Chapter 248

Agnes

The stone was gone.

Stolen right from under our noses.

“Elijah,” I breathed, whirling around to face him. “It’s gone.”

“What do you mean it’s gone?” he demanded, pushing past me to see for himself. His eyes widened when he saw the empty space where it should have been. “Fuck.”

My mind raced. It had to be Lena. My father had all but confirmed it; “Your home is compromised,” he had said, all the while looking right at her. She had helped us find the stone in the first place, and had shown a suspicious amount of interest in it. And now it was missing. The timing was too perfect to be a coincidence.

“Lena,” I growled, already turning on my heel and heading for the door. Elijah grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

“Lena?”

I wrenched my arm away. Heat blazed through my palms, fresh anger radiating through my skin. With my wolf’s presence, I managed to tamp it down before flames licked out of my hands. But it simmered just below the surface, ready and waiting.

Taking a deep breath, I told Elijah what my father had said. His expression went from shock, to confusion, then to righteous anger. Without hesitation, he called James and two of his closest pack guards.

We hurried down the hallway, past Thea’s closed door where she was hopefully still fast asleep, toward Lena’s room at the far end of the corridor. Just as we approached, a young woman in a maid’s uniform stepped out of Lena’s room, quietly closing the door behind her.

She turned, spotted us, and froze like a deer in headlights. Her eyes went wide, darting between us and the door she’d just closed.

“Hey!” Elijah called out. “Stop right there.”

The girl bolted, sprinting in the opposite direction down a service corridor.

“Don’t let her escape,” Elijah hissed, and James nodded before taking off after her.

Without missing a beat, we continued to Lena’s door. Elijah didn’t bother knocking; he simply threw it open, causing the door to hit the wall with a loud bang.

Lena was sitting up in bed with a book open on her lap. She jumped at the noise, the book tumbling to the floor as she clutched the covers to her chest.

“What on earth—?” she began, but Elijah was already barking orders to the two security personnel.

“Search the room,” he commanded. “Thoroughly.”

The men moved in immediately, pulling open drawers, looking under the bed, checking the closet. Lena scrambled to get out of the way as one man yanked back her covers to reveal her nightgown.

“Elijah! Agnes! What’s going on?” she squealed, backing against the wall.

I fixed her with a cold stare. “The Lunaris Stone is missing,” I said flatly. “Someone broke into our safe and stole it.”

Lena’s eyes widened. “And you think I took it? Are you serious? I was with you all night!”

“Did you hire someone, perhaps, to take it?” Elijah growled.

“No! Of course not! How could you even think—”

“My father warned me,” I cut in. “He said our home had been compromised, and he was looking right at you when he said it.”

“Your father?” Lena repeated. “You’re taking his word over mine? I thought you hated him and your stepmother.”

I faltered slightly. She had a point. Why was I so quick to believe my father, of all people?

“And what would I even do with the stone?” she continued, growing angry now. “Where would I hide it? When would I have taken it? I was with Thea at the party, then in the car with all of you coming home. I haven’t been out of your sight for more than the time it took to put Thea to bed!”

“Then who was that girl who just left your room?” Elijah demanded.

“What? You mean Ruby, the maid? She was lighting my fire for me.” Lena gestured to the fireplace, where a fire was indeed flickering merrily. The log on top was fresh, as if it had just been placed there. She snapped her head toward me. “Agnes, this is insane. You have to know that.”

I didn’t know anything anymore.

One of the security men approached Elijah. “Nothing here, sir. We’ve checked everywhere.”

Elijah frowned, glancing around the room. It was true—the space was relatively small, and there weren’t many places to hide something like the stone. If Lena had taken it, where would she have put it? And when would she even have had the opportunity? We’d hardly been home for fifteen minutes.

Narrowing my eyes, I watched her face carefully, searching for any sign of deception. But all I could see was hurt and confusion. Lena’s cheeks were flushed, and her eyes had filled with tears.

“You said we were friends,” she said softly, and the tears spilled over. “I would never betray you like that.”

Something in me cracked. The stone was still missing—that much was true—but as I stood there watching Lena cry, I suddenly felt like the world’s biggest asshole.

This woman had cared for my daughter, had shown Thea just as much love and affection as if Thea were her own daughter. She’d helped us find the stone in the first place, had kept our secret about my abilities, had been nothing but supportive.

And what evidence did I have against her? My father’s cryptic warning? A maid leaving her room who might have been there for any number of reasons?

“Lena, I…” I stepped forward, the anger draining out of me in an instant. “I’m sorry.”

Her shoulders slumped, and she sank onto the edge of the bed. “You really think I would do something like that?” she asked, wiping at her tears.

Shame washed over me. “No,” I said, sitting beside her on the bed. “I don’t think you would. I’m sorry, Lena. I shouldn’t have accused you.”

Elijah, still on edge, turned to the security men. “Continue searching the rest of the house. The stone has to be somewhere.”

The men nodded and filed out, leaving the three of us alone.

“I’m so, so sorry,” I repeated, tentatively reaching for Lena’s hand. “My father… I let him get into my head. But I should have known better than to trust anything he says.”

Lena sniffed and managed a small smile. “It’s okay. I understand.”

“No, it’s not okay,” I insisted, and pulled her into a tight hug. “You’ve been nothing but good to us—to Thea, especially. You’ve kept our secrets, helped us at every turn. I should never have doubted you for a second.”

She hugged me back after a moment.. “I forgive you,” she whispered. “I know how important that stone is. I’d be frantic too if it went missing.”

Her gentleness only made me feel worse. I’d just accused her of theft and betrayal, and she was comforting me? Goddess, I didn’t deserve her friendship.

Elijah, however, was still looking suspiciously at Lena when we pulled apart. “How do you know?” he blurted out.

Lena blinked. “What—”

He took a step forward. “How. Do. You. Know?” He narrowed his eyes. “You said you know how important it is. How do you know?”

Lena hesitated, looking back and forth between us for a long moment before she stammered out, “I-I only meant that it’s a rare and valuable magical artifact. I assure you, I don’t know anything else… Unless there is something else I should know?” She glanced at me.

Elijah just stared at her. I felt my heart crack again and shook my head, rising. “Enough,” I snapped at Elijah through the bond. “She’s telling the truth. She doesn’t know about my stepmother’s reasons for wanting it.”

A hum of disapproval returned to me through the bond, but Elijah didn’t argue. Just then, James flung the door open again, causing all three of us to jump this time. I knew just from one look that he had found the maid. It would surely be a matter of minutes before this was all sorted.

We left Lena after that, although Elijah whispered something in James’ ear on the way out. James remained behind, and I glanced at Elijah as we made our way toward the study. “What was that about?”

“I don’t trust her,” Elijah replied through the Mindlink. “I’m having James keep an eye on her until this is sorted.”

I pursed my lips, but couldn’t argue with that. Better to cover all our bases, I supposed, but I still felt like shit for frightening her. Hopefully we would figure this mess out quickly. And once that happened, I’d have to come up with something grand to make it up to Lena.

We approached the study, where the two security officers stood guard. Inside, we found the maid sitting on a chair, wringing her hands.

She looked up as we entered, the firelight catching the tears streaming down her cheeks.