Clarence couldn’t stop himself, his fist landing to crunch Skotall’s face and leave it bloodied and broken. “You’re a piece of shit, Skotall. You were going to use that girl but you were too dumb to realize you couldn’t even do that right.”

He’d been working on the Elf for days, knowing that he was hiding something and finally he’d got the information out of the worm. Now he had to deal with that and it wasn’t going to be pretty. Not when he had to go and tell Victor Strong that his Bloodmate was still in danger. Damn. That wasn’t going to go down well. First, he had to inform Magno and he might even ask for Jana to come out here to join him. If trouble was headed this way he wanted her at his side, even if Victor had an army around him, The Directive was still in charge.

Yeah, right. As if Victor Strong was going to believe that.

This wasn’t going to be easy but at least if Jana was here he’d have some good back-up in case of trouble. But they’d also need some magical help. Someone that was powerful and could stand up to this “Mr. Big” as Skotall had called him. Jeez, how original could that little idiot get? He didn’t have an actual name, only that the person was male, and powerful in magic and wanted Kimber. Wonderful.

First things first. Clarence gave Skotall another swipe before leaving the room in the local Directive office’s where Skotall’d been held since he’d captured him. He pulled his phone out and hit speed dial for his boss not bothering to check the time, local or otherwise. Magno would answer regardless, and on the second ring he heard the accented voice.

“Clarence, how are you? Is everything going well with your mission?”

Clarence took a deep breath before replying, “I’m afraid we’ve hit a snag. The Elf, Skotall, has finally spilled the beans and I’ve managed to get some information from him. It appears he was hired to kidnap Kimber and, please don’t laugh, but the name he calls this person is, Mister Big, and the other information is that they are extremely powerful with magic.”

Magno didn’t laugh, instead he tutted, “That is not good news. I would prefer we take her into protective custody but I also know that Victor will not be in favor of that. So, Clarence, what do you suggest?”

“Indeed,” Clarence sighed. “Victor will go nuts if I even suggest that, and I hate to admit it but I’m not in a position to take him down. Not without an army anyway. I’ll go and alert him to the danger but I’d like Jana here as back-up. And I’m wondering who we have available and possibly a match in the magical arena. Any suggestions?”

“Jana isn’t too far from your location. I’ll get her to you as quickly as possible and I’ll have a think about your other request and be in touch. I have a couple of people in mind but I’m not certain of their availability. Clarence, stay safe. Do not engage with this person without back-up. I don’t want to lose you, my boy.”

“I’ll be careful, Magno. I’m more worried about surviving my meeting with Victor. He’s not going to be happy when he finds out his Bloodmate is in danger and that it’s taken me this long to get the information out of that little worm.”

“If he threatens you just let him know that if he harms you, I will be the next person knocking on his door and I will not arrive alone. However, remind him also that he has our help in this matter and it is better to have us as friends than enemies.”

“Sure,” Clarence replied, not sure any of that would help. If it were him, and his Bloodmate was in danger he knew he’d see red and no words would help ease the anger he knew would be coursing through him.

“Take care, and I’ll be in touch,” Magno said before ending the call.

Clarence shook his head, muttering to himself, “Easier said than done when dealing with Victor Strong.”

“Sorry? What was that?” one of the office staff asked as they passed by.

“Nothing, just talking to myself. But, wait, I need transport. The vehicle I was using is no longer viable not after transporting that dead Wolf the other day. I need a car and a driver for the duration of my stay and expect another operative, Jana Noskova, will be arriving soon. Set her up in the same hotel as me and for goodness sakes make sure she has a fully stocked mini-bar and extra pillows. If you don’t she won’t be happy and I’ll be sure to send her your way.”

The man stopped, eyes popping wide. “What? Yes, sure, I’ll get right on that. Give me five minutes and your driver will be down in the garage waiting on you.” He stopped, his face paling before stuttering, “Jana Noskova. You mean the Jana Noskova?”

“Yes, there is only one Jana and that’s the one. Please don’t upset her because I’m the one that’s got to put up with her moaning if you do.”

“Oh, I won’t. I promise to have everything just as she wants.” His face flushed scarlet. “I’m a fan, a big fan of hers. Wow, I never thought I’d get to meet her. Will she be coming in here, to the office?”

“Probably, she’ll want to do her own interrogation of that moron in there.” Clarence nodded toward where Skotall was.

“Right,” the man stuttered again. “Okay, I’ll go get all this done.”

With that he turned and rushed away, leaving Clarence to shake his head and mumble, “Another damn groupie. Why is it she gets them and I don’t?”

Straightening his suit, he pondered that briefly before making his way down to the underground garage to get his driver. Better go get this over and done with, he thought as he instructed the man to take him to Victor’s address. This definitely wasn’t a meeting he was looking forward to. Maybe, just maybe, he’d make it out without things coming to blows.