Chapter Twenty-Eight
BY THE TIME I REACHED THE PRESIDENT'S SIDE, I could barely stand up straight, and I had to discreetly palm a piece of my underskirt for my bloody nose. I could feel my power shivering unsteadily around myself and the city, so I placed my left hand back on the president’s elbow and let the power I’d unleashed snap back into my battered and weak body.
The president began mid-sentence where he had left off, and the eerie silence was once again filled. It took everything I had not to buckle under the backlash of power as it poured back into my body. My head spun, and visions of passing out danced in my head. I pressed the cloth to my nose and noticed how pale the president’s head security guard had become as he stared at me and then at the spot where the shifter had been standing. He swallowed and raised a brow at me. I gave him a slight nod.
The president finished his speech, and we all once again flanked him as we headed back inside the building. When we made it safely inside, President Roosevelt took my arm and gently led me to a chair before he motioned to someone.
“Get this young woman a drink; I am fairly certain she just saved my life.”
I quirked my brow at him, but he just smiled down at me through his glasses and placed a glass of liquor in my hand. Thank God for someone who knew exactly what I needed right then.
A few moments later, Aldwin came in, escorted by a few of the president’s security guards. He knelt down beside me so I could whisper in his ear where to find the shifter and what had happened. His eyes roamed over me, assessing me for any damage, and I smiled into his concerned face. I shooed him away to take care of the shifter mess and promised to meet him at Howell Home as soon as the president was safely on his way out of Charleston.
As the president’s entourage prepared to leave, the mammoth-sized head security guard came over to shake my hand and make sure I would be okay.
“You have done your country a great service, Ms. Hannigan. I don’t need to know all of what happened, or what, exactly, your abilities are; I am just very glad you were here when we needed you most.”
I blinked at him, and for the first time I felt like everything I had endured had been worth the end result. “I am glad to use my abilities for good,” I said, smiling up at the gentle giant.
“Well, we are heading out, then. If I hadn’t seen the way you looked at that scarred gentleman earlier, I’d be asking to see you again sometime, but it looks like I’m too late to have a chance at winning your heart.” With a roguish wink, he strode off, barking orders to the rest of his party.
Standing on shaky legs, I made my way out of the building, unable to wait any longer to get home and sink into a hot bath.
I walked slowly back to the townhouse in the crowd still dispersing from the president’s speech. People were talking and milling about, completely oblivious to the disaster that had just been averted. A small smile played at my lips when I thought of how I’d had such an important role in an event that would never be recorded in history. I didn’t mind.
My thoughts drifted back to the bodyguard’s assessment of my feelings for Aldwin. Could I be in love with him? I hadn’t let myself truly and fully consider the possibility since I had always believed I’d warp back to my own time when my mission was over, but it looked like I was very much stuck in this era. I’d have plenty of time later to examine my feelings once all the excitement of our victory settled down.
About a block away from my townhouse, I felt a bee sting my neck. I slapped the stinging spot and felt a thin needle fall away from the tiny puncture wound, swinging around just in time to see the buildings around me blur and spin out of control. I didn’t even have time to cry out before the darkness embraced me.