And here they are coming, Lorelei thought as she watched the security cam footage through her PC. She had considered in which way she should present herself to the clan people. In the end she had decided to go with the 'strong woman who is barely holding in all her pain' routine. Showing vulnerability under a mask of perfection makes people drop their own guard, especially men.

She watched as the proud victors marched down the length of the office, certain of their victory and eager to claim the spoils of their hard fought battle. And all that is left to oppose them is little, weak me, Lorelei laughed on the inside. The other executives had always looked down on her because of her low level. They had never understood that her weakness was a shield to hide behind. She was no threat, no danger, only a little girl in need of protection by big, strong men.

"I am so glad you have come. I was worried you wouldn't find my hints in time." And now a tear and a shy smile. She could easily see the interest in the eyes of the Titan. He was exactly the kind of man who would be her key to power. His eyes were already undressing her. No worries big man, you will get to see everything you want, soon enough. But I can't give you too much too quickly.

"Who are you?" The woman named Janette asked, and Lorelei said, "I am Amanda. I am, or better, was part of the board of directors of this branch. But not by my own choice!" She quickly added, with a desperate tone. She slowly stood up, holding her hands up like a fool, proving she was oh so defenseless. "You left the hints to get us here? Did you also prepare the trap that cost the lives of many of our companions?" The Queen of Hearts asked, with a cold voice and an inquisitive look.

At that moment the last group walked into the room, or better hobbled into the room. The group around Kim looked rough, cuts, bruises, broken armor and bones. The mighty puppet that had taken the life of many operatives of the organization was missing an arm and half its head. "What happened to you?" The Titan exclaimed.

"Turns out they had a Phantasmal Mage. Luckily he wasn't as strong as the Queen of Hearts, but he was a handful." Kim said, and Amanda felt a bit of awe. Gabriel had been the only one who could have hoped one day to overthrow the Source. The only one, not only from the European branch but the whole organization. She had slept with him, just to make sure to be on his good side in case that happened. Kim had removed that piece from the table. Maybe she should aim for this man instead of the thick Titan.

"Back to you, did you lure us into a trap?" The Queen asked Amanda again, and carefully watched Amanda's expression. "NO! I didn't know they would bring all their bodyguards. They were meant to come alone, but they didn't trust each other and brought them anyway. I'm sorry!" Amanda said, and added more tears to the show. "I JUST WANTED TO BE FREE!" She wailed and sobbed. "Free from that horrible man! You don't know what he made me do. The things he did to me!" She cried even more. "That man, the Source?" The Titan asked, with great interest.

"Yes, I was his... secretary here," she said the words in a way that made clear he had violated her. Which was actually a lie. To her own surprise the Source didn't care about such things, a bummer really. Her words and the lure of information about the Source quickly caused discussion between the clan members. She was nearly there, even if they put her in chains and threw her into a deep hole, she was certain to get access from there. The Titan or some other fool would be her key to rise in their trust.

"You really don't know who you are messing with." The Queen of Hearts said and a second later four phantasmal spears skewered Amanda, killing her on the spot. A fifth horror appeared, and a giant blade cut off the head of the dead woman. "It seems the younger generation needs to be reminded who I am," the Queen said, with a cold voice.

Marcus swallowed hard and tried not to look at the bleeding corpse and instead looked to the Queen. "Don't lose any tears because of that bitch. I can smell a fake woman from a mile away. That piece was a giant pile of rotten meat," she said with a bright smile. "Now, we should secure the building and then gather as much information as we can. I am sure we will find some hints about that motherfucker," the Queen said and turned to discuss with her members what to do next.

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Marcus needed a moment to gather himself. Of course he hadn't trusted that woman from the moment they met, but killing her like this felt awfully crude. "Trust my Cherry, if she says that bitch had it coming then it is true." Janette said with an innocent smile. "She knew I was the bomb the moment we met, and she knew Azaa was legit when they first met," she continued, because Marcus still looked a bit down. He took a deep breath, loosened his shoulders to release the tension of the fighting and joined in the discussions.

Barely a minute had passed, when suddenly… "What do you mean Elena is dead!" Cherry's voice echoed through the room and Marcus turned with pure terror in his heart. "We will come down at this moment!" Cherry shouted into her com. We have to go down as fast as possible, Marcus thought and his body was already moving.

Memories of Elena shot through his mind as the reinforced glass broke and he fell towards the streets, 200 meters below. He hadn't aimed or even looked where he was jumping, that would have taken time. He impacted on a car, crushing and nearly ripping it apart with the shock wave from Carapace. From the wreck he Burst jumped onto the street, ignoring his own pain and injuries from the impact, and sprinted towards the field base made out of parked vans.

There was Candis, and other allies gathered around Elena, who was lying on the floor. People quickly retreated when he arrived. He kneed down next to the lifeless Elena. Candis was crying, "She has no wounds and yet her body shows no signs of life. I can't heal her Marcus!" Marcus wanted to take the hand of Elena, but Xeen suddenly shouted.

She is not dead! Her Astral Body is still intact, I can see it. Use LINK!

"Link me to her, Candis!" Marcus said, but Candis didn't move. "Marcus you can't Link to a dead person, this isn't...." Marcus took Candis hand, "Trust me." And after a second Candis did as asked and her face suddenly changed. "How? She is reacting! Her life is returning! I don't understand this," Candis said, with tears in her eyes. Laughter and cries of joy filled the street as Elena's chest started to move again and a few seconds later her eyes opened. "What…." She was confused, but with every second she grew stronger.

That was close. Ten or twenty seconds later and her Astral Body would have disintegrated.

Thank you Xeen, truly thank you. The wave of terror inside of Marcus vanished as quickly as it had risen.

By the time Elena was sitting upright Cherry floated down with Rin. Marcus got to see something he hadn't expected, Cherry and the rest of Elena's team hugging Elena and shedding tears. He had taken Cerberus for being less emotional, an error he now happily corrected. "What happened darling?" Cherry asked, and Elena was still a bit slow. "I was attacked from behind. A man covered my mouth and then I lost all my strength, I couldn't use my abilities and… I think I died," she said with a weak voice. "I found her on the ground as I was checking on her position," Leon said, who was still holding her hand, Marcus noted. Cherry listened to the story and how Marcus asked to be Linked to her. "How did you know Marcus?" Cherry asked, and her eyes were very soft now. "I had a hunch," he said, in a way that hopefully gave her an idea where the knowledge came from. Cherry nodded and helped Elena up on her feet.

"I feel fine now, no pain, nothing. I don't understand what happened," she said. "I wish we knew who attacked you, one of the organization members?" Leon said, still rather close to Elena. "I saw him," Elena suddenly said, and all eyes were on her again. "Just before I lost consciousness he turned my head and looked me into the eyes… such horrible cold eyes… I think he wanted to watch me die," Elena said and suddenly she needed to puke. She was helped (by Leon) to a bench nearby to lie down, while the rest focused again on the raid of the building.

Soon after, Marcus saw Cherry standing in the dark with a thoughtful look. Marcus stepped very close to her and whispered, "Do you know who the attacker was?" She barely turned and whispered, "I think, I do." Marcus looked at her and she said, "The Phantom Killer."

The man, who demanded to be called the Source, walked through the London night, somewhat dissatisfied. He had come to London to take control of the operations, because the executives had proven to be incompetent. Too late as it had turned out. The whole board of executives was lost, the European business for now destroyed. Worse than that, one of his precious alien machines was lost to the fools. But they had no way of understanding the device. It had taken him years of study to learn their use.

The final straw, he hadn't been able to finish his little treat, the tasty blonde with the lively eyes. If that idiot hadn't come around the corner right then, he would have been able to taste her fully. Still, maybe it was for the best, he was already on maximum pain medication, another crest would have caused him more problems than it would have helped him anyway.

Leaving a little present, in the form of a dead girl on the street, was good enough for now. Of course, he could have moved into the skyscraper and killed the invaders, but even he had to be careful, when the Queen of Hearts and Kim were together. If there was even a tiny chance he could fall today it wasn't worth risking his glorious future. Empires are built over centuries by great men but lost in seconds by fools. Yes, that was a good quote, he would write that down.

The organization he had built would recover. The fear of his wrath had already increased the output of the other branches, compensating for the temporary loss of one branch. For now, he would concentrate on the off world business, a few senators needed encouragement. But once he found the time, he would personally kill the Queen of Hearts and everybody around her, too.

Satisfied that everything would ultimately work out for him, he walked into the night with a little tune on the lips.

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