28. Maeve
28
MAEVE
“ I can’t believe it,” I mutter, my eyes raking over his employee badge. Of course, Lucifer somehow managed to worm his way into being an actual paid employee of the company. “How the fuck did you manage that?”
He’s grinning at the camera in his employee ID photo, his eyes pure black, like a bottomless void. They should be terrifying, with that sharp jawline and menacing grin, giving him an almost predatory look.
His curly blonde hair is tousled like he didn’t even bother smoothing it down before the photo, and yet, it works for him—probably because he’s just naturally chaotic like that.
Those black eyes should send anyone running, but instead, they almost make him look... mischievous. It’s kind of cute in a psychotic way.
“What? I am an employee.”
“I suppose that makes me your boss,” I say, handing him his ID card. He snorts. “Don’t be laughing. I might have to fire you.”
“Oh, baby, you wouldn’t last a day without me. It’d be devastating if I were fired—for you, of course,” he replies, his eyes flashing dangerously.
Now it’s me who snorts, and I press the button for the lift.
“What’s funny?” Draven’s deep voice asks, and I startle, spinning around to face him. His presence always hits like a wave. He’s wearing another impossibly tight suit, this one navy.
So beautiful. It should be illegal.
“Who the fuck are you?” Lucifer demands, his voice low, eyes flicking over Draven with dangerous amusement as if he’s already sizing him up. He steps in front of me as the elevator doors open, keeping a block in between Draven and I.
The tense atmosphere is like that moment just before a storm erupts, and it has my chromius and I on edge as we wait to see how Draven is going to handle this.
I can’t move, I don’t dare breathe.
“I’m Draven Westfall, Maeve’s boss ,” he says, glowering at Lucifer. The tension rises in the air, it’s practically choking me. It feels like the entire foyer is shrinking. “Who are you?”
Lucifer leans in, just a fraction, voice soft but dripping with menace. “Maeve’s new security detail. Wherever she goes, I go, and trust me, bear , I don’t miss a thing.”
The two men share a very intense stare, both their shifter forms rising as they probe at each other—Lucifer’s eyes flash black, Draven’s glowing gold. Draven’s presence is looming, but Lucifer’s grin is still in place, unfazed by it.
I still don’t move, letting out tiny, inconspicuous breaths, as I pray that nothing bad is going to happen between the two of them.
“I hope you’re better than the last,” Draven finally says, and I breathe in relief. I step into the elevator, pressing the button for our floor as both men join me inside.
“Morning, Draven,” I murmur, feeling their eyes on me.
“Good morning, Maeve,” he replies, sounding far softer when he talks to me. “We’ve got a client meeting at eleven.”
“I’ll make sure to give them a once over before escorting them up,” Lucifer says with a grin.
I give him a dirty look. “You cannot pat down my clients.”
“His clients,” Lucifer counters, nodding at Draven, with a sharpness in his tone. “Do you have any complaints?”
“No.” Draven doesn’t even cower back as I switch my glare to him.
“You’re being ridiculous,” I say. “Both of you.”
“You’ve got a stalker?—”
“You what?” Draven snarls, spinning to face me. His fury feels like a tidal wave crashing into me, feral and raw. My chromius sighs, her desperate ass excited by his outrage on our behalf.
Pathetic.
He slams his fist into the emergency button, stopping the lift. My legs tremble under the intensity of his gaze.
“You have a stalker?” he repeats, and I groan. “Don’t give me that attitude, Maeve.”
“Yes. But he’s at the mythical compound far away from me,” I say, standing taller to meet his eyes properly. The golden hue is so gorgeous, surrounded by long, dark eyelashes. The left eye, which is covered in the scar, is that little bit brighter than the right.
I know I’m pretty, but this man is just stunning.
Lucifer fans himself. “Fuck me, Drav, you’re a spicy one, aren’t you? You must be fun at dinner parties.”
As if Draven would be invited to a dinner party.
I roll my eyes at Lucifer’s dramatics. “What are you going on about?”
“Can’t you feel the energy he gives off?” Lucifer asks, stepping close to Draven with a glint in his eyes. “Cold, dark, deadly. I’m impressed. Never knew an ursarix who wasn’t a peace-loving hippy.”
“Where have you ever met an ursarix?” Draven asks, and the anger in his tone is surprising.
Lucifer shrugs, unfazed. “Haven’t. But you’ve got that I’ll-snap-any-second vibe. Very fun, and very out of the norm for your people.”
“I don’t get that vibe from you at all,” I say, looking at Draven. He barely cracks a smile. There’s a tension simmering under the surface, and it’s not just because of his ursarix.
My guilt bubbles over. “Look, why would I tell you about this random obsessed man?”
“Obsessed maybe, but he has killed someone in your name and threatened another,” Lucifer says. There’s a twisted excitement in his voice like he’s recounting a good movie scene. “Whilst on the Mythical Compound.”
Draven snarls, his eyes practically glowing gold as his ursarix tries to overtake him.
Lucifer leans against the wall, arms crossed, watching Draven with what looks like morbid fascination.
“Hey, take a breath,” I soothe. “We’re stuck in this lift, and unlike Lucifer over there, we’re not animals that can fly. We’d die if it crashed. Or probably only I would as I have no form.”
Draven’s eyes flicker back and forth as he takes a deep, heaving breath. “Sorry, little angel. I don’t do well with people around me being in danger.”
The way he says it, so raw and honest, sends an uncomfortable pang through me.
“That’s why I got a security upgrade,” I tease, gesturing to Lucifer. “Although, honestly, he’s only barely better than the last.”
“The last let you nearly get hit by a car,” Draven snarls, giving Lucifer the deadliest look. For just a second, I see Draven’s control slip, a flash of something feral and wild behind his eyes, and I freeze. It’s a brief moment, but the threat is real.
“What the fuck have you done to her?”
“Whoa, I like life,” Lucifer says, his eyes flashing black for a second before returning to their normal icy blue. “Let’s not unleash the feral beast and risk killing me, okay? I like living. Mostly. ”
I’m with him on the mostly thing but won’t risk admitting that when Draven’s so close to flying off the handle.
“Is Draven the beast or the bear within him?” I ask, tapping my chin thoughtfully. Lucifer chuckles darkly.
“We’re both beasts, it just depends which one is in the driver’s seat,” Draven mutters, a shadow falling over his face. “I want to know everything.”
“Don’t worry, he’s been the best security guard I’ve had so far,” I say, not sure why I’m even entertaining this. “House checks, bringing me to work, firing the last guy, the works.”
“I mean about your stalker, little angel,” he says.
“Maeve has this thing against nicknames,” Lucifer’s eyes darken for a second, his imp clearly not liking the pet name. He almost sounds jealous .
“Let’s just resume the lift, yeah, so we can get to work,” I mutter, and Draven presses the button to undo the emergency stop, and it takes a second before the lift starts moving again.
“Back to our client,” Draven says. “We’ve got the appointment at eleven, and I’m going to need you to contact the archivist at the compound and get any files that might be relevant.”
“Understood. Absolutely. Can’t wait,” I reply with a sarcastic edge.
“Make sure to tell my cousin, hello,” Lucifer says as the elevator opens.
“I’ll make sure to tell him to choke on air and die,” I mutter under my breath. Lucifer smirks, clearly pleased.
I step out of the lift, followed by Draven and Lucifer, and I frown at the imp. “What are you doing? We’re fine now, you’ve met Draven. What else do you need?”
“Oh, I’m not done.” Lucifer’s grin widens as my own presses into a displeased tight line. “I want to have a look around this floor, and Draven wanted to be brought up to speed, didn’t you?”
Draven nods.
I groan. Of course, they’re now going to be in on this together. “It’s my business?—”
“And he is your boss and will be responsible for working with me to keep you safe. We can’t have you getting into any trouble, now can we, princess?” Lucifer’s eyes glitter mischievously. “I won’t overshare anything that he doesn’t need to know, but having him aware of some of the dangers you might be facing is absolutely needed.”
“Fine.” I scowl at them both, turn, and head into my office. Cheryl’s not at her desk, so I shut the door behind me, not caring about either of them.
Assholes that they are.
I don’t know why I’ve been so… meek, today. It’s weird. I’m just completely… off.
There’s a gentle knock on my door a few minutes later, and I frown before it’s pushed open.
“Hi,” Draven says, carrying a bottle of water, and a steaming hot chocolate. “I brought these for you.”
I bite my lip. Surprising but thoughtful. “Um, thank you?”
“You don’t need to thank me. Lucifer is having a walk around, then we shall chat, then you and I can debrief before our meeting.” He gives me a grin, it’s small but genuine. “Make sure to be extra vicious with Lucifer’s cousin.”
I laugh. “Trust me, I will.”
He nods his head. “I’ll see you soon.”
I don’t know why he fills me with such warmth.
He goes out through the main door, closing it softly behind him, and I let out a heavy sigh. It’s time to get this over with and call Julian.
The hot chocolate smells divine, and I bring it close to myself before dialling the archive’s number.
Julian should be in the office this early. And if he isn’t, I’ll have another reason to rip into him
The phone clicks, and Julian’s bored tone rings through the line. “Good morning.”
“Morning.”
There’s a small inhale of breath. He recognises me immediately. “Maeve.”
“Wow, you know my voice? That’s so… obsessive. ”
I can almost hear his grin through the phone.
“If you wanted to thank me personally for the hamper set, you could’ve called me from your phone days ago,” Julian says, his smug voice already irritating me.
“Your hamper set was set on fire just in case you tried dosing them with oyster juice or some shit,” I snap, my face tightening in irritation.
Or, you know, it’s sat in my bedroom taunting me as I refuse to open it or handle it. I don’t want his shitty gift, and I have no doubt that it’s tainted in some way, but I couldn’t leave it in my office bin that day…
My chromius and I are at huge odds over the thing, and I’m not in any mood to listen to her whine at me.
“Oyster juice?” he asks, laughing. His laugh is like velvet, but it grates on me. “Why would I taint very expensive chocolates and delicacies with fish juice?”
“They’re an aphrodisiac, and I don’t know what kind of mythicals you know. Maybe you know one that can target the fumes or something.”
I sound ridiculous even to myself, but it’s Julian, so I don’t care. He could make the world’s biggest clown seem smart.
He laughs again, the sound free and open, and my blood starts to boil. At least he’s good for something—channeling my irritation.
“Oh, pretty girl, your paranoia is very intense. I promise you, they’re safe. I’d never, ever do something to you without your express knowledge and understanding.”
Damn him. Those annoying flutters rage war on my stomach, and I hate it. His promises feel like honey, but I know better.
A promise from a Graves?
I know exactly how painful those can be when broken.
“I’m not here for a personal call. I’m calling because we clearly now need to work together, and I’ve got my first assignment,” I mutter, glaring at the closed door between mine and Draven’s office.
This is his fault. Forcing me to call the annoying pegasus shifter so that we can get some information from the archives.
I’ve not talked to Adrian outside my text telling him I have a job, which probably means he’s plotting away, doing something that I won’t love, but for now, I’ll accept the silence.
But that means I can’t get the special privileges I was hoping for, so I need to deal with Julian in the meantime.
“I think you’ll thrive in your new job.”
“Doesn’t take a genius as to how you know about it,” I reply, my tone sharpening. “I don’t want to fight today. I just need a few files, and I’ll leave you alone.”
My chromius lets out a low growl of frustration at me, but I ignore her.
“I don’t want you to leave me alone,” he protests, a whine to his words.
I scoff. “Already succumbing to the loneliness that is the archives?”
“I don’t know how you did it,” he groans. “I’ve got no friends, and I’m stuck in a mangy, stinky?—”
“How dare you,” I snarl, and he bursts into laughter. My anger flares and fizzles out at the same time. “I hope there’s a hurricane and you die in that lovely room. I’ll spend the rest of my life in solitude there, peacefully.”
“Oh, trust me, pretty girl, I’d spend the rest of my ghostly life haunting you.”
I roll my eyes, despite the tug of amusement that threatens to soften my glare.
“You already haunt my nightmares.”
There’s a pause, and I kind of regret the honesty of my words. My chromius whines at me. She’s been a lot more pleasant the last few days, less whiny and hard done by.
I don’t want our newfound peace to be shattered because of my impulsive words.
“What documents do you need?” he asks, his tone suddenly sharp and businesslike. He shifts so quickly from amused to serious that I almost miss it. I can easily hear his frustration, and it only irritates my chromius that much more.
Seems rapid mood changes are a family trait.
“We’re working on figuring out a pack situation. Our client was legally registered with his pack, as is law, but there was an error on the filing side of things, and he’s been registered to the wrong pack.”
“Not the end of the world,” Julian says. “It’ll be fixed within a couple of weeks.”
“Yes, except his father died, and to be able to take custody of his two younger siblings, he needs to prove which pack he lives in.”
“And even with alpha verification, the paperwork is incorrect, making the entire situation fraudulent,” Julian fills in, and I nod. He’s sharp, I’ll give him that. “Well, fuck.”
“Exactly,” I mutter. “So, we have until Wednesday to not only get his paperwork filed but to get the Tribunal to sign off on granting custody, since it was their fault.”
“Good luck with that.”
I grimace, the weight of the situation settling back onto my shoulders. “I know. So I wanted to pull precedent. There’s three cases similar to this that I can remember off the top of my head, but I guarantee there will be more.”
“Send me an email with those ones, and I can pull them for you,” he says. “It’s close enough to an official request.”
I raise an eyebrow, surprised at his willingness to bend the rules. “Look at you breaking the rules.”
“For you, pretty girl, rules don’t exist.”
I roll my eyes, but my chromius flutters at the comment, damn her. “Why do you have to make it so weird?”
“It’s a special talent.”
“Probably the only one you have.”
He chuckles, the sound low and warm. “You wound me.”
“Trust me, if I were to wound you, there’d be a lot more blood.”
Julian pauses for a moment, then laughs softly. “Well then, probably a good thing we’re miles apart.”
“Oh, Julian, I’ve known it was a good thing from the moment I left.”
“So hurtful.”
I smooth out my features, fighting the urge to smile. “How’s your situation going?”
“Not well. I’m figuring it out, though.”
“In what way?” I ask, furrowing my brows. He sounds tense, a rare slip in his usual confidence. “Figured out who is taking the documents?”
“No, but I’m figuring out the pattern of which ones they’re taking.”
“Huh, look at you.”
“Look at me, what?”
“Utilising a brain I never knew you had.” I grin.
He moans so dramatically my chromius works herself into a tizzy. “Why must you rip my heart out this way? I’m a delicate man.”
“That I could tell from our first interaction,” I quip, grinning wider despite myself. It’s annoying, but talking to him is too easy.
I don’t know why I keep grinning, when he’s really not that funny.
“Believe me, pretty girl, that’s not what I wanted you to take from our first interaction.”
My smile falters. He’s back to that tone again. “I took a lot more away from it than that.”
“Do I want to know?” he asks, his voice sounding huskier.
“I’d rather save your delicate feelings. I don’t fancy sitting here listening to you sob.”
“You’re such a nice girl.”
“Huh, nobody has ever said that about me before,” I say, my eyebrows pulling together.
“Well then, you’ve clearly been done a huge disservice,” he murmurs. For a second, his voice softens—too soft, almost sincere.
Before I can respond, something in his tone shifts. “Hey, I’m going to have to let you go.”
My chromius hisses.
“Why?” I demand.
“Someone is calling that I’ve not heard from in a while, and I need to figure out what’s going on.”
I roll my eyes, masking my disappointment.
“Wow, binned off like the mistress I am.”
I hang up the phone before he can make his lies, and my heart is pounding in my chest, my fragile ribs taking a beating.
My phone buzzes, but I can’t reach for it.
Not right now.
I don’t know why this affects me so much. This stupid game where my chromius lets herself care, and then tries to force me into feeling the same way.
I can’t do it. It’s stupid.
Julian might be charming, but I don’t give a fuck about him, his lies, or any of his manipulation tactics. He might say nice things, but deep down, he’s rotten to his core.
My hands are shaking as I try to type out this email to him, and my vision blurs. I can’t sit here and wallow in this anxiety.
The moment I’ve clicked send, I grab my phone and rush out of the office. Draven’s door is still closed, and I’m not sure if Lucifer is in there or not.
I know they’re going to be annoyed.
I know I shouldn’t leave without telling someone.
But I need… I need to be alone.
I take the lift to the ground floor and leave through the front doors just to get some fresh air.
I’ll be fine.
It’ll be fine.
The disappointment from my chromius can easily be ignored.
We’re going to be fine.