Miyuki couldn’t believe how much of a mess the mission turned into. Not only did they now have to worry about Logan losing his position because of their failure, but they also had to worry about the Council’s reaction toward their uninvited guest. Not to mention the ambush. She wanted to blow something up to settle her nerves.

  It didn’t help that they were sent because her mother was probably running some sort of mysterious plan. There had to have been agents closer and could have been in and out before she had even crossed the pacific.

  Miyuki stewed in her emotions. She looked at the very silent Logan next to her. He sat with arms crossed and his chin to his chest. It may have looked like he was sleeping but she could feel his energy strengthen and condense. She knew that he was using his beast to try and heal himself. He must have been worse than she thought, she had only seen him on two other occasions concentrating his internal energy like that. The first was when he was shredded by a grenade. The second was when he was knocked out a window and fell four stories to the ground. She still remembered the cracking thump he made when he hit.

  Her wandering mind quickly shifted to the unconscious girl behind her. She had to think of a way to straighten this out. She owed him multiple favors worth of help and she would be cashing in. She was tempted to just turn the girl into charcoal and dump her somewhere but that wouldn’t work. Logan would know and the Council would want answers to where the artifact’s power went and extract it if necessary.

  With all her ideas being crap, she eventually resigned herself to only support and defend Logan as she could. Only a few minutes after reaching her conclusion the car broke through the trees and entered the clearing that held the landing strip. Their plane was just where they left it, already geared up to depart. Near the lowered walkway stood the same agent that was waiting for their arrival. As she pulled up to the waiting agent, she nudged Logan with her shoulder to grab his attention. He jerked with a snort before looking around wildly. She briefly smirked at his abrupt reaction.

  “Wake up furball, we’re here,” she grumbled.

  At that point her rage had lowered to a controlled simmer. She pushed open her door and stepped out. The agent waiting for them reached to his belt and retrieved a small radio and spoke into it. Soon after, the plane’s engines started spinning. After collecting the useless statue she started her way to the walkway, ignoring both the confused agent and Logan carrying Sarah over his shoulder.

  Once inside, she unceremoniously dropped the artifact into an open seat.

  She sighed while sitting opposite it. “Has anyone told you you’re a total pain in the ass?” she asked the statue without expecting a response.

  As she was leaning her head back, Logan entered with a grunt. She watched as he gently laid the girl down on a couch before planting himself on the opposite couch. He groaned as pinched the bridge of his nose, a grimace poorly hidden under his wrist. They sat in silence like that for a few moments.

  “What do we do now?” she asked.

  He didn’t respond at first. “I don’t know. I know we have to report this but other than that, I don’t know. Whatever game is being played just went down shit’s creek. Not only were we late we were also attacked. Master Sigurd trusted me enough to make a big bet on me and I failed him…Damn it.”

  He dropped his hand, his frown turning to a strained smile. “Being a Guardian again won’t be so bad. What’s a decade or two of boring guard duty? I might even escort some artifact or bureaucrat every now and then. All the challenges and adventures were getting repetitive anyway.”

  She looked closer and couldn’t believe what she was watching. His fingers drummed his thigh, his neck subtly twitched and his eyes were half-closed. He was a man she had rarely seen show any weakness, physical or emotional. Now he was barely holding himself together. The same man who has walked bloody battlefields with cold determination was acting like a child that didn’t know whether to rage or cry.

  She moved and sat next to him. She placed her hand on the large man’s shoulder. She wasn’t very good at comforting others but thought they were close enough for it to work. He flinched but settled himself.

  “This is bullshit,” Logan mumbled. “I’ve worked damn hard to get where I am…where I was. Master Sigurd took a bet on me and the whole thing went wrong.”

  She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “Oh, get over yourself. Yes, the mission went sideways, that’s it. We have the artifact and the cursed, it’s not like she went wild and slaughtered the other humans. We were late, not sloppy. If anyone is at fault it’s my mother and her games. The Crusaders showing up is their own thing and I’ll be damned if I’m going to be blamed for that.”

  “So you'll be demoted,” she waved her hand, “big whoop. It doesn’t mean that you won’t become a Hunter again. We both know the old viking has some sort of backup plan. He’s way too sneaky for this to stop him.”

  He took a deep breath before responding, much calmer than before. “You’re right,” he said with a smile, “thanks.”

  She was going to start up a round of insults when the plane began its departure. Mid-way through the ascent Sarah groaned.

  While Miyuki stretched and got herself ready for the inevitable questions to begin, Logan stood and made his way toward the plane’s bathroom.

  “Where do you think you’re going? You’re seriously leaving her to me?”

  “I’m taking a shower to get the blood off; I don’t want to scare her into unconsciousness again.”

  She wanted to protest but she knew he was right, him covered in blood would only freak Sarah out and make their job harder. She just needed to change her shirt to get rid of her stain while he was covered in it. “Fine,” she said with a grunt, “just make sure to be back before my urge to burn the girl gets too overpowering.”

  “Just don’t scare her, ” he said before entering the bathroom and closing the door.

  *******************************************************

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  Sarah once again awoke with a splitting headache in a place she’d never seen before. She moaned while forcing her eyes to adjust to their surroundings. The first thing she noticed was that it appeared to be brighter than it was previously. The second thing was that she was sitting on a much more comfortable surface. Finally, she noticed the shaking and roar of plane engines taking off. At her realization she forced her eyes open and sat up.

  From first inspection it seemed to be the interior of a private jet. When her gaze eventually landed on the couch opposite her, she saw the girl she assumed to be Miyuki, sitting on the couch upside-down as to have her head dangling near the floor with her hair barely touching the short carpet and her feet above the back of the couch.

  “Sleeping Beauty once again joins the land of the living.” Miyuki remained in her position.

  Sarah stumbled from the couch and quickly looked for an exit. She then realized that she was trapped in a moving plane with two people who kidnapped her and stole what she assumed to be a priceless artifact. Her only idea was to get to the pilot and crash the plane. That moronic idea was quickly discarded. She stumbled as the floor tilted flat.

  “Sit down before you hurt yourself,” the captor said, not moving from her upside down position. “You’re in a plane about a kilometer above the ground, and you’re not wearing a parachute. If I were you, I’d sit back down and wait till Logan comes back.”

  Sarah couldn’t calm her heart or head enough to listen to her advice. She looked around for something to defend herself, it only took a few seconds before finding a silver fork sitting next to an empty plate on a nearby table. She grabbed the fork as tightly as she could and held it in front of her like a knife.

  With a mix of exasperation and boredom she shifted sitting normally. She pointed at her. Sarah was transfixed as the air in front of their finger shimmered. She dropped the fork when it suddenly turned hot.

  “Now,” Miyuki said while still relaxing on the couch, “I will say it one more time. Sit down and wait for my partner.”

  Sarah dry swallowed at the strange display. She tried to understand what had just happened. Was it magic? No, that was impossible, there’s no such thing as magic. Some sort of technology? No, what kind of tech could drastically heat a fork from at least ten feet away. One by one she went through theories that became more and more unlikely. By the time she hesitantly reached the couch and settled into it she gave up on that and tried to think of ways to get free.

  She slowed her racing mind and tried to organize everything that happened. First, she was kidnapped. Second, she was going to be either ransomed back or sold as a slave. Third, her captor’s names were Miyuki and Logan. Finally, when they were attacked, the man turned into a goddamn werewolf.

  “We’re going to wait while my partner gets done washing up,” Miyuki said, “who should hurry up if he doesn't want something burnt off that won’t grow back!”

  “I get it, I get it, I’m coming out!” a man, Logan probably, yelled from inside the previously unnoticed restroom. She heard a shower being turned off and out the opened door stood the near nude form of the occupant wearing nothing but a towel around his waist.

  Sarah sucked in her breath. The man who walked out was as large as his silhouette made him out to be. He was broad and muscled. As she scanned the practically-nude man before her, she noticed a glint of a silver ring hanging around his neck and the red circular scars. Her brain was still restarting as he walked over to a discarded duffel bag against the cabin’s wall.

  Something deep inside her, something wild and feral, enjoyed seeing his level of strength and ferocity. Her inner voice said he was a beast in every sense of the word. It was as if she wasn’t looking at him as a man for a relationship but as a potential mate that would help her bear strong children. She also looked at his scars and saw his level of bravery and how much punishment he could take and continue to fight and hunt.

  “Giving us a show?” Miyuki asked with an appreciative tone.

  Sarah immediately snapped out of her revelry. She started questioning her sanity. It was way too fast for Stockholm syndrome to set in, and even then, she would never think of getting something like a mate. She’s never even had a real boyfriend before.

  “You wish,” he said.

  She watched as he removed some clothes from the bag and returned to the bathroom. Her introspection was interrupted.

  “In case you didn’t remember, that showoff was Logan,” Miyuki said.

  She shook herself, “yeah, I remember. At least I think I remember.”

  She chuckled, “don’t worry about it. You’ve had a hell of a day.”

  They sat in silence for a full minute. The only sounds Sarah could hear was the rumbling of the plane’s engines, the light rustling coming from the restroom, and her own rapid heartbeat. She watched as Miyuki cleaned her fingernails with a knife she retrieved from somewhere. Despite Miyuki not directly watching her, Sarah knew she couldn’t sneak anything past the strange woman.

  Sarah jumped at the sound of the restroom door opening. Out stepped Logan dressed in an outfit and gear that simply said soldier. The sword handle showing from above his right shoulder was just as impressive as the pistol holstered on his left hip. Her heart rate increased at the presence of the weapons the large man equipped. He was larger than she thought. She instinctually knew that her academic body would be no match for him.

  “Alright then,” he said while walking over and sitting next to Miyuki and across from Sarah. His eyes were as hard as stone and had the gleam of a predator. When meeting his eyes, she had a thought that she needed to fight or die. She quickly suppressed that thought before dry swallowing past the ever-growing knot in her throat.

  He leaned back. “I want to begin with saying we’re not going to hurt you. Our organization’s purpose is that of protectors and has been for centuries.”

  Sarah relaxed a little but knew what some people would do in the name of “protection,” the Patriot Act came to mind. Her hesitation proved correct when he continued.

  “But that doesn’t mean we’re letting you go. You were in the wrong place, wrong time, and doing the wrong thing. Because of this you are now considered a potential deadly threat to the public if not handled correctly. I’m sorry to say that your life will never be the same.” The longer Logan spoke the more worried and scared Sarah became. By the time he finished Sarah was near hyperventilating.

  “How am I a threat? If it’s because I saw you, can’t I just sign an NDA or something?”

  Miyuki sighed, “Sarah, out of good will and a hope you won’t freak out as much in the near future, I’ll tell you a few things. First, I apologize for wearing the creepy kidnapper mask when you first woke up. I’ve found scared and surprised people spill information a lot easier than not

  Second, neither of us are human. I’m a Kitsune while he’s what we call a cursed being, though it is easier to just call him a werewolf.” He frowned and grunted at the relabeling but remained silent.

  “We,” she continued, “are members of an organization called The Keepers. We essentially keep humans safe from magic while maintaining order among the being communities. You can consider us something like the central government of the magical world.”

  Sarah’s mind almost shut off at that moment. Not only did she get kidnapped for no other reason than wrong place wrong time, she also won’t be sold for ransom or be let go. If that wasn’t bad enough, her captors were insane enough to believe that they were mythological creatures a part of a global secret organization.

  A wave of despair crashed upon Sarah as she crumbled within herself. She was secretly proud that she was able to last that long without completely breaking down. Sarah placed her face in her hands and began to cry. She would never be able to see her family or friends ever again after who-knows-what is done to her by a bunch of lunatics.