Victor

I watched her chest rise and fall as she slept. I didn't want to wake her and destroy her peace, but I knew we couldn't keep it from her forever.

**The night before**

"What do you mean she's been dropped from the rosters?" Nathan asked Kota.

"Keep your voice down, we don't want to wake Avery," Kota said in a low voice as we moved into the front room and away from the bedroom where she lay sleeping. "I've been tracking the female student withdrawals with Owen and Victor's help. As of this morning, Jennifer was dropped with no explanation."

"Five other female students have been dropped over the past year and a half in addition to our two known rape victims, and now Jennifer," Owen added. "When my PI reached out to their families, they all had filed missing persons reports but only after months. They say the college didn't notify them because all the paperwork was in order and appeared to have their signatures. Jennifer's situation seems to be identical. I've got my guy reaching out to her family now. We need to be certain before we raise the alarm that she didn't just go off to find herself."

"That's bullshit and you know it," Nate snapped. "It has to be the two guys from the group. I'm telling you they drugged her that night. She didn't even make it two blocks before she passed out and then I had to carry her in because she was so out of it."

"Are the authorities doing anything about it?" North asked over the speaker.

"As far as they're concerned, there isn't any proof of foul play. These guys are damn good at covering their tracks," Kota answered.

"I knew I should have fucking stayed," Luke swore. "Or better yet, bring her here."

"She wouldn't have gone, Luke, and you know it. You need to keep Erin safe too. We aren't letting her out of our sight," I told him.

"I haven't heard from Sean yet, and honestly until we have answers, I don't want to alarm him," Owen said.

"Gabe's plane hasn't landed yet," I added. "I'll update him when he calls. So for now, what do we do? I for one can tell you I'm not leaving until this is settled."

"I think we keep her in our sights, hell, even go to classes with her if needed," Kota said. "You three need to stay put for Erin's sake. Avery is safe and we are going to keep her that way," he told Silas, North, and Luke. They grumbled but agreed.

"I say we let her sleep. Morning will be here soon enough," Nate frowned. "At least she can have one peaceful night."

**Current time**

Avery rolled over, stretching, her hazel eyes smiling up at me. "Good morning, grá. I have to admit I love waking up to you. I think you all are spoiling me."

I leaned down, my lips ghosting across hers, "I will spend the rest of our lives spoiling you." Her arms wrapped around me as the kiss deepened. I knew I should tell her, but I wanted this one calm moment to last. I nudged her legs apart as I moved above her. "I love you so much, Avery."

She held my face, her eyes giving me permission, and moaned, "I love you, Victor," as I sank into her warmth. Our bodies moved slowly as we made love. It was gentle and I couldn't stop my tears as I clung to her. She was my whole world. She had given me back my family and then brought Gabe, Luke, and me together. Never in my life did I ever imagine being loved this way. I never thought I was worthy, but she makes me feel like I am.

She whimpered as her legs tightened around my waist, "Victor." Her cries became more pronounced as we both felt our climax approaching. My fingers tangled in her hair as I held her face so that I could look into her eyes as we both came. Neither of us moved, our hearts still racing, breaths ragged. Finally, she sighed, "I have the feeling I'm going to need a stout cuppa for whatever you're avoiding."

I raised an eyebrow, "How could you tell?"

"Grá, your aura is a mess and your fire is dim. That only happens when you're worried," she smiled and kissed my nose.

"Woman, are you sure you aren't a sídhe?" I teased her. She just giggled and kissed me again as I moved off of her.

"Okay, let me take a shower. You and the others can fix tea and breakfast, then we talk." She walked into the enormous shower as I heard Kota grumble outside.

"How the hell does she do that?"

"Talent, Dr. Lee," she hollered back, "Pure talent."

Avery

I sat and listened as they recounted all they had learned. My stomach rolled when they told me about Jennifer's disappearance and I quickly ran to the bathroom, losing what little breakfast I'd had. Victor held my hair as I gagged again. "Here, sip this," he offered me a glass of water. I took small sips and then washed my face. Kota handed me a toothbrush and I smiled slightly. Nate was hovering at the door as well, a concerned look on his face.

"Stop brooding, I'll be fine," I told them, then gave a sad chuckle, "Hey at least we know I'm not pregnant." They all gave me a concerned look. "What? Too soon?" I grumbled. We walked back into the front room and Victor put Owen on the video screen. "So what's the plan?" I asked them.

"The plan is you stick to your studies and we handle this," Kota said.

I scowled, stood up, went to my bedroom, and grabbed my final checkpoint. I shoved it into his hands, "Okay Dr. Lee, in class and the bedroom you can pull the dominant act, but now, well now this is personal. My friend is missing and I'll be damned if I stand by and do nothing. This is everything I owe you. Yeah, I know don't move on without my approval, blah, blah, blah. I'm an obsessive researcher. When I go down a rabbit hole, I get lost. So, uh, there ya go. I'm fairly certain I'm ready for publication and defense."

Kota just gaped at my documents as the others roared with laughter. "Oh my gods, she has your ass!" Nathan boomed.

"Holy shit, Avery, this is...damn, this is beyond words," Kota muttered as he read the remainder of my dissertation. He sighed, and set it on the table, "Okay, you're right, you are done. Of course, I can't fully approve it when the course is required to finish at the end of the second term, then publication and defense are the third term, but you obviously only need to show up as a perfunctory matter. You've already met your TA requirements. Hell, you keeping the position was more of a favor to me and the students than a necessity. So what do you want to do?" I felt a grin cross my face at his slight submission, but before I could answer he added, "Oh, and just remember this is a once in a lifetime. You won't ever top me from the bottom again, little girl."

My cheeks flushed crimson, and then I cleared my throat. "Use me as bait."

"Absolutely not!" Victor shouted. "There is no way in hell I'm putting you at risk." The others quickly echoed his sentiments, but I held firm.

"Guys, I'm already at risk. If it really is Shane and his friend, then it's only a matter of time before they come after me. Feck, look at how they've cherry-picked the damn student body. I'd bet if you dig deeper, you'll find they had some way of crossing paths with all the missing women." I reached out and took Victor's hand, "I'd rather get ahead of them than be caught off guard in a bathroom or something with no way of getting help."

I heard Owen sigh, "Beauty and brains... She's right, gentlemen. While I'm not advocating walking right into their home, I do agree that with a bit of preparation and training, Avery might be the key to finding her friend and stopping these monsters."

Kota grumbled, then said, "All right brothers, we know the drill. Victor, we need surveillance and some sort of tracker that they can't remove. Nate, I need their travel routes and if you can get it, vehicle tracking. Owen, we need everything your PI has found so far. If he can come here that would even be better."

I let out a squeal, "OMG, you're doing the whole super spy thing aren't you?" Kota just rolled his eyes while they all chuckled. "This is so fecking cool!"

"Rein in your excitement, Avery. You may not be so enthralled after we start teaching you what you need to do," Victor grinned. I just giggled more and bounced on my seat.

"I'll be on the next flight," Owen said. "I'd rather not let my PI come alone...he's a bit, um, flirtatious."

Nate groaned, "Seriously, Owen? Where did you find him?"

"Old friends," he answered with a grin.  

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