Page 59 of Claimed By the Guardian

“Of course, she did. Look at her files.”

“Don’t bother,” Cecilia said, her voice tight. “It’s corrupted. We’ll have to try to reconstruct it from memory.”

The men looked at Cecilia, then again back at Brittany. “So she never had the Flu to begin with?”

“Well, obviously she had a flu,” a nurse said. “Just not the Detroit Flu.” The woman smiled at Brittany. “Honey, you are so lucky. You dodged a big bullet here.”

Literally given that the two security guards were just now putting their guns away.

“So what do we do now? Just discharge her?” Dr. Thorton asked.

Cecilia blew out a breath. “She’s fine. She’s healthy.” She glanced back at the Brittany and her parents. “Hank will get you all the information you need.” She dropped her hands to her side. “I’m going back to the lab.”

She walked away, her steps clipped and angry. Behind her, the other doctors were still talking. “So our one good case isn’t a case after all? They all die?”

“Looks that way,” Dr. Thorton said. “Bloody hell.”

Hank watched everyone disperse. He knew from experience it would feel weirdly surreal. People going through motions as if nothing life shattering had happened here. As if they couldn’t wait to get rid of the strange people who challenged their grip on reality. And not a one commented that Abby was wearing a blanket around her torso rather than a blouse.

All back to normal. Denial or magic or something else. He didn’t know, but he’d seen it before. And now Cecilia saw how the shifter world survived in the shadows.

Clearly, she wanted nothing to do with it.

CHAPTER 18

Cecilia could barely breathe. She made it to the lab where Dennis was again asleep on the couch. The man could sleep anytime, anywhere, and through anything. But since he often worked through the night, she couldn’t complain about his work ethic. Just be jealous of his peace of mind.

How did this happen? How was there magic in the world that nobody saw? And when solid, scientific research could bring it to light, bullshit happened. They shouldn’t have lost all the data. Not from simply unplugging the machine. At least they had video. Unless…

She crossed to the monitor at her station and pressed the keys to bring up Brittany’s room. Sure enough, there was the whole family packing up, hugging each other, and getting ready to set off on their new shifter-aware adventure.

She hit another key for the playback. She wanted to go back an hour and see everything in minute detail. Every…

She wasn’t even surprised when the recording showed snow. Lots and lots of white noise static with no image.

She dropped down onto her stool in defeat and started to rationally, logically consider the possibilities. Shifters existed. She was biologically and romantically drawn to one of them. The Detroit Flu was a shifter poison that activated magical DNA, if you had it. Most of them went crazy except for the lucky few like Brittany who joined the magical ranks. And, by the way, evidence of this truth was zapped somehow. Pfft. Gone.

She took a deep breath and spoke aloud to her monitor. There really was only one logical answer. “I need a CT scan. I’ve got a brain tumor.”

Dennis shifted on the couch. He answered without even opening his eyes. “You’re not crazy. You’re just brain fried.”

She frowned at her coworker. “No really. Dennis, I’m seeing people change into animals. I’m watching data disappear in front of my eyes. And I’m hot for a guy I’d never go for normally. It’s a tumor. It has to be.”

He opened his eyes and blinked them wearily at her. “I’m too tired for games.”

“I’m not playing.”

He sighed and shut his eyes. “You don’t have to create a brain tumor to be taken off this case. Just invent an emergency at home. Or call in your vacation days. You can be out of here in a few hours.”

“The city’s quarantined.”

“Fine. There are really important samples that need to be analyzed in Atlanta. Highly contagious. Must be hand delivered.”

She glared at him. “Are you trying to get me fired?”

“Yes. Then I can have your job and with all your special perks.”

She had no special perks and wasn’t even paid as well as he was, and they both knew it. “Dennis, I want to have this man’s babies. Like I want to ride him for the next hundred years in between raising his children.”