"Come in, come in, and close the door behind you please," Richard was standing beside his desk. "This is on a "need to know" basis only. At this point, you probably need to know."

I closed the door to his office behind me and walked into the room.

"Is there any news from Loki?" I asked, not sure what I wanted the answer to be. I really wanted to know whether he was okay, but if the Templars knew where he was he would not be safe.

"Yes," Richard sighed, but as he saw my eyes light up he continued: "but you won't like it."

A young woman with bleached spikey hair was sitting in Richard's chair, doing something to his computer.

"This is Divya," Richard introduced her, "she's one of our computer technicians, specialising in surveillance. She will show you some footage in a minute."

I nodded at her, playing with a strand of my hair nervously. Whatever this was, I could tell from Richard's face it wasn't good.

"Recently, a spate of robberies all across Europe was brought to our attention. Banks, high-end jewellers and the like. Normally, these sorts of crimes are of no interest to us, but none of the victims seems to remember a thing, leading us to believe some sort of mind control magic is in place."

I got a sinking feeling in my stomach.

"He wouldn't," I said immediately, "He knew you would be on to him in no time. Loki has survived here for centuries without detection, he is far cleverer than that."

"I agree with you," Richard said, "and that is one of the reasons why I hadn't brought you in before. It didn't seem like Loki's usual modus operandi. So far there has been no CCTV footage from these crimes either, leaving us in the dark. And our scryers and augurs couldn't get a magical reading either. Whoever these people are, they are good."

"Okay, so I don't see what this has to do with Loki," I said, feeling rather confused.

"Yesterday, we got a lucky break. There was another robbery, a jeweller this time, and one of the cameras in the shop was left recording. Divya, would you mind?"

Richard motioned for me to come closer, and I looked at the screen.

Two armed men in combat gear, wearing masks and wielding guns came in. There was no sound, but it was clear from the way they were waving around their guns and the way the staff raised their hands and lay down on the ground they were threatening them.

Those poor people must have been so scared. I would have been, before gaining my powers.

A woman came in after them. She wasn't wearing a mask. The security footage was of high quality and in colour, I could see her quite clearly.

She was tall, taller than I am, and pale, with long white hair flowing around her shoulders and down her back. She was wearing black leather. Not the sort that Danny would design for me, but that biker chick look with leather trousers, high leather boots and a tight-fitting leather jacket.

She was beautiful, in an almost otherworldly way.

But I hardly noticed her, because my eyes were on the man that came in right behind her.

My heart skipped a beat, and I closed my eyes, trying to breathe.

He was wearing a black suit, white shirt and dark tie, as he so often did. His black hair curled around the collar of his suit. He wasn't wearing a mask either.

"I'm sorry," Richard said softly, putting his hand on my arm.

I watched as Loki's eyes glowed green and the expression on the faces of the shop staff went vacant.

Then the woman and the two armed men began filling their bags with jewellery and other valuables.

I wanted to look away, but I couldn't.

'Loki, what are you doing my love? How am I supposed to get you out of this mess?' I thought to myself as I watched him casually saunter through the shop.

"We can stop here," Richard said, just as Loki stopped before the display cabinet below the camera. "There's no need to watch the rest, you get the point."

"No, wait. Please," I begged. Loki looked straight up at the camera, almost as if his eyes were meeting mine. I had to control myself to not reach out and touch the screen.

"Sorcha, don't torture yourself."

I knew Richard meant well, but there was something else going on here.

Loki was tugging at his tie and his collar as if his shirt was uncomfortable, and he was idly drawing with his finger on the glass display case.

"Look at him, what's he doing?" I asked.

"He's probably nervous, most people would be in the middle of a robbery."

I shook my head. Loki seemed in complete control of the situation there, he wasn't nervous. And if he was he wouldn't show it like that. This was something more.

"What is he drawing on the display case? Can you zoom in on that Divya?" I asked.

Divya glared at me. "This isn't like in those shows you see on TV," she muttered.

"Could you try, please? Just a little?"

The image became pixelated and blurrier, but it was clear Loki was tracing something with his finger. I just had no idea what.

"Let me get a pen and paper," Richard said while already reaching into one of the drawers under his desk.

Richard started copying Loki's motions, trying to recreate whatever it was Loki was drawing or writing.

ᛋ ᛟ ᚱ

I quickly googled Norse runes. "S. O. R."

"Does he mean "SOS?" Richard asked.

ᛋ ᛟ ᚱ ᚲ ᚻ

"S.O.R.C.H… Sorcha, he's spelling Sorcha! He's spelling my name!"

"Well, that is sweet I suppose," Richard said dubiously.

I kind of knew what he meant. Your ex-boyfriend being bored and spelling your name during a heist… very romantic.

I sighed in disappointment. I had hoped he'd give me at least some indication of what was going on.

"Guys, you'll want to look at this," Divya suddenly said. She had been zooming in on Loki's other hand, the one tugging at his tie.

"It's like there is a glint of metal there, just for a second…"

Looking closer we could see him pull the collar of his shirt down for just a second, and the gleam of a metal band underneath it.

"Shit," Richard and I said at the same time. Richard was already on his phone.

I asked Divya to zoom in on the woman's wrist. If Loki was wearing a collar, she would have the bracelet, I was sure of it. The other two guys just seemed like goons to me. But there was no frame where we could get a clear closeup look to see if she had it or not.

"Our collar and bracelet are still here," Richard confirmed, "but I have been informed that while expensive, they aren't exactly rare. And we have no idea who else might own a pair."

"Whoever that woman is, she's holding Loki against his will," I said, "I have to go and help him."

"Or he just wants you to think that," Richard pointed out.

"No, that doesn't make sense. He was looking right into the camera, he knew it was on. And he left me a message. He is asking for help. He knew, or at least hoped, that I would see this. Who is that woman?"

Richard rubbed the top of his head.

"We had hoped you would be able to tell us if she was perhaps a past associate of his or something. You have no idea?"

Loki had never mentioned anyone like her before, but he wasn't exactly an open book when it came to his past.

I shook my head wordlessly, swallowing against the lump that was forming in my throat.

I had missed him so much and now there was finally some news about him, he turned out to be in trouble and I had no idea where he was. Or how I was supposed to help him. I set my jaw stubbornly and began making phone calls. I had friends in most of the different organisations and acquaintances all over the world.

Loki was out there and in trouble. I wasn't giving up on him, I would never give up on him. Wherever he was, I would find him.