Page 21 of Anger

“Miss Cross, I’ll schedule an appointment, and I will bring a list of acceptable replacements,” Ranson said.

Somehow, she’d expected Ranson to back down. Instead, he’d stood his ground. There was sadness in his eyes, but they were unwavering.

“Please do,” Lanie whispered, and Ranson nodded. He deftly picked up the letter with tweezers and placed it inside a plastic bag.

“We may get fingerprints, but it’s highly unlikely,” he said and left.

Lanie felt like everything was falling out of control. First Alainen had raised his head and was making threats. He could not possibly be sure Lanie was Lamia, but he was locked on her. Mr Clare had called her out; Alainen might be her soul mate, and now she was potentially losing her security team. The last seven days had been a total nightmare.

Lanie tried to return to work but couldn’t. She sighed, picked up her phone, and dialled Rhett.

“Lanie?”

“Are we secure?”

“Naturally. What’s wrong?” he asked with concern.

Lanie explained her problem and sat back as Rhett digested it.

“There’s a simple solution, Lanie,” Rhett said, and Lanie’s shoulders relaxed.

“What?”

“Do you pay attention? A year ago, I bought a security company out. Give Ranson my company’s name, and I’ll come and meet him. Or better yet, send me when you are meeting him, and I will be there,” Rhett offered.

“Thank you!” Lanie trilled over the moon with Rhett’s response.

“You’re welcome. Now, what’s going on?” Rhett demanded.

“What do you mean?”

“Dale said Alainen has raised his ugly head,” Rhett answered.

“Yes. Did Jase tell you his thoughts?” Lanie asked.

“Huh?”

“Well, Jase thinks Alainen is my soul mate,” Lanie began, and then explained Jase’s theory.

“Shit, he could be right,” Rhett replied a few minutes later.

“It’s a frightening thought,” Lanie agreed.

“If you need any of us—”

“Then I’ll call. I promise. As soon as I’ve got a time and date for Ranson’s meeting, I’ll let you know,” Lanie said and offered her goodbyes.

Alainen was her problem. Not her siblings. She knew he was responsible for killing four of their kind. Roc, Bugbear, Fenrir, and Chupacabra. Alainen was a murderer, plain and simple. It had been harder for him to hunt them down since they could now shift into humans, but it clearly hadn’t stopped him looking.

As Lanie contemplated her next step, the fire alarm startled her.

Grabbing her purse and rising to her feet, she was halfway across the room when her door opened. “Confirmed fire in a third-floor office. Everyone is evacuating. We’re taking the stairs,” McIntyre stated as he rushed in. He grabbed her arm and began pulling her along with him. Lanie shrugged him off.

“Don’t touch me,” she warned. “Is anyone injured?”

“No idea, but we’ve got to get you out of here. The elevators have been opened and locked,” McIntyre said. He looked down at her high heels.

Lanie kicked them off, picked them up, and followed McIntyre to the secluded stairs in her office.

---