Sorren
Ispend hours in front of the TV, trying to figure out what it is I’m watching. It’s dramatic, absurd, and extremely addicting. By the end of the afternoon, I’ve got my favorite characters and ones I loathe. When Eva got home, she curled up on the couch and promptly fell asleep.
I should be pushing her to send me back. I could be doing my own research and finding a way to break the hex, but I can’t bring myself to do it. I like it here too much. I like Eva too much. Everything up here is just so… alive.
I drag myself off the couch and kneel in front of the coffee table. I’ve been procrastinating this all day, which was easy to do once I got locked in on that show.
Before I call Malachi, I wrap a blanket around Eva and hope she stays asleep. I’m not ready for them to meet. I want to keep her for myself.
I carefully drag the coffee table into the kitchen to avoid waking her up. With a snap of my fingers, the three candles light up from where we left the sigil the night before. I knock quietly on the floor three times, and Malachi’s face pops up. He’s mad, bordering on angry.
“What the fuck, dude? You can’t just drop off like that! The entire organization is freaking out! The board is pissed. They had a press conference planned to announce you as CEO.”
I immediately regret calling Malachai. Watching dumb TV with Eva next to me and living in denial are preferable to dealing with this corporate drama.
“It’s a delicate situation. I’ll probably be here a while. You should come up with a contingency plan.”
Steam rages from his nostrils and his horns darken.
“Delicate?! You want to talk about delicate? I have nine psychotic board members who need a CEO. They are breathing down my neck, and if they knew you were being held captive by a witch, they would rain hellfire down on Earth.”
“Don’t you dare say anything. I told you, she’s nice. I like her.”
“What did you just say?” he switches to a forceful whisper. “You like her? Is that what this is about?” He’s right, it would be catastrophic if the board found out I was summoned here and bound to this witch.
“It’ll be fine. I’m figuring it out. You just keep the board calm.”
I blow out the candles, ending the call.
Eva’s phone rattles on the coffee table loudly. Purely on instinct I look at the screen. Riley. I selfishly feel relief when I see that it wasn’t the boyfriend. I quietly scoot the table back to its original location.
I’ve watched enough TV to sedate an elephant, so I grab Eva’s textbook instead and flip through a few pages. Conjuring, transfiguration, heightened sense, readings, tarot.
Eva’s phone goes off again. She doesn’t even stir.
The moment she walked through the door, I knew she was exhausted.
I’m tempted to move her phone so it doesn’t wake her up, but I leave it alone.
Nobody wants their phone messed with while they are sleeping.
That’s demon behavior, and the longer I’m up here, the less I feel like I belong down there.
It buzzes again, this time only a few seconds between calls.
I go back to the book, turning just one page before the phone goes off again. Then again.
This is feeling urgent, not just Riley calling to chat.
I rub Eva’s arm gently to wake her up. “Eva, your phone is going nuts. I think Riley’s trying to reach you.” Her eyes fly open and she leaps off the couch.
“What time is it?” she asks frantically.
“About 6:30.”
“Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit!” She runs up the stairs, drawers open and slam closed, then she’s back down the stairs and out the door before I can find out what’s going on.
That was weird.
Sitting right on the coffee table, where she left it, her phone continues rattling. I’m driving myself crazy watching her phone light up, worried that something awful has happened. I snap my fingers and power down her phone. I’ll lose my mind if I have to sit here all night and stare at it.
I need something to divert my attention. I summon Malachi again quickly, ready to dive into work so that I stop imagining the worst-case scenarios. Whatever is going on, there’s nothing I can do from here, and I hate it.
“I’m sorry I cut you off earlier. It’s complicated up here, but I can help now.” I begin. That's as close to an apology as he’s going to get from me at the moment.
“Look who finally decided to show up for work,” Malachi says with a huff.
“Do you want me to help or not?” I ask, signaling the time for ball busting is over.
“I do. This is perfect timing, actually. I’m filling in for you at the logistics meeting tonight. You’re welcome, by the way. What do I need to know?”
I lean back and think. Logistics is always a touchy subject at Mephisto Inc. No one takes the time to learn the ins and outs, but that doesn’t stop them from having strong opinions about how things should be done. Running Hell is shockingly technical.
“Who’s the meeting with? Bill or Jeff? That will determine the strategy.”
“Uhh.” Malachi checks his notes. “Jeff.”
I flinch. Bill would be mildly more pleasant. Jeff is the worst.
“Jeff’s major problems lay with the antiquated record keeping system. He’s not wrong, but there isn’t the appetite to invest the kind of money he wants for an updated system. Logistics is just not sexy enough for the board to approve that kind of spending.”
“So, you’re saying Jeff is right, but there isn’t anything we can do about it,” Malachi says, summing it up perfectly.
“Exactly. So, what you’ve got to do is hear him out, but don’t let him rant, because once he gets going it’s impossible to get a word in.
He also hates being interrupted, so don’t do that.
Then you need to figure out how to make some incremental improvement to appease him.
We need Jeff. Even though he has a terrible personality, he knows his shit. ”
Malachi runs his hands over his horns. “Sorren, you know I can be there in five minutes, just tell me where you are. I’ll break this witch’s curse and bring you back. I don’t want to deal with this on my own.”
“You got this. You’ll be fine. You actually have a lot in common with Jeff!” I grin, not missing the opportunity to tease my half-brother.
“That is not a compliment ,” he grumbles.
I spend the next two hours walking Malachi through the workflow of operations. By the end of the meeting, I’m exhausted. These last few days away from the office are a stark difference from my life just last week.
I cradle Catrick Swayze and carry him upstairs for bed.