Bridget.
Ant’s head snapped up just as his sister appeared in the hallway, flanked by two additional mages in Justiciary tactical gear. Robert followed close behind, his eyes wide.
“Ant!” Bridget shoved past the enforcer. Her eyes swept over him, cataloging the dried blood on his face, the way he gripped the desk for support. “You’re bleeding.”
“It’s minor.” Ant straightened, though his legs protested. “Bridget, what…”
“What am I doing here? Is that what you were going to ask?” Her voice went sharp. “You went radio silent at an estate run bya paranoid ancient vampire. What the hell did youthinkI was going to do?”
“I…” Ant blinked. He’d called the Justiciary eleven minutes ago, and they’d arrived almost instantly. That response time implied… “You were already en route?”
“Damn right I was.” Bridget crossed the study in three strides, her hands hovering above his shoulders, although she didn’t touch him the way she clearly wanted to. “Damn it, I wish I could hug you right now, but I can see you’re already overloaded.”
“You could hug Viktor,” Ant suggested. “He’d probably appreciate it. I just, I can’t…”
“Of course, you can’t because you’ve overdone it, you damn fool.” Bridget swung around and caught a clearly surprised Viktor around the waist, hugging him close. “I thought you’d been eaten.”
“It…er…it was suggested,” Viktor said, patting Bridget’s shoulder, clearly at a loss for what to do. “But as you can see we’re both fine.”
“Your definition of fine and mine are clearly two completely different things.” Bridget sniffed, but she did let go of Viktor. “The moment I couldn’t respond to your single solitary text, I knew something was wrong. Youalwayscheck in.”
“I intended to,” Ant said. “However, Claudius activated a lockdown ward that included magical dampeners across most of the property. We barely managed to get a text out at all, and could only do that by standing at the far boundary.”
“Which is illegal detention of a Justiciary investigator.” Robert stepped into the study, his gaze moving to the open safe. “Ms. Channon compiled emergency warrants based on your initial text about shell corporations. When you failed to report byyour scheduled time, we escalated the situation to an immediate intervention.”
Viktor’s eyes narrowed. “How long were you planning this?”
“Since yesterday afternoon.” Bridget gave Able a quick stroke over his head and stayed close. “When Ant sent me details about Ronald Finch being a forensic accountant. I did what I do best - I followed the money.”
“The shell corporations,” Ant murmured. “You traced them.”
“All the way back to Claudius’s legal team.” Bridget pulled out her courtroom smile. “It took me six hours and Robert’s help with the magical components, but I had enough for preliminary warrants by midnight. When you went dark, I walked into Justiciary headquarters with a file thick enough to choke a dragon and demanded immediate extraction.”
The lead enforcer cleared his throat. “Ms. Channon was… extremely persuasive.”
“I told them if my brother was dead, I’d sue the Justiciary for negligent failure to protect an active investigator, his fated mate, and his service animal and then plaster every newspaper in the state with the story.” Bridget’s eyes flashed. “They mobilized pretty quickly after that.”
Of course she did.Ant felt something tight in his chest loosen. His sister had been building a parallel case the entire time, constructing a safety net he hadn’t even known he needed.
“Thank you,” he said quietly.
Bridget’s expression softened. “You’re my baby brother. You think I’d let some pompous vampire kill you without burning his entire operation to the ground?”
“The thought did occur to me.” Ant managed a small smile. “Though I believe Viktor had similar plans.”
“Damn right I did,” Viktor muttered.
Robert approached the desk, peering into the safe. “Those documents were heavily warded. The magical signature suggests they’ve been protected for decades.”
“Claudius documented every victim,” Ant said. “Right down to the names, dates, and amounts stolen through coerced asset transfers. The journal contains a written confession to murdering Ronald Finch on October fifteenth after discovering Mr. Finch had photographed these same documents.”
“A written confession.” Robert’s eyebrows rose. “That’s… remarkably incriminating.”
“Claudius was arrogant.” Ant pulled up the journal photographs on his phone. “He believed his wards made the safe impenetrable, and therefore saw no risk in maintaining detailed records.”
The lead enforcer moved closer. “Doctor Channon, I’m going to need you to formally place the coven leader under arrest - seeing as this is ultimately your case.”
Ant straightened, ignoring his body’s protests. “On what charges?”
