Page 31 of A Silent Prodigy for the Lycan Princess
“I wouldn’t call me a genius,” I start. “I—”
“Oh, here we go again!” Eric sighs dramatically and rolls his eyes in an even more dramatic fashion.
“I never forget anything I read or hear,” I hurry to tell her, before Eric can grasp the chance to go on a tirade about my IQ.
“Like ever?” Gustave asks, shocked.
“It’s said that an eidetic or photographic memory gets less with age,” I say. “Clearly, I am not old enough to verify that.”
“I wouldn’t count on it,” Eric says. “It might be your gift as an alpha lycan.”
I frown. He might be right. If I exclude all the possibilities and just look at the facts, then the unknown factor remains. And that’s my gift. I’m an alpha by blood. I tested alpha, I need to have a gift. It just didn’t appear yet, which is very rare.
I clear my throat to get my own thoughts back on track. “Let me explain everything to you,” I say. “What I say here is confidential.”
Zoé nods. “Gustave and I had to sign something when we entered.”
“It’s a magic contract. Hopefully, you read the fine print,” Eric jokes.
She giggles. “I always do.”
“Same,” Gustave agrees.
Eric looks amused before turning towards me. “You clearly picked the right people.” He gets up now. “I think you are capable of continuing this on your own. Valerie and I will be heading to the airport to pick up my cousin and her friends. I took the day off so that I can help them settle in here and take them to lunch.” When Emilien wants to get up, Eric shakes his head. “Please stay here with Leila. I need you to focus on this task. I will take some of my elite warriors with me.”
“Please take Henri with you, my prince,” Emilien says. “I’ve trained and mentored him for years now. I don’t trust anyone else but him with your safety.”
Eric grins. “Our elite warriors will be so happy to hear that.”
“Please,” Emilien begs.
“I will take Henri with me,” Eric reassures him, “and Claudette.”
She is the other one of Emilien’s protégés, and he immediately looks relieved at hearing Eric mentioning her name.
Eric waves us goodbye and nods encouragingly at me, before leaving the room.
I’m starting to feel a lot better about this, so, with a newfound confidence in my little group, I start to brief them on what’s been going on the last couple of months; starting with the disappearing of omegas of all ages and genders, then continuing with the fact that it’s not just happening in Europe but also across the continents, ending with what Leila saw and with how I interpreted her findings.
“Our goal is to find whoever is behind this,” I say, “and save their victims. Going by the young woman Leila saw, the group might have been doing this for a much longer time than we anticipated.”
“Do you think they are still alive?” Zoé asks quietly. “The omegas they abducted, I mean.”
“I don’t know for certain,” I say. “But as long as I don’t have proof otherwise, I want to believe they are.”
Chapter eleven
The First Victim?
*ARDEN*
We spend the whole day planning and plotting what to do, only taking one lengthy break for lunch so that everyone could find some time to relax. Gustave and Zoé use it to look around a bit and grab something on the go, but only after both Leila and I make sure Gustave promises us not to make a move on Zoé.
Leila, Emilien, and I use the time to sit outside on Eric’s terrace and have our lunch there, just making some small talk. Eric has been my supporter for a while, but I’ve never really had a personal talk with his beta. He is a private man who is rather quiet and composed, and I like him instantly. And, obviously, Leila is one of the most interesting people I’ve ever met.
“Do you know Prince Eric’s guests?” I ask them after a while.
“Well.” Leila smiles. “His cousin Aurelia is related to me, also.”
