Anthony moved Amelia’s bed to the corner so he could act swiftly anywhere in the room, keeping Molly, Sam, Astra, and Selvaria’s mother close to his fiancé. He took up a central position in the room with two soldiers beside the exit on the outside and in.

  Amelia had gotten along with the two women, talking about their daughters as Astra mostly kept to himself, showing off his British vocabulary to him, no doubt by the avatar he’d currently taken.

  Ever since this whole operation started, he’d been pondering his part in all of this. Naturally, he was taking up the home base protection detail since he wouldn’t leave Amelia’s side, but Anthony also couldn’t deny that he was falling behind in this changed world, and it didn’t sit well with him.

  Staring down at his fidgeting hand, he knew Amelia would notice; she always caught onto his nervous ticks. What if I’m not strong enough to handle it, or one more Feat Extension could be the difference between life and death?

  A pop came from Astra as he blew a bubble, mouth creasing and making Molly’s nervous eyes shoot toward him. “Has Rachel come back?”

  “My apologies, ma’am, but not yet… Oi, lover boy, we got incoming—the bleeding bomber and cheeky teleporter chap. I’ma have ta cut all wireless signals to stop any remote detonation; my man’s gonna to have ta get close… Eh?”

  Anthony’s short sword blurred into action, now having a confirmation as to his target. Daran appeared by the wall, holding up his hands and wearing a frustrated expression as his blade came centimeters from his neck. Sam got in front of his wife as the others in the room tensed.

  “Hold up, dammit! Shit… I’m not here to start—chill, homie!”

  The Green Berets aimed their guns at him, calling out for him to get on the ground, and to everyone’s surprise, he did.

  Anthony kept his blade to the man’s throat as he slowly dropped to his knees and got on the floor; the soldiers hustled over to zip-tie his hands behind his back.

  “Look, ack—this shit has gone too far… Relica sold us out—I want witness protection for my dad and brother. I’m sure we can work out a deal with your commanding officer, dammit! I have teleportation for—I’m cool! Just…”

  “Where’s the bomber?” Anthony snarled, keeping his blade point on the nape of the man’s neck and ready to thrust if he made any moves.

  “That’s a good place to start,” Roy grunted. “We got thousands of people taking refuge here, so your life ain’t worth shit until the threat is neutralized.”

  Astra snapped his fingers. “Best start chattin’, ol’ chap. I’m recordin’.”

  “Relica can’t know I’m trying to make a deal,” Daran panted, sweating profusely and shaking with fear. “S-She’ll kill my dad, brother, and me—with a snap of her finger! We need Maria to dispel whatever magic shit she placed on us…”

  “The bomber!” Roy repeated, gun jabbing his side.

  “Okay! Okay! I dropped him off in the boiler room; she’s going to use a chemical bomb in the vents. I had to make it look legit!”

  Roy forced him up. “If you want any kind of deal, teleport us there—Kenley?”

  “Neutralize. Got it, boss,” the man stated, checking his gun and unfastening his pistol strap and knife for quick use before adjusting his sight. “Ready to roll.”

  Daran’s eyes darted left and right, his fear almost palpable. “I-I… What promise do I have, if I’ll get anything?”

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  “You don’t, but if you’re helpful, then that should be taken into consideration—now, teleport, dammit!” Roy demanded.

  Anthony took a step back as the prone man shimmered, taking the two men kneeling on his back to another location. Tension ensued in the next two minutes as they waited with bated breath; Astra couldn’t even coordinate things since he’d had to cut all air traffic in the area to stop a possible remote detonation.

  He walked over to hold Amelia’s hand, reassuring her by his smile and a light squeeze, like Sam was doing for Molly. Molly was doing the same for Selvaria’s mother. However, the three returned within ninety seconds—sooner than he’d expected.

  Roy’s voice came from the hallway as he appeared to exit from a side door, dragging Daran along. “Body in the next room, get a doctor to help wrap it up for transport, boys.”

  He came through the door, shoving the pale-faced gangster forward. “Astra, any more hostiles you’re aware of?”

  “Nope. I caught a CCT video of the two blokes teleporting on their way here. My intel has nothing else, but I suspect Relica will know soon enough that the deed isn’t done. The bloody woman has spies everywhere, it seems. I’ll report it on—limited network should be back up in a few minutes…”

  Anthony still wasn’t convinced. “Why would you betray Relica? You’re practically pissing in your pants. What made you flip?”

  Daran choked, face red as he pressed his body against the brick corner, tears running down his cheeks. “S-She stuck a-an f’in child’s soul in me, dammit—as a battery! She forced me and my b-brother to try and kidnap that hare bitch’s parents… He almost died! Shit. Shit! I called the boss, and…and everyone in Colombia is dead! Adele stabbed the cartel in the back…”

  Astra’s fingers paused over the keyboard, blowing a bubble before sucking it back in. “What in hells are ya on about, mate? Colombia has loads of internet traffic.”

  The gangster shook his head, shaky legs making him fall to his knees. “No, the cartel—our base of operations—all I heard from the survivors was that domes… Domes trapped them, and white-scaled salamander monsters killed almost all of them—toad people… Living trees that kidnapped all the males and killed the females! Insanity!”

  “Cry me a river,” Anthony grunted, flipping his chair around to sit by Amelia and hold her hand. “So a cartel is dead. What’s her plan?”

  “You don’t get it!” Daran snapped, visibly shaking. “This was a global operation that was systematically dismantled in the last three days, and someone on the other end left one person alive to deliver a message—I won’t give it until…” he trailed off as Astra flipped around a screen, showing Captain Barbara’s cold eyes.

  “Provide me enough details, and we’ll see about that witness protection; I have the authority to bring your case directly to the Attorney General of the United States. What are we dealing with?”

  Swallowing, he cleared his throat. “He said his name was Wolfgang—a German man—and I should turn m-myself in if I wanted my family to live, s-since Relica and Adele have no intention of keeping us alive. I need Maria!”

  “German, yikes. Wonder who he’s with? Did he happen to give you a name, by chance?” Astra muttered, rolling his eyes and frowning while scanning multiple feeds. “Your call was encrypted so well that even I bloody couldn’t crack the bugger.”

  Daran sucked in his bottom lip as the hair on the back of Anthony’s neck stood on end. “H-He said you should look for something called the Ordo Temp—”

  “Roy, Kenley!” Anthony shouted, making the men instinctively dive away from the man after hearing what Relica did to the men holding the Florida mayor’s son.

  Flipping the chair over, he launched toward the man to cover most of his body; as Daran wept for help, an eruption of gore exploded, covering the seat and blowing parts of it away in the hail of bone shrapnel. Anthony managed to take the brunt of it, his Stats and enhanced physiology keeping him safe.

  “Roy, Kenley?”

  “One got my leg,” Kenley growled, limping over to check the others with Roy, but the distance and chair had kept most of it isolated to the corner.

  “Doctor!”

  Molly’s face went white before fainting in her husband’s arms at the guts spackling the walls, and Selvaria’s mother had a light cut across her neck. Sam was holding things together, but Amelia was looking away, trying to hold in her stomach as the horrific stench filled the room.

  Roy swiftly opened the door, coughing and ordering nurses and the men in the hallway to help move them to another room. Anthony was instantly beside Amelia, trying to comfort her as she started to hyperventilate; her body was already weak as it was, making him stress.

  Astra completed the living bomb’s phrase, though, seemingly ignoring the exploded human. “Smashing! Ordo Templi Orientis, founded by one Aleister Crowley… Well, bloody hell. If this pans out, I suppose the bloke’s sacrifice will have uncovered our MI6 and UK connection. Isn’t this getting interesting? Oh, looks like Selv made the chap turn tail!”

  If you could offer a Review or Rating that would really help! Let me know how you're liking the story!