LUKE
Six Years Ago
Darwin decrypts the file he found in the Larson firm database. He shows us a mile-long list containing profiles of shifters labeled magic wielder, nonmagical, and white blood. A large red X appears over some of the profile pictures. We assume it means they're dead. No names from the current recruits or the recent graduating class are in the list, but the majority of our guards were included—some with pictures, some without, all of them labeled nonmagical. Anders and Shadow are on the list, labeled dangerous. The amount of information must have taken years—no, decades—to collect.
A second file entirely comprises information on Jessica. They knew everything about her. They had pictures of her from every age, including the last school picture taken at age fifteen. They even had pictures of her lying in the clinic in a coma attached to a ventilator.
I closed my eyes when I saw that picture. It brought me back to that time I found her and sat at her bedside until I had to leave for school.
We found videos of her taken during magic training with Shadow and Anders, pictures of her at charity functions with my parents, and videos of her kissing Shadow in the privacy of her dorm room. Everything in Beaver’s computer was in this file, including her medical records. How did they get her medical records?
These sick bastards stole her from her biological mother Natalia Parker, Anders’s mate. They renamed her from Jessica Aria Parker-Knight to Grit DuPont. She was raised in a hostile environment, treated horribly, purposefully provoked just to see how she would use her magic against them. They documented everything. Their goal was to get inside of her head, observe her, and use what they learned to gain an upper hand against magic wielders.
But that wasn’t all. They wanted to keep her, use her magic for themselves, use her as a weapon. Someone must have removed a large part of the file because there is a gap in the timeline. The latest piece is an order to terminate her.
“I think the three of you should tell her,” Chris says from his seat at the conference room table.
“No.” Anders clenches his jaw. He twists his hands in a death grip, and the temperature in the room slowly drops.
“Anders, I don’t think we have a choice. If she finds out about this, it will hurt her more than if we simply talk with her now,” my mother says.
“She needs to know the truth, Anders,” my father concurs.
“Maybe. But what if right now is not a good time?” I ask the room. Heads swivel in my direction as if seeing me for the first time. I’m surprised they let me and Liam stay for this discussion. My mother sent the twins away. “She’s all over the place right now. I mean, she almost killed that recruit with her bare hands.”
I couldn’t really understand at the time why she became so upset, but then I saw those videos from the surveillance camera.If Shadow is truly dead, she’s devastated. Knowing the truth about Anders and what was done to her before I found her can’t be good for her mental health.
“I agree with Luke. She’s not in the best frame of mind right now. I don’t think she’ll take the news well. What if we table that for now and focus on finding Shadow?” Elias says. He swivels his head toward Anders. “That doesn’t mean that you keep this secret from her indefinitely.” Anders stares down at the table, offering no response.
Darwin looks around the room, no doubt sensing the tension. He straightens his posture before clearing his throat. “I know this might not be a good time, but I need to show you something else.”
He projects a file onto the large-screen monitor on the conference room wall and displays Alpha Larson’s email inbox, showing a number of threats he received if he didn’t reinstate Shadow as Young Alpha. The most recent email contained videos and pictures of Alpha Larson’s sons. Surveillance footage caught Troy having sex with another man, which is frowned upon in the LS.
Same-sex relationships are not accepted yet, and my father only keeps it that way out of concern that the Resistance will target those identified as different. That’s why Emily keeps her preferences for women a secret.
Another email contains pictures of Trevor meeting with well-known arms dealers in front of a cargo container, unboxing a crate of illegal firearms. Whoever sent these emails really wanted Shadow as the Young Alpha. But I can’t understand why. None of this makes any sense.
Several more emails reveal incriminating videos and pictures of the Larson men, including the youngest Travis with an underaged girl. One of the last emails sent to Alpha Larsonthreatened that he would lose another son to death if he didn’t reinstate Shadow sooner rather than later.
Then, Darwin pulls up one last email, timestamped on May 5th, from Alpha Larson, addressing the entire territory that Shadow was reinstated as the Young Alpha. I wasn’t aware that Shadow rescinded his position as Young Alpha in the first place. Given the videos of him and Jessica together, I could only guess that he did it for her.
“I don’t understand,” Charlie says. “If Alpha Larson reinstated Shadow as the Young Alpha, why is he missing?”
Anders shakes his head. “The entire Larson family is missing. I spent the entire day trying to reach Tobias when Shadow didn’t report for duty Wednesday morning.”
“Reggie, can you confirm if Shadow relocated the Larson family?” Uncle Chris asks the lanky-framed guy leaning against the wall.
“When we were tracking down his brothers, he told Trevor he was taking him to see some extended family,” Reggie answers.
I’m not sure what this kid has to do with Shadow. He was in the hallway when we showed up speaking in hushed tones with the Leads. I assumed he was a recruit until he stood next to the spec. ops group Uncle Chris assigned to the girls, the Knight twins, and Dimitri.
I know there’s a lot we don’t know, and I’m really trying hard to piece all of it together. Sometimes, the Leads make decisions in cases like these. The rest of us are on a need-to-know basis.
Anders and Elias share a look. “Fuck, this is bad,” Elias mutters.
“Safe house,” Anders and my father say in unison.
Anders rubs his face with both hands. “Why the fuck didn’t he call or text me?!” Anders shouts and slams his fist on the table.
