It felt like an earthquake at first. The whole building shook, items on the tables in the room rattling, the pictures on the walls skittering sideways on their hooks. I breathed out a curse even as I frantically looked around for the source. This wasn’t good. This kind of energy, enough to shake a building of this size, was enormous.
In a second, every window in the room shattered at once, glass spraying everywhere. The sound was almost deafening, my ears popped from the change in pressure, and adrenaline shot up my spine. I threw up my arms automatically to protect my face. Ice-cold wind blew past me, carrying shards of glass through the air. Warm arms wrapped around me and I was tucked in against Brandon’s chest before I could properly register what he was doing. I clung to him, hiding my face against his torso, even as I worried what would happen to him, acting as my shield. He took us down to the ground, his body covering mine.
As fast as the attack had started, it ended. The lights flickered once, then came back on with a brighter glow by degrees, the miasma in the air clearing so that it was barely visible. I unfurled a little from Brandon’s chest, looking up at him with my heart in my throat. Blood streamed from somewhere, coming down his cheek.
“God, cher, how bad are you hurt?”
“Something stings, but not bad,” he assured me, gingerly pulling us back up to our feet. “Stray piece of glass got me. You okay?”
“Nothing hit me.” I reached into his left pocket, the one that always had a small med-kit, and wrenched it free. “Show me where, let me clean that up. Falisa, what the hell?”
“Took the words right outta my mouth,” she said, standing with Ken’s aid. “I did not expect that. It must’ve taken a lot outta the entity, as the miasma’s clearing, but the fact it did it at all scares the living shit out of me. This is bad, Mack. We need more than two mediums; we need an exorcist.”
I looked at the split skin along Brandon’s temple, creasing right into the hairline. I hated he’d been hurt protecting me. The thought that he might get hurt again, all because of this entity, scared me down to my core. The cut might not need stitches, but this could have been so much worse with all of that glass flying around.
Even as I dabbed an alcohol swab against the wound, I answered her. “Then let’s get an exorcist in here. We’ll need to report this and get the place cleaned up, too. There’s no working in here until that’s done.”
“And it’s not like the entity will have the power to manifest later so we can catch him, anyway,” Ken groaned in realization. “Not after using up so much power tonight. It might take days. Dammit.”
“It’s alright,” Falisa assured him, still sounding pissed. “It’ll take us days to get ready to tackle this again, I think. Shit. I’m really starting to hate this case.”
As I dabbed ointment onto Brandon’s head wound, I felt my fear slip into anger. Seeing him hurt made me want to kill something. If it wasn’t already dead, I would have. “I already do.”
I sat sideways in the Tahoe, watching Brandon converse with both the college president and Connie. He gestured a little with one hand as he spoke, his tone a low rumble, although he was too far away for me to make out individual words. I didn’t need to, anyway. I knew he was explaining to them what had gone down. Both people looked like they had thrown on the first clothes on hand, as Connie was in sweatpants, the president in jeans and a pullover sweater with the university’s logo on it. Neither of them looked happy. Connie was mad, maybe scared. The president had no color in his face whatsoever.
As Brandon handled them, I updated Sylvia. I really did not envy her job, to be up at all hours and woken up with one emergency after the other. She answered promptly enough, but it was clear from her raspy voice she’d been dead asleep when I called.
Still, she listened to my report, and only swore once. “Mack. Have you and Falisa talked about this at all?”
“Yeah. We both agree we need an exorcist.” A medium was capable of exorcising a ghost, if the medium was powerful enough. Most mediums could only see, hear, and touch entities. I was strong enough to do it, although it took quite a bit out of me. But when something became this powerful, this malevolent, it was too much for me to handle. Even Falisa and I combined might not be enough to do this thing in. Exorcists, on the other hand, had serious mojo. In the supernatural world, they were the power-hitters. I had met precisely two in the agency, both while passing them in the halls during orientation, and just standing next to them had given me goosebumps.
“That bad? Right, well, I’m not sure how fast I can get one to you. I agree that if it’s blowing out every window in a three-story building, this thing’s too powerful for three mediums especially one still in training—”
“Uh, two mediums. We’re a medium down.”
Sylvia paused. It wasn’t a good pause. It was pregnant with potential. Her next words were flat. “What happened?”
“Turns out the medium in training is very, very homophobic. He’s also a habitual liar. He started in on me, and it was apparently the last straw with Falisa, as he’s done this too many times before. She kicked him back to the hotel. Honestly, we can’t trust him to have our backs on this one.”
“Shit. Well, this case is going well.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Mack, you and Brandon pull back for now. Put up signs around the building that no one should enter without FBI approval. Escort students through if they absolutely have to fetch something. If they can’t find another place to stay, get them a hotel room and put it on the card. I don’t want anyone in that building until I can get an exorcist there.”
Relieved, I said, “Yes, ma’am.”
“Both of you really aren’t hurt?”
“I’m fine. Pissed, but fine. Brandon’s got a deep cut on his head that may or may not need stitches. I’ll drag him to urgent care after this to take a look. Brandon shielded me so he got the brunt of it.”
“And the other team?”
“Falisa’s got a scratch, I think Ken does too. But it’s all minor stuff.”
“Thank God for that.”
“Truly. And, um, Sylvia.” I wasn’t sure if this was the right timing, but even with all the crap going down tonight, I was too excited to keep this to myself much longer. I wanted to crow and tell the world. Sylvia was one of the many people who would be happy for both of us. “Brandon asked that we make it official. After this case, I’ll bond to him.”
Sylvia blew out a breath that sounded like a laugh. “Mack, that’s great! I’m honestly happy and relieved. You two are good together. Although I’m confused why you’re waiting until after the case?”
“I—” I stopped when I realized we would likely have several days of waiting until the exorcist arrived. My plan from before didn’t make sense now. “Well, my initial thought was that I wanted a few days with him to settle properly. After the case was resolved seemed the best timing for that.”
“Mack, if you’re still okay with that, that’s fine. I’m not rushing you. But I think you’d both do better getting through this case if you’re properly bonded.”