Sorcha's Secret World, Part one.

Chapter 25, SOS

"Come in, come in, and close the door behind you please," Richard was standing beside his desk. "This is on a "need to know" basis only. At this point, you probably need to know."

I closed the door to his office behind me and walked into the room.

"Is there any news from Loki?" I asked, not sure what I wanted the answer to be. I really wanted to know whether he was okay, but if the Templars knew where he was he would not be safe.

"Yes," Richard sighed, but as he saw my eyes light up he continued: "but you won't like it."

A young woman with bleached spikey hair was sitting in Richard's chair, doing something to his computer.

"This is Divya," Richard introduced her, "she's one of our computer technicians, specialising in surveillance. She will show you some footage in a minute."

I nodded at her, playing with a strand of my hair nervously. Whatever this was, I could tell from Richard's face it wasn't good.

"Recently, a spate of robberies all across Europe was brought to our attention. Banks, high-end jewellers and the like. Normally, these sorts of crimes are of no interest to us, but none of the victims seems to remember a thing, leading us to believe some sort of mind control magic is in place."

I got a sinking feeling in my stomach.

"He wouldn't," I said immediately, "He knew you would be on to him in no time. Loki has survived here for centuries without detection, he is far cleverer than that."

"I agree with you," Richard said, "and that is one of the reasons why I hadn't brought you in before. It didn't seem like Loki's usual modus operandi. So far there has been no CCTV footage from these crimes either, leaving us in the dark. And our scryers and augurs couldn't get a magical reading either. Whoever these people are, they are good."

"Okay, so I don't see what this has to do with Loki," I said, feeling rather confused.

"Yesterday, we got a lucky break. There was another robbery, a jeweller this time, and one of the cameras in the shop was left recording. Divya, would you mind?"

Richard motioned for me to come closer, and I looked at the screen.

Two armed men in combat gear, wearing masks and wielding guns came in. There was no sound, but it was clear from the way they were waving around their guns and the way the staff raised their hands and lay down on the ground they were threatening them.

Those poor people must have been so scared. I would have been, before gaining my powers.

A woman came in after them. She wasn't wearing a mask. The security footage was of high quality and in colour, I could see her quite clearly.

She was tall, taller than I am, and pale, with long white hair flowing around her shoulders and down her back. She was wearing black leather. Not the sort that Danny would design for me, but that biker chick look with leather trousers, high leather boots and a tight-fitting leather jacket.

She was beautiful, in an almost otherworldly way.

But I hardly noticed her, because my eyes were on the man that came in right behind her.

My heart skipped a beat, and I closed my eyes, trying to breathe.

He was wearing a black suit, white shirt and dark tie, as he so often did. His black hair curled around the collar of his suit. He wasn't wearing a mask either.

"I'm sorry," Richard said softly, putting his hand on my arm.

I watched as Loki's eyes glowed green and the expression on the faces of the shop staff went vacant.