#Chapter 253: Safety in Numbers

Agnes The office felt too quiet after Richard left. He’d barely waited five minutes before heading back to his territory, determined to start investigating immediately. I couldn’t blame him—if I’d just discovered that my dead mate might have been tortured in an underground facility right under my nose, I’d be racing home too. Elijah and I sat there for a long time, both of us staring at nothing. My mind was reeling from the realization of it all. “We need to confront my stepmother,” I finally said, breaking the silence. “We can’t just sit here and wait for Richard to find the facility. She may have the stone now, thanks to Lena. And we both know what she’s planning to do with it.” Elijah nodded slowly. “I agree. But how do we get close to her? If she has the stone and elementals in her retinue, we might be killed on sight.” He was right, of course. My stepmother was too smart for that. She had to know by now that we were onto her, and that we were a threat