Page 34 of A Silent Prodigy for the Lycan Princess
“It’s not just that,” I mutter. “It says in her file from Interpol that she disappeared when she was twelve. We don’t know her exact age, but judging by how Leila saw her in silver chains, I’d say she is at least eighteen now, if not older. They’ve kept her for many years.”
“I don’t think I understand,” he says.
“I don’t believe they are keeping all their victims that long. Yes, there could be the possibility that it’s a whole underground dungeon with many prisoners, but seeing how the number of victims might be much higher than we anticipated, especially, since we don’t know anything about other continents...”
“They might have missing werewolves, too,” Leila adds, quietly.
“Exactly,” I say. “Do we really think they abducted a vast number of wolves of different ages and genders for years just to keep them in a dungeon? The key will be to find out what they are doing with them, but Meg… she might have been one of thefirst victims, if notthefirst. If she truly was the first, then she is the most important. She is special to them.”
It’s eerily quiet in the room.
“We need to do a proper victimology,” I say.
“I think Aurelia, Eric’s cousin, could do that,” Emilien says. “I’ve heard she studied the victims who disappeared in her area well.”
“Good. But she will need help.”
“I will help her,” Leila offers.
“Me too.” Gustave nods.
“Then, Zoé, can you create a map reconstructing where these omegas were from and where they were last seen?”
“We don’t have enough information for a geographic profile,” Emilien mutters.
“I know,” I say quietly, exchanging a gaze with him.
“Why not?” Zoé asks.
“Because we haven’t found any bodies,” I admit quietly.
“Yet,” Emilien adds. “I’m skeptical of our first theory. If they truly started around ten years ago, I don’t think everyone would still be alive.”
My heart sinks at his words. I want to believe they still are, but he isn’t wrong. It’s a long time span. “No one has announced them deceased, though.”
“Maybe no one knew who they were,” Gustave suggests. “After all, you found Meg in the human database. If… if a body landed in the hands of the humans…”
“That could be an unfortunate possibility,” I agree. “We need something at this point. Either we need to find out where they were abducted exactly, or how. We don’t have a crime scene, which makes it so difficult. Or—” I pause, not able to finish my sentence.
“Or we find a body,” Emilien says. “Then, we know how they died, which would help us in our investigation.”
“Emi,” Leila says quietly.
“I know.” He sighs. “But it’s a possibility we need to be aware of. It might also lead us to the species responsible for this. They target omegas, so they must be aware of our world. Either they are one of us, or they are another kind of shifter or supernatural being.”
“I agree. They are definitely from our world in one way or another. However, Meg lived with the humans and was in an orphanage. For now, she is our main lead,” I say. “I will research her and try to find someone who knew her and the orphanage.”
The atmosphere is heavy at the prospect of so many men, women and teens having been abducted for many years with no one noticing, but at the same time, the room is brimming with motivation for finally having an actual lead and a goal.
Leila and Gustave work on the victimology, while Emilien and Zoé try to pinpoint the places our possible victims were abducted. Meanwhile, I try to gather as much information about Meg as possible, in preparation for when I need to talk to the orphanage.
Cato stirs in my mind.
Is something wrong?I ask him.
I can see him sit up, tilting his head, one of his ears flopping over while he just seems to stare at something in the distance. Then, he raises his nose and sniffs gently.
“Eric is coming,” Emilien says, all of a sudden. “I can hear his footsteps.”
