Sophia, for a moment seemed generally concerned, but I would never be able to fully trust her. She gave me no reason to as she always tried to undermine my authority and take full control.
Granted, she should have been offered my job as at the beginning, as I wanted nothing more than to live a normal life and for the most part, I was grateful she offered to do most of the work, especially while I dealt with the grief of my parent’s death and the sudden change in my life. Up until that day, I was given far too much freedom and was allowed to live outside of the manor.
“Werewolves have always been at our borders, and as far as my attacker is concerned, I am not worried, and you shouldn't be either."
“Hayley, we believe your attack and the fire were caused by the same people,” Sophia looked at me with stern and serious eyes. “We have since discovered during the fire, someone broke into our archives and took several files.”
“What did the files contain?” I asked, no longer in a relaxed position.
“They contained information about your parents, and the night they died, even the mission they were on.”
I turned around to look at Jackson and he looked as stunned as I was, this wasn’t news we had been told, and clearly, we were being kept in the dark. How long had Sophia known this information?
“When were you going to notify me about this?”
“Later on, tonight, in fact. I wanted to come up with a game plan. Someone in the house is leaking our defence systems, and right now we need to keep this circle closed, and only those who are trusted should know of our next steps.”
“So, I am not to be trusted?” I stood then, my hand closing into a fist as anger bellowed inside me.
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Sophia, I know you have always dreamt about having my position, taking it even, but I am the most trusted person in this entire building. I was born, made, to protect this family, this order, or whatever we are calling it these days. I am the strongest and most capable, so I will take offence to you saying I cannot be trusted.”
“Hayley,” Jackson broke the tension then as he came up behind me and grabbed my closed hand, linking his fingers in mine. “I mentioned to the others that after you arrived here, when you were attacked, you appeared drained, as if something had been taken from you.
After you explained what happened with time appearing to stop, and what your attacker did to you, I did some research and I believe, as does Molly, that you were mind-attacked. We think that’s how our defences were breached, they used information from your mind to get past our walls and spells.”
I sat there stunned for a moment, I had never thought of the possibility that my attacker would have gotten into my mind somehow, I don’t think any of us had really thought that, and I felt slightly stupid when the thought settled. I needed to get to my mother’s office and find the file on Darius, see what other things she knew about him.
As a hybrid, he would have great powers as well as some of the abilities of vampirism, maybe he was like me in some ways?
“Get Eric and some of our best men as quickly as possible. I want this entire building swept clean, and every single recruit's bedroom searched for clues. I don’t like breaking their privacy, but now is not the time to worry about it. Angelique is gathering more humans by the day, and if what you say is true about the werewolves appearing more frequently, then perhaps, something is going on.”
Standing up, I headed towards the door, and it suddenly dawned on me then.
“Has Eric returned by the way? When I woke earlier, he wasn’t in my apartment.”
“We thought he was still with you. Has no one heard from him?” Jackson asked, looking at Sophia, who shook her head.
“Has he not answered any calls or texts?”
Each of us pulled out our phones, including one of the council members and each one of us texted Eric, while Jackson tried to phone him.
“Straight to voicemail.”
“Well, search the manor, and the grounds for him. Maybe he is training or has fallen asleep somewhere. When you find him, tell him to come find me.”
“Of course.”
“And next time Sophia, don’t call a private meeting without my approval, or at least without me attending, understand?”
“Yes, understood, Miss Helsing.”
“Good.”
Leaving the office and heading back down the corridor I was originally on; I felt my heart sink as I got closer and closer to my mother’s office. Jackson was not too far behind me and as much as I would have liked to have done this alone, perhaps keeping him in the dark wouldn’t be the best idea.
12