Chapter 224

Agnes

Richard stood in the center of the room, taking in the scene—open suitcases, rumpled bed sheets, belongings left behind. It was as if Henry and Krystal had just up and left behind all of their things in the middle of the night.

“You’re sure everything was like this when you entered?” Richard asked, glancing at me.

“Yes,” I replied with a nod. “The maid opened the door, and it was exactly like this. We haven’t touched anything.”

“Huh. Strange,” Richard mused, picking up a man’s watch from the nightstand. “Their wallets, phones, and keys appear to be gone, but they left clothes, toiletries…” He gestured around the room. “Everything else. Almost as if they left in a hurry.”

“Maybe there was an emergency back at their pack?” Elijah suggested from where he stood in the doorway.

Richard shrugged. “Perhaps. Although I find it odd they wouldn’t inform anyone.” He turned to me with a polite smile. “Thank you for checking on them, Agnes. I’ll take it from here, have someone pack up their belongings. I’ll try to contact their pack directly.”

I nodded, and was ready to leave this strange situation behind when something caught my eye. A glint of light on something under the small table by the window. I took a step closer and bent down to see what it was.

“What is it?” Elijah asked, coming up beside me.

I reached under the table and pulled out what looked like a broken piece of ceramic or porcelain—part of a vase, perhaps. The break was jagged, and there was something dark crusted along one edge. I turned it over in my hand, and felt my stomach drop.

“Is that blood?” Elijah asked, peering over my shoulder.

Richard was beside us in an instant, taking the shard from my hand. “Where did you find this?”

“Under the table,” I said, pointing. “It was just sitting there.”

Richard examined the piece for a moment. He held it up in the light and frowned. “It does appear to be blood,” he said softly as he turned it this way and that. “But I don’t see any other pieces of whatever this came from.”

I glanced around the room. He was right—there was no sign of a broken vase or any other ceramic item. Just this one piece, with what looked like dried blood on its sharp edge.

Just then, I recalled what the other Luna had mentioned yesterday about overhearing a fight and the sound of something breaking. I explained what I’d heard to Elijah and Richard, whose frowns deepened as I told the story.

“Maybe someone cut themselves on it and housekeeping cleaned up the rest,” Elijah suggested.

“Possibly,” Richard agreed, although I could tell none of us fully believed that; the maid had told me herself that the staff hadn’t entered the room since the “Do Not Disturb” sign had been put out.

Richard handed the shard to his nearby Beta, who was busy taking pictures of the room and searching for clues. “I’ll have the blood tested, just to be safe. Thank you again for your diligence, Agnes.”

Outside in the hallway, Elijah placed a hand on the small of my back. “You okay?”

I nodded, although the image of that bloody shard left me feeling strangely unsettled. I chalked it up to lack of sleep from last night’s events. “Yeah. Just ready to go home.”

“Me too,” he agreed, guiding me toward our room. “One more night, and then we’re out of here.”

The next morning couldn’t come fast enough. As we loaded our bags into the car to head to the airport, I found myself constantly looking over my shoulder, half-expecting to see Henry and Krystal, or to hear news of their whereabouts. But there was nothing, and Richard was nowhere to be seen.

Thankfully, the journey passed quickly. Before I knew it, we were landing at the airport, and James picked us up. As we pulled into the driveway of our home, the front door flew open, and a small figure came barreling out.

“Mommy! Daddy!” Thea shrieked, racing down the steps in her bare feet.

I was out of the car before James had even fully stopped, dropping to my knees to catch Thea as she launched herself into my arms. I held her tight, burying my face in her hair and breathing in her sweet scent.

“I missed you so much,” I murmured, pulling back to look at her face.

She was beaming. “I missed you too! Lena and I had so much fun, but I’m glad you’re home!”

Elijah joined us, scooping Thea up and spinning her around and making her giggle wildly. “There’s my little princess! Were you good for Lena?”

“The best!” Thea declared confidently.

Lena appeared in the doorway, smiling at our reunion. “She was wonderful,” she confirmed. “We had a great time.”

We moved inside, Thea chattering non-stop about everything they’d done while we were away—baking cookies, watching movies, playing games. They even went to the park yesterday and fed the ducks. It was clear Thea had enjoyed herself, which eased some of the guilt I’d felt about leaving her and made me feel more confident about the new nanny.

“And guess what?” Thea said, tugging on my hand. “I helped Lena make dinner for you! We made spaghetti, your favorite!”

I couldn’t help but laugh. Spaghetti was definitely Thea’s favorite, but I wasn’t about to correct her on that. Sure enough, the aroma of tomato sauce and garlic bread filled my nostrils as we approached the kitchen, making my stomach growl.

“That sounds amazing,” I told her, ruffling her hair. “Why don’t you go wash up while we bring in our bags?”

Thea nodded and darted off, full of energy as always. I turned to Lena with a grateful smile.

“It sounds like she had a blast.”

Lena smiled. “We both did. She’s a joy to be around.” She paused, her expression becoming more serious. “How was the conference?”

I exchanged a quick glance with Elijah, silently agreeing to keep the strange events to ourselves for now.

“Productive,” Elijah replied smoothly. “And exhausting.” I couldn’t have put it better myself.

By the time we had unpacked and freshened up, dinner was ready. The four of us sat around the table, Thea insisting on sitting between me and Elijah. She kept bumping her foot against mine under the table.

The spaghetti was delicious, and the conversation flowed easily. Lena filled us in on our days away—nothing major had happened in our absence, thankfully—and Thea continued to regale us with stories of her adventures with Lena.

As the meal went on, I found myself relaxing for the first time in days. We were home, Thea was happy, and for the moment, all seemed right with the world.

But then I caught Lena’s gaze across the table, and something strange happened. A flash of… something… crossed her face, so quick I almost missed it. And suddenly, my palms began to grow warm.

I looked down at my hands, alarmed to see the faintest red glow beginning to emanate from them.

No. No, no, no.

Not now. Not here, with Thea and Lena watching.

The heat intensified, spreading up my arms. I clenched my fists, trying to contain it, but I could feel my control slipping.

“Excuse me,” I said abruptly, pushing away from the table. “I need to… I just remembered something I need to do.”

Without waiting for a response, I stood and fled the room, making a beeline for the hidden door that led to my panic room—the one place in the house that could contain my fire if I lost control.