Chapter 35: Lucinda's Disappearance

Tyler

I drummed my fingers impatiently on the steering wheel.

She was late. Why was she this late? She ought to have been here thirty minutes ago; usually she was as regular as clockwork. She was also ignoring her phone. Dad would call me any minute now to ask why I was not yet in his office, and what would I say— that a girl stood me up?

I glanced at the time displayed on the dashboard and promised myself to chew her out good when she came out.

The great door opened, but the tall, slim figure that slipped out was my sister, not Lucy. A shocked expression adorned her face as a scowl adorned mine. If Lexi was here, it meant that she expected Lucy to be with me.

Which she wasn't, and that fact was seriously pissing off my wolf.

She made her way to the car. "Tyler?"

"Where is Lucy?" I growled.

"I'm wondering the same thing. I haven't seen her all morning; I thought she was with you."

"Call Dylan."

"I did. She hasn't seen her either. And the strange thing is that everything is there— except the mattress and blanket. Isn't that strange? She even left her phone. But why the mattress?"

"You are trying to tell me that Lucy has disappeared," I stated.

"Technically, yes," she answered hesitantly.

"What the hell."

I kicked the door open— it broke the car but who cares?— and marched into the house, Lexi following. Long, deliberate strides carried me to her room where I examined the scene.

A bed without a mattress. Her phone lying discarded on the floor. Everything else perfectly normal and untouched.

"Could she have left?" Lexi whispered. I stared into her wide, fearful eyes. They darted around the room. "She did know the blind spots among the patrol wolves," she added softly.

I let out a string of curses. She could get off pack lands at any time she wanted and no one would know; Lexi and I both had unwittingly provided her with knowledge on how to bypass our own guards.

"But why the bed?" she reasoned.

I shook my head in frustration. "We have to check if the line was crossed last night."

She gave me a pointed glare. "Anyone could have crossed it, Brother," she stated the obvious. "You're not the only one who has ever taken your girl out beyond the borders at night."

I sliced my eyes to her. She smiled. "Oh don't tell me you thought I didn't know about your little date," she smirked.

I swallowed the desire to throttle her there and then and reminded her of the depth of this matter. I explained to her the secret of the locket. Truth be told, we had no idea who exactly this girl was, or which memories had been hidden from both her and everyone else.

Lexi paled. She knew what I was thinking— a supernatural with amnesia must be handled carefully.

We sped to Dad's office.

I barged in. Both our parents scowled at us.

"She's gone," I growled before they could get a word in.

"Who?" Dad questioned, his aura suddenly murderous.

"Cindy," Lexi answered.

He rose and began pacing up and down his office. "How?" he growled. "When?"

"She was last seen last night. Now, she's gone, and so is her mattress and blanket."

He frowned at that, then demanded, "And where was her roommate?"

I glanced at Lexi. "Uh, Dylan didn't sleep in their room last night," she explained sheepishly. "She was in Rudy's."

"Schedule a talk with her about that boy," he ordered Mum. "What's his name? Rudolph?"

"Can we stick to the point here," I snapped irritably.

Dad glared at me, then snatched his phone and dialled. "Were the pack borders crossed last night?" he barked at Beta on the other end. A brief silence, then the device was crushed in his hand and hurled across the room.

He continued to pace, hands balled into fists.

"Who was she?" he growled lowly. "Who sent her? What did she want? Did she get it? Will she return?"

I felt my stomach sink. Already, by virtue of her disappearance, the Alpha of the pack has once again branded her as a spy. Who could blame him? When you had a whole pack to look after, who rely on you for all heavy decisions, you had to be vigilant.

To be frank, if I wasn't a goner for her, I couldn't help thinking the same thing myself. She had appeared on his lands uninvited and unexplained. She had claimed ignorance of her own race and origin, which might have been a strategy to make him keep her. Apart from the ground-shaking incident when they were waylaid, there was no reason to trust her— and with my most recent discovery, even that may be explained away.

As hard as it was for me to accept, there was such a thing as mind-control.

It was entirely possible that she was innocent, but under the influence of something sinister which was erased from her memory.

"Is it possible that even the waylaying was a plot?" Dad asked aloud, disbelief marking the question. "Who could ever plan that far ahead?"

I wondered what could be the objective of this mission. Who wanted what from this pack? And had wanted it since my Lucy was a baby?

He suddenly chuckled darkly. "Oh, Lucinda," he whispered, his hands planted firmly on his desk. "Wait till I catch you, little traitor."

I glared at him, but, I guess luckily, he didn't notice.

Mum, as usual, was silently observing and assessing the room, with that wise expression on her face. Lexi stared resolutely at her feet, determined not to give up on her best friend so quickly and way too prudent to speak of the necklace. Dad was fuming mad; I could see the smoke coming out of his ears if I looked hard enough.

Suddenly, Mum spoke.

"There's something you two know."

Dad's head snapped to us. He growled so dangerously that Lexi whimpered inaudibly and showed her neck. I instinctively pulled her behind me.

Mum pinned me with her stormy grey eyes. Her gaze flickered to Lexi and back to me. Dad's aura filled the room, threatening and murderous and overwhelming. I spread mine too so as not to suffocate in his. I locked eyes with him in a fierce battle of wills.

But before I could speak, we four wolves heard in our heads:

"T-Tyler... h-h-help."

Dad's aura disappeared immediately as his brows shot up in astonishment. Lexi tensed behind me. I growled.

"Search," I barked, involuntarily using my Alpha command. Although Mum and Dad could refuse, they didn't and instantly left to begin the search. Lexi also scurried out.

I stomped out and down the stairs. Since the pack house was empty, my family was browsing through the many hundred rooms quickly and efficiently— though not quickly enough. As for me, I was drawn to the ground floor as if I could sense her there.

Where is she, whined Zio in my mind.

I growled back and continued. This pack house had so many damn scents but I couldn't seem to pinpoint the heavenly vanilla scent that I desperately needed. Wherever she was, she needed me. She was in trouble and had called out to me. From the link she sent, it seems she was very weak.

If I found her too late...

Zio growled and took control at the thought.

His senses being only slightly better than mine, it took us an eternity (at least that's what it felt like, it was possibly only a few minutes, or an hour, I have no idea) to decide that the most recent scent of her was in the kitchen. Her scent did not leave, and neither did that of that irritating chemical she had used to cover her tracks.

So she's here? questioned my thoroughly confused wolf.

We checked and backchecked. Her scent did not leave. It was like she had come down to the kitchen, then vanished into thin air.

I snooped around some more. I checked everywhere, for some reason even checking in all the thousand cupboards in the kitchen. I mentally snorted at myself, reminded of the saying about "looking for a bicycle in your pocket." But nevertheless, I continued opening random doors until—

I opened the freezer.

My jaw dropped in utter shock and horror.

Curled up in the center of a frozen mattress, with the thin, brittle blanket drawn tightly over her shoulders, her skin a ghastly blue, was my Lucy.

I rushed in without a thought and picked up her icy figure. Frost had settled over her face.

Hurriedly linking my Mum, I carried her gingerly into the warm sitting room. I carefully brushed the her ice face and swiftly linked with my family. Lexi rushed in first and immediately burst into tears.

"Is— is she alive?" She whispered.

I ignored her as I rubbed Lucy's hands. Her pulse was so faint and slow I was sure if I had come a few minutes later it would be hopeless. Lexi, meanwhile, was slowly giving in to hysterics, which was seriously pissing me off.

Mum and Dad walked in, him looking angry, and her looking expression less. That is, before she spotted my Lucy frozen into a ball.

Her expression morphed into shock as she asked, "Is she alive?"

"Barely," I muttered.

"Excuse me, but what the hell happened here?" Dad boomed.

"Not now, Marcus," Mum waved him off. "Take your daughter."

He glared, but said nothing and guided Lexi away. I looked at Mum and she smiled softly.

"Darling," she whispered, "step aside? Please? Let me help her."

I realized just now that I had been standing in a protective stance that no one could get to her. I slowly relaxed and stepped away slightly.

She smiled and touched Lucy's temples. The smile vanished as she focused.

The gray in her eyes paled into pure white. The edges glowed electric blue.

I was in the presence of the Witch.