Rhett watched Cora’s tears fall, a twinge of sympathy battling with the frustration simmered within him. He wasn’t proud of his outburst, but the gravity of the situation weighed heavily. Cora wanted to play games and somebody needed to remind her that this wasn’t the fairy realm.
"Cora," he began, his voice softer this time, "tell me everything. From the beginning. And this time, don’t twist things."
Cora took a shuddering breath, wiping her tears with shaking hands. "It started with Aella’s disappearance," she confessed. "She and her two daughters vanished without a trace, leaving only fear and confusion in their wake. I noticed and confronted Aella’s husband about it. And then, he told me. Told me they were abducted. He confided in me and I wanted to report it. But..." she hesitated, her gaze flickering to the floor.
"But what, Cora?" Farkas prompted, his curiosity was now piqued.
Rhett knew Farkas understood the reason behind his outburst now.
"He warned me," Cora continued, her voice trembling. "He said reporting it would only put them in more danger. He revealed a terrifying truth - vampires held Aella and the girls hostage, threatening their lives if he dared not help them lift the veil. They would kill them at a go should we try to inform others. According to them, they had people in the pack watching him."
That could be a dry threat or there really could be others in the pack working for the vampires. Rhett didn’t know what to believe but he did know that people were unpredictable. They could do anything – just anything to protect their interests.
Rhett’s brow furrowed. "But how? The veil was up, wasn’t it? How did the vampires come into the veil, kidnap Aella and her daughters, and threaten her husband with them when the veil was up still?"
"Your story doesn’t add up, Cora," Farkas added.
Cora nodded hesitantly. "Yes, but Aella had a peculiar pet, a creature called a Lumina, a small, winged being that is common in our fairy realm. A pixiewing to be precise."
Why the intense detail about a pet?
"Yes, Cora. We know what a peculiar is." Farkas whistled.
"It went missing, and Aella, unable to bear the thought of losing it, crossed the veil to search for it with her family. They all loved that pet. They’ve been going over the veil to search for it since we arrived here and nothing has ever gone wrong. How were they to know that – they would be ambushed there? Captured by the very vampires they sought to avoid."
Rhett was familiar with these kinds of stories. The mystery of who lifted the veil was already solved.
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