Page 124 of Rescued By the Beast
I look away at the tube of toothpaste on the sink. An impulse takes hold of me, and I decide to try, even though I feellike I exhausted my fae magic the night before and haven't had time to recover it.
I concentrate, feel the faint essence pulsing within me, forcing every particle of my magic to create an invisible barrier. With an effort, the tube rises into the air, floating there, defying gravity. But the barrier doesn't last long. It shatters in an instant, and the tube falls, tapping lightly on the sink.
"Shit..."
How can I protect Sandra like this?
The only way is to join forces with my people, swallow my wounded pride and ask for help.
Speaking of my people...
I need to know what happened at my company while I was away, how they dealt with the apparitions, if anyone was hurt...
I go down to myhome officeand turn on the computer, my fingers already moving automatically over the keyboard to unlock it while I call Ted on Bluetooth.
The monitor screen lights up before the call is even answered, and I'm greeted by a barrage of alerts. I open the latest reports and begin analysing the attacks. The phone finally connects.
"Mark, how are you?" Ted's voice sounds hoarse on the other end of the line.
I take a deep breath, forcing myself to stay in control.
"Let's cut to the chase, Ted. Have we had any casualties?"
There is a brief silence before a heavy sigh.
"There were three wendigos this time, but something was wrong. They didn't attack civilians, they weren't hunting randomly." He takes a deep breath before exhaling forcefully."At first, we didn't notice, but they advanced straight towards our sentries, as if someone had led them there."
My jaw clenches and my fingers twist, my claws wanting to come out.
"What the fuck?" I growl, feeling my anger rise. "If there was any doubt, there isn't now. It's the same person behind the grimoire and the dark energy. Retaliation for the invasion."
"We think so too. And Mark... these wendigos were stronger than normal. Faster and more resilient. We had no casualties, but almost everyone was seriously injured. The situation was ugly. And something strange happened."
"What?"
"Two of our men were seriously injured, waiting for the reinforcements I sent. But before they arrived, some supernatural beings from outside our team appeared out of nowhere... and eliminated the third wendigo.
"Who?" I stand up, my body tense, on alert.
"I recognised them as some candidates who tried to join our company but were rejected." Ted shakes his head in disbelief. "One of them was the cambion with mental persuasion. I don't know how, but he managed to immobilise the wendigo with his power. And the other... the lynx shapeshifter. He simply tore the monster apart in seconds.
If they didn't pass the tests, it was because they were weak.
So... how did they do it?
"What the hell?"
"Yeah.
I close my eyes, processing the information as he continues:
"As soon as I found out, I reassigned all the reinforcements to the other two wendigos. Even so, it took us a while to finish them off." His voice becomes lower, tense. "Now there are rumours that those two are part of a new competing security company... and that they're stronger than us."
My lips curl, and my canines lengthen in a frustrated growl.
"They're trying to tarnish our reputation."
"Exactly, but I'm holding down the fort here, so you don't need to worry. Just try to recover and..."
