Carter paced back and forth in his office, anger rolling off him in waves. His face was flushed red, veins pulsing at his temples. He finally stopped, turning sharply towards his agent, Lucas, who stood stiffly near the door.
"Lucas, who's Faerie?" Carter demanded, his voice a low, furious growl.
Lucas cleared his throat, trying to keep his composure in the face of his boss's rage. "We don't know much about her, sir, except that her father is in jai—"
But before Lucas could finish, Carter slammed a fist onto his desk, the sound reverberating through the room. "What do you mean you don't know anything, huh?" he snapped. "How can you not have information on her? Who is she? What does she know about us?" His voice grew sharper, filled with suspicion. "How dare she call me a criminal? What in the actual heck could she possibly know?"
Lucas hesitated, then spoke carefully, choosing his words. "Sir, should I kick her out of Hera? That would take care of the problem—"
But Carter cut him off again. "No, that's too risky. If we kick her out, she might retaliate. And if she knows anything, we lose the chance to find out what she's hiding." He paused, taking a deep breath to steady himself, before looking Lucas dead in the eye. "We keep her close. And I want every detail about her life, her past, and what she might have on us. Understood?"
Lucas nodded, sensing the tension thick in the room. "Understood, sir. I'll get on it right away."
Carter leaned back, his jaw clenched, eyes burning with a determination to uncover whatever secrets Faerie might be hiding. This girl wasn't going to outsmart him, not if he could help it.
Lucas gave a swift nod before leaving the room, the door clicking shut behind him. Carter remained by his desk, seething. He couldn't shake the image of Faerie's smug expression during their dinner. How she'd dared to challenge him, throwing around accusations that struck too close to home.
Carter grabbed a crystal glass from the corner of his desk, pouring himself a drink with a shaky hand. He downed the amber liquid in one gulp, the burn doing little to quell his anger. If Faerie had any information that could jeopardize him or his plans, it had to be dealt with quickly. But how had she even found out? What did she know? The questions spun in his mind, each one fueling his frustration.
He paced again, the polished wood floor creaking under his weight. Lucas's words played over in his head: "She might know some stuff..." The uncertainty gnawed at him. He had kept his secrets buried deep for years, locked away behind a veneer of respectability and power. If this girl had any clue about the skeletons in his closet, she could ruin everything.
He let out a long breath, trying to steady the fury that clawed at his insides. For now, he'd follow Lucas's advice—keep her close, monitor her every move. If she slipped up, if she revealed even a hint of what she knew, he would be ready to strike. His fingers clenched around the glass, knuckles turning white.
"Faerie..." he muttered to himself, a dark smirk forming on his lips. "Let's see how long you can play this game."
With renewed determination, he made his way back to his desk, already drafting plans to tighten his grip on the academy, to remind everyone, especially Faerie, just how powerful the Riether name truly was.
Meanwhile, outside Carter's office, Lucas took out his phone, sending a series of encrypted messages to the men he'd need for surveillance on Faerie. He knew better than to underestimate her now—whatever she had on them, she wouldn't be able to keep it secret for long.
Little did they both know, Faerie had been playing a game of her own, and every move Carter made only pushed her closer to revealing the truths she'd been gathering all along.
Carter sat in his office, the glow of his desk lamp casting sharp shadows across his face as he reviewed documents. The phone on his desk rang sharply, cutting through the silence. It was Lucas. Carter picked up, irritation already flaring in his chest.
"Speak," Carter barked into the phone, barely containing his frustration.
"Sir, we've run into an unexpected problem," Lucas began, his voice steady but carrying a hint of unease. "I sent a team to keep tabs on Faerie—watch her apartment, follow her movements—but..."
"But what?" Carter snapped, his grip tightening around the receiver. "Spit it out, Lucas."
"To our surprise, she's no longer at her previous residence. She moved out. Completely gone. The men combed through the building, asked around, but no one knows where she went. It's like she vanished overnight."
Carter's jaw clenched, the rage bubbling up anew. He shot up from his chair, pacing back and forth behind his desk. "What do you mean she's gone? How could she have known to leave?" His voice was low, but the danger in his tone was palpable.
"She must have suspected something, sir," Lucas replied cautiously. "It's as if she anticipated we'd be watching her. She outsmarted us, making it impossible to track her next steps."
Carter's eyes narrowed as he processed this information. He had underestimated her. A mistake I won't make again, he thought bitterly. His mind raced, thinking of how this girl, a mere scholarship student, could outmaneuver him so easily. And now, she was a ghost—free to act without them monitoring her every move.
"Find her, Lucas," Carter ordered, venom lacing his words. "I don't care what it takes. Find her, or I'll find someone else who can."
Lucas swallowed hard on the other end of the line. "Understood, sir. I'll put more resources into it. But it could take some time."
Carter ended the call without another word, slamming the phone back onto its cradle. He stood there for a moment, his breathing heavy as he stared out of the large window overlooking the city below. She thinks she's clever, doesn't she? he thought, the corners of his mouth curling into a dark smile. But if Faerie thought she could play this game and win, she was sorely mistaken.
With her new disappearance, she had made things more interesting—and dangerous. The hunt was on, and Carter Riether wasn't a man to back down from a challenge.