Page 3 of Alpha’s One-Night Stand (Shifters of Clarion #3)
A s I stand up out of my seat, my legs wobble beneath me. My heart’s racing and my hands are trembling.
“Come on, keep it together,” I whisper to myself. I can’t help but feel like my Nana’s words are haunting this entire trip. First, that encounter with the strange man in the suit, then the flight rocking and rolling like crazy. This whole thing is feeling cursed.
I take a deep breath and try to compose myself as I make my way down the aisle. I look at one of the flight attendants, but she can’t be bothered to meet my eyes. I try to offer a smile as I pass, but she doesn’t even really acknowledge me. Damn, what a bitch!
As I reach the exit, a blast of cool air hits me and wakes me up. My senses came alive. I inhale deeply in an attempt to calm my nerves. The sound of the plane’s engines has been replaced by the chatter of other passengers, and a sense of relief washes over me. I made it. Finally. The worst part is over.
I make my way down the jetway and into the terminal. My legs are still jittery, but I keep putting one foot in front of the other. I feel like the eyes of other travelers are on me, and it makes me wonder if they can tell how scared I was during the flight.
I’m definitely in my own head about this trip. All I kept thinking as the plane shook was that Nana was right, and I should have stayed home. What kind of horrible luck would it have been for the plane to crash. Like Nana had predicted my demise.
But she didn’t. The plane landed, and I’m still here. Everything’s fine. As soon as I reach the baggage claim, I see my suitcase rolling down the conveyor belt. Ha. My luck is changing already. I grab it, grateful that at least something went smoothly during this journey.
I make my way out of the airport, relieved to be back on solid ground and eager to shake off this terrible feeling that Nana put on me. I keep saying to myself that I made the right decision to do this. She’d see it in the end. I just know it.
As I walk out, I pull my phone out of my bag and turn off airplane mode. Cole’s messages light up the screen.
Sorry. Can’t come pick you up. I found an interesting piece of info.
My heart skips a beat. Sure, it kind of sucks that he can’t come get me, but information is the whole reason I’m here. Finally, things are looking up. I make my way out of the airport with my head still buried in my phone. Another message pops up.
Meet me at the Beans coffee shop on Nort Street in 15 mins.
Where the hell is Nort Street? I swipe the message away and open my maps app to search for it. Thank goodness it’s not that far away. And it’s only a five-minute drive to Moonhelm. I can meet up with the investigator and still be on time for the opening ceremony.
I type out a response confirming that I’ll be there, my fingers trembling slightly with anticipation. For once, I feel like I’m a step closer to knowing more about my mother. A wisp of a gentle breeze brushes past my face, and with a new spring to my step, I flag down a cab. On my way to the coffee shop!
The ride was quick. I barely even had time to check in with Nana and tell her that I landed safely. When we arrive, the driver helps me with my bag, and I start walking down the bustling city street, a mix of excitement and nervousness swirling in my gut. Here I am, on my way to meet the investigator who’s been helping me, and I can’t stop wondering what new information he might have for me.
Silver Crest is a beautiful city, the type that holds old secrets in its streets and libraries. As I walk down the cobbled streets, past dark alleys and winding paths leading behind old buildings, I imagine my mother walking down this same street. I can see her wanting to explore everything. I can easily picture her getting lost in the alleyways and markets that wind the city like a maze.
Something shifts behind me, and I look over my shoulder. A group of girls brush past me, and one of them looks back, her head tilted slightly. I guess I look pretty odd, dragging my suitcase along behind me on a city street. I keep walking, though. The coffee shop is just ahead.
It’s a pretty typical café. Little tables scattered around and several booths against the wall. A single barista works behind the counter with a sort of forlorn look on her face. Another day in paradise , it seems to read.
The barista sees me but says nothing as I walk past her and toward the lone figure sitting in the booth in the far corner. He’s got fiery red hair that falls into his eyes, but it’s not messy. In fact, it’s fairly well kept. He also has a beard, even though he looks to be somewhere around my age. Maybe a few years older. He’s surprisingly handsome, actually. Not what I was picturing at all. He’s looking down at a notebook, and I imagine he doesn’t even see me yet. That must be him. Here we go . . .
“Cole?”
He looks up at me, his eyes flitting to my hair. In the dim light of this place, I’m sure the purple really stands out. “Yarra.”
“Yes. Hi.” My smile widens. I’m just relieved it’s the right guy.
“Please, sit down.” He gestures to the other side of the booth and smiles. It lights up his face with a certain charm. I imagine Cole has a way with the ladies. I sit down and take note of all the papers and notebooks on the table. He makes an attempt to clear them out of my way as I sit.
“So,” I start, “you said you discovered something?”
“Yes.” He puts on reading glasses. They sit on the edge of his nose like a librarian. “The day your mother went missing, another person was reported missing as well.”
Cole slides over a grainy black-and-white picture of a middle-aged man. I look at it for a moment, then say, “Who reported him missing?”
“Unclear. Some sources say a neighbor, but it was likely someone in the area. That part of isn’t really important, though. But get this. Jake Flannel also studied at Moonhelm Academy.”
That got my attention.
“Really?”
He nods. “Yeah, I’m thinking there’s some kind of connection to their disappearances somehow, but I’m still carrying out my research. I figured you might want to know where I’m at, though, since you’re on your way there. If there are more missing alumni from Moonhelm, well, that’s a pattern that might lead us somewhere.”
“I see. Do you think Moonhelm is responsible for the disappearances?”
He shrugs. “Honestly, I’ve got nothing more than that so far, but I got to thinking that if there are more missing people from Moonhelm, I’m sure the academy would have those records. Not that they’d give them up easy.”
“Why wouldn’t they? I mean, isn’t that sort of thing public record or something? They’re just former students.”
Cole leans in toward me, his eyes darkening. “Trust me, a lot of shady business goes on in Moonhelm, and the bastards who run the place know every single thing about whoever enters their school . . . or leaves it.”
I shiver at his words. I’ll bet there’s a story there. Something personal.
“The point is,” he adds, “you have access to the school now. Maybe you can find something in their records.”
Cole adjusts his glasses with a finger. “I think the first step to finding your mother is getting inside Moonhelm. You’re already there, so that’s where we need to begin. I realize how scary this must be, but we will find your mother. I just know it.”
The thought of it ignites hope in my chest. It’s like confirmation that I’m on the right path.
“We’ll talk whenever we can,” he says, gathering up his notes and putting them away in a bag next to him. “I’ll give you my number. Don’t worry. It’s untraceable, so no one will know you’re investigating your mother’s disappearance. Not by me, anyway.” He takes off his glasses and puts them back in his pocket. “Remember, the people at Moonhelm are very smart. You give them something to worry about, and they’ll sniff you out in a heartbeat. Be very careful in how you move.”
My heart skips a beat with excitement. I feel like an undercover agent heading into no-man’s-land.
“I get it.”
Cole nods. “Good luck, then. I’ll be in touch.”
I stand up, feeling like a superhero. Finally, I was moving forward. “Thank you so much, Cole, for doing this.”
He cracks a smile, and all that charm comes back again. “No problem. I’ve got your back, Yarra. We’re well on our way to finding your mother. Don’t worry.”
I walk out of the coffee shop. Next stop, Moonhelm Academy. I flag down another cab, and as I stow my suitcase in the trunk, the hair at the back of my neck stands on end. I look sharply over my shoulder. Nobody’s paying me any mind. People just walk by on their way to wherever. Nothing’s out of place. I get into the cab, ignoring the strange feeling that someone’s following me.