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Evelyn looked at me, trying to understand the past. "So, the Luminara Coven, where moonblood witches used to live, lost its importance after the war?"
"Yes," I said, "with the magic getting weaker and many witches gone, the Luminara Coven lost its charm. The moonblood witches scattered and tried to find safety elsewhere with what was left of their once-great coven."
A quiet moment filled the room as we both thought about the echoes of a war that changed Harmony Grove. "And that," I finished, "is the sad history of the Luminara Coven—a story of love, loss, and time that never stops."
Evelyn's eyes, now understanding more, silently acknowledged the weight of her new knowledge. The room, lit by the moon, felt like it held the memories of a time when witches, werewolves, and vampires had lived together, only to be torn apart by a cruel war.
“So, you’re saying I could be a moon witch too?” she asked, and I nodded slowly.
“Two months ago, if you had told me any of this, I would have called you a joker to your face but look at me now, entertaining the thoughts. The woman said my mother’s name was Celeste, and they have been looking for me a long time. I have no idea why my mother took me away from there or why she decided I deserved to live through multiple foster homes where they saw me as a weirdo.” She mused, and I remained silent. She was still dealing with all of this, but she was handling it better than I would have had I been in her position.
“Do you know any moon witch that I could speak to? Obviously, there is no way to contact the woman from the park,” she asked, and I shook my head.
“Moonblood witches are becoming rare and the odds of meeting one is quite slim. The woman who approached you in the park probably followed you for days before revealing herself to you. I told you that the relationship between us wasn't the smoothest after my mother was accused of tainting their legacy. She never practiced witchery again.” I explained further.
‘If they were looking for me, how come nobody knew where to find me until I touched that gemstone in the coven itself?” She asked and I had no way of answering, so I just told her what I thought.
“I think your mother masked you perfectly, and you touching the gemstone activated whatever magic is in you or whatever power of the moon they can trace to you. Now you are on their radar. I also know they will be back with their requests or whatever they need from you. I am also sure of one other thing: they will never harm you. They regard you as family and kinship is one of their greatest beliefs.” She only nodded when I finished explaining. She was staring into the light of thecandle and looked like she had transported out of the room. I didn’t disturb her. I just silently watched her instead.
I wondered how the Vampire Council would react when they realized that killing her meant they would be starting another great cleansing. Nobody knew what the Luminara witches, who had been in hiding for more than three hundred years, had been building. We couldn’t risk another war. Not like I would have let the vampires kill her to begin with though.
“Evelyn, it might not make sense at the moment, but I want you to know that it will slowly start to make sense. I am here for you every step of the way, and I always will be.” I said lowly. She got up from her sitting position and moved towards me, wrapping her arms around me and holding me tight.
“Thank you,” she whispered, and I hugged her back.
CHAPTER 22 | JANET IS MISSING
EVELYN’S POV
“Special Agent Evelyn, that psychopath has grabbed my daughter, my sweet girl!” Sheriff Callum announced as he barged into the board room. Suddenly I felt all the blood drain from my body. Oh my God.
Our suspect grabbing Janet could mean a lot of things and none of them were good. I scrambled up from the place I was sitting and hurriedly walked out of the boardroom. Working with the task force alone wasn’t enough to handle this. Every officer on duty needed to work to find Janet before thingswent south.
“Someone get me the CCTV footage from everywhere Janet has been today, we will start from there. I need officers out there combing the streets for witnesses and anything else that might have happened. There’s got to be someone out there who saw something. Find them!” I shouted, and everyone got to work.
I was trying to keep myself sane. I was scared of the things that he might do to her; she was just a teenager. The urgency was palpable as we rushed to find clues. The Sheriff's fear was justified, especially after what happened to Diego. No one wanted to see a repeat of that tragedy.
Whoever grabbed Janet knew her father was the Sheriff and they were trying to get their point across. We didn’t know how deep of a point they were willing to make. I could feel the walls closing in on me.
“Agent, the school has sent over the footage. It’s playing in the board room in case you want to see,” one of the officers called out, and I followed him. I felt incredibly useless around here. I had been here for three weeks without making any headway.
I thought we still had more time, especially since we hadn’t had any new cases since we found the costume. Now the killer is going toe-to-toe with us and we had no idea what was in stock for us. I had to deal with my past, and now I had to deal with a raging killer who had decided to add kidnapping to his portfolio.
As I sat in front of the computer analyzing the footage, my gut feeling intensified. Something was off. The events leading up to Janet's disappearance seemed too neatly packaged, like a carefully orchestrated plan. Grabbing her from school felt like the stupidest thing anyone could ever do.
"Hey, Sheriff, come over here. Take a look at this," I called him over as I rewound the footage, my finger pointing to a specific segment.
He approached, eyes desperate for any sign of his daughter. "What is it, Evelyn?"
"The CCTV footage. It feels... manipulated. This ‘can’ has been there, unmoving, throughout the footage. Then in the last frame, it suddenly disappears. I think this footage has been altered."
The Sheriff's eyes narrowed as he watched the screen. "Are you telling me someone altered the footage? Why the hell would they do that?"
"I don't know, Sheriff, but I'm not buying what's on this screen. We need to find the original footage and cross-reference it."
The tech team nodded in agreement, and we immediately initiated the process to obtain the unaltered footage. As we waited, the Sheriff paced around the room, a caged lion yearning to break free.
"I'll find the bastard who took her, Sheriff. We'll bring Janet back," I reassured him.
