Liam didn’t like this, he didn’t like it one bit. Stephanie didn’t realize the risks, and he didn’t know how to explain them. At least he managed to get her to wear one of his enchantments. She had joked that usually people waited until they dated for a while to give each other jewelry, but she still put the necklace on. She had it tucked under her shirt, and he was relieved that she was at least somewhat protected. He stayed true to his word and didn’t leave her side, even when she went to the office and started working on establishing a pattern. They hadn’t managed to do that, nor had the rest of the API. If anybody could figure it out, then Stephanie could. She was intuitive and he knew that those instincts of her were remnants of her abilities. The idea of teaching Stephanie how to use her abilities terrified him. She would be in danger if she tried to use it forcefully. He had seen the aftereffects of her pushing her abilities beyond her body’s capacity.

He remembered the dreadful nights of wondering if she would come out of those states alive. The API were responsible for her pushing herself so hard. They took advantage of her tendency to jump into dangerous situations in order to deal with their own problems. Stephanie should have never been placed in those situations in the first place, not when she was so young. It was likely what led to her disappearance in the first place. He closed his eyes against the thought. He recalled the news archives he read before he realized that the shard had targeted Stephanie. She had been injured and he still didn’t know how badly. She didn’t seem to want to talk about it, but he had to know. “I’m going to go ask the chief if we can work on establishing a pattern at the safehouse. We can talk more freely about everything there.” Stephanie stood and walked over to the office. When she returned, she scooped up the files, “Come on, we should get moving.”

“Right,” Liam nodded numbly. She would want to discuss more than just the files. She would want to discuss her abilities.

It turned out that he was right. Almost as soon as they were inside the car and driving across town, she asked, “Do you mind telling me exactly why you don’t seem so keen on me learning how to use my abilities?”

Liam swallowed. “There are two reasons really. One, your abilities are like a magnet to those monsters. The other reason has to do with how your abilities work. I’ve seen the results of you overusing your abilities too many times.”

“What happens when I overuse my abilities?”

“It damages your body severely. It almost killed you more times than I can count,” Liam managed.

“So that’s really why you don’t want me to learn how to use my abilities,” Stephanie said with a start. “You think I might overuse my abilities like that again.”

Liam swallowed, “That scares me, but it frightens me just as much to think of a monster finding you because you use your abilities. They are sensitive to abilities that are the opposite in nature to their own. They are darkness and your abilities are light.”

Stephanie sighed, “I see.”

“Is there any way I could talk you out of it?” Liam asked.

“No, sorry. Hang on a second. The necklace you gave me. It feels like the necklace that the professor had.”

“It is like it,” Liam admitted. “They are enchanted. It is probably why that kid is still alive.”

“I think we need to talk to him again,” Stephanie said sharply. “I mean now, not later.”

Liam did as she said. Something about her tone reminded him of how she used to talk before she disappeared, when she suspected something wrong about a situation. He would defend her from the monster it if dared to hurt her. He couldn’t watch her get hurt again. It had killed him when he had seen that monster crush her arm as he ran to her aid. He had been too slow to warn her the night before. He shouldn’t have let her go to the store alone.

When they arrived at the college, Stephanie quickly rushed to the professor’s office and pounded on the door. When it opened Stephanie started to step inside, but Liam pulled her back. He felt something bad, something dangerous. He inched in first almost hissing aloud as he saw the monster advancing on the paranormal. He drew his dagger and charged the monster. The moment the shard realized that Stephanie was here, it would go after her, and he couldn’t let it get ahold of her again. Liam didn’t get far before the monster turned and struck him with its darkness. He almost screamed out in pain and heard Stephanie let out a small whimper.

Liam forced himself to his feet as he realized that Stephanie had entered to room as well. The monster let go of the professor and rushed towards him, ready to strike him down. In the next moment his worst fears were realized. Stephanie leapt forward, diving between them. He roared aloud when he saw the claws tear into her delicate flesh. No, his heart thundered in his ears. No, he couldn’t let this happen. He had sworn to protect her. He had to protect her. Why had she done that?

Then rage cut through his horror. He charged the monster again, this time, not hesitating to brandish his weapon and pour out his own abilities with enough ferocity to make the air ripple. He wounded the monster, but it wasn’t enough to slow it down as it threw him against the wall again. Liam stood again, not willing to let the monster anywhere near Stephanie. The fight continued like this for several minutes, the monster sustaining a few injuries and Liam coming out of each exchange weaker and more injured. He had to end this soon, or Stephanie would die for sure, if she wasn’t dead already. He hadn’t stopped to check. The situation was too dire.

The monster grabbed him by the neck, “I grow bored. Is this the extent of your abilities? You are almost too weak for me to harvest. I could give you to the Nachtkrapp but that would still be a waste. I’ll just get this over with so I can finish off that precious human.”

Liam felt the blood leave his face. He struggled harder to stop the monster. He had to protect Stephanie. Darkness appeared in the shard’s free hand. Liam didn’t have a chance to process what was happening before the darkness pierced him. He felt his mind start to fade away, before something brought him back to his surroundings.

There was a terrible noise. He forced himself to sit upright as he took in the sight before him. His eyes widened. Stephanie’s eyes were vacant, but she was screaming as white whips of light lashed through the air. Some collided with him, briefly stinging before he felt his wounds heal. The same was not true for the shard. The shard attempted to rush Stephanie and Liam pulled himself to his feet to try to keep Stephanie safe from that monster. The monster leapt back suddenly, and Stephanie’s power just barely missed the place the monster had been moments before. Liam tried to tackle the monster, but the shard chose that moment to flee.

Liam collapsed on the ground, as the fight left his body. It was only sheer willpower that made him drag himself forward. When the monster disappeared, Stephanie promptly collapsed in a heap on the floor. His own injuries were healed, but the energy he used was not replenished. He didn’t have enough strength to heal her terrible wounds. His eyes searched the room, “You,” he growled at the professor. This was all that man’s fault. “Heal my soul mate, now.”

The man nodded, remaining silent. Liam allowed his own power to seep into her skin, hoping that it would speed along her recovery. After her wounds were healed and she was stable, Liam forced himself to his feet. Stephanie’s was shivering and he recognized the reaction all too well. She had obviously overused her abilities to stop that monster. It had fled before she could do any major damage. Liam clenched his hands into fists. He wouldn’t be able to protect her alone. It was obvious from how poorly he had fared when fighting the shard. Stephanie was right. She needed to learn how to control her abilities. She might have been able to protect herself without getting hurt so badly if she had been able to use her abilities at will. He winced at the thought. She wouldn’t have been hurt protecting herself, but she still would have gotten hurt to protect him. He was too weak to protect even his soul mate.

“She really is the Luxin,” the professor said suddenly. Liam felt all his muscles tighten as he readied for another fight. He wouldn’t let this paranormal endanger his soul mate by reporting her location to the API.

“What of it?” Liam growled.

“Nothing really, I kind of wondered when she first questioned me. She looks a lot like the missing persons picture that the API distributed way back when. Does the API know her location?” the professor asked.

“I haven’t reported it if that’s what you’re asking. They couldn’t not know though, considering the police’s actions after she arrived in this city,” Liam grumbled. Maybe it was known but not reported to the higher ups. “They should have told me.”

“I looked her up when she left my office a few days ago. Based on what I read of her injuries upon her arrival in this town, I’m certain there is a reason they haven’t approached her again. I would assume they suspect the Order and are avoiding the detective for her own safety,” the professor’s words filled him with dread. The Order was a group of initiated humans who viewed irregulars both human and paranormal as evil and a threat to humanity. During his years at the API he had seen the aftermath of several Order strikes. The people they took captive were often tortured before their murders.

“They never let their victims survive,” Liam managed through his horror. He couldn’t begin to imagine what she must have gone through. No, he had an idea, he just didn’t want to imagine Stephanie suffering the same injuries he had seen inflicted on irregulars captured by the Order. He should have searched for her, stopped her suffering. He should have protected her from this.

“True. If she managed to escape, she is likely the only one to do so. The local news reports suggest that she has trauma-induced amnesia. I doubt the API wanted to draw any attention to her when she has no ability to defend herself and no recollection of her abilities.”

“Why didn’t you report the monster targeting the first victim in this town to the API?” Liam asked, getting back to the original reason for their visit. Stephanie had wanted to ask something important, but he had no idea what it was. Until he knew why this paranormal hadn’t reported the presence of a shard to the API in the first place, he couldn’t be certain the man wasn’t dangerous.

“Honestly, I don’t trust the API as far as I can throw them. They got my mate killed a few years back. She reported a monster when she was away on business. They decided to use her as bait, and she died as a result. I wasn’t about to let them use a regular as bait for a shard. I thought the enchantment would dissuade the monster from targeting her. I gave one to the rest of my students in hopes that it would protect them.”

Liam scowled. “All that would have done is raise the monster’s suspicion. Where there are enchantments there are irregulars. What did you think would happen?”

“I realize that now. I didn’t really think it through at the time,” the professor groaned. “I’m assuming that’s not the only reason you returned. You wouldn’t have brought your soul mate if you thought there was any chance that I was dangerous.”

“She suggested there might be a connection between the earlier victims and the ones in this town when she heard that the necklaces you gave out were enchantments. Those enchantments are likely the reason we even had a survivor to question,” Liam said dryly. She had also suggested that they needed to question the professor immediately. It seemed her instincts were right on point, leading her directly into danger just like they always had. The thought made him sick. She had somehow known that if they didn’t talk to this man soon, they wouldn’t be able to stop the monster. “Did you produce the enchantments, or did you get them from the usual channels?” Liam asked. Enchanters were rare now more than ever. New enchantments were valuable. The growing number of initiated people who needed protection was startling. Liam knew that old enchantments were more likely to reject people that they didn’t deem worthy. New enchantments could be customized for individuals or made to accept anyone. They hadn’t developed a personality yet, so they were more useful than most old enchantments despite not having the added strength.

“Yes, I give them to any initiated humans that I come across that don’t have protection yet. I’ve provided some to some of the irregulars I meet when on vacation.”

Liam groaned and slipped out into the hall to grab the files that Stephanie must have dropped when she saw the shard in the professor’s office. Luckily, it seemed that nobody had heard the commotion and approached. He displayed photos of the people the shard and its ally had murdered. “Did you give your enchantments to any of these people?” Liam asked.

“Yeah, why? Wait, why do you have files on all these people?” the professor paled as he must have realized what Stephanie had figured out, something that connected all the victims.

“The shard who killed the students here killed these people with the aid of a Nachtkrapp that it tamed somewhere along the way,” Liam managed.

“I got these people killed?” the professor looked horrified. “All of these people. I was just trying to protect them.”

“I understand. This implies that you might be the primary target,” Liam said slowly. “I’ll call my partner to set up a safe house for you.”

“Use me as bait,” the professor startled him by replying.

“What? No, that’s a terrible idea. The monster works with a Nachtkrapp. We can’t stop a monster and an old beast at the same time,” Liam argued. This man was offering himself as bait out of guilt, but his life was too valuable even without his ability as an enchanter. Any time a monster killed someone with abilities it grew in power. Even if that wasn’t the case, letting someone get murdered was not in his nature. “I’m calling my partner to set you up with a safe house, and that is final.”