Page 53 of The Mermaid's Bubble Lounge
Bracken flipped another page. “In 1902, in Sowa, Botswana, there was a string of villagers being dragged from their huts in the early hours of the morning. Their bodies were later found a little way away from the village. Their bodies were covered in huge bites and claw marks. Everyone assumed the lions were hunting men.”
Adaeze nodded, her eyes narrowed.
“That area, though, is ruled by lion shifters. The Pride Male swore it wasn’t them. They couldn’t find a scent trail and had no idea who was doing the killings. He ended up moving the pride a few kilometers away to avoid the human hunters who were encroaching on their territory.
“As I said, I’ve only begun the research. I’m still scanning the indices to my journals for similar events. I’m sure there will be more. And these are just the cases I had notes on. I think it’s safe to say that there are plenty of other incidents I haven’t yet heard of or researched.”
“Unfortunately,” Clive said, “I believe you’re correct. Can I ask, though, about the daughter of the Rei that they believe was stolen?”
Bracken flipped a few pages. “Yes, of course. What’s your question?”
“When did this happen?”
“Oh, let’s see. It was twenty-two years ago. The little one was three or four years old at the time. There were some conflicting reports.”
Do jaguars start shifting that young?
“Excuse my ignorance,” Clive said, “but when do jaguar shifters begin shifting? Was she a child or a cub when she disappeared?”
Bracken paused. “That’s an excellent question and one I’m sorry to say I didn’t ask. Different shifting breeds begin at different times. Some shift for the first time in the cradle. Some wait until adolescence of the human side. As I recall, jungle cats begin shifting quite early. I can ask people who know to get specifics on jaguars.”
He gave a soft chuckle. “I have an excellent memory, but I’m afraid there are a fair few facts rattling around up there. My gut response is that they begin shifting as toddlers, so around the time the little girl disappeared. As I said, though, I can find an answer that’s better than my gut.”
What’s her name?
“One more thing,” Clive began. “Do you by any chance have her name?”
There was a pause. “I do. It’s Rafaela. I must ask, though, because these questions lead me to believe you know something about her. Her family is still desperate to find her. They haven’t given up hope and regularly scour the rainforest, looking for a clue as to what happened to her.”
I can feel your heart racing, darling, but this is a tricky situation. She was found with a vampire. We could inadvertently start a war if we tell them we know where their stolen daughter is.
Clive.
I know. Let me do this diplomatically.
TWENTY-FOUR
Could This Have Been an Email?
“I’ve heard some things,” Clive told Bracken, causing Joao to still. “I have no answers for you right now but would appreciate the time and space to do a little research of my own. I assume, if I do find something, that you’d be able to get a message to her family?”
“I could,” Bracken responded. “Yes, indeed. I met with the family myself, you see. They’re heartbroken. Still. I understand that you can’t tell me anything right now, but please share with me what you know when you can. They’ve been mourning her loss for twenty-two years.”
“I understand, and I’ll get back to you,” Clive said. “Thank you again for your time and knowledge. We are grateful.” He disconnected the call.
“Why didn’t our own historians find this?” Pablo shook his head, staring away from the group.
“Other than that jaguar story,” Ahmed said, “where we were painted as the villains, none of those killings involved us.” He leaned forward over the table. “All this time we’ve been told that our own people wanted to out us to the world. We’ve been scrambling, the older ones trying to teach the younger ones how difficult it was before we became fiction, before vampire hunting fell out of fashion.”
“Yes, and why was that?” Pablo sneered. “Members of the Guild were involved in those investigations. How did you miss all of this?”
“We didn’t.” Vlad looked like he was one shitty comment away from handing Pablo his final death. “My report said that although it appeared to be a vampire killing, there was no evidence of one being involved.”
Joao stood and began to pace around the library. “Mine was similar. We could find no trace of the killer. That was in the report. Sebastian said he’d heard rumblings of vampires wanting to be out to the world and so saw this as connected.”
He was also the one flaunting the rules of secrecy to feed on innocents.
I know, darling, but we have no idea if any of these Counselors knew what was going on in Budapest.
