“Viktor.”

  Viktor nearly has a heart attack for the second time in one month. He turns with a scowl to see Alex, the object of his aversion, a face he'd much rather go without seeing for a while.

  She is stood in the center of the room, - his office chair spared this time - hands folded, face set in stern anger, and Viktor misses the smug smiles and sinister smirks, not that he'd tell her.

  “What can I help you with this time?” He can't keep the exasperation from his voice, he doesn't even try.

  “Oh nothing really, just returning a lost parcel.” Alex bites, and with that rotates the office chair - so much for it being spared - to reveal, a coven member?

  Abigail or something else that starts with an 'A'. Metal rods encircling her from shoulders to torso, some of them so tightly wrung, they cut skin, and a piece of duct tape, taping her mouth shut. Oh, this would not do at all.

  “Are you insane?! This is my office!” He yells, stalking towards the window to draw the blinds shut. They are on the 50th floor, but he'd rather not take chances.

  “You should have thought about that before you sent her to my home! Where my family lay asleep!” Alex yells back.

  What? “What?”

  Alex studies him for a moment, eyebrows doing some complicated things, “If you tell me you have no control over your minions, I swear to God, Viktor--”

  “I control my Coven just fine thank you very much.” He sniffs.

  “Then explain her.” Alex rips the duct tape off Alissa's mouth, which is frightfully red and raw.

  “I was trying to help--” Amanda begins.

  “Oh Jesus.” Viktor cries, hands mussing up his neat hair, “I said to forget it!”

  “I had a child,” Alex says, “in my arms when she blew up my front door. She tried to kill me, without any regard for her.”

  Viktor starts to say something, but Alex interrupts him.

  “No, no, I'm still talking!” She says, voice dangerous. “The only reason she isn't dead yet, was because I thought you had something to do with it.”

  Alex is taking slow menacing steps towards him now and Viktor finds himself shuffling back in turn.

  “Now that your incompetence has been fabulously exposed, I realize I'm going to have to handle things a bit differently.”

  His back hits the wall, and she stops right in front of him, eyes and angry red.

  “Her,” she points at Amaya, “I'm not taking any excuses, she dies by my hand.”

  Viktor follows her pointer finger to the scared woman at the end of it. Pity, he thought she smelled nicer than the rest of the other vapid decrepits he had the unfortunate honor of calling coven members. He would have to find someone new to occupy the seat beside him now.

  “Done.” He agrees quickly.

  And Alex inhales deeply. Her anger seeming to fade away as she exhales. “Now, we have to come up with some acceptable terms--”

  His office door flies open, and in steps Erik.

  “Viktor we have a problem-- oh fuck.” Erik halts as soon as he sees Alex. He glances at the woman tied up on his chair, and then back at the door behind him, probably weighing his options.

  Alex makes a decision for him by walking up to the door and shutting it.

  “Hello Erik.” She says all faux-smiles.

  Erik makes a high pitched noise. “Viktor, you told tome lady, my name?” He whispers.

  Except he doesn't actually whisper because Alex hears him, and her eyebrows furrow in calculated thought. And didn't the universe just love Viktor today?

  “Erik, if you would please shut up for one second--” Viktor pleads.

  “What tome?” Alex asks.

  She stares at them in turn, Alicia somehow not exempted, and Viktor just can't get his lies to work.

  “Well?” Alex prompts again.

  “The tome I took from your house, when I shot your brother, which - I don't know if Viktor has said - but, I am really sorry for. I got spooked and my hand hit the trigger, and I honestly had no idea who you were at the time--” Erik rambles.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  And boy did he choose the wrong time to be honest and considerate. Viktor was eyeing the shuttered window, considering just hauling himself out of it - the upside being Erik would die too - when an obnoxious song, cut Erik off.

  Alex fishes her phone out of her pocket and answers, doesn't even bother looking at the caller. “Now, is not a good time.” She says.

  “Where the hell are you, you never came home last night!” Akio screeches, and Alex has to move the phone away from her ears.

  “Akio.” She breathes, “I'm a bit busy at the moment, tying up a few loose ends.”

  “Well wrap it up, Jo's headmistress called, she wants to meet with us right now.” Akio says.

  “Uhhhh.” Alex replies eloquently.

  “Alex.” Akio says, somehow managing to draw her name out into 6 syllables.

  “Can you convince her to postpone, tomorrow perhaps?”

  “Where are you?”

  Alex pinches the bridge of her nose in frustration, this was officially the longest day of her life. “Norway.”

  “What?!” Another ear damaging screech.

  “I'm headed back today, this moment, as we speak.” She eyes the people in the room with her, as if daring them to disagree. “If you could just move the meeting to tomorrow--”

  Akio cuts her off. “I can't do that! She'll have to report back to Vivian, who'll have to come over to the house--”

  “Akio--”

  “--to check on why we couldn't make the meeting! And do you really want CPS in our house considering the state it's in?!” He finishes his rant, and Alex can hear him gasping for air.

  “Akio! Breathe.” She coerces, and doesn't continue till she hears him inhale and exhale. “Where are you?”

  “The School car park.”

  Her eyebrows scrunch, “Did you drive? You know you're not meant to drive until--”

  “Ezra drove me. Alex focus! The meeting!” He growls, and he really needed to stop stressing himself.

  “I'll be there.”

  “How?!” Akio cries. “Did you grow a pair of wings I don't know about?”

  “I said I'll be there.” Alex repeats.

  “Alexandria Jordan--” Alex ends the call. He was about to go on another tirade and she didn't particularly care for that. She shakes present thoughts into her mind.

  “I need to go home.” She declares.

  “By all means. You've just about overstayed your welcome.” Viktor says, and honestly the nerve on the guy!

  “Oh, this” she gestures around her, “isn't over. I've got more important things to do at the moment, but I'll be back.” She says with a pointed look at Erik, who shrinks in on himself. “And when I get back, I want Glinda as is; some very detailed explanations; oh, and the Tome that started this mess in the first place.”

  It is Viktor's instinct to fight for control over the situation and he has to smother the urge. She made some pretty decent arguments with the kid thing, and frankly this whole thing was proving to be more trouble than it was worth. He had found a grey hair in his luscious black locks last night and nearly broke down.

  “You have my word.” Viktor concedes.

  Alex relaxes. “Now, I need something quick, like a portal or teleportation spell.”

  Viktor stares at her.

  Alex rolls her eyes impatiently. “You're a warlock, I've seen you Alakazam useless things with a poof, they had to come from somewhere. Ergo, you can get me home.”

  Apparently Alex was insane. That certainly explained some of her behavior. “I think the fuck not!”

  “You misunderstand me, it is not a request.” She says.

  “You misunderstand me, it cannot be done.”

  “The scroll--”

  “Is an object.” He finishes “You don't just prestidigitate people, humans, they're living things!”

  Alex frowns “What happens when you do it with people?”

  “I don't know, because it has never been done!” And you have lost your mind! He doesn't say that part out loud.

  Alex turns to Abigail - and was she still here? - for confirmation. She shakes her head, reaffirming his point.

  “An experiment then. My favorite form of learning.” Alex grins without substance. She starts rolling up her jacket sleeves for some reason.

  “Alex, I am not in support of this, there is a lot involved in setting up experiments, a controlled environment, thorough observation, consent for one--”

  “I consent.” She interrupts, “Proceed."

  This wasn't working. “I have no idea where it is you want to go--”

  “Will a photo do?”

  “Yes, but that's not the point--”

  Alex whips out her phone and shoves it in his face. The photo of two adorable girls in school uniforms, the parking lot in the background obviously her focus point.

  “Photo.” She says, “The school's parking lot. Chop-chop.”

  Viktor has to admit to the sheer honor and distinction of being the one to attempt this, but “Alex, again this is a really bad idea.”

  “I consented. You've got CCTV in here don't you?” She whirls around to the supposed to be invisible camera at the edge of the ceiling. “I consent.” She exaggerates the words. “There. You can show that to a lip reader if there's no audio.”

  She did consent. “If you die--”

  She snorts dismissively, then furrows her eyebrows in thought as if considering the fact for a moment. “Show my family the video.” She says finally. “It's not going to be an issue, this is actually very on par for me.”

  “Viktor you idiot.” He mumbles to himself, then cricks his neck and rolls up his sleeves. “Well, here goes nothing.”

  It takes more energy than he is willing to admit to expending, but Alex does disappear in a poof of black smoke, leaving no limbs or extremities behind.

  Erik pads carefully to the spot where Alex was stood, as if expecting something to manifest from below the ground. Nothing does and he relaxes a bit.

  “You don't think she's dead, do you?” He asks genuinely.

  Alex appears in a poof of smoke at the parking lot of the school. She lands unsteadily, pride mostly keeping her from collapsing in a heap on the ground. Instead propping herself up with an arm on a parked Rolls Royce and dry heaving her intestines.

  Thankfully there is nobody in the parking lot. She sights a CCTV camera by a wall, and prays whoever is on duty is asleep, or really really drunk.

  “Alex?! Holy shit!” Akio rushes to her side, and the contact of his hand on her skin hurts like hell, but she can't find the words to complain. “What the hell? Did you really grow wings?”

  “A second.” She grits out, before dry heaving nothing again.

  “Are you alright?” He thankfully lets go of her to bend and inspect her face. “What is going on? How did you get here so fast?”

  Alex lifts from her stoop, and angles her head to the sky, inhaling fresh air. “Questions later. Meeting first. Urgent.”

  Akio eyes her suspiciously. “You are capable of forming more than two word sentences aren't you?”

  She drops her head to position and can't stop the shudder that wrecks through her, “Hope so. Inside now.”

  She starts towards the entrance, Akio pacing to catch up to her. “Jesus Christ, Alex. This better wear off.”

  He grabs her firmly by the arm when the world starts falling ”You're tilting.”