One Missing Teacher

"You agreed to work for the Lycans?" For some reason, Ava could sense relief in Samuel's tone. "That's good. Good."

That's what Samuel repeatedly said when she informed him that she would work with the Lycans. He didn't hide the relief in his voice. He asked her for more details, but he didn't ask her why she decided to work for the Lycans.

While she found this unnatural, she couldn't really just ask him about it. Despite the fact that Samuel was her mentor and can be considered a close friend, the man was still her superior.

Not long after, Samuel ended the call. It had been a few hours since then, and the conversation still lingered in her head. Why would Samuel want her to work for the Lycans?

Samuel, the one who personally recruited her to join Trillium, was Gabriella's friend. She had met him once before Gabriella died. He also joined them for the funeral. The man wasn't really a witch, but his instincts were very deadly. It was the result of him serving in the military for years before he retired at the age of forty because of an injury.

Samuel was always good at reading situations and his instincts have saved her in the past. So, why would a man like this want her to work with Lycans when he knew she hated shifters for what they did to her?

Her questions were useless. She had promised herself to ask the man those questions the next time she meets him.

She eyed the computer in front of her. On it was the report that Tom sent her.

So far, these were the only things that Trillium was able to gather since they received news of the serial killings. She had been reading them over and over and until now, she couldn't find any new connections among the dead women.

They were not members of the same coven. In fact, her mother, Gabriella, was a lone witch. She was no longer a member of any coven. The second victim, Simone, was a traveling witch. She came here to enjoy nature with her RV. The third victim was a member of a small coven and disappeared while she was on her way to a writing retreat or a writing camp. The fourth was a member of a small coven and loved trekking.

All of them loved nature, which should be the case as they are witches. All of them don't have lovers. Some were married once, and some just didn't like marriage.

She had interviewed all of their family members and had watched the CCTV videos of the day they went missing. Still, she couldn't find anything.

By now, she was a hundred percent sure that someone was trying to hide this case from Trillium.

But who?

Matthew mentioned it had nothing to do with the shifters.

Was it really possible that it was the witches?

…

"This is Amelia's office," Matthew said as he opened the door for her. "She hasn't unpacked the boxes yet."

Ava nodded. She walked inside and marveled at the large portrait of a moon just behind Amelia's chair. The reason she hasn't found anything about Amelia was because of the Lycans.

On the way here, Matthew explained that, unlike her mother, Amelia believed in science. She didn't actually practice the craft. She was a cum laude and had her PhD. Yes, she was also five years older than Broody.

She scrutinized the boxes and started opening the smallest one. She could feel Matthew's eyes on her every move. She immediately reminded herself that she was here to gather more information about Lycans and Amelia in general.

Patience, she chanted inwardly.

May the Goddess bless her with more patience.

She started reading the contents of the boxes as she thought about the reason she was here. After reading about cases for the umpteenth time and hitting another dead end, Ava decided to contact Matthew and try to see if she could get something from him.

In response, Matthew told her to come with him. They are going to visit Amelia's office.

Matthew showed her the contract that Amelia signed. The contract stated that on the outside, Amelia was supposed to work for a veterinary clinic. On the outside, she was a secretary. But she was actually a researcher, researching Lycans.

Matthew didn't disclose the full topic of her research but Ava had suspicions it had something to do with how the Lycans cannot just pass their strength to their kids. This wasn't a secret to the community.

Everyone knows that the reason why the Lycan numbers are slowly decreasing is that some of them cannot transform themselves into a Lycan form. While Ava didn't know the specific reason, she had her suspicions that this was because of inbreeding.

"Feel free to check out her things. Find out the things that she valued the most. Then maybe we can use it for a tracking spell." Matthew was standing behind her, and she could feel the heat emanating from him.

Weirdly enough, she didn't find this uncomfortable.

She ignored the urge to look back as she continued reading some contents with her gloves on.

Matthew brought her here because he wanted her help in finding out some important things that could help them with a tracking spell.

You see, a tracking spell was difficult to do because of two reasons. First, one needed a powerful witch that could harness the power of divination. Now, not many witches could harness the power of divination, so one needed the power of at least three powerful witches to be able to do it.

However, Matthew somehow knew that Ava could do it on her own.

Second, to perform the spell, you need to possess something that was owned by the person who you are trying to track. And this isn't just something that the person owns. It must be something that she loved and treasured.

To avoid any problems with Amelia's mother, they didn't take anything from the cabin. So, they needed to find something from her in her new office.

However, her thoughts were interrupted by another phone call.

"Tom?" she asked as she opened what looked like a journal on one of Amelia's things.

"When was the last time you talked to Mr. Sutton?"

"Samuel? Last night," she said.

"Then… have you heard the news?"

"News?"

"Someone assaulted him."

"What did you say?" She could feel blood rush from her face. She clutched the phone tighter.

"He is in a coma. The organization took over and they won't allow me to see him."

"What?" Tom, her assistant, wasn't an officer. He was the son of a witch who died while working for Trillium. However, he didn't inherit his mother's magick. Still, Tom grew up in the organization and had become an agent in charge of anything related to computers.

Suffice to say, even if Tom wasn't an officer, he was renowned in the organization and most people from the higher-ups recognized him as family.

So… why are they preventing him from seeing Samuel?

Her face grew darker.

Damnit!

Samuel must have done something that violated the rules of the organization!