"Do you see why we use quartz now?" Kendrick asked.
Basil nodded, his eyes glued to the crystal that was changing colors.
Basil had soaked up everything he had taught him that morning, including the warding spell on the door. He couldn't have picked a finer student.
Kendrick!
Kendrick turned and looked around. He could have sworn he just heard Anne.
Kendrick! Help!
There was no doubt in his mind; that had been Anne.
He whirled to face Basil. "Anne's in trouble. I need you to stay here. These tests are about finished. I need you to stay here and record the results for me; can you do that?"
"Of course!" Basil looked scared.
"Good lad!" Kendrick turned and ran from the room. "Sei!" he yelled as he ran down the stairs. Stress had him reverting to calling Ryuu by his first name.
Ryuu appeared below him in the foyer. "Something has happened hasn't it?"
Kendrick nodded, and they both ran for the door. They headed to the open field where the unit warriors were training. "Aiden, to me!" he yelled.
Aiden's head snapped up. He saw Kendrick and Ryuu running toward him and roared. Kendrick knew that the commander had figured out that if they were running to them, then the women were in danger. Some of the men ran to the small back building and others ran to the garage.
Aiden checked his sidearm. "What do we know?" he asked.
"Nothing, only that Anne called for me."
Ryuu looked at Aiden. "Denka is scared, but also angry at you."
Aiden groaned and ran back to his bag. He dug around and pulled out his phone. He put it on speaker. "Baby, I am so sorry."
"Later. Where are you?" Meryn demanded.
"We're leaving here in about two minutes. What's your situation?"
"Rheia, Anne, Adam, and I are trapped in his office. So far they haven't been able to get through the door."
Kendrick felt his impatience building. He wanted to leave already. Behind them, SUVs began to roll up as the other men jogged forward carrying bags of tactical gear. In less than a minute, the men had mobilized. Normally, he would just use his magic, but there were too many men, and he'd never been to the clinic before to gauge the distance.
"Anything you can tell us about the enemy?" Aiden asked.
"We think they are invisible ferals. They are being persistent and fucking annoying," Meryn yelled.
"There's my Menace," Sascha said, nodding at Aiden.
"Hey guys, you need to hurry, no shit," Meryn said. The hiccup in her voice had the men scattering.
"Wait! Tell them that they are invisible but are shimmering, as if they are giving off heat waves," they heard Anne yell into the phone.
Heat waves?
"Let's move it! Lorcan, your unit is assigned house detail. We don't know where these bastards could pop up next," Aiden yelled.
"Yes, sir!" Lorcan yelled back, and began positioning his men around the house.
Kendrick, Gavriel, Colton, Darian, and Ryuu jumped into the SUV with Aiden. All Kendrick could think about was Anne. If anything happened to her, he didn't know if he would be able to follow her peacefully into the afterlife. He was seriously scared for the men he rode with. Beside him, Ryuu was vibrating with energy. He knew that the squire would be focused on one thing and one thing only, Meryn. Between the two of them, their enemy didn't stand a chance.
*****
When the men arrived, they simply kicked the door in and flooded the halls. When they got to the hallway leading to Adam's office Aiden held up his fist.
Kendrick and Ryuu looked at each other and stepped in front of Aiden.
"Wait, we don't know what's out there!" Aiden hissed.
"Doesn't matter," Kendrick said and turned his attention to the hall. Thanks to Anne's description, he knew what to look for. To Anne's untrained eye, the invisibility spell through his magic looked like heat waves, which meant that he would be able to see them. "Can you detect them?" He asked his friend.
Ryuu's hair floated around his body as if ebbing back and forth in the water. He shook his head. "No, but my magic can follow yours. What is the plan?"
"Kill them all," Kendrick said without emotion. Unlike Ryuu, Kendrick's element was fire, and the air around him began to crackle.
"What the hell?" Colton yelled.
Kendrick turned to look behind him. The unit warriors were backing up from the heat. Movement caught his eye from outside the window of the room they were standing next to.
"Aiden, we have company outside. It would be safer for you and your men to handle them. Let Ryuu and I take out the ones in the hallway."
Aiden hesitated. "That's my mate in there."
Kendrick let his power rise until Aiden stepped back again. "My mate is in there as well. Now go!"
"You heard the man!" Aiden led the men outside to deal with the ferals trying to flank them from behind.
Kendrick turned his attention back to the hallway where the hazy shapes were advancing on them. "Good, they want to play."
He raised his power hand. "Inferno!"
The hall was engulfed in heat and flame. The figures before him began to scream and fall to the floor.
"Oh, my fucking god, that is rank! What the fuck are you doing out there?" Meryn yelled.
Ryuu smiled. "And there is the helpless maiden," he said before lifting both hands. A wall of water rushed down the hallway extinguishing the flames that were climbing the walls.
Soot and ash covered bodies making them visible. They littered the hallway, blocking the way to the women.
"Can you remove them? Denka and Rheia have such sensitive stomachs these days," Ryuu asked politely--as if there weren't half burned corpses melting right in front of them.
"It would be my pleasure." Kendrick raised his hand again and floated the bodies down the hall and out the door where he flung them against a tree, creating a pile of smoldering flesh and bone.
"Is it safe to come out now?" Meryn shouted.
"No." Ryuu swiftly walked down the hall. When they were in front of the door, he knocked. "It is now safe, denka." The door opened slowly.
When Meryn saw Ryuu, she threw herself into his arms. "I'm so sorry! I never should have left without you!"
Ryuu picked her up as if she weighed no more than a child. "I am entirely to blame, denka. I forgot my first duty is to protect you. Like the others, I was lulled into a false sense of safety by the perimeter. But I can assure you, I won't let that happen again."
Meryn wiped her nose on her sleeve. "You can watch me pee for all I care."
Ryuu smiled softly. "I'm sure that won't be necessary."
"Anne?" Kendrick looked around the room.
Anne stood on shaky legs, her hands balled up into fists at her side, her face surprisingly calm. "I told them you would come for us."
Kendrick strode in and simply pulled her close. "This can never happen again. Never, do you hear me?" he managed to choke out. He was having a hard time speaking past the lump in his throat.
"Rheia! Rheia!" They heard Colton yelling.
One second he was in the hallway the next he had his mate in his arms swinging her around. "That's it! That! Is! It! No more clinic!" Rheia shook her head, laughing at his antics, but Kendrick noticed the tears streaming down her face.
Kendrick pulled back and looked at Anne. "Are you okay?"
She nodded. "I may freak out later, but right now, I think I'm okay."
"Okay? She was amazing!" Adam boomed. "This girl has nerves of steel. She kept Rheia and Meryn calm and helped me brace the door. She was also the one to notice that they had snuck in, and by remaining calm, she was able to get in here and lock the door without letting them know she saw them. That's one hell of a woman you got there."
"Meryn? Meryn!" Aiden's shouting had Meryn wiggling to get down. Ryuu set her down and stepped back.
Aiden came barreling through the door and scooped Meryn up in his arms. "Baby, I'm so sorry! I swear I'll wear my phone around my neck from now on!" Aiden buried his face in her shoulder.
Meryn wrapped her arms around his head. "I will kick your ass later. Right now, just hold me."
Anne looked up at Kendrick. "How'd they get in? I thought the perimeter kept these things from coming into the city."
Adam came back in from the hallway, waving a hand in front of his face. "I don't think I'll ever get this smell out of my nose." He sneezed twice and looked at Anne. "I think the perimeter is working fine. I suspect this was a sleeper cell. They were hiding out waiting for a chance to attack." He turned to Meryn and Rheia. "They saw the two of you without escort and moved in. It was probably their last ditch effort to get to you."
Meryn paled. "They were after our babies."
Kendrick gasped as pieces began to fall into place. He had to step back while everything processed.
"Kendrick?" He heard Anne call out.
"Leave him! He's working something out," Meryn exclaimed.
Souls, shifters, abilities, necklaces, couples, recruit, babies...
Kendrick shook his head. He looked around to find that he had backed himself into a corner and everyone was watching him intently.
His eyes met Anne's. "I know you need me, but I have to go. If I'm right..."
Anne pointed out the door, her eyes perfectly serene. "Go! I'm fine. Go check the tests, I'll be right behind you."
Kendrick turned to leave but had to kiss her first. He walked back over to her, kissed her urgently. He turned to Ryuu then Aiden. "I am trusting you both to bring her home safely."