Page 92 of A Silent Prodigy for the Lycan Princess

My heart picks up its pace. This can’t be a coincidence! Louis donated blood here and then ended up abducted and dead.

“Aurelia.” Zoé’s voice reaches me. “When you are done, make sure to get out. There are a few doctors taking the elevator to the basement.”

I nod, swiftly putting everything back in its place. I might be on a mission here, but blood reserves are important, and I don’t want to jeopardize anyone’s health by messing something up here. Nodding contently at my work, I finally leave the blood bank and make my way back the same way I came. I greet the group of doctors, who barely acknowledge me, before returning to the ground floor.

Time to get out of here and meet with the others.

Chapter twenty-eight

New Findings

*AURELIA*

When I return to our van, Nox is already there, explaining that he successfully searched the archive for information and got a whole list of potential donors for AB negative from the entire last century, plus he managed to get into the digital database with Zoé’s help, who then copied the data preserved there.

Once he has finished, Zoé finally joins us. “I’ve aged four years,” she says, looking exhausted.

“It can’t be that bad,” Emilien says, amused.

“It can.” She sighs. “I had to chat with that nice nurse a second time because she saw me leaving. I told her that I got a call from my mom and will return later.”

“Well,” Nox says with a smile. “Congratulations on your first mission.”

“You did really well,” Arden agrees.

At their praise, her eyes light up. “Really?”

“Absolutely,” I say. “Thanks to you, I was able to weasel my way through that talk with Dr. Moreau.”

“Let’s get back now so we can sort through everything,” Emilien suggests.

“Talking about the material,” I say while he maneuvers the van out of the parking lot and back onto the street. “I swear, I saw Louis Auclair’s name on the list of blood donors down in the blood bank.”

Arden looks surprised. “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” I say.

“Maybe it’s someone with the identical name?” Zoé suggests.

Arden doesn’t answer, just furrows his brows. He is completely lost in his thoughts. I know that look now. So, I don’t push him for an answer anymore and decide to wait until we are back at the Council.

On our way, Emilien halts briefly so that we can order some lunch and take it with us. He gets us burgers, claiming we haven’t had the real deal yet if we didn’t try them. With our food and our newfound information, we return to the headquarters.

“How is that possible?” Leila asks while eating her portion of fries. We have just met with her and Gustave and recapitulate everything we’ve gathered.

Zoé is currently digitizing everything, while Arden has begun to view the first copies she printed. He starts with the one Iprovided, with Louis’s name on it. “Itishis name,” he mutters. Looking up at me, he sighs apologetically. “Not that I doubted it.”

“I know. It’s always better to double-check.”

“Could it be someone with the same name as Zoé suggested?” Nox asks.

“The age fits, though,” Arden says. “That would be quite the coincidence.”

“But why would he donate blood?” Gustave asks. “He is a werewolf. It’s not a good idea to donate blood for humans. And he wasn’t a student, either. He was a warrior, mostly working for the pack. These types of shifters don’t interact much with humans.”

“You are right. Once we have our wolf spirits and can shift, we should avoid doing something reckless like that,” Arden agrees. “It’s one thing to get our blood work done, to get tested, but to donate blood could be reckless.”

“Can shifters even donate blood?” Leila asks. “I didn’t know that.”