Hidden Species: The Complete Series

Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

I stare up at the building. It looks pretty much like every other office building on the street—concrete, steel, and boring. Like the last one I worked in, and the one before that.

But this one promises to be different. The ad said so.

ADMINISTRATOR WANTED: EXCITEMENT AND ADVENTURE GUARANTEED

It was like a golden ray of sunshine in my gray, boring day.

I’ve been working in administration for a long time, and while jobs in my field are often advertised as “exciting” and “challenging” and “fast-paced,” what that actually means is “you’ll be doing the same old administrative tasks but at a company that does cool things you’ll have nothing to do with” or “you’ll be doing the job of two people” or “the people you’ll be supporting are assholes/imbeciles/both.

” I’ve never seen the word adventure used to advertise for an admin, and I was intrigued.

And bored. Because my current job is for an “exciting” tech development company where I have the “challenge” of supporting a team of asshole marketing consultants who constantly forget to advise me of deadlines, which means I’m always working at a “fast pace.” For once I’d like the fast pace to be because things are happening fast, not because some dickwad was too busy telling me to get him a coffee to remember to add that he needs a report by the end of the week.

Just so you know, he never got that coffee. I don’t feel bad about it, because he didn’t tell me about the report until two hours before he needed it.

So, yeah… ready for a change. And adventure sounds right up my alley. As long as I can do it from my desk or couch. Virtual adventure, that’s what I want.

Which is why I’m standing here, staring at a building that’s nice and close to home—about eight blocks.

Do I really want adventure? I’m not really an adventurous kind of guy.

My name is Sam Tiller. I’m thirty-four years old, five foot six and a quarter, with brown hair and eyes.

In my younger days, I was the twinkiest twink that ever did twink, until it became too much effort.

I’d much rather order takeout and watch TV in my sweats than squeeze my balls into skinny jeans and get stepped on by some dick in a club who’s too busy feeling me up to realize he’s crushing my foot.

I do miss getting felt up, though.

Sighing, I stride into the building. It can’t hurt to interview, right?

I’m not even sure what the company—CSG—does, really.

There was a generic website positively buzzing with all the right terminology, but no information on what products or services they deal in.

Or with. Or manufacture. Maybe this will be an actual exciting job?

Maybe there will be non-douchey people working here who can feel me up.

Outside of working hours, of course. Some lines, I don’t cross.

The ride in the elevator feels endless. There are two others in here with me, and I think that’s the only thing that keeps me from changing my mind. Because I don’t want to be that guy who rode the elevator up and then down again for no real reason that they decide to call security on.

Been there. Not fun. Long story.

By the time the doors open on my floor, I’m ready. I’ve talked myself into believing this is going to be amazing. Epic , even.

So I march out of the elevator.

And freeze.

There are animals here. Huge dogs. Three of them.

Just wandering around. Well, not exactly wandering.

In fact, they seem to be walking with purpose, crossing the reception area toward a door at the far end.

But… they’re huge. Like… almost to my armpit.

I’m not exactly tall, but still. Is this some kind of wildlife rescue?

Even so, why would they have such big dogs in the corporate office?

They disappear through the door, and I shake my head and walk up to the reception desk. The receptionist is looking down as she writes something on a memo pad, and I wait—

What the fuck? Does she have…? Are those horns nestled in her hair?

Shit. Am I hallucinating? That’s never happened to me before, but—

She looks up and sees me. Surprise flares over her face. I suck in a deep breath and screw my eyes closed for a second, and when I open them, the horns are gone and the receptionist is smiling.

“Can I help you?” she asks sweetly.

I swallow. “Uh. Yes. I, um, have an appointment. With…” Fuck. What’s his name? The dogs and the maybe-imaginary horns have thrown me off my game. What’s his name ? “Harold!”

She taps at her keyboard, then smiles at me again. “He’ll be right out. Take a seat.”

I cross to where the waiting area is, but don’t even get the chance to sit before a big man comes in and says, “I’m Harold. Come on.”

I follow him through a door and then through an open-plan office space, trying to keep up. This office is seriously weird. There are more of those huge dogs, and… is that a tiger standing by the window? No fucking way. It’s got to be a toy of some kind.

Before I can decide if it’s a giant stuffed animal or if there is indeed a wild creature in the office, Harold leads me into a small meeting room and closes the door behind me. I’ve barely planted my ass in a chair before he starts barking questions.

We confirm my experience.

We confirm that I have no problem working for a team rather than a single person. “You won’t report to any of them,” he grunts. “Officially, I’d be your boss.”

“That’s great,” I volunteer. “It makes it easier for me to push back when their expectations are unrealistic.”

He nods, and although his face doesn’t change from its grumpy scowl, I get the feeling he’s pleased.

Then he starts going over the job. “You’ll be the administrator for a team of fifteen.

Job specs will be emailed to you through an automated system, and your role will be to allocate the job to a team member based on their skills and ability.

You’ll act as their liaison if they have any requirements—equipment and personnel requisition and the like.

And you’ll help them file their reports and report their hours against each job. ”

This is a job I could do in my sleep. Where’s the action? Where’s the adventure? I’m so disappointed.

“This is not a nine-to-five, Monday-to-Friday job. You may receive job specs at odd hours or on the weekends. They need to be allocated to a team member immediately, so you’ll be essentially on call 24-7.

However, outside of that and answering emergency calls, it doesn’t matter to us when you work, as long as all tasks are completed in a timely manner.

You can set your own hours, as long as you’re available to your team when they need you. ”

Well, that’s a bit more unusual for an admin job. Not really exciting, though.

And… what the hell does this company do ? Like, is it an emergency plumbing service? Or maybe it’s an escort agency. I should ask some questions, and maybe things will become clearer.

“That—” I clear my throat. “That sounds fine. The, uh, the ad mentioned adventure. It also didn’t say what kind of company this is.”

For the first time, he smiles. It’s more of a smirk, really. “The adventure is really more about the people you’ll be working with. But don’t worry, you won’t be doing anything illegal. We’re a government department.”

I blink. “You… are?” Don’t government departments usually advertise with logos and complicated recruitment processes?

“Yes. The team you’ll be working with are investigators. People report unusual or potentially dangerous events, and your team investigates them and takes action if needed.”

Uhhhh….

“What kind of action?” I don’t think I want to work with a team of hit men, even if they are government sanctioned.

He laughs. “Not murder. Arrest. Usually that’s not necessary. Mostly your team will be investigating false tips or helping people who aren’t aware of the funding and programs available to them. You’ll be enrolling a lot of people into educational courses.”

I’m confused. A potentially dangerous event that results in someone enrolling for night school?

“So, how does it sound?”

“Great,” I say honestly. I mean, aside from the whole part where I don’t understand what the company does. Still, would that be so different from when I worked for KPMG?

“When could you start?”

What?

“I… You’re offering me the job?” Just like that?

“If you want it.” He eyes me. “There’s just one more thing you’d need to know, but if you’re not planning to take the job, I can’t tell you.”

Yeah… I’m not curious. Are you curious? Why would that make anyone curious?

I swallow hard. “Sir, this job sounds good, and I’m looking for a change, even if it just ends up being more of the same in a different office. But I’m really worried about what you’re about to tell me.”

He smirks again. “I like you. If you don’t freak out, you could go far at CSG.”

If I don’t freak out…? That doesn’t inspire confidence. “Freak out?” I ask, and my voice doesn’t even squeak. “Uh, and what does CSG even stand for?”

He braces his elbows on the table and leans forward. I lean forward too, because it feels like I should.

“Are you religious?”

I sit back. If this is some kind of cult— No, wait, he said it’s a government agency.

“Not really,” I say warily. “I mean, I was technically raised Catholic, but my family was always Christmas-and-Easter kind of Catholic, and the church and I parted ways when I was a teenager anyway.” When I realized I was gay, but he doesn’t need to know that.

“Good. So you know the doctrine?”

It’s my turn to laugh. “Yeah, I know the doctrine. The only decent school in our neighborhood was a Catholic one, so my parents sent me there.” It was actually the closest school to us, and they sent me there so I could walk and they didn’t have to spend any time driving me. But he doesn’t need to know that.

“Not much of it’s true.”