Once we made it back to Mirror Lake Trailer Park, Eli pulled into his driveway and cut the engine. The ride home had been a long and silent one.

“I guess I should go wake my dad and tell him what’s going on,” Eli said with a sigh. I imagined the conversation would be both good and bad, considering we’d found Glenn and then let him be taken by vampires.

I glanced in the side mirror of Eli’s truck, looking at Gran’s trailer. It didn’t look like there were any lights on. I was fine with that. I didn’t feel like being questioned by anyone about where I had been or why I looked so upset.

“It would be best if you didn’t come with me. He’s not going to be happy when he finds out I let Glenn slip away again,” Eli said. He gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white. “You’re more than welcome to go inside my place and wait on me if you don’t feel like heading home. As a matter of fact, I’d prefer it. I’m not ready for you to go home yet.” Raw emotion hung in his voice.

I glanced at him. Something about him seemed torn and beautiful. While I’d be lying if I said Eli hadn’t always been handsome, I couldn’t deny that this was the handsomest I have ever seen him. I knew it was because I could see how much he truly cared about me reflected in his green eyes right then.

I licked my lips. “I’m not ready to go home yet either.”

Eli pulled the keys out of the ignition. “I’ll be there in a little bit.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?” I asked as I popped the passenger door open and climbed out.

“No, I’ll be all right. It won’t take me long. Take these inside,” Eli said as he gathered the files he’d tossed on the seat between us. “And find the moonshine. I could use a drink.” He winked.

I rolled my eyes as I took the files. “Fine, but it doesn’t mean I’m drinking with you.”

“Just one sip. We have to celebrate everything we learned tonight, don’t we?”

I wasn’t sure if what we’d learned was worthy of celebrating.

Eli headed for his parents’ place, and I started up the wooden steps to his front door. I let myself inside and flipped on a couple of lights before moving to the kitchen. I set the files on the counter and reached into the cabinet above the stove for a jar of moonshine, then grabbed two plastic cups. As I set them on the counter, my eyes drifted to the files. The urge to flip through them was overwhelming, but I ignored it, opting to wait until Eli came back. I wasn’t sure I wanted to see whatever was inside while alone. A large part of me was positive the contents held the power to destroy me.

I filled one of the plastic cups with water and downed half of it in a few gulps. My entire body trembled as the night caught up with me. I couldn’t believe Glenn had been at Peter’s the entire time. I couldn’t believe we hadn’t been able to rescue him. Instead we’d watched him be taken by vampires. Ones who were going to harvest his blood so they could mix it with ginseng and create a potent drug.

Glenn didn’t deserve that. No one did.

My eyes zeroed in on the spines of the files, counting how many there were. Six. That meant there were six members of the pack had gone missing right under our noses.

Sickness twisted through my stomach.

I finished the rest of my water and then unscrewed the cap to Eli’s moonshine. I poured myself a little. My hand shook as I brought it to my lips. Squeezing my eyes closed, I took a big gulp. It burned like a mother, but I found I didn’t mind. Not really. With my cup in hand, I walked to the couch and switched on the TV. I remember him saying he didn’t have cable or satellite, but he had Netflix. That was enough for me. I flipped through it until I found a cheesy comedy I hadn’t seen in forever.

Laughter always was the best medicine.

When I was halfway into the movie, Eli came through the front door. I tried to gauge his mood from the expression on his face to determine if the conversation between him and his dad had gone well, but he wasn’t giving me much to go off.

“Moonshine is on the counter,” I said and then held up my cup. “I’ve already had a little.”

“You haven’t looked at the files yet? I figured that would be the first thing you did,” he said as he started toward the kitchen counter where I’d left them.

“I didn’t want to look at them alone,” I admitted. “How did things go with your dad?”

“Good and bad. Exactly like I figured they would,” Eli said as he poured himself a cup. “I think he’s just a hard man to please when it comes to this situation.”

“Why do you say that?”

Eli swiped the files off the counter and walked to the couch. I straightened myself up and tucked my feet beneath me, giving him room. “He’s upset we let Glenn slip through our fingers again, but especially that we allowed him to be taken by vampires. He’s also pretty upset we decided to strike a deal with Peter. He doesn’t want you to give yourself over to him any more than I do, but he also doesn’t see a better solution. Looks like I’m in the minority when it comes to that. He believes, same as you do, we need someone on the inside. He also thinks you’re perfect for the job.” Eli lifted his cup as though he was toasting to me, but the frown on his face said otherwise.

I squashed the excitement I felt from hearing his father had so much confidence in me and focused on Eli. “And what do you think?”

“I think he’s right. I just wish I didn’t have to send you in alone. I can’t even think about it, Mina. It makes me sick to my stomach.” Worry creased the area between his brows as his green eyes darkened.

I understood how he felt. If the shoe was on the other foot, there would be no way I’d want Eli to go in without me. I placed a hand on his arm and squeezed. He reached for it and interlaced his fingers with mine. I closed my eyes as the feeling of his warmth seeped through me. His touch felt good. Calming, soothing. Exactly what I needed.

“I know there isn’t any other way,” Eli insisted. “Talking with my dad made me realize that. We just have to figure out what you need to do once you’re inside.”

“We should probably talk to Dorian about that,” I said. “He seems good at making plans.”

“It’s definitely his forte.”

I nodded toward the files in his lap. “While he’s preoccupied with something else, maybe we should take a look at the files and see what we can learn. There might be something in them that could help us decide on a plan of action.”

“You’re probably right,” Eli said. He split the stack in two. “You look through this half and I’ll look through the other.”

“Sounds good to me.”

Eli passed me three folders. They were thicker than I thought they should be. How many tests had Peter ran on each wolf?

Knots the size of my fist twisted my stomach. I pulled in a deep breath as I prepared myself to open the first file. I had no idea who was going to be inside or what I’d find when I read through its pages. As I flipped open the top file of my stack my heart stalled out. There was a picture of Old Man Winter. He was strapped to the chair I saw in the center of Peter’s basement. A breakdown had been typed beside his picture, stating he was subject number three. It listed his height, weight, and age. There was also a breakdown of his blood type and whether he had passed a multitude of stress tests.

I drifted back to his picture as shock continued to ripple through me. I couldn’t believe the old man hadn’t gone out to the woods to die or ran away like everyone thought. Instead he’d been abducted by the same people who’d taken Glenn and Violet.

How could we have been so blind?

I flipped through the other pages in the file, checking to see what other information Peter had gathered on Old Man Winter. There wasn’t much I could make out. The majority of it was scientific mumbo-jumbo and charts I couldn’t read.

“I can’t believe this,” I said, flipping the file around so Eli could see Winter’s picture. “Look who else Peter had in his basement.”

Eli glanced up from the folder he was staring at. Something beyond disbelief flickered through his eyes. It took me a second to name the emotion I was seeing.

Sorrow.

Icy tendrils of panic brushed across my skin. “What?”

“I can’t believe it either,” he said as he flipped his folder around to show me the file he was reading. My eyes focused on the picture without ever reading the name.

It was of my mother.

My stomach clenched as I inhaled a small breath while staring at her picture. This meant she hadn’t left us; she’d been taken. My eyes shifted to the stats listed beside her picture and zeroed in on the first line.

Subject number one.

My heart thundered inside my chest as I struggled to breathe. This changed everything.

All the cruel words and nasty thoughts that had plagued my mind since the day she’d left pelted me. I thought of my dad and how broken he’d been for years thinking she’d walked away because of his disability, because of his drinking. I thought of Gracie and how she’d been practically raised by Gran and me, motherless, thinking her mom didn’t want her.

Then I thought of my mom being taken by vampires to have her blood harvested so they could get high.

Livid didn’t even touch how I felt.

In that moment I was glad I’d volunteered to be taken in by Regina’s goons, because now I had more motivation and desire to see her place burned to the damn ground.

Not only was I going to rescue Glenn, but I was going to rescue every other pack member held captive by Regina, including my mother. And if I were to find out my mom hadn’t lived through the harvesting, I was going to kill the bitch that had taken her from me.

And I was going to enjoy it.