Chapter 9

*Gore warning*

"It is a pleasure to meet you all," Ty said as he held my hand below the table. I felt a rush of relief flood over me as I felt his warmth. "With our current merge with your company, we were honored to show our branch's skills by taking on one of the newest clients of the company." He looked over to me with a soft smile before turning back to Ms. Sanders, "Ellen has been working with her entire team to create this design for a few months. We hope that it meets the standards you expect."

I stood as Ty brought up to presentation on the projector as I went beside it. "I was very excited when I saw the company this job was for." I smiled kindly to the group, "I have a personal connection to the goals of this company." I winked at Ty so that he clicked to the next slide, "Prayers for Patients is deeply rooted in the Christian beliefs and their goal is to provide supports and resources to people with terminal diseases along with their families." I winked again as the slide switched, "Based on their data collected by their company and by my team, we found that the smallest group of supporters is in young adults." I turned directly to the group, "I order to determine why this was the case and what design components may entice young adults, I consulted my husband and the patrons of the church." I chuckled slightly, "Although I am the wife of a Christian minister, I was not raised in the religion and am still learning the specifics of the belief." I looked to Ty in order to gain more confidence before looking back to the group, "After consulting the elders of the church, I met with the young adults bible study group for a few months and collected data on their interests, what charities they know of, and what other companies' logos they are attracted towards." I winked again as the slide changed to a graph, "My team and I compiled and interpreted the data in order to determine how their logo should be remade in order to encourage young adult supporters." I winked again as the design finally showed, "Based on our findings, my team and I created a sketch of the new logo. We then worked together to create the digital version, shown here."

I quickly went back and sat at Ty's side as he took my hand. The group looked at the design and quietly discussed it. I felt the 9th watching me out of the corner of his eye as the 23rd watched Ty in the same way. To encourage them not to suspect me, I touched my cross necklace, closed my eyes, and silently stated the prayer Jonathan used at every service. I let go of the cross as I smiled to Ms. Sanders and she looked to us while the group was silent.

"This design really presents the level of dedication your company puts into every decision and product you create. We are very impressed and plan to present this logo to the company next week."

I turned to Ty with a large smile as I leaned on him slightly before sitting back up, "We are very grateful that our work has shown our dedication. We look forward to hearing the response of the company and to any future work we can assist with."

Ms. Sanders stood as everyone quickly followed. I was surprised when she put her hand out to me first. I quickly shook her hand as she smiled to me, "You really have a gift in design, Mrs. Smith. Your company is lucky to have you." I felt myself blush as she shook Ty's hand and each person in the group shook each of our hands.

As they exited the conference room I began bouncing as I yelled, "Yes!" Ty hugged me tightly before spinning me around.

I hugged him tightly as he sighed, "That was beyond stressful. Thank goodness it's over."

I gave him a smirk, "It was the lord's work."

He fought back a laugh before leading me out of the conference room. I was startled as I saw the 9th and 23rd still standing in the hallway, near the elevator. I looked to Ty and I squeezed my hands around his arm.

He turned to me, "Hold your head high. They are no one to us other than associates, right?"

I nodded as I took a deep breath to gain courage, "See you tomorrow. Give Luther a kiss for me." I walked over to my cubicle as I felt the eyes of the two men. I focused on acting like a human as I shut off my computer, grabbed my coat, and put it on. I was startled when my phone rang, but quickly swiped to answer it, "Hello?" I asked as I started putting away my things into my purse.

"Hey, are you still coming tonight?"

"Oh hey, Carley. Yeah, I'm coming. Work just ran a bit late. Let the guys know I should be there in the next 30 minutes."

"Okay, see you then."

"See you, bye." I hung up the phone and put it into my purse. I placed my purse on my shoulder, took a deep breath, and turned to the men with a smile. "Have a good night." I said as I gingerly made my way between them and to the elevator.

I felt a tingle go up my spine again as I heard the men walk and stop directly behind me. I fought myself to breath normally and was relieved when the doors to the elevator opened. But I was horrified as they followed me onto the elevator. As the doors closed, I looked down to my feet but was forced to look up as the 9th cleared his throat.

"It's been a while, my dear."

I felt my face whiten and forced myself to smile to him, "I'm sorry?"

He gave me an evil smile and I looked to the 23rd as he pulled a key out of his pocket and turned the lock for the stopping mechanism. The elevator slowly creaked to a stop as I felt my legs begin to shake. The 9th walked closer to me, "Let's skip the games, Elenor." He hissed as his hand went to my cheek, "We never thought we would run into you here. And at the side of a young full-blood, no less."

I stared at him as I lost my ability to speak. All I could do was lean against the back wall of the elevator.

"How long has it been? Two centuries?" The 23rd asked as I looked to him to see the same evil smile on his face.

"I believe it just recently became three centuries," the 9th replied as he gently combed his fingers through my hair, "You may be more beautiful than when we last met. He will be pleased to see you."

"Affan." I finally whispered in a shaky voice.

He laughed slightly before grabbing my chin and moved closer to me so that our eyes met. The deep gold came to his brown eyes as I shook more, "Do we scare you now?" He asked in a chuckle, "You are trembling like prey."

I looked away but gasped as his nails pressed into my skin on my chin, "Stop, please."

He laughed, "Your body is getting weaker, no?" I looked to his eyes and tried to hide my fear, "He nearly found you during the full moon. You gave yourself away."

I felt tears come to my eyes, "I didn't mean to. It was a mistake."

"You can't deny instinct for long. Just give in and you will be relieved of all your pain. He will treat you like a goddess and bind you to him."

"I will not go back!" I hissed as I finally felt power rush through me and saw their eyes widen as my eyes turned a bright gold of anger, "Let go of me or I will have to hurt you."

The 23rd laughed, "You think you can take both of us on?" He moved closer to me, "We will not have to hurt you if you cooperate. Otherwise we will bring you back with us by force."

I felt fear come over me once again, but we were all startled as we felt the elevator begin to move again, "What did you do?" The 9th hissed as he looked to the 23rd. We were all jostled as the elevator stopped aggressively at the main level. We all looked to the doors as they opened, and tears came to my eyes.

"Take your hands off of her."

"Well," the 9th snarled, "it has certainly been a while Collen."

"I will not ask again." Collen hissed, "You are outnumbered."

The 23rd laughed, "You think two familiars and three half-bloods can take down two firsts?"

I saw Chris wink at me and I immediately allowed my will to survive take over. I tackled the 9th to the ground as Chris, Collen, Carley, Aaron, and Cade fought back the 23rd. "You know what the difference is between you and I, Affan?"

He stared at me with shock as he tried to fight me off, "You are no stronger than me, 11th!"

I felt an evil smile come to my face as my eyes changed to a deep gold, "You may be stronger, but I am a cornered Lychanthrope. I have nothing to lose." I released my hold on my instincts and bit Affan's neck. He screamed as I spat out his skin and muscle, "When you return, tell your prince that I will never come back and to leave me alone!"

I bit into his throat deeper as I put my hand on his head and the other on his shoulder. As I ripped away from him, I shoved my hands as hard as I could in opposite directions. He slumped on the ground as his soul left his dead body. I sat atop his torso and looked over to see the 23rd struggling against my five comrades. I stood as I spit out the filth in my mouth.

"Let him go," I growled as everyone looked to me. They all froze as they saw blood covering my clothing and face and the 9th's body on the floor behind me. "He is mine." Chris and Collen grabbed the three half bloods and forced them out of the elevator. As they moved away, the 23rd looked at me with fear as I laughed, "Do I scare you?" I mocked as he sprinted out of the elevator and tried to get out of the building. I pounced on his back and he fell to the ground. I sat on him and smiled, "You are not worth the fight," I hissed before grabbing either side of his head. I twisted my hands quickly and his body slumped to the ground. I collapsed at his side as I tried to catch my breath.

I was happily surprised when Ty suddenly appeared at my side. He took my hand in his, "Thank goodness they made it in time!" He sighed before beginning to shake. "I feared we were too late!"