Beneath the Depths - Book Four (Moon Child Series)

Chapter Seventeen

MJ POV

Back at our apartment I crack open the journal to the first entry as soon as I’m sitting on the couch. Damien emerges from his room, headphones hanging from his neck, energy drink clutched in his hand. My team circles around me, some sitting and some standing as I read through the entries of the journal.

“It looks like this is the week leading up to her disappearance. ‘I’ve been asking around about the missing shifter with no luck. Some suspicious behaviour to be noted. A young witch seemed panicked when I was asking around about the missing shifter. Her attitude has shifted. More suspicious behaviour is one of the girls from my class has taken a week off after the disappearance. Research into this student reveals the same pattern for all other disappearances. Student name is….’” The rest of the page is too weather damaged to read, and I growl in frustration. We were this close to a new lead. I flip to the next page, most of it indecipherable. I turn to the last few entries, luckily unscathed.

“‘Sleep is eluding me as of late. I think my cover is close to being blown. I feel like I’m being watched. And I could have sworn I saw the hunters symbol on a male students wrist yesterday, he has been observing and following me around campus. Caution needs to be taken.’ s**t. She’d suspected her cover was blown, why didn’t she report in earlier?” I glance up at the grim faces of my team, their thoughts the same. The next entry is just as troubling.

“‘Definitely being followed. They’re not even trying to hide it now. My comms are down, anytime I try to make contact, something is stopping me. My cover is at risk of being blown. Sleep is getting harder lately. Strange sounds invade my dreams and the stench of blood magic hangs around me.I will try to contact home base again tomorrow.’” Everyone is quiet around me as they absorb the words of the last entry. This is why it’s good to sometimes have a team with you on missions. Having that backup in times like this was essential. Safety in numbers. Dread fills me as I turn to the last entry in the journal dated to the day of her disappearance.

“‘The thick scent of blood magic follows me everywhere. I’m too afraid to leave my room. They’re not even hiding from me anymore. They’ve cut off my communication and cast a silencing dome around my apartment. Even if I wanted to call for help, I couldn’t. Something is happening. The full moon is like an omen of doom. I can hear something on the wind. Pulling me away, fogging my mind….’” The last word drags across the page, the pen line running off the page.

“What happened?” Circe asks, her face tight with stress.

“I don’t know. It just ends there.” We all deflate a little, feeling disappointment at having found a lead only to reach a dead end. I toss the journal onto the coffee table and stand, pacing the room. “They cut her off from us, so she couldn’t get help. They got to her.” Circes bottom lip quivers slightly as she watches me pace, my anger growing with each lap. “She was all alone, and there’s nothing we could have done about it.” My wolf is out for blood, ready to tear apart the people that hurt June. Circes head falls into her hands as she bursts into tears. I freeze in my pacing as Romano comforts his mate. Damien clutches at his headphones in distress. We all knew something bad had happened to June, but we were all remaining positive on what exactly that was, this journal brought us one step closer to discovering what that was. We could kid ourselves into thinking she’s alive, and I would give anything for it to be true, but who could we kid. From the sound of that last entry my heart knew the truth. We wouldn’t find June, and if we did, she wouldn’t be alive. My heart breaks for Junes family, and an urge in me has me wanting to reach out to mine. Without a word I head to my room and pull my phone from my pocket. Opening my texts I pull up my family group chat and send a message telling them I love them.

Chucking my phone on my bed I change into my running clothes, needing to release my pent-up anger. Leaving my room I find that everyone else had also gone to their rooms, needing time to process everything we’d just had thrown at us. The cool night air hits my lungs as I take off at a jog, needing nothing more than to clear my mind and forgot for just a moment that my friend is lost to us forever.