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Cyrus notices it, too, and looks at me.

“I know,” I tell him, putting my foot down.

It is already dark, and we don’t arrive at her house till sunrise. Pulling into the driveway, I get out and knock on the door. Her mother answers.

“Hey, Debbie, is Addie here?” I ask her.

She is half-asleep still, her pajamas all wrinkled, and I can tell I have pulled her out of bed.

“Oh, Eli,” she says, half-asleep, and opens the door.

Cyrus rushes inside in a blur, so quick that Debbie doesn’t even notice him rush past her; the only indicator is her hair blowing slightly.

“Come in, come in,” she says, yawning while walking to the kitchen. She flicks the kettle on.

Cyrus walks out, shaking his head, and I sigh. “Debbie, do you know where Sam lives?”

She yawns again. “Has something happened? Where is Addie?”

I nod to Cyrus. She is no use to us right now. We need answers and can’t afford her asking questions, stalling our time. Cyrus walks over to her, grabbing her face. He compels her to tell us Sam’s address before compelling her to forget seeing us.

We drive to the address when we are suddenly hit with fear. Whatever is blocking us is wearing off. I kick in the door without even bothering to knock. A woman comes out, screaming frantically, and I leave Cyrus to deal with her while I search the house. His room is clean, and his scent is faint, like he hasn’t been here for long. I can’t pick up hers at all, though. Walking downstairs, I see a door with padlocks on it. Cyrus compels his mother, and she dazedly walks off into the living room. I pull the padlocks off, breaking the locks in the process before opening the door.

It’s the basement. Cyrus and I walk downstairs and are unprepared for what we find. Turning the light on, the entire place looks like a shrine in her honor. Thousands of photos of her hanging on the wall. Her scent is in there, and at first, it gives us hope until we realize he has stolen some of her belongings. Underwear, a hair brush, some clothes, and even her toothbrush.

“What the fuck?” Cyrus says, looking at the photos.

There are even photos of us with her, photos of her as a teenager, some of her even in the shower, getting changed from outside her windows.

“Did he take all these?” I gasp.

It’s something out of a horror movie; I have never met anyone with such an obsession with something, much less a person. There are even cut-out photos of her and him that he’s obviously made.

He’s been stalking her. That much is clear. But where is she now?

“You need to ring the council now and find out where the fuck he is with our mate,” Cyrus says, horrified.

I nod, pulling my phone out to start making calls. Walking upstairs, I ring his boss.

Sam’s entire house is surrounded within the hour, people combing over everything in the house, pulling the entire place apart. His boss pulls up as I am waiting outside. Cyrus is inside, and I can feel his fear festering beneath the surface.

“Eli. I came as quickly as possible,” Pete says, hopping out of the car and walking toward me.

I shake his hand, and he looks at the house.

“Heard you had an incident in Soya?”

He brushes his graying hair with his fingers, pushing it out of his eyes, the sky turning overcast as a cool breeze picked up.

“Yes, Sam burned the place down. Now my mate is missing.”

“That’s impossible. I had Sam escorted back yesterday,” he says, rubbing his hands together, trying to warm them.

“Well, you obviously didn’t keep an eye on him because he took my mate. We found his scent in my house, and there is something you need to see,” I tell him, motioning toward the house.

“You don’t understand. Sam is a good kid. He wouldn’t do that. You must be wrong. He is one of our best employees,” he says, following me up the stairs and into the house.

His mother is talking to Cyrus and a few members of the supernatural council.