Chapter 34

Seraphina

The party was still in full swing—music pulsing, laughter echoing, bodies moving under the golden glow of chandeliers—but I was no longer really there.

I stood in the back corner of the main hall, guest list in hand, eyes scanning the pages with sharp precision. Every woman who entered tonight had checked in at the front—name, affiliation, a quick description of their outfit. Alpha Phi’s little ritual to make everyone feel seen, important. But now, that same list was serving a very different purpose.

One by one, I mentally matched names to faces I’d seen throughout the night. Some were still dancing. Others were huddled in tight circles, giggling or flirting or sipping neon-colored drinks. A few I remembered passing in the halls.

But some... I couldn’t place.

No one had seen them leave.

I counted again.

Six.

Six girls were missing.

I blinked, checked the list again. Then again. Triple-checked the columns and notes, trying to convince myself I’d made a mistake. But the numbers didn’t lie. My stomach turned as I looked around the room, suddenly too warm, too loud, too crowded. Something was wrong. Deeply, unmistakably wrong.

I slipped outside through the glass doors at the back of the hall, into the quiet garden behind the house. The night air cooled my skin, but it did nothing to quiet the static in my mind. String lights glowed overhead, their soft light tracing gentle shadows along the stone pathways. Ivy crept up the walls like secrets trying to escape. I made my way to the old wooden bench beneath the willow tree in the farthest corner of the yard and sat, the guest list still clenched tightly in my hands.

Who took them?

How?

Where the hell were they?

I was still staring at the paper when I heard footsteps. More than one pair.

I didn’t turn. I didn’t need to.

“Tell me you found something,” Marius said. His voice was low, calm on the surface, but there was a sharpness underneath.

I exhaled slowly through my nose. “Six,” I murmured. “Six are missing.”

Damon moved first, his body tense as he stepped in beside me. “And no one saw anything?”

I shook my head, barely able to form words. “Not that I’ve heard. They didn’t leave together. No goodbyes. No drama. They just… vanished.”

Tyrone took the list from my hands without a word. His eyes moved across the page, unreadable.

Marius sat beside me, his forearms resting on his knees. “It was always going to start happening.”

I turned sharply to him. “What the hell does that mean?”

He met my gaze for a beat, then looked away. “It’s not random. This has been going on for years. We’ve been tracking it.”

My pulse jumped, but I forced my face to stay neutral. “And?”

“And we’ve been waiting for it to start again. It usually begins with Greek life. Every year, more disappear.”

“They?” I asked, my voice cold.

“We don’t know who exactly,” Tyrone answered, handing the list back to me. “But we’re going to find out.”

I could feel their eyes on me—watching, gauging, waiting to see how I’d react.

I nodded, forcing my voice steady. “So what now?”

“We dig,” Marius said simply.

I looked to Damon. He hadn’t said much, but the tension in his shoulders gave him away.

“You’ve seen this before,” I said. It wasn’t a question.

His dark eyes met mine. “Yeah.”

Silence pressed in between us, heavy and full of things unsaid. My fingers curled around the edges of the paper.

“We have to go,” Marius finally said, standing. “There are a few places we need to check. But we’ll see you tomorrow.”

Damon stepped closer, his lips brushing my cheek. His voice dropped low—almost tender, almost possessive. “We’ll be back for you soon. Just stay out of sight, okay? You’re safer that way.”

Then came Tyrone. He always seemed the most emotionally distant, the most calculated. But when he leaned in, something shifted in his eyes. His lips grazed my temple, his thumb brushing lightly along my jawline.

“Don’t leave, Seri,” he murmured. “It’s too dangerous out here for you.”

When they pulled away, the three of them lingered for just a second longer—like they were trying to imprint something into me. A silent order I wasn’t meant to ignore.

I nodded once.

Then they turned and disappeared into the night.

I stayed beneath the willow tree, gripping the list. The breeze whispered through the branches like it knew a secret I didn’t.

Six girls.

I wasn’t going to let it be seven.

Back in my room, I paced, my thoughts racing. The list lay spread across my desk like a warning, the missing girls’ names staring up at me like ghosts.

I pulled out my phone and opened a message thread with the one person I trusted to help me get real answers.

Hey. I need your help. Six girls went missing tonight from the Alpha Phi party. I’ve got their names and outfit descriptions. Let me know if you can find any connections—family ties, social links, anything.

I stared at the message for a second, then hit send.

I wouldn’t get a reply right away, but at least I’d started something.

Lying back on my bed, I let the ceiling blur in my vision. My thoughts churned. There was a pattern now. I could see it. This wasn’t random. Someone was behind it—organized, careful, and terrifyingly effective.

The guys knew more than they were saying. That much was clear. Marius, Damon, Tyrone—they were already in deep. Their words, their glances, the way they treated this like it was expected. Like it was inevitable.

But why?

And why now?

Was this connected to my past?

To him?

I closed my eyes, feeling the weight of all the questions press into my chest like a stone. The connections were there—I could feel them just out of reach. But I wasn’t going to stop digging. No matter what it took.

I would find out what was happening.

And I would stop it.

Even if it killed me.