12:40 PM September 13th 2026

Industrial Park District Near the Port of New York

Sam was…not good after the call from Anna. All this time, she’d assumed that her little sister was safe. If not at her very expensive, prestigious, and supposedly extremely secure private school, then at home or at work with their father. Either way, she should have been in a safe location.

Not only was Anna not secure, but she had also been unable to get ahold of their father. So, in addition to the horror of listening to the screams of terror from the people with Anna over the call and the sounds of a large monster manifestation. Sam was also imagining all kinds of crazy shitty scenarios vying for space in her brain, narrating what horrible things could have happened to their father both before and after the incident.

Had he tried to get to Anna only to be eaten by the very monsters that were now endangering her younger sister? Maybe. Possibly. Sam didn’t know. She didn’t know.

Why hadn’t her dad gotten Anna when the school called? He never had appointments that lasted more than one hour let alone multiple hours. Had his secretary not given him the message? Had he been mugged on his way to work this morning or on his way to get Anna and was lying in a gutter dead or dying somewhere and no one had found him because of the emergency?

Ahhhh!

And why didn’t Kyle have his phone on him?

What the artificers fuck, Kyle!

Sam was on the verge of hyperventilating in concerned fear and outrage at the unreal and unholy combination of negligence and general incompetence that had led to this situation. If dad or Kyle had answered their phones or checked their messages, Anna would be much safer right now. Okay. In all fairness, if that damned school had proper magic shielding this might not have been an issue at all.

Maybe. Was the school building able to withstand an attack from a class three or four monster? Or a herd of them? She didn’t know.

“Fuuuck!” It came out as a long, frustrated growl and Sam ran both hands through her hair, mussing her perfectly smooth tie back. Much in the same way her brother did when he was frustrated, she grabbed her roots and gave a gentle tug of pent-up emotion. Then Samantha Wattkins swallowed down her feelings.

This was not the time. It was not the time at all. Wrenching her thoughts back to the present, Sam got to work.

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“Okay.” One more deep breath steadied her and a calming pat on Gleipnir where he nuzzled her waist comfortingly settled him as well. Their combined auras had been doing that thing again. When they were agitated, well, it wasn’t good. It made the area around them unpleasant to be in. And if pressed hard enough, the aura alone could become a weapon that injured anyone who came within its radius.

“Okay?” Frank questioned from a distance. He’d called back the team he’d had guarding the perimeter of the primary danger zone when Anna’s call notified him of much more dangerous monsters than he’d been anticipating.

“Yeah.” Though Sam’s voice and expression were reassuring and calm, Alex eyed her partner skeptically. And Frank’s eyes darted from Sam, to Alex, and back to Sam, clearly wondering if the younger agent could tell whether or not Sam was lying. Dropping her shoulders, Sam rolled her eyes at Alex then gave her field boss a flat look. “We. Are. Fine.” The magical engineer gestured between herself and Gleipnir’s ‘head’ still cuddling his warlock consolingly along the curve of her waist.

“Yes.” Gleipnir agreed, the emotion of his voice giving the impression of someone who had been crying but had now pulled themself together despite their sore throat and stuffy nose. “My Sammy is a big strong girl. She’ll be able to fight even if her sister and brother are off dying under an overwhelming wave of monsters and her father might be having an affair.”

“Gleipnir!” Alex was equal parts amused and aghast and she choked back a laughing gasp. “That is…that is not how you comfort someone.” Frank was less decorous and actually snorted before covering his mouth with one hand as if he were just thinking. Then he turned back around to face outward for signs of monsters.

“Thank you for that Gleip” Dry and caustic, Sam’s tone may be, it was lost on her oblivious pact item. The sentient artifact merely acknowledged what he thought was his just dues.

“You’re welcome, Sam.” The munificence of his reply indicated he had no idea that he’d made a grave faux pas. Even Sam snorted at that as she blinked back the wet glimmer in her eyes. Because it was clear that Gleipnir deeply cared for his warlock and was just showing that he had her back, however clumsily.

Then he sniffed.

At first, Alex thought he was being stuck-up Gleipnir again, but no, he sniffed again. Then twice more. Swiftly the artifact unwrapped his chain from around his warlock and shifted more of his bulk into his sword-shape. That made Alex take note as he lifted himself up slowly to whisper in Sam’s ear.

“Do you feel that?” His voice was low but not so low that he couldn’t be heard by the two agents closest to him and Sam. Gleipnir’s ‘face’, or the part of his sword-shape that Alex had come to realize he’d designated as his face, was angled toward the warehouse they had yet to investigate.

Sam was nodding, her eyes narrowing as she too turned to face whatever he was sensing. Alex found herself nodding as well at the sick twisting churn of magic coming from the building which had, until moments before, just been a part of the oversaturated chaos in the ambient magic levels. She almost wanted to vomit. A few of the agents that happened to be closer to the building began retching uncontrollably.

“What is that?” It was unnatural. Unholy. A filthy perversion that Alex desperately feared and felt needed to be immediately cleansed from existence. Yet it was just a feeling, a sensation. Nails on the chalkboard of reality.

“Monster manifestation.” Gleipnir whispered. “High level. Too high level. Turn your magic collector back on. Now. Now. Now. PERSONAL SHIELDS NOW!!!”