"Missing," I repeat slowly. "What do you mean he's missing?"

Killian takes the phone from my hand as Gwen sobs. "Stop crying," he snarls, and she does. "Start from the beginning."

Gwen takes a deep breath. "Yesterday, he was patrolling around the territory during rounds. When I didn't hear from him after a few hours, I asked the Gamma and all of the other wolves on patrol and none of them knew where he went. I thought maybe he just needed space or something but this morning he still didn't come back and nobody knows where he is! He wouldn't just leave without saying anything and I just know that something is wrong!"

"Your bond," he says, glancing at me hesitantly, like he didn't want to say the word. "Is it broken?"

A nicer way of asking: Is he dead?

"No, no the bond is still there," Gwen cries. "It's... It's like something is blocking our mindlink. Nobody can mindlink him, but we can still sense his link, unbroken."

Killian and I look at each other in shock.

Just like the missing wolves.

This wasn't over.

"Gwendolyn, we'll talk to you later," Killian says shortly.

"Wait!" Gwen says desperately. "Put Katrina on."

Killian hesitates, but hands me the phone when I hold out my hand expectantly.

"Gwen, I haven't Seen anything yet," I tell her lowly.

She pauses, unsure. "You... You would tell me if you did, right?"

Killian snarls at the insinuation, and I don't like it either. She thinks I would be too jealous to tell her if I knew where Leo was.

"I don't give a shit that you're with Leo, Gwendolyn," I tell her darkly. "I'm the one who rejected him. I have no desire to leave your pup fatherless. When I know something, I'll call." Annoyed, I hang up.

"It's the same circumstance as my missing wolves," Killian says pensively, his eyebrows pulled together. "We killed all of the hunters there. There could have been more in another location, I suppose..."

"No," I tell him, shaking my head. "The day you rescued them... I told you something was not right."

"I don't understand, Katrina," Killian says, taking my hands. "What have you Seen?"

"Nothing," I admit. "It's just a feeling... The hunters were not behind this. Or at least not working alone. I told you, it didn't make sense. Them draining blood, keeping the wolves and vampires alive. It never made sense to me, didn't seem right."

"If the hunters aren't behind this, who is?" he asks patiently, stroking my hand comfortingly with his thumb.

"Blood," I mutter, pushing into my Sight. "It always comes back to blood..."

"Katrina..?" Killian says questioningly.

I know who's doing this.

"Gather our circulus."

****

"It's a blood coven," I say, glancing at Killian. "That's why they stole wolves and vampires. They're draining the blood so they can drink it and have access to more magic."

"Witches," Gabe says in realization. "It makes total sense. Supernatural beings have a larger natural magic reservoir. It's better than human blood, they could perform stronger spells."

"I don't get it," Maryn says in confusion. "The people at the warehouse weren't witches. They were hunters. We would be able to smell if they were a witch, right? They were definitely human."

"I have killed witches with the Viatoribus," Killian says thoughtfully. "I would have recognized the smell. Mar is right, they were human, not witch."

"A mind control spell," Gabe says suddenly. "I've read about it. It takes an absurd amount of magic, would have required a huge amount of power to control that many hunters, but it's possible."

"Why bother?" Knox asks. "Why set up the hunters?"

"Because I was getting closer," I realize. "Once we started working with the vampires, once my Sight got stronger, we were getting closer. Gabe, do witches have Sight?"

Gabe pauses. "Not like yours. It's not an inherent thing they're gifted with. I read the entirety of the red book. The closest thing to Sight they have are reflective mediums that can show visions of the future, but it's not as precise as yours. They have to cast spells on the reflective medium in order to see anything clairvoyant; it's not an easy spell."

"A reflective medium?" Maryn repeats slowly. "Like a magic mirror?"

"Crystal ball." Layla nods.

Gabe frowns. "Well, not exactly, but yes, right idea."

"They set up the hunters to throw us off their track," Kage interjects quietly. "They saw that Katrina would have led us to their coven, so they framed the hunters in an unconnected location to them, knowing that we would stop looking for them if we thought we found the perpetrators."

"Kage, you're so much smarter than Gabe," Layla whispers from beside him, looking at him in wonder.

Gabe frowns at that, but Kage's cheeks flush red as the shadows around him scatter. 

"So why take Leo?" Maryn asks. "Surely, they knew this would attract more attention. I mean, he's the Alpha of a pack. People would notice if he was missing and search for him. I mean, I wouldn't, but someone else probably would."

"We realized before that they were targeting stronger wolves and vampires," Killian says thoughtfully. "Leo is an Alpha. They probably assumed it would be safe to take him without us connecting the dots."

"But it doesn't make sense to take an Alpha," Jae argues. "Nobody else has gone missing, only Leo. Why only take one person, of such high profile? It's much more dangerous than taking a bunch of lower ranked wolves. And why does rank even matter?"

"Blood," I say. "Layla, can I have some of your blood?"

"Yes!" Layla squeals enthusiastically.

What are you doing? Killian mindlinks me for the first time.

Testing a theory, I respond.

Cringing, I take Layla's hand.

"Ooh, bite my neck," she pleads. "I want to pretend to be Elena from The Vampire Diaries."

"No," Killian and Kage respond immediately. 

"I'm not going to bite you," I tell Layla, who looks disappointed by the admission. "I just need a drop."

Jae slides a knife across the table, and I carefully prick Layla's finger with it, wiping the blood off with my pinkie, and I taste it, frowning.

"Don't frown," Layla whines. "My blood tastes good. Probably."

"It's weak," I tell the circulus, who looks at me in confusion. "I can... taste the difference between her blood and Killian's. The difference between an unranked wolf and an Alpha is their blood. Killian's is stronger, possesses more of a magical quality. Drinking his makes my Sight much stronger than drinking Layla's would."

"One Alpha's blood would probably be equivalent to a hundred wolves," Gabe says thoughtfully. "They probably assumed it would be safer to just take one Alpha instead of ton of wolves. Their coven would be set on blood for decades."

"We have to find them," I say urgently. "They're probably draining Leo as we speak."

Nobody says anything for a few long seconds. 

"Not to be a dick," Maryn drawls slowly. "But why should we? They won't take any more wolves if they have Leo. It's one wolf. I, for one, don't particularly care if Leo stays gone."

Knox and Jae nod in agreement, and I can sense that Killian feels the same way.

"We can't just let him continue to be imprisoned and drained of his blood by a coven of witches," I say in shock, not able to believe that they don't understand what's wrong with this. "He has a son, a mate."

My nephew. My sister.

Maryn looks away uncomfortably, and I can See that she thinks Blue Moon is better off without him, that we all are.

"Killian, you can't seriously agree to let the witches keep him," I say in disbelief, turning towards him.

He winces. "Of course not, darling. But if we go to save him, we'll have to take out the entire coven."

"So?" I question. "He's innocent. We can't let him spend the rest of his life in captivity being tortured. We kill the coven, rescue him, easy."

"I know that, Katrina," he says quietly. "But taking down a coven of witches isn't an easy thing to do. The Viatoribus have lost many during coven infiltrations. Witches are a hard foe to beat, their magic can incapacitate people swiftly. It's a dangerous mission."

"I can't just not do anything," I insist.

He winces again. "Fine. I'll gather Akoni and some of the Viatoribus."

"Dorian, too," I add. "He owes me."

"This is suicidal," Gabe mutters. "We're coming to them. They have the advantage. They may even already know we're coming."

"We don't even know where they are!" Maryn says in exasperation. "We couldn't find them last time. Why would we be able to this time?"

"My Sight is stronger," I argue. "I'm sure I could locate them, I just have to push my Sight harder."

"No," Killian snarls, and the circulus flinches. "No more pushing your Sight. Not an option."

I glare at him. "She's my sister, Killian."

"You don't owe them anything," Killian sneers. "When have they ever done anything for you?"

"They're family," I hiss. Regardless of my own issues with Gwen, with Leo, it would be beyond morally wrong to let him suffer for decades. Especially when he's only in this position because of me, because I let Thane die instead of Cain. 

"And you're my mate, my Luna, my family," Killian says angrily. "You are not risking your life for that bastard pup. End of discussion."

I cock my head to the side and smile. "Try stopping me."

"Katrina, no!" Killian shouts, but it's too late.

I throw myself into my Sight.

****

Killian

"God dammit, Katrina!" I snarl as her eyes roll to the back of her head and turn completely black.

"Yay, that's my Luna!" Layla cheers, but stops when I glare at her.

Katrina stays frozen, unmoving as she stares straight ahead with those black eyes.

"Is she still going to bleed?" Knox asks curiously.

I grimace. "No, she's been drinking my blood. It should be enough to power the Sight."

But then she starts convulsing, and I catch her in my arms before she falls off of her chair.

Blood drips from her eyes.

"Oh no," Layla whimpers.

Rage.

I feel pure rage towards my mate.

Just when we found a way for her to live, she has to throw herself right back into the danger.

I couldn't tell if I hated or loved her selflessness.

The shaking suddenly stops, and she gasps, her eyes returning to normal after she blinks rapidly.

"Katrina-" I begin, already ready to jump into a lecture.

"Map," she orders Gabe, who scurries away to find one.

You were bleeding, Katrina, I mindlink her angrily.

Sorry, she says, not really sounding that sorry at all. Your blood propelled my Sight for awhile, but I could feel magic blocking it. I had to sacrifice some of my own to push through it.

I clench my jaw. And how much blood would you have been willing to sacrifice, Katrina? If that wasn't enough, how far would you have taken it?

She averts her eyes, answering my question with her silence.

Gabe places a map in front of her as my anger rolls off me in waves.

This self-sacrificial bullshit is seriously getting on my goddamn nerves.

She picks up the knife she used to prick Layla, and slices across her hand, wincing.

"What are you fucking doing?" I snarl, and she ignores me, holding her hand over the map.

She closes her fist, and blood drips on to the map.

The blood stays on the map.

And then moves.

"What the fuck?" Maryn whispers.

"The magic," Katrina says quietly. "I can feel it in my blood."

"Vampire-werewolf-witch hybrid," Layla says in wonder. "Like Klaus."

I have no idea what that means, but Katrina frowns.

"No, I'm not a witch," Katrina corrects her. "The Sight is doing it."

Again, no idea what the fuck that means.

The blood starts glowing on the map, burning a hole through a specific location.

"There," Katrina says in satisfaction. "That's where the coven is."

"When do we go?" Knox asks quietly.

Katrina looks at me pleadingly, and I cannot for the life of me understand why the fuck she cares about saving her bastard ex-mate so badly, family or not.

I sigh, unable to refuse her. "I'll get Akoni and Dorian. We'll leave immediately after that. Gather your weapons, fill your pockets with salt."

"Salt can prohibit their magic," Gabe adds helpfully at their confused faces.

"Go," I emphasize, and they scatter to ready themselves for battle.

"I'll be back," I mutter to Katrina, wiping the blood off from underneath her eyes.

"No, I'm coming," she insists.

I sigh at her stubbornness, her best and worst quality.

"Besides," she smiles, squeezing my hand. "We have another stop to make."

"Another stop?" 

Her eyes gleam wickedly.

"There's someone else who owes me."

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