from his chair, alpha dominance pouring off of him, but I don’t look away. I look up into his eyes, my own hard with malice.
“Omegas disappear all the time—and it’s usually with whatever alpha they’re fucking,” he growls out.
Saints above, I didn’t expect him to be so honest, so open in his distaste. “Then why bother investigating at all, Mr. Mattis?”
Another question I know the answer to: the wealth and influence of Pack Wells is far reaching.
“You saw Miss Wells on Saturday, and you were one of the last to see her or her honor guard.”
