38

38

Jacob’s POV.

I paced around my room, wondering what the fuck was this report that I had just gotten. I couldn’t believe what one of my men had just told me. That Freya was missing and that she had been missing for a few days now.

Not even a few days! She had been missing for a month! How come I was just getting the report? How?!

It was too hard to believe. How come I had never gotten the report that she was missing? Why was everything going wrong all of a sudden?

“Since when did you find out she has been gone?” I bellowed at Lucian who had his usual poker face on. We were among other council members so he couldn’t show emotions.

“I just found out about it today, Your Grace,” he answered and I scoffed, wanting to turn around and beat him up for what he just said.

“Freya has been missing from this castle for a month and you’re only just finding about it today?” I yelled.

“Your Grace, her maid was told to keep it a secret. Freya left herself—”

“And?!” I snapped. “It doesn’t change the fact that she left the castle without my permission!” I yelled.

“I think you should take a chill pill, son,” One of the old council members said and I shot him a glare but he didn’t seem to care. “The girl was probably tired of being locked up in this place all day and so she decided to take matters I to her own hands. Smart, bold girl, I give her that. Anyways that’s beside the real issue. You know, I’ve been wanting for you to bring up the real issue for months now but you haven’t so I might have no choice but to bring it up today.”

I narrowed my eyes at him and then turned to face him. “What issue?” I demanded.

“The one about your brother, Your Grace,” he answered.

“What about him?” I demanded.

“Your Grace… we’re not just going to pretend like we don’t know that your brother has marked a human girl, are we?” He asked.

I froze,.my whole body going still as my eyes narrowed on him. “What do you mean?”

“Your Grace, I don’t think we should be acting as if we don’t know what is really going on,” one of the women on the council answered as she looked at me.

“I don’t know what you all are talking about. Maybe if you bothered to enlighten me then I might know what the fuck you all are talking about. Now if you don’t mind, can you elaborate?” I snapped.

“About four to five months ago, your grace, we discovered that your brother had marked a human girl and now she is being targeted. We also found out that Mike, your brothers best friend, has a few men shadowing her every move. Protecting her, I suspect. But we all know that it is wrong that his highness marked a human girl. We don’t claim humans. And now her life is endangered and he’s still trying to protect her,” another person on the council explained.

“Which brings us to our current issues with the lycanthropes and the witches,” the old man continued with a grim smile. “They began to misbehave around the same time that your brother marked the human girl. We suspect that they must have found out about this and this is the reason why the witches decided to leave us and join sides with the lycanthropes.”

There was blood rushing in my ears and my ears were ringing loudly. I wasn’t sure I could hear what they were saying correctly and I wasn’t sure I could go by the rest of my dab without killing one of them.

I gritted my teeth together. “Get out.”

“What?” One of them asked and I glared at her.

“I will not repeat myself one more time. Get out!”

They all got up, grumbling, and they left the council room. I turned to Lucian who was still standing here.

“How come I’m just finding out about this?” I seethed. His poker face dropped and he rubbed his face wearily.

“I guess we both are just finding out about these things,” he answered. “I can’t believe Ian went ahead and marked a human girl. Doesn’t he know that he has put her in danger like that?”

“I don’t care about the human girl. Who are those that are after her? Are they vampires or the lycanthrope? Or the witches?” I demanded.

“I wouldn’t know. Like I said earlier, we’re both just finding out about a lot of things,” he replied. “But I’m going to make mh findings about it and get back to you.”

“Do you think Freya is there? Do you think she’s hunting down this human girl that Ian marked?” I asked before he could leave. He halted and turned back to me then sighed.

“I can’t say, I’m not sure,” he answered.

“We all know Freya is a fucking psychopath, Lucian. We both know how jealous she is and how overprotective she is. We both know she would go to any extent to destroy any obstacle to she and Ian’s relationship. And I’m surprised she let him stay here this long without going out to hunt him down,” I murmured. “I need to find my brother. I don’t know how you’re going to do it but I need information on his whereabouts before the day ends. Is that clear?” I ordered.

“Yes, your Grace,” Lucian answered, bowing slightly. “I’ll start working with on it now.”

“Your Grace,” Lucian said as he entered my chambers. “I’ve found where your brother is,” he told me.

“And where might he be?” I demanded. .

“In the human world, as we both know. But I have found his exact location,” he explained. “Are you going there?”

“Of course I am,” I answered as I rose up from my chair.

“And when are you going?” He asked.

“Now,” I answered. He gave a nod.

“You should get dressed casually so you can blend in. I’ll bring you the address and what it looks like,” he told me before turning around and walking out of the room.

The human world was a chaotic place, a cacophony of noise, color, and motion that constantly assails the senses. Unlike the quiet elegance and ordered structure of the vampire realm, the human world was messy, unpredictable, and vibrant. It’s a place where life is lived in bursts of passion and moments of mundanity, where every day is a new challenge, and nothing is ever quite what it seems.

I’ve always felt out of place here. The few times I had been here, I was never able to fit in. The humans are fascinating in their own way, with their short lives and intense emotions, but their world feels alien to me. The endless hum of their cities, the constant rush of their lives, it’s all so different from the timeless stillness of our realm. Yet, I might have to spend a few days more than I’d have liked here, especially in the current situation of things. Hopefully, I’ll be able to find Ian quickly and then he can make my work easier by following be back to our realm.

When Ian disappeared, I didn’t know where to start looking. I scoured every corner of our realm, consulted every ancient text and oracle, but there was no trace of him. Desperate, I turned my attention to the human world. It was a long shot, but I had to try. I didn’t find him then and I had eventually given up. Ian knows how to vanish when he didn’t want to be found. Thankfully, Lucian has helped me well this time. My brother was out here somewhere, and I wasn’t going to rest until I found him.

Navigating the human world was a challenge in itself. Their technology, their customs, even their languages were hurdles I had to overcome.

Gods. Has it been that long since I last came here or what? Lucian had told me to just board a cab and give him the address of where I was going to. That was supposed to be easy or something like that.

I fished out the address from the pocket of my trousers and just walked around, trying my best to blend in with the people going about their day. It took a while for me to finally see a taxi that was free and I boared it, giving him the address.

Loud, terrible music blasted from his speakers but at least it helped me to get my mind off all that I was thinking. My mind was imagining the worst scenarios right now, like what if I got to the place and Ian wasn’t the one I saw? Or what if he wasn’t happy to see me?

Ian had a terrible temper and I didn’t want to be in the receiving end of that temper.

It took a while before the cab got there and I paid him off. I ran the bell beside the gate and the gate opened by itself. It wasn’t hard to navigate my way to the door and I rang the doorbell. When it opened, Ian was standing right in front of me.