Glass rained down all around them as Loki used his arms to shield Cassandra's face. The god inhaled sharply and tightened his hold around her shoulders. "Stay down."

"No." Cassandra cursed under her breath and wiggled out from under him, ignoring the glass biting into her palms.

Gripping the safety railing on the bed, she hoisted herself to her feet sweeping her arms up to form a magical shield. "Mom, are you alright?" She scanned her mom for injuries, thankfully finding nothing amiss.

Eyes wide, frail hand clutching her chest, Madeline stared up at her daughter as if she didn't recognize her. "Cassie what is going on?"

Well, the cat was out of the bag. Her magic on full display. "I'll explain later."

A hail of gunfire bounced off the shield, bullets spraying in all directions. Loki conjured a shield of his own, protecting himself from the ricochet.

Rope uncoiled to the floor and a team of five operatives in black fatigues swung into the room, each armed with assault rifles. Great. Just terrific. That bitch Morgan would pay for this. Cassandra vowed, flicking her fingers and sending an arc of fire at the enemy through the shield. "Dracarys."

The unknown operatives raised their arms, energy shields vibrating to life. Cassandra couldn't tell if they were magic or not but they were damned effective blocking the fire spell. The flames split to either side of the room licking up the walls, scorching the plaster. Sprinklers clicked on, spraying the room with a torrent of water.

The operatives cursed as the water pounded down on top of them in hard pellets. One of them slipped on the wet tiles and went down. The rest stepped over their fallen comrade, advancing on Loki and Cassandra's position.

Loki joined their shields together, conjuring a pair of daggers from thin air. "Did you really say Dracarys?" An amused smile tugged at his lips.

She blushed. Her nerd was showing. "It seemed fitting."

Loki flipped his daggers offering one to her. "I'll hold them off. Get your mother out of here."

Cassandra shook her head, fighting the reality of the situation. "I can't leave you here alone."

Master Wong and Master Li had been training her for a moment like this. How could she leave him? Her eyes darted to her mom. But if she stayed Madeline was at risk of becoming collateral damage.

Loki pressed the dagger into her unresisting hand. "Go." He said fiercely, eyes lit with blue fire. Jaw clenching with determination, he swept his wet hair out of his eyes for better visibility. "I'll take care of them. I promise."

She held his gaze for a second an undercurrent of emotion passing between them. Gritting her teeth, Cassandra nodded, spinning to detach her mom from the monitors and IV. He wanted her to trust him. How could she refuse?

If Loki could annihilate eighty people in two days, a group of five assassins would be a piece of cake.

Probably. Hopefully. Maybe.

Doubt crept in.

God, she hoped Loki could handle it. If Cassandra left him and he died she'd never forgive herself.

Madeline whispered calm instructions, allowing Cassandra to remove the wires without harming her. The old woman pressed her fingers firmly against the crook of her arm, to stop the bleeding from the needle removal.

Loki spun elegantly through the small room like a dancer, slashing an operative's throat with ease and kicking another into a stack of medical equipment. They were no match for the sorcerer god.

He paused in his killing spree to flick his fingers in Cassandra's direction. The Mirror Dimension swallowed them into its silent environs protecting them from the assassins. Cassandra wheeled her mom's bed out into the hall unseen by the security dashing toward Madeline's room to confront the shooters.

One of them reached for the CB at their shoulder. "Shots fired. Repeat we have an active shooter situation."

Breathe. Cassandra reminded herself as she wheeled the bed toward the nearest bank of elevators. Just breathe. Her heart threatened to leap from her chest. "Hold on mom, I'll get you out of here."

"Cassandra Ann Pierce! You tell me what's happening this instant!" Madeline ordered in her mom voice.

Cassandra bounced nervously on her feet waiting for the elevator to reach the third floor. "I will. Just trust me, alright?" She glanced over her shoulder. They were in the clear for now.

The light above the elevator blinked. Seventh floor.

None of the assassins had realized they were no longer in the main dimension.

Sixth floor.

Come on. Cassandra urged silently wanting to punch a hole through the elevator doors. Why did these things never work out in real life? In a movie they'd already be in the elevator and going down to the main floor.

Fifth floor.

Argh!

She looked over her shoulder again. Loki skidded into view, hair flying wildly behind him. He sprinted toward them, gold dagger flashing under the florescent lights.

Fourth floor.

Ten operatives followed on Loki's heel. One of them sent a fire spell at the god and missed. Sorcerers. No wonder Loki was running. Battling that many sorcerers alone was impossible.

Third floor.

The doors opened with a polite ding. Cassandra shoved the bed quickly into the elevator. "Sorry mom." She slapped her palm against the console, hitting the button for the main floor.

Loki slid through the closing elevator doors and crashed into the back wall. One of the assassins tried to smash the muzzle of their rifle into the crack but Cassandra kicked the gun back through, allowing the doors to close.

"Are you alright, Cassandra?" Loki panted, chest heaving with exertion. A jagged cut on his forehead gushed a torrent of blood down his narrow face.

"You're hurt!" She exclaimed, reaching out for him.

"Its only a scratch. Head wounds look worse than they are." He pressed his hand against the cut, wincing. "I killed the first five but they had back up. No many how many I slaughtered more poured into the room. Far too many to take on alone."

"They're in the Mirror Dimension. I can't believe we have a whole army of wizards on our tail." She stroked his cheek gently, his blood smearing on her fingertips. "I'm sorry I couldn't stay and fight with you. I wanted to."

"Thank you for trusting me." Loki smiled gently, leaning into her touch as though he craved the feel of her skin against his. "You have no idea what that means."

Cassandra hated to see Loki in pain. He got hurt defending her again.

"Our enemy is formidable." Loki frowned, gaze traveling over her slowly as he checked for injuries. His eyes paused on her hands. "You're bleeding."

Cassandra turned her hands over showing a mess of shredded bloody flesh, glittering with glass fragments. Her palms looked like raw meat. Adrenaline coursing through her, she hadn't even noticed the pain.

There wasn't time to deal with her butchered hands now.

The elevator landed on the first floor with a slight jolt. Loki positioned himself in front of Cassandra and her mother as the doors opened to the main lobby. He stuck his head out, scanning the area. There was no sign of the operatives. "Let's go."

The god led the way outside. It proved to be a mistake. Loki was jumped less than two feet from the building, a group of black clad assassins piling on top of him blasting him with spells. Pedestrians passed by, clueless of Loki's predicament, one of the flaws of the Mirror Dimension.

Cassandra felt torn between protecting her mom and helping Loki. She turned the bed to push it back through the hospital doors. Two assassins rappelled down the side of the building blocking the way.

They were cornered.

Cassandra raised her borrowed dagger and lunged for the closest assassin. The male sorcerer dodged the blade easily and punched her in the gut.

Doubling over she wheezed, struggling to breathe. She tried to summon up Master Li's lessons but her thoughts scattered beneath the blinding pain licking her ribs.

The sorcerer shifted the reality around them, twisting the sidewalk up like a rope. Cassandra rolled down the cement slide. She slammed her dagger into place to keep from falling into the black abyss that opened like a gaping maw below.

Shit.

"Grab the old woman!" The man ordered his partner before jumping and twisting in the air to strike Cassandra in the chest with a final powerful blow. She lost her grip on the dagger and fell.

Twirling her hands, she shifted the ground back into its proper position but she had no way to slow her momentum.

Cassandra crashed into a parked car, the door buckling from her body. She tumbled into the gutter, her head striking the metal grating. Stars exploded in her vision.

As she struggled to lift her head a portal spiraled into view. Loki leaped past her, dueling a pair of wizards, powerful blasts of green magic knocking them back. The other assassins scrambled into the portal, four of them pulling her mom's bed with them.

Cassandra opened her mouth to scream a warning to Loki but her tongue was glued to the roof of her mouth. Her lips refused to form words even as the warning shrieked through her mind.

The portal shrank to the size of a dinner plate before winking out of existence. A cold wind ruffled her hair as her strength finally gave out and her head slumped to the ground.

Her mom was gone. Morgan's minions had bested them.

A/N: So the plot thickens. Cassandra finally got to use her powers in a battle, yay! I hope you liked it I love writing action. We've reached another milestone, 35 chapters!