It had been weeks since I had seen or heard from Benjamin. Now, I was starting to get worried. It was the middle of August. Within two weeks time, Harry and the other children would be heading back to Hogwarts for the school year. At the rate we were going, it looked like they would be going without Carrigan.

"Have you talked to him at work?" I questioned Gabriel sharply one evening while we were in the basement. I was standing across the room, throwing knives at a target on the wall, while he lounged in a comfortable armchair that he had conjured in the corner. He looked up from a file folder that he had on his lap. He was reading and signing reports while I ranted and took my aggression out on the target pinned to the wall.

"Of course I have," Gabriel said.

I was about to throw another knife at the target. When Gabriel spoke, I stopped abruptly and pivoted to look at him face on. He was looking at the file folder, not at me, which frustrated me.

"About his experimental magic idea?"

"What?" Gabriel looked up at me with raised eyebrows. "No, I've spoken to him about work. I'm not getting involved in the fight between you two."

"We're not fighting," I retorted as I repositioned myself and took aim at the target. "He's being a child." I flung the knife at the wall and watched with mild satisfaction as it slammed into the center of the target.

Gabriel laughed at me. "Really? He's being the child?"

I paused to viciously glare at him; if he were any other man, I'm sure that Gabriel would have broken from my glare, but he was so used to it that it didn't even make him flinch.

"I've assigned you a liaison," Gabriel said, changing the subject as he closed the file on his lap and set it on a small table he had conjured on the left side of his armchair. He turned to his right side, where another table stood with a stack of files on it, and picked up the top one.

"Yea?" I questioned. "Who?"

"Benjamin Snow," Gabriel said very casually.

"Are you kidding me!?" I snapped looking at him. "He's completely unqualified to be my liaison."

"He's an Aurora, that's all the qualification he needs."

"He's a rookie Auror! He's still shadowing what's-his-face—"

"—Seamus Denmark," Gabriel threw in as I ranted.

"—whatever," I snapped. "Benjamin should be focused on his work shadowing. He doesn't need to be saddled with the work of being my liaison."

"I admit, you are a burden to anyone at the Ministry because you're such a pain in the ass," Gabriel conceded, causing me to glare at him with vindictiveness. "But the only thing he has to do as your liaison is share a cubicle with you when you decide to show up at the office and reinforce Ministry policies on you so you don't 'accidentally' kill someone or break the rules."

I put my hands on my hips with a cross stare at Gabriel, who was smiling calmly.

"Besides, if will force you two to talk to each other," Gabriel said matter-of-factly.

"I thought you weren't getting involved in our fight."

"I'm not," Gabriel insisted. "I'm mediating. That's part of my job as head of the department. I have to manage the schoolyard and stop the children from bickering."

He said the last comment with such distain and sarcasm, I couldn't help but laugh. I wanted to say 'I told you so,' but I felt that it would not help the situation. Gabriel had been on edge since he had become head of the department. The first week was manageable, but now the full weight of his office had set in and the workload was heavy. Like he had said, he had to manage the schoolyard that was the department; and Benjamin and I weren't the only ones who were having petty work-relationship issues. Most of Gabriel's work was paper work and managing other people, which he did well. He was certainly qualified for the position, but it still wasn't him and I could tell that he wasn't happy. He missed being in the field.

"So," Gabriel pressed on. He knew what I was thinking though; even if he didn't use Legilimency on me. He was fully aware that I thought I was right about his job. "I would like you to come into the office tomorrow. I have a case I would like you to consider looking at."

"Alright," I whispered. I threw the knife at the target again and it landed in the center. I pivoted on me heel and strode to Gabriel. "What's the case?"

"I don't have it with me," Gabriel said softly while still looking at the file on his lap. I took the file gently and pulled it from his hands. He looked up at me with surprise. I closed the folder and set it back on the table with the other files, then sat on Gabriel's lap.

"Doesn't mean you don't remember what it's about."

Gabriel wrapped his arms around me as he smiled, looking up at me with stunning hazel eyes. "It's about a specific Death Eater that Benjamin needs your help with."

I sighed and collapsed a little on him. "You don't have to put us on a case together to get us to talk to each other!"

"He doesn't realize that he needs your help," Gabriel said. "And it's an important case, you should definitely be on it."

"I don't like this mysterious side of you," I said sharply. "Why don't you just tell me who and what the case is about and I will decide if I'm going to help Benjamin with it?"

"Because, it's his find, you should hear it from him."

"His find?"

I stared at Gabriel for a few moments, pondering what Benjamin could have found. I stood up quickly in surprised shock. "Has Benjamin found another lead to the kidnappings?"

"Yes," Gabriel said softly with a smile. "He really is an incredible Auror and investigator."

"Yes," I said heading for the stairs. "He is. You should have told me as soon as you knew."

"I did! Where are you going?" Gabriel called behind me.

"To the Ministry, Benjamin must still be there."

"It's ten o'clock at night!"

I waved Gabriel off and dashed up the stairs quickly. My mind was racing with excitement. If Benjamin had discovered another lead in the twelve kidnappings then we were one-step closer to finding Carrigan. I wasn't going to give up hope and I wanted her home more then ever now. I wanted to get her back before Hogwarts started school.

The Ministry of Magic was dark and empty when I arrived at ten thirty. I Apparated from my foyer to the atrium to save time. I was not surprised to find it quiet and abandoned as the workday had concluded. Without waiting, I marched to the lifts and stepped into one. I hoped, as I rode the lift in cool silence, that Benjamin was in fact here. If he wasn't here at the Ministry, I don't know where he would be.

Thankfully, when I arrived in the Auror wing of the Magical Law Enforcement Department, a light could be seen coming from Benjamin's cubicle. I silently made my way through the aisles of cubicles to arrive at his. My jaw almost hit the floor when I entered the cubicle and found not just Benjamin Snow, but my niece Haiden Drake, both in chairs working over the desk.

"Cadence!" Benjamin managed to say my name with more distain then surprise.

"Hi Aunt Cadence," Haiden said with an uncomfortable smile.

"What are you doing here so late?" Benjamin questioned defensively.

"Gabriel told me you're my liaison," I said mildly as I studied my niece, who was relaxed in her chair, wearing baggy grey sweat pants and a tight navy blue tank top. Her hair parted perfectly down the center of her head, separating her brown locks from her natural blonde curls. There was a hint of awkwardness in her mismatching green and ice blue eyes, suggesting that she knew Benjamin and I had a disagreement. By her appearance and carriage, I believed that it could be Haiden sitting in front of me. Her counterpart, Divinity Jasper, was much sterner looking with her posture and form. Divinity's eyes tended to be harsher, darker in tint, and if Divinity was in control when they woke up in the morning, their presentation was more professional and clean-cut. The fact that Divinity could be disguising herself as Haiden to earn Benjamin's (and even my) trust didn't escape me.

I crossed my arms over my chest as I stared at the two of them. Was this why Gabriel hadn't told me right away? Did he know that Benjamin was working with Haiden who I distrusted? Talking to Haiden was a great deal like handling a bomb. First of all, you couldn't necessarily trust that you were talking to Haiden; for all you knew you were talking to Divinity who would report back to Voldemort. Or, even worse, you could be talking to Haiden, but because she inhabited the same body as Divinity, it was completely possible for Divinity to be aware of what you're talking about. Secondly, you had to be careful what you said and how you spoke, anything could spark a reaction from Persephone, her third identity. Persephone was the Seer inside of Haiden that had premonitions. Divinity and Persephone were both results of the experiments Rickon Form and Savanna Snow performed on Haiden during their project 'Cepheus.'

"And you came over right away?" Benjamin's tone was pretentious, and I didn't appreciate it.

"He also said that you may need my help on a case," I folded my arms behind my back. "That you have a lead on the kidnappings?"

"Yes," Haiden smiled. "That is why I am here."

I looked at Haiden with steady green eyes. She smiled back at me. "Don't worry, Aunt Cadence. Ben hasn't been a complete idiot. He's only telling me what he thinks I need to know."

I didn't appreciate her tone either. I stood up straight and rolled my shoulders back. "What do you have to do with the lead in the kidnappings?"

"Ben wanted my help since I'm the only one left who really knows about Form and Snow's experiments. Also, because of Divinity's knowledge of Voldemort's inner circle, I might be able to shed some light."

"How can we—"

"Trust me?" Haiden finished for me.

"I found her in a Muggle psychiatric ward," Benjamin said. "Two weeks ago. She committed herself in hopes that Muggle drugs might be able to keep Divinity and Persephone at bay."

"So far, they have," Haiden said lightly. "The fact is, Aunt Cadence, I'm sick. I have multiple personality disorder and I need to be medicated for it."

"How can Muggle medicine manage a magically induced sickness? Especially when the experiments performed on you were dark magic?"

Haiden shrugged. "Since I was committed I've only had one episode. I haven't had any since they medicated me."

"She hasn't had any since she's been staying with me," Benjamin added.

I couldn't believe any of it; I could only accept it. Fine, so Haiden was currently with us and able to manage her disorder because of Muggle drugs…but that didn't mean I trusted her. I was going to have to play this game very carefully, just like I did with Carrigan's friend Henry Thrett.

"Where have you been staying?"

"That's really none of your business," Benjamin said flatly.

I frowned, but nodded in understand. "Gabriel seems to think that I can offer my expertise somehow."

"Remember a few months ago, when you and Gabriel were looking for the Death Eater that burnt down the brownstone?"

I nodded.

"Because of a vision I sent Gabriel, you looked into a house where you killed two Death Eaters and found a collection of news clippings in the desk drawer," Haiden asked me. I was surprised she knew the details of that incident. I shouldn't be surprised; Haiden had many resources at her disposal. She could have had a vision of the incident, Voldemort could have told her, Benjamin could have told her, she could have easily read my mind or she simply could have just known. She had a tendency of knowing things she shouldn't. She was a great deal like her father, my half-brother Braven Drake, that way.

"Yes…" I wasn't sure where they were going with these points. A sinking feeling entered my stomach. I had almost forgotten about the weird events that had unfolded earlier in the year. "We were afraid that someone was after Carrigan."

"Well, they were," Benjamin said coolly as he stood up from the desk. He went to a filing cabinet and pulled open one of the draws. He took out a brown cardboard box the size of a shoebox and extended it to me. "One of the first things we did was go back to that flat and search it more thoroughly. We found these."

I looked down at the box and opened it slowly, weary of what I would find. Inside were news clippings and photos with people looking scared and grim in them. I fingered through them slowly, taking in the images carefully. There were at least one hundred clippings and pictures stored in the box of about eleven different women.

"Photos of each girl were hidden in different parts of the flat," Haiden said. "It's just pure luck that you happened to find where they were storing Carrigan's photos."

"These are of the eleven other kidnapping victims?"

"Yes," Benjamin nodded.

"But Gabriel and I killed the Death Eaters in the flat," I spoke slowly as I looked back down at the pictures. "Who carried out the plan if they were killed?"

"Anyone," Haiden shrugged. "Voldemort just need the twelve girls, it didn't matter who picked them up. Han and Jenson, the two you killed, were collecting information on the potential targets."

My blood curdled as I stared at Haiden. Rage was pumping through my system suddenly as I realized that she knew exactly what was going on here. She knew why Carrigan was taken. She was the new lead that Gabriel referred too. If he had known anything about this, when I saw him again, I was going to beat him up. How could he be so docile about Haiden helping us find Carrigan?

"Do you know why he needed twelve girls in ascending age?" I questioned as my voice shook. I closed the box carefully and replaced it in the drawer of the filing cabinet.

"He's looking for away to extend his mortality," Haiden shrugged. "That is what he is always looking for. His experiments failed on me. While I will live for a long time, the consequence of having multiple personalities doesn't appeal to Voldemort. He's looking for another way to become immortal."

I frowned and ran my hand through my hair. "Okay, I don't care about that so much," I said bluntly. "Do you know where they're keeping the girls? Where they're holding Carrigan?"

Haiden frowned. "I'm afraid not. I was not informed as to where they were keeping the girls. I committed myself at the end of June. I didn't want to be a part of it anymore."

"You left them? You left Carrigan there?" I retorted in anger.

"I was not going to be any good to them fighting internally with myself. I had to find a way to remain in control of my body so that Divinity could not intervene. I did not leave them behind, why do you think I am here now, helping you find them!?"

I ignored her and looked to Benjamin. "Really, we're no closer to finding them then we were before?"

Benjamin frowned. "We know why they were taken."

"That doesn't help get them back," I said cruelly. I ran my hand through my hair. "I'll see you later. Benjamin, you're still welcome at the house if you need somewhere to stay."

"Haiden and I will be alright," he said slowly as he looked at her. I watched how they glanced at each other and an uncomfortable feeling rose in my center. I didn't like that Benjamin seemed so trusting of Haiden. It made me very nervous, especially since Benjamin was just as paranoid as Gabriel or I. He wasn't the trusting type, so why did he trust Haiden?

I left them alone in the cubicle. As I made my way to the lift, I decided that I would walk around London some. I needed to clear my head before I made my way home for the night.

Benjamin's lead was a dud. Sure, now we knew why Voldemort needed twelve girls in ascending age, but it didn't help me find Carrigan any faster. I suppose I was hopeful to think that looking into experimental magic would prove fruitful. I hoped that it would lead us to a person—a Death Eater—that was responsible for the kidnappings. We needed to find someone who was alive and knew where the girls were being kept.

Cadence.

Gabriel's voice in my head caught me off guard. I jumped and shook my head as I held my chest. He startled me. I hated it when people channeled me this way. It always made me feel like I was going a little crazy.

Cadence, Henry is here to see you.

This caught my attention and I stood up straight. Henry Thrett was at the house to see me? It must have been important for him to visit the house this late at night. I hadn't seen Carrigan's friend since the end of the school year. He had come by the house just after we had moved in to inquire about the status of our search for Carrigan. He was just as eager as the rest of us to find her.

I'm on my way home, I thought with all of my concentration on Gabriel. I'm sure the message got to him, but he didn't respond at all. Which was fine. As soon as the lift opened on the atrium floor of the Ministry, I stepped out and Disapparated.

I Apparated into the front sitting room of the farm house, which prompted Gabriel to enter the room from the kitchen with his wand raised. I smiled at him and lifted my hands up in surrender.

"Who is Carrigan's Guardian?" Gabriel asked.

"Benjamin Snow," I replied. "What is your daughter's name?"

"Jennifer."

I put my arms down as Gabriel lowered his wand.

"Henry is here?" I questioned with confusion.

"In the kitchen," Gabriel said with a nod. "He won't tell me what's on his mind. He insisted that we wait for you to get home."

I raised my eyebrows and moved around the sitting room furniture to get to the kitchen. Gabriel wrapped his arm around me and escorted me to the kitchen where candles were burning bathing the room in a generous amount of light.

Henry Thrett stood up from his seat at the kitchen table when he saw me enter the room. If it was possible, he looked taller and more muscular then he had a few months ago when I last saw him. He had cut his dark brown hair so short it was close to being shaved. His grey eyes looked serious and hard. I noticed a stunning tattoo on his forearm of a coat of arms. The knight's helmet was above a shield with three axes and three stars on it. I had to assume it was a family crest of some kind.

"Henry," I said breathlessly. "Gabriel made it sound urgent, is everything okay?"

"Yes, for the most part," he said honestly as we all took seats around the table. "I've been looking for Carrigan."

This didn't surprise me. Henry's parents were both dead. He was seventeen now, about to be a seventh year at Hogwarts, and his father had left him a generous amount of money to ensure his survival. He had bought a flat in London and was living on his own. There was no one to stop him from spending his summer searching for Carrigan.

"That doesn't surprise me," I replied. "Have you found something?"

"Yes," Henry said quickly. "I've been watching the LeStrange's home up north a bit. I was able to break in two nights ago when they left, which was odd. It's the first time I've seen them leave the house since I started watching them a month ago. I had to take the opportunity."

I was impressed. Henry was proving himself a reliable wizard. He would be an asset to the Order if he ever decided to join. I had asked him in June, but he said he wasn't ready. I thought that meant he was more interested in finding Carrigan then helping the Order.

"I was able to get into their cellar. It looks as though Carrigan was being held there with a few other people."

"Probably eleven," I said with a nod. "We believe that Carrigan has been kidnapped because of a ritualistic experiment that Voldemort is researching to become immortal. Whatever this experiment is, it requires twelve girls in ascending age. But why do you think Carrigan was in the cellar?"

"I found this," Henry reached into his cloak and pulled out a small silver griffin charm that belonged on a necklace or bracelet.

"That's Carrigan's?" I asked with surprise. I didn't recognized the charm. I studied it in my hands carefully, wondering who would have given it to her.

"I gave it to her," Henry admitted. "For her birthday this year. She is so fond of Horace, I thought it suited her."

I nodded my head. Horace, Carrigan's griffin that Gabriel had bought for her when she was starting at Hogwarts, was still at the school. He had remained there with Hagrid who could take better care of him then Gabriel or I.

"Next to the charm, in the dirt, was a symbol I'm not familiar with," Henry said. "Do you have some parchment?"

I snapped my fingers, conjuring a piece of parchment and a quill in front of Henry. He smiled slightly, caught off guard, by the subtle pop and random appearance of the writing utensils. He picked up the quill and quickly sketched a symbol onto the parchment.

"That's a fleur de lis," I said instantly with recognition. "That was in the dirt?"

"Yes," Henry nodded. "A fleur de lis? Isn't that a French symbol?"

"They've moved her to France," Gabriel said. "Out of the country. It will be more difficult for us to find her there. We're all searching here in England for all twelve girls. No one even considered that they'd be in a different country."

I was only excited and hopeful for a moment. Depression set in almost instantly. How were we going to find her in France? By the time we located her, she could be moved again. I frowned deeply and put my head in my hands. Why couldn't I just connect to her? Why couldn't she answer my calls?

"Cadence, was any of the extended Black family located in France?"

"What? I don't know," I said slowly.

"LeStrange would have moved the girls only to someone she trusted," Gabriel continued. "Someone close, like family." Gabriel turned and looked at Henry, but before he spoke, Henry stood up with a nod and finished his thought for him.

"I'll look into it," Henry said. "Thank you for seeing me."

"Thank you for coming to us," I said. Henry gave me a weak smile and nodded. He didn't say another word before he left the kitchen, showing himself out the front door.

"I'm going to go into the office," Gabriel said as he snatched up some parchment from the basket he kept in the corner of the countertop. He began to scribble a note on it. "Wake Kingsley and get him in there too. This is a big lead and we'll have a lot of follow up on."

"Benjamin is still there, make sure you tell him too," I said. I looked at Gabriel over my shoulder. "Did you know he went to Haiden?"

Gabriel stopped writing and looked at me. "What?"

"I guess not," I whispered.

"That's what his lead was. She's in the office with him. They must be staying together," I whispered. "She says that it's an experiment to extend Voldemort's life, since Cepheus failed."

"Alright," Gabriel said slowly as he approached me. "Benjamin thinks he can find her by finding out what they need for the ritual, I understand that thought process."

"Do you understand him going to Haiden?"

"Yes," Gabriel touched my shoulders. "She's the only one still alive that would know the answers to his questions."

"We can't trust her," I said immediately with a harsh tone. "What if this was Voldemort's plan all along? What if he planted Talon and set her up for this next research project when Cepheus failed?"

"You think this has been a plot years in the making?"

"I think that Voldemort is smart. He plans and he is ready for the next move," I said strongly. "He would be prepared for Cepheus to fail. He would have a back up plan. When I first met Penelope, it was only a year or so after Haiden had been taken. When she reappeared, Voldemort was about to return. She set up a relationship with me and Carrigan. Carrigan trusted her. Their plan fell apart when Penelope was called to stay with Voldemort just before he returned and then I killed her. That is why it took him a year to get it back on track. He's always planned on taking Carrigan, just like I was afraid he would."

"You can't blame yourself," Gabriel said as he kissed my neck.

"Can't I?" I said instantly looking at him in disbelief.

"You did all you could, and now you're doing all you can. We will find her, Cadence," Gabriel said with reassurance. "I know we will."

I nodded, even though in that moment I didn't believe him. He kissed my cheek again and moved away from me to finish his note to Kingsley Shacklebolt. "I'm heading into the office. Do you want to come with me?"

"No," I replied. "I won't be of any use."

"What are you going to do here?"

"I don't know," I said slowly. "Go for a run, or something…"

"Alright," Gabriel squeezed my shoulder before leaving the kitchen and heading upstairs to get dressed. He said good-bye to me one more time before he left for the Ministry. He was dressed smartly in a grey suit, with matching waistcoat and a royal blue button up shirt and black tie.

"Gabriel," I said grabbing his hand before he moved away from the kitchen table. He looked down at me with raised eyebrows. "I love you." I squeezed his hand tightly. He smiled at me and bent his head down, kissing me delicately. I returned his kiss with a fierce passionate one. He smiled against my lips and stroked my hair.

"I love you too," he whispered, then pulled away.

As soon as he was gone, I stood up from the table and Disapparate from my spot. I Apparated to a field in northern England. I was surrounded by darkness and the hot summer breeze blowing against the skin on my arms gave me goose bumps. In the distance, north of where I stood, I could see a mansion standing tall against the moonlight. I took one-step forward, causing twigs of dried grass and straw to crunch under my feet.

"Don't move!" shouted a male voice. I froze immediately as a circle of dark figures appeared around me from the tall grass. All were dressed in Death Eater cloaks and masks. They were brandishing their wands at me, as I expected they would. I smirked as I raised my hands.

"Well, well, well," said the Death Eater that had yelled at me to freeze. He was stalking towards me, breaking from his place in the circle. "If it isn't Cadence Coleman. Or should I call you Kieran? Welcome home, princess."

My skin crawled with discomfort when the Death Eater called me by the name Voldemort had given me. Then, when he called me 'princess,' my blood boiled and I wanted to punch his face in. I remained calm though. Fighting now wouldn't get me close to Voldemort.

"Happy to be here," I said calmly. "Will you take me to my father?"

The Death Eater laughed. "Why would you want to see him? Come to join our ranks?"

"I have an offer for him," I retorted. "Take me to see him, or I'll kill you and find someone else to take me to him."

The Death Eater stopped laughing. "It doesn't really work that way, princess. No one requests an audience with the Dark Lord. You go to him if he wants to see you."

"He'll want to see me," I pressed. "Take me to him. I'm going to start counting. When I reach five, I'm going to vaporize this field. I'm sure you've heard stories of how I can do that."

I hoped he bought my bluff. I had never been able to use my physical powers and energy on command like that. Usually, it just happened when I got angry or was under distress.

The Death Eater didn't say anything to my comment, so I began to count. "One…two…"

"She's bluffing," called another Death Eater from the circle.

"…three…"

"I don't know, I would take her. What's the worse that could happen?"

"He could kill us!" said another sharply.

"…four…"

"Shut up!" snapped the Death Eater in front of me. He turned to me and grabbed my upper arm. "Fine."

I smiled triumphantly at his masked fact. "Let's go," I said sternly.