as well, but she didn’t let her attention waver. He was just going to have to wait until she was done. First meetings like this with new clients were crucial. She had to nail her presentation, and her facts. If they didn’t like her, then there was a good chance they would go seeking out another realtor.
If Dan Sneed took one more of her clients, she was going to flip at the little weasel.
Calm. Nail this meeting first. Then proceed.
Rakell made a beeline for her glass-walled office. What was he thinking?
The door opened under his palm, and Laura noticed the woman stiffen. The man didn’t react.
“Out,” Rakell snarled, and to Laura’s horror, reached forward, grabbed Tina by the neck and hurled her backward, through the glass wall, across her office and into the exterior wall. The drywall crumbled and fell under the impact, revealing a dented metal support beam that had broken the woman’s flight.
Laura stared in disbelief.
The male stood belatedly, reaching into his armpit and withdrawing a nasty looking gun.
“Rakell!” Laura yelped as Josh tried to bring the deadly weapon to bear.
Rakell spun faster than she thought possible, snatching Josh’s gun-holding hand. “No,” he snarled in a voice loud enough to shake the glass walls. The ones that remained at least.
Josh dropped to his knees, releasing the gun, and Laura gasped. The weapon was bent out of shape. Crushed by the sheer force of Rakell’s grip. A moment later Josh began to scream, holding the crushed remains of his hand. Laura could only imagine the damage such power had done.
There was a grunt, a thud, and then the room shook again. Whipping her head around, she saw Rakell staggering back, two footprints clearly visible on his shirt as the woman got to her feet.
No way a woman could do that to him, she thought as Rakell winced and recovered his balance. Not one that small. Not unless…
It all added up. The way he’d hurled the woman, Tina, across the room. His insane grip strength, literally crushing a gun through a man’s hand. The way Tina recovered and was a whirling blur of movement as she attacked Rakell.
Dragon shifters.
It had to be.
Laura almost shrieked with excitement as proof was laid bare before her, in an undeniable fashion. Now Rakell would have to show her his dragon! He couldn’t avoid it any longer. Finally, finally she would see one.
“Come here you little bitch,” Josh snarled, lunging for her, cradling his broken hand to his chest as he clutched after her with his left.
“No,” she said tartly, dodging aside. The desk was still between them, so he couldn’t get to her. “I don’t think so.”
“Well I do,” he spat back, and leapt over the desk.
Laura yelped and darted to one side, just as Josh’s working hand closed around her upper arm.
“Gotcha!”
She reached out for the nearby filing cabinet, grabbing the first thing she could.
That’ll do nicely.
Whirling, she leapt at Josh with a shriek, swinging the heavy glass paperweight at his head. Her unexpected attack caught him off guard and he managed to block only a portion of it.
“I am not helpless!” she shouted, kicking him in the shin as hard as she could.
Then she swung the paperweight again. Instead of aiming for his head however, which was now adequately protected, she jabbed at him with it as hard as she could, extending her arm straight out.
The corner of the paperweight smashed into his mangled hand.
Josh let go of her and screamed some more, his face going white with pain as he gritted against it. He pushed her back with his free hand, buying himself precious seconds to recover.
Something deep and loud filled her office. Laura glanced over at the other fight to see Rakell, sporting a bruise on his cheek, advance on the woman. She was fast, Laura noted. Perhaps faster than Rakell?
When he connected however…
She watched as the woman didn’t duck fast enough, taking a blow to the shoulder that flipped her up on her side and rolled her crazily through the air before she slammed into the stairs and dropped to the ground again.
“Come here,” another voice said, and Josh came for Laura again, knocking the paperweight free and then locking his arm around her neck. Laura froze, trying to resist being dragged backward out of her office, but having been overcome by panic she simply went still instead.
Josh pulled her across the floor, heading for the door to the office, likely hoping that Rakell would be kept busy long