Tracy stepped forward. “The family hadn’t been told yet. Maddie wasn’t allowed to say anything until they’d been notified and her body identified.”

Kellie put a hand on her stomach. “I feel sick.”

Just be glad you weren’t there.

Justina stood and left the room, stomping up the stairs to her room.

I rolled my eyes. Typical. Justina would find any excuse to yell at me.

Movement in the lounge room caught my eye and I saw the expression on Jackson’s face. Maybe he was thinking of his own death. At least I wouldn’t have to repeat everything to him later.

I glanced around. Kaydan stared at nothing and Kellie and Anna-Marie had tears running down their cheeks.

Mitch looked me in the eye, which he didn’t usually do. “You expect us to believe that she just walked up and told you what happened to her?”

“Yes.”

“That’s just bullshit. Maybe you had something to do with her going missing and this is your way of covering it up—”

“Mitchell Rochester! That’s enough!” Tracy yelled. “Do not speak to Maddie — or anyone else in this house — like that. Maddie is a Spirit Seer and she is telling the truth.”

He gave me a filthy look and stormed out the front door.

Tracy sighed heavily.

What a jerk.

Laynee stood with her head down and quietly left the table. I got the feeling she didn’t want to cry in front of anyone.

Tracy shook her head. “That went well.”

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. This was hard.

Anna-Marie put a hand on my arm. “Are you okay, dear? You’ve had a rough day.”

“Yeah. I just need some time alone.”

They let me leave without another word and I was grateful.

As I headed to my room, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be alone or if I wanted to talk to Jackson about it all. I was pretty sure I wanted someone to vent to, but when I got to my room, it was empty. I called his name a few times — even looked out on the verandah — but there was no sign of him.

I thought that after hearing about Sophie, he’d be here waiting to find out more about it. I was more disappointed than I wanted to admit and I wasn’t sure why. Why did I care?

He was a pain in my ass, but I missed him when he was gone?

That was just stupid.

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

That night, after everyone had gone to sleep, I was startled awake by the sound of Jackson’s voice.

“Jackson! You scared the hell out of me,” I whisper-yelled.

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“Sorry.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I don’t know.”

“What do you mean, you don’t know?”

“It happened again. I was just nowhere and then I was suddenly here in your room. I still haven’t worked out how or why it’s happening.”

“Well, you need to work it out because it’s going to give me a heart attack. What if I’m in the middle of getting dressed next time?”

“Well, I’m sorry, your Highness. I’ll just go have my crisis somewhere else.”

As I opened my mouth to respond, there was a thumping sound outside my room.

“Did you hear that noise? It sounds like someone is out in the hall, but they’re going in the opposite direction of the loo.”

The top step creaked. Someone was definitely going downstairs. They could have been heading for the kitchen, but something told me that there was more to it.

“Want me to go take a look?” Jackson asked.

“Yeah, could you?”

He nodded and stepped through the door and I shivered. I would never get used to that.

After a minute or two of me silently telling myself off for being a dick to him and then asking him for a favour, he walked back through the door and I jumped.

“Sorry,” he said. “Three people dressed in black just left the house.”

“Who?”

“It’s hard to see them clearly, but I think it’s Kellie, Kaydan, and Justina.”

“What the hell are they doing going out at this hour of the night?”

“Your guess is as good as mine.”

I opened my door quietly and made my way outside, following Jackson’s directions for where they went.

“I’m pretty sure they used magic to get outside undetected by the spells that surround the house.”

They use magic to keep an eye on us?

That was something I needed to keep in mind, but I’d have to deal with it another time. I shook my head and kept walking.

I kept to the shadows and hoped they wouldn’t see or hear me.

I could just make out their shadows as they reached the bottom of the driveway and turned left. Once they’d walked about fifty metres, a car pulled up and a guy got out to meet them.

Jackson stood out in the open and I had to resist the urge to tell him to hide.

He didn’t keep his voice down either. “Who is that guy? Why are they meeting him out here in the middle of the night? It’s like, one AM.”

“I don’t know,” I whispered. “That’s why I’m sitting out here in the bushes trying to find out.”

I thought of Kassie and how she died because she’d done this very thing and I shivered.

Jackson stepped toward them. “It looks like they’re dressed to commit a crime. Rob someone’s house or something.”

“Shh. I can’t hear what they’re saying.”

He kept quiet and from the bits and pieces I could hear, it sounded like they were going to check on a girl they saw being stalked by their suspect.

What the?

I caught the name Tamara and Kaydan told them she was about sixteen.

Their suspect? Stalking? Were they some kind of vigilantes or something?

That would explain the black clothes and them sneaking out in the middle of the night. But why would they do something like this? The police and the Guild take care of crime, so why were they trying to be heroes?

Maybe they were sick of waiting for the police and the Descendants’ Guild to find Piper. That made sense. I didn’t know what I’d do if someone I cared about went missing.

My leg was starting to cramp up from sitting still for so long and I shifted a little to ease the pain. Just as Jackson told me to be careful because they might hear me, the guy they’d met up with turned and looked directly at me.

My chest tightened as a chill ran up my spine, but he looked away and continued talking. I let out a long breath.

I ignored my leg and tried to listen to what they were saying. Justina shook her head and raised both hands. She obviously didn’t agree with something. Kassie was standing next to her looking anxious. Maybe she wanted to go with them. I wondered if she could.

Their conversation had turned into muffled noises.

“I can’t hear,” I whispered. I strained to see them clearly and could only see three figures near the car.

“Want me to go closer and tell you what they’re talking about?”

“Yes. Please.”

“Okay.”

He walked straight over to the group and I strained to hear, but I would have to wait for Jackson to fill me in on whatever I was missing when he got back.

I was so engrossed in what was happening that by the time I realised that the guy they’d met up with was still missing, a hand slipped over my mouth and another slid around my throat.

“Don’t move.”