Page 100 of Group Studies

With a single thought, I sent Ram charging toward the one on the left.

I created another bead of will between my fingers. As the second one turned to help his friend with Ram, I threw my bead at him and missed. The power hit the floor and dissipated in a shower of dark rainbows. I giggled, bouncing on the balls of my feet as another bead formed even faster than the last.

The two agents pinned Ram against Saffron’s Golem. Closer this time, I flicked my bead at the back of the taller one and gave him a command. Immediately, he released Ram and punched his friend in the face. Ram and the MA agent, now under my control, pinned the remaining agent to the ground.

I spun in a circle as I drifted toward him.

“What are you doing?” The MA agent demanded, still struggling.

I smiled and pressed my bead between his eyes. “I’m making friends.”

The confusion and anger on his face relaxed once my magic took hold. The two already under my control let him up.

I golf clapped. “You two are now my personal bodyguards.”

The second one rubbed his forehead. “Of course, Aphrodite, you will is our command.”

I beamed at him and tapped my cheek, trying to figure out where they’d taken Beryl and Saffron. My magic tingled. A giggle bubbled out of my chest.

“Saffron’s full of me.” I beamed.

Sinking into my mage trance, I looked for my magic. A push, almost like a slight breeze, got me walking down the main hall. I could practically see my rainbows sparkling in the distance. I shooed Ram into the lead and skipped to the middle of my bodyguards.

Sparks of dying lights showered us as we walked toward Saffron. We rounded a corner, and an MA agent almost collided with Ram.

“I’ll give you no trouble if you return to your room,” he said tiredly.

One of Ram’s meaty arms shot forward, gripping the agent’s arm.

I focused my will. Another bead of dark purple formed between my thumb and ring finger. Without hesitating, I pressed it into the agent. He swallowed, his eyes glazing over.

“Fall into line,” I commanded, mimicking Officer Keres.

The man took up a position on my left, fisting bumping one of his friends behind me.

I giggled.

Four more agents fell to my magic. Each bead of will tingled my skin and kissed the liquid heat threatening to burst out of me.

My little army waltzed into Director Flemmings' waiting room. One of the two agents there spilled his coffee halfway to his mouth in surprise, while the other reached for a potion at his belt. I didn’t use Ram this time as my six held the two at gunpoint. Two beads of will later, my six became eight.

My magic, pulsing through Saffron, swirled just behind the Director’s door. I squeezed my thighs together. “Six of you stay here, no one in or out,” I told my eight. “You two,” I pointed to the two largest. “With me.”

They nodded and took up various guard positions.

I focused, creating three beads of dark purple crystal between four fingers in my right hand. Other than Saffron, I’d no idea who was in the Director’s office. At my silent will, Ram knocked twice before forcing the door open.

I squeezed in behind him and quickly took in the scene. On my left, Officer Keres stood next to a shorter man in a suit I’d never seen before. Thick mahogany framed glasses perched on his hooked nose. Director Flemmings, in her bright red pantsuit, sat behind her desk. On my right, Beryl and Saffron knelt, bound, and gagged with an MA agent on either side.

“Ram.” Director Flemmings half stood from her desk, her eyes wide with confusion. “How did you get in here?”

Ram turned to Officer Keres and kicked at his knees. The experienced MA officer dodged to the side. Taking a guess at where he would go, I made Ram punch, but hit nothing but air. Ram knew how to fight, but I didn’t. I cursed, scampering toward Director Flemmings’ desk. In moments, my Ram puppet would be a bloody pulp on the ground.

“Make sure no one else moves,” I told my two MA agents. They drew their firearms, and did something to them that made a clicking noise before pointing them at the Director.

The sound of a fist colliding with someone's face brought my attention back to my Ram puppet. Officer Keres kicked out his leg faster than I could see, sending Ram down with a thud. He didn’t move again. As the Officer took a moment to look around the room, I fell toward the man with a weak cry. He caught me, and one of my beads pressed into his skin, disappearing as his body absorbed my magic.

“Release Beryl and Saffron,” I ordered as I straightened.

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