Page 135 of Rescued By the Beast
Sandra sniffs, lifting her face to look at me.
Her eyes shine, moist, confused.
"I-I..." she hesitates, taking a deep breath. "I don't know, but I still feel the essence flowing within me, and I'm still in control of it. I haven't exhausted myself."
My heart races, tension taking over.
"What if you transform against your will again?" I ask, trying to hide the concern in my voice.
Balthazar frowns, as if it were an obvious question.
"She needs the key to free herself completely. She needs to remember what the witch said when she cast the spell. Some riddle, a command..."
Sandra bites her lip thoughtfully, her eyes focused on some distant point.
"She said so many things..." Her fingers grip my shirt tightly, as if trying to hold on to something. "I can't remember now, my mind is a mess."
I hold her face in my hands, forcing her to look at me.
"We'll figure it out together, my love. Everything will be alright," I murmur, kissing her forehead and pulling her against me again.
Her arms tighten around me, and she lets out a shaky sigh, rubbing her face against my chest, up and down, nodding.
"If you want, I can make her remember, Sandra. I can induce her mind to return to that night," Viklaus suggests.
"Can you really do that?"
"Of course, one of my vampire powers is mental persuasion."
"I..." She swallows hard and looks back at me. "I'm tired now, can we leave it for another time?"
"It doesn't have to be now, we can try later."
"Right," Viklaus nods and looks at me seriously. "Before we go, we need to inform the authorities about what we found."
I close my eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath.
Hell. This just complicates everything.
"Ted..." I call him on the walkie-talkie. "Take care of it. We have supernatural beings in the police force, you know who to call."
"Understood," he says on the other end of the line.
"There's nothing else we can do, not here. The grimoire is nowhere to be found," Viklaus concludes, his voice cold and practical.
I nod in agreement.
"Let's go home, Kitten."
I guide her outside, keeping her close. I know I need to be her strength now, even with the bitter feeling of having failed. I failed to protect her. I failed to prevent her from suffering. And it eats away at me.
"Please..." Her voice is low, almost a whisper, and I hold her closer to me.
I need a moment alone with Sandra. She is visibly shaken, and honestly, so am I.
My team can continue without me; I've done what I needed to do. Jack drops us off at the cottage before heading to thecompany with the van, accompanied by the others. All the way home, I can feel Sandra trembling in my arms, and the weight of that tension settles on me too.
I don't waste any time. As soon as we enter, I take her straight to the bathroom.
