Page 22 of Second Shooter

Her parents looked appalled.

Win sighed. “On the plus side, she will probably have a child in the next eighteen months. They will be on her constantly until she’s knocked up, and some of them after that.”

Her mother was crying. “We tried to keep you from knowing that.”

“I know, Mom. But I need to do something, and then you and Dad can go home and wait until Cori is ready to come home. She needs some time to be safe. Today was scary.”

Win calmly touched her father’s forehead and then did the same to her mother. “She can’t touch you now. Can’t see you and can’t think of you. When she wants to get leverage, you are going to be out of reach.”

Her parents frowned. “We want to stay with you.”

“That isn’t possible, Mom. We need to be somewhere they can’t get us for a while. We will keep in touch. But I killed ten men today, and I need a bit of a rest.”

Her parents recoiled, and Cori said, “This gentleman said he will get you home.”

She was standing next to the young dragon Erik. He smiled at her and said, “Please. I can take you home. My truck is this way.”

Her parents were dazed. Win and Cori hugged them, and the betas were led through the crowd and toward the houses in the distance. Erik was talking to them, and Win watched them go.

Cori looked at her and asked, “What did you do?”

“The same thing I did to all of you when I got home from the hospital. I blurred the memory of us. They are very proud of us and will talk about us as if they just saw us, but we will be disconnected, and the Elite and Mags will have nothing to grasp at.”

Cori walked to her and hugged her. “Oh, Win.”

Iris looked at them and smiled. “Let’s get you to our place, and you can rest. All of you. This is Ymer. It’s his home, and he has the magic to bring you there.”

The other two she had with her moved to speak with the two males Win had pulled with her. The Stronghold Elite was lifted and flipped over the shoulder of one of Iris’s partners.

Ymer said, “Please gather together. Hold still.”

Megan and Cori held hands. Juno stood still, and Win watched the dark elf that was going to transport them. He looked her in the eye and was surprised as he nodded in acknowledgement.

Win spoke to Rayd. “Thank you, and Lyric, thank you as well.”

Lyric smiled, and then the world faded and changed. When the world formed around them again, they were at Iris’s home.

* * * *

Cori looked at her sister, gleaming with power and her hair rippling in a wind that wasn’t here. “Win, were you always like this?”

“Yes.” Her sister smiled sadly.

The man named Ymer said, “Please come this way. We have rooms for you and a guesthouse if you need silence.”

Miss Norelic raised her hand. “I would like the guesthouse.”

Win nodded. “I will go as well if at all possible.”

Juno swallowed. “I am fine with that.”

Ymer nodded. “The boys in pictures everywhere are Brexel and Iris’s boys, Denel and Bennet. The dogs are Juno and Jupiter, but Iris has them firmly in her thrall.”

Juno cleared her throat. “Call me May then. I don’t want to be confused with the dogs.”

Ymer had a kind expression. “May it is. May, you and Win will be in the guesthouse. Brexel and Oren will be in with Iris to talk to you later.”

Cori looked at Megan. “How are you holding up?”

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