Bloody Claws (Camren) Book 3

Chapter 21

I didn't find out until I tried to leave that Dylan wasn't going to let me. He offered a few times to take me to the hospital, and every time, I told him no. Lauren and Dinah were with me as we sat in his office. Dylan had closed the door to give us some privacy. I didn't know where Dan Holbrook, my old boss was, and frankly, I didn't particularly care to find out.

After much cajoling, I'd managed to talk the younger cop I'd met the other day into bringing me a cup of coffee. He'd brought Dinah a soda from the vending machine. Dylan was seated on the other side of his desk, his white dress shirt unbuttoned and his tie pulled loose. "Dylan," I said. "Stop looking at me like that." 

"Start talking, Camila," 

"About?" I asked, tilting my head with the question. "You know what," he said. "What the hell happened in there? What the hell were you and Ms. Myoi doing? What the fuck was that thing above the table and how is it you collapsed, woke up, painted the interrogation room floor with your blood, and are sitting there calmly in front of me as if nothing fucking happened?" 

"Are you about to have hysterics?" I asked. "Don't be a smartass, Camila. Not right now." I pulled my legs up in the seat, nursing my cup of coffee since it seemed he wasn't going to let me leave any time soon. Neither Lauren nor Dinah spoke, but Dylan shot them both an expectant look and asked, "Either of you going to tell me?" Dinah shook her head, indicating she wasn't going to peep. Lauren said simply, "The answers to the questions you ask are not mine to tell." 

"We told you what was happening, Dylan, as much as you needed to know. Mina is part fey. She was using her energy to try and figure out what I am." 

"That doesn't tell me anything, Kassandra. And no, you really didn't tell me what was happening. You knocked my gun out of my hands and told me not to shoot." 

"If you had shot at it, Dylan, it wouldn't have done any good and someone in that room might've gotten seriously hurt. It was a battle of metaphysics, not weapons." 

"What the hell was Ms. Myoi talking about your magic?" 

"You know I'm a witch, Dylan."

 He leaned back in his seat, shaking his head. "Mila, I saw you move. I saw your eyes." 

"My eyes?" I asked. "What'd my eyes look like?" 

"Unlike you," he said. "I don't know. They didn't look right. They shouldn't have been that bright. I'm going to ask you again, what happened?" 

"You were in the room, Dylan. Mina and her cousin are part fey. That's how they were able to protect themselves when they were attacked. When Mina raised her energy to explore mine, it did something. I'm not sure what." 

"The night hag is stalking Camila and when Mina combined her energy with Camila's, even briefly, I believe that energy blazed like a light by which to guide the being to her," Lauren said. "Mina said she was trying to shield me. Could you sense the energy?" I asked. Lauren offered a slow nod. "She tried to camouflage your energy as soon as she sensed the creature, I think, for fear that it would use your energy to try and manifest." 

"But it didn't need my energy to manifest, Laur. It manifested even though she was shielding my energy." 

"So I believe," she said. "What are you two talking about?" Dylan leaned forward, and he looked more irritated and uncomfortable than I'd ever seen him. "The thing that attacked us in the interrogation room is a being that lives in the astral realm, Dylan, and it put some kind of metaphysical tracking device on Mina or me and when she and I raised energy, it found us. Lauren suspects that Mina tried to shield me so that it couldn't feed psychically off my energy and use my power to manifest in our reality. Are you following me?"