Chapter 100 Chapter 70
She didn’t wait. She moved fast, almost running, and jumped into his arms. He caught her immediately. His hands trembled against her back. She stayed there for a few seconds longer before pulling back.
“You’re alive,” Marcus whispered. “He wasn’t lying… you really are alive.”
“Yeah,” she said, wiping her face quickly. “I’m here.”
Dylan cleared his throat. He felt uneasy despite knowing they were siblings because to him, as long as there was no shared blood running in the veins, there was nothing stopping feelings from developing. “Sit. We need to begin.”
Ethan, Jace, Prunella, and Noah sat together. Dylan dragged a board closer and picked up a marker.
“We’re listing every clan strong enough or crazy enough to take a catalyst from a school campus,” Dylan said. He started writing names, one by one. “And of course trying to figure out the clans who might have somehow found out she is one. Because it… I don’t know. It beats me.”
Jace leaned forward. “Cross out the Massimos. They don’t leave their borders.”
“Yeah,” Ethan said. “And the Die Adlerstein Family won’t touch catalysts anymore. They lost too many last time and even when catalysts still existed, they stayed away.”
Dylan crossed both names off.
Prunella pointed at one name. “What about the Petrovich?”
“Those fucking betrayers,” Dylan said, shaking his head. “Well, they don’t work with those bitch-ass witches anymore. So I don’t see why they’d be actively searching for a catalyst.”
Noah frowned. “Wait—witches?”
“Yeah,” Ethan said quietly. “The Veiled. They’re dangerous. If it’s them, she’s..” he trailed off, a feeling of dread crawling through him. If she was taken by them, then maybe it was why he suddenly stopped feeling her. Had they killed her?
Dylan crossed out another name and stepped back a little so everyone could see the board properly. Jace leaned forward again, tapping his foot against the floor.
“Okay, that leaves four,” Jace said, pointing at the remaining list.
Noah was in shock. Hearing about vampires was one thing, but realizing they were here in their numbers was even scarier.
Marcus let out a low breath. “So when you settle on one, I’ll take it to the police station and we ambush them? How do I present the ca—”
“No,” Dylan said, turning slightly. “You can’t.”
Marcus looked at him. “I’m a police officer. What else am I supposed to do with information about a kidnapping?”
“You can’t take it to the police because you can’t say who took her,” Dylan said, lifting the marker again. “You can’t walk in there and say, ‘Here are the four clans of vampires that might be responsible.’”
Marcus pressed his lips together. “I’m not stupid. I wouldn’t say it like that. I’d frame it as a gang—oh and I don’t know how to tell you this. But the police are looking into your family.”
“Your unit will drop that case. Lorenzo will pull the right strings,” Jace snorted.
“Wow. I’m… as I was saying, the police… we could help. You don’t have the resources to take them down.”
“And then they’ll send a tactical unit,” Ivanna said, stepping forward. “And someone will record something. And someone will ask why bullets didn’t work. And before you blink, people will start dying.”
“You know so much already. Hard to believe you haven’t been a vampire all the while,” Noah commented but he was ignored.
Marcus let out a frustrated sound. “Then how do you expect me to help?”
“You’ll run background checks,” Dylan said, turning fully toward him. “You’ll dig through reports, missing persons, warehouse rentals, security footage, anything your department won’t question. You can’t bring them into this directly.”
Marcus rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m not used to working like this.”
“I know,” Ivanna said, giving him a small nod. “But you have to. Vampires don’t go down with guns. They don’t slow down with pepper spray. The police force can’t fight something they don’t understand.”
Marcus frowned. “So I basically work off the books.”
“Yes,” Dylan said, writing another short note beside one of the clan names. “You feed us anything useful. We handle the rest.”
Jace tilted his head at the board. “Okay, so which clan do we check first?”
“We need to know who had the boldness,” Ethan said, pointing at a name. “The school campus isn’t a small place. They had cameras everywhere. They had guards.”
Marcus folded his arms. “So these clans… they’re organized?”
“Very,” Dylan said. He tapped the first name. “This one likes money. If they had Zara, they would’ve asked for something by now. She’s too valuable.”
Ethan nodded. “Cross them out.”
Dylan struck a thick line through the name.
“Mistake,” Jace said. “They won’t ask publicly. Keep them on.”
Marcus stared at the board. “Okay. Let’s say one of these groups did it. What’s Ivanna supposed to do in all of this?”
Ivanna stepped closer. “I’m returning to Neon 24.”
Noah looked confused. “But… you’re supposed to be dead.”
“That’s the point,” Ivanna said. “I’ll get a new identity. Dylan is fixing that part for me. Once I get back into the station, I’ll shift the narrative away from anything that hints at vampires. I’ll make sure the official reports look normal but of course while challenging the police with other wolf theories.”
Marcus nodded slowly. “So you’ll keep the public out of this.”
“Exactly,” she said. “I can’t help in the field yet, not until everything settles. But I can control the noise.”
“So what are you guys here for?” Marcus asked.
Ethan stared at the last four names on the board. “I’m going with Dylan and Jace to check the first location maybe tomorrow night. We gotta have a plan to, you know.. spy and stuff. Know stuff before attacking. ”
Prunella looked at him quickly. “Tonight?”
“We don’t have time,” Ethan said, adjusting his sleeve. “No, that’s too rash. Maybe tomorrow.”
Noah nodded once. “Then I’m coming too.”
“You’re human,” Dylan said. “You can’t go into a clan’s territory.”
Noah looked him straight in the eye. “She’s my best friend.”
“And you’re not thinking straight,” Dylan scoffed. “We aren’t even sure if we are going in ourselves or sending someone.”
“You know what?” Prunella said, her eyes widening.
Everyone turned to look at her.
“There’ll always be the low-ranked vampires who use vervain. We find one in each clan, drain them of it and compel them to work for us. Dylan, you’re strong enough to do that, aren’t you?”