CHAPTER 170: NIGHT DISCOVERIES...

Slater

I quietly rose from my bed, listening carefully for any sounds in the house. The watch on my wrist showed 3:24 AM. I hoped I could go and come back before anyone woke up.

I’d been putting off visiting my sister Riley in the small human town North of Ravenspire for weeks, but today was my only real opportunity. For one thing, I had a legitimate reason to leave the borders of Ravenspire pack territory.

I had managed to steal clearance papers from Isolde’s office the previous night, when everyone was at the pool.

Since Isolde was a halfling with connections to both worlds, travelling between Ravenspire and human territory didn’t require much documentation. If I were affiliated with someone like her, there shouldn’t be any problems at the border.

After dressing like one of Isolde’s servants, making sure I had my running clothes underneath for my disguise later, I crept to my bedroom door. I opened it slowly and stepped into the hallway.

I tiptoed past Rhett’s door, then past Charis’s room. I was about to pass Kael’s room when I noticed his door was slightly open. At first, I wanted to walk past it, but something made me stop. Against my better judgment, I decided to take a look.

When I pushed the door open, I discovered Kael’s room was empty. His bed was perfectly made, and from the faintness of his scent, he hadn’t been there for at least two hours.

I scoffed and shook my head, muttering, "He didn’t even bother to close his door properly."

I closed the door and hurried toward the stairs. Where could Kael be at this hour? It wasn’t like him to sneak out without telling anyone, especially after everything that had happened recently and how we had decided to be truthful to each other.

Although Kael didn’t say so much about his organisation and the things they do, I knew they were top secrets. As soon as Jex is back from his hiatus, that would be the first thing I would ask him to help me check.

Thirty minutes later, I was outside Isolde’s huge mansion. I quickly shifted into my wolf form, grateful for the freedom it gave me. The cool night breeze felt amazing against my fur as I started running toward the forest path around Isolde’s property.

The academy had policies against students shifting into wolf form on campus. It was one of Vale’s rules when she became headmistress. Her reason was that it would make students "lawless." I didn’t want to think about that ridiculous rule at the moment. I just wanted to enjoy running free.

I was about to take a turn toward the east, where the Ravenspire border was located, when I saw lights in the distance. Bright lights coming from somewhere to my left, shining so brightly they made the night sky look almost like day.

Instinctively, I dove behind a small shrub, thankful I was in wolf form and could hide more easily. The lights were incredibly bright, and I could hear voices - people having conversations without bothering to keep their voices down.

I wanted to continue on my way to find Riley, but the lights and noise bothered me. There were too many distractions tonight. After struggling with myself for a moment, I decided to investigate.

I crept closer toward the lights, staying low and moving carefully. From my hiding spot, I could see at least twenty to thirty people dressed in matching uniforms. The uniforms looked familiar, but I couldn’t remember where I’d seen them before.

Each person was holding what looked like logbooks, checking them and talking to one another. There was also an open van with a large container and a crane. But there seemed to be a problem with the crane - an engineer was trying to fix it while others held up the bright pole lights so he could see what he was doing.

I spotted a woman who was well-dressed, as if she were going to a fancy party in the middle of the night. She was talking angrily to a man who kept his head bowed, looking ashamed or scared.

The woman looked familiar, but I couldn’t place her from this distance. Then a car suddenly pulled up, and another man got out and walked toward the woman.

As the woman turned to face the newcomer, I saw her face clearly for the first time.

I nearly screamed.

Her face was hideous. The left side looked normal enough, but the right side was a twisted mass of scar tissue. The skin was pulled tight and shiny, as if it had been burned and healed poorly. Her eye on that side was smaller, the eyelid drooping. Her mouth was pulled down at one corner, giving her a permanent sneer.

The shock of seeing her disfigured face made me lose my balance. I slipped on the loose rocks beneath my paws and started to fall backwards down the slope.

Some rocks came loose and tumbled down the hill. I was sure I would fall and make enough noise to alert everyone below when someone suddenly grabbed my hind legs and pulled me back up to safety.

I turned around to see Kael crouching behind me.

"Shift into your human form," he whispered urgently. "It’s dangerous to be in wolf form here. My master will pick up your scent."

I looked at him in confusion, but quickly shifted back to human form. "Your master? What are you talking about? And what are you doing here?"

Kael looked down at the scene below us, his face grim. "I’ve been tracking that car," he pointed to the car that had brought the newcomer, currently talking to the disfigured woman.

"He’s my boss, and I needed to be sure that Peter’s accusations were false, to think he drove straight to the last person I didn’t expect to see him with."

"That doesn’t explain why you know about these people or why you’re worried about someone picking up my scent."

Kael was quiet for a moment, clearly struggling with how much to tell me. "The woman down there - that’s Isolde. But she’s not who Charis thinks she is."

I looked back at the disfigured woman giving orders to the uniformed workers. "That’s Isolde? But her face..."

"She usually wears makeup and keeps half her face hidden. The scars are from a fire when she was young." Kael’s voice was tense. "But that’s not the important part. Look at what they’re doing."

I studied the scene more carefully. The workers were loading something heavy into the container using the crane. Whatever it was, they were being very careful with it.

"What are they moving?" I asked.

"I don’t know exactly. But I recognise some of those uniforms. You remember that time at the summer camp, right after that blue thing nearly attacked Charis? The workers who came to take it were dressed in the same way these people are, but that’s not all. Most of them, dressed in that uniform, are familiar faces. They work for my organisation."

My blood ran cold. "Your organisation is working with Isolde?"

"It looks that way. And if they are, then everything I thought I knew about my mission here is wrong."

We watched as the workers finally got the crane working and began lifting a large, covered object into the container. Even from our distance, I could smell something strange - a mix of chemicals and something else I couldn’t identify.

"We need to get closer," I whispered.

"No," Kael said firmly. "If my master is involved in this, getting caught would be deadly for both of us."

"But we need to know what they’re moving. What if it has something to do with the missing students?"

Kael looked torn between curiosity and caution. Finally, he nodded. "Stay behind me and do exactly what I say."

We crept closer, moving from shadow to shadow until we could hear the conversation more clearly.

"The subjects need to be transported during daylight hours," Isolde was saying to the man who had arrived in the car. "They’re too unpredictable at night."

"That’s going to delay everything," the man replied. "We need them moved by tomorrow."

"Then you should have planned better," Isolde snapped. "I’m not losing valuable assets because you’re impatient."

Assets. Subjects. What did she mean?

"How many more shipments?" the man asked.

"This is the first one; we have 15 more to go, so we’re spreading them over four shipments per day. We would be able to finish the transportation within the week. However, we’re relocating them from the original lab and moving them elsewhere; there are so many eyes on us. After tonight, the facility will be empty, and we can begin the final phase."

Kael grabbed my arm and pulled me back. "We’ve heard enough," he whispered. "We need to leave before they finish."

As we crept away from the lights, my mind raced with questions. What were these "subjects" they were moving? What was the final phase Isolde had mentioned? And most importantly, how was Kael’s organisation involved in all of this?

When we were far enough away to speak normally, I turned to face him.

"You need to tell me everything," I said. "Right now. No more secrets."

Kael looked at me for a long moment, then nodded. "You’re right. But not here. When we get back to the house, I’ll explain everything I know."

My plan to visit Riley would have to wait.