Chapter Eleven
Ossy
The elevator stopped on the fourth floor, and the doors slid open.
A woman stood in the elevator car. I’d seen her around the office before, but I didn’t know which department she worked in.
She appeared to be in her twenties, though the ages of people who worked at the Bureau were hard to tell.
Her sharp green eyes spoke of a woman who had lived much longer. Wisdom lay in their depths.
When she first saw me, her eyes widened. But she schooled her expression into one of feigned boredom. “Which floor would you like?”
She was closest to the panel and pressed the lobby button as I answered her.
The doors slid shut. The elevator music was the only sound. I didn’t mind the silence between us. Enemy territory being what it was, I preferred not to make small talk.
She clearly didn’t agree. She gave me the side-eye. My cloak revealed which department I used to work in and still did, according to Ezul’s earlier lie. Somehow, I doubted the lie had spread throughout the building. Gossip spread quickly in the Bureau, but not at lightning speed.
“I heard you guys revolted.”
I hadn’t realized that was the word the Bureau had been using, but it was the most truthful. It was just more aggressive than we had intended. All we wanted was to love freely.
“That’s just gossip, ma’am.” It was the first lie I’d told in a long time. I wasn’t in the habit, not that I was totally opposed to it. I would lie to anyone when it was the best thing to do. It just usually wasn’t. The only exception was Phin. I would never lie to him. Not for any reason. Ever.
She smirked. “Your kind hasn’t been around lately.”
I gave her a smirk right back. “I’m here, in the office, so you’re wrong about that.”
She shrugged, but I could tell I had taken some of the wind out of her sails. “Where are the rest of the reapers?”
“They’ll be in later.” They wouldn’t, of course, but she didn’t need to know that. She really needed to stay in her lane. She was old enough to be skeptical, but her intention wasn’t to get the truth. It was to gather information.
The elevator stopped in the lobby, and I stepped out. I wanted to flip her off, but I restrained myself. She wasn’t worth the effort. Doing so would probably prove her point that I wasn’t part of the Soul Management Bureau anymore, and I definitely didn’t want to prove anything to her.
As much as I didn’t like gossip, it could be useful for finding my mate. So I stopped at the desk of the king of gossip—the receptionist. I leaned against the desk and smiled.
He blinked at me and sucked in a breath. “Can I help you?” he croaked, as though he were a frog who’d been reincarnated.
“I know you and Phin are friends. Do you know where he is?”
Hale’s shoulders crept up toward his ears. “He came in this morning, right after you and the HR demon.”
“Did he say where he was going?” That was what I really needed to know.
“I thought he was going to the reaper floor, but the elevator stopped at floor seven.”
“Floor seven?” That was the floor for HR.
Hale nodded, his dark hair falling across his forehead. He was clearly nervous. I didn’t know why. “Why would he go to HR?”
Hale shrugged. “I think he had a meeting. You guys haven’t been in the office. I heard HR reassigned him to another department.”
Hale glanced around the lobby as if searching for something. When he didn’t find anyone, he leaned over the tall counter. “Okay, I know they reassigned him to the top floor, but don’t tell anyone I told you.”
I swore under my breath. That was Donn’s floor. Donn was onto him, keeping Phin close enough to monitor him.
The reason for Hale’s nervousness suddenly became clear.
Donn considered me the enemy, and everyone in the office knew it.
The lies about our purpose weren’t landing, and that sucked.
I needed to get to Phin right away, before he disappeared forever into Tech Duinn.
That was Donn’s intent. There was no doubt in my mind.
He’d rather send Phin there than let me take him.
Shit.
I walked out of the lobby and headed down the block before calling Grym. He’d always been the father of us all, in a way. The brother who was there whenever I needed him.
It rang three times before he answered. “Ossy, what’s happening? I can’t help you right now.” He sounded out of breath.
“What are you doing?” I didn’t know why I asked. I didn’t have time for small talk, and my nerves were on edge. Everything in me screamed to find Phin, fast. Yet part of me welcomed the reprieve from the situation.
“I don’t think you really want to know what I’m doing.”
“I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t want to know.” I had my suspicions, and Grym was right. I didn’t want to know. I was happy for them. Really, I was, but I didn’t need to hear about their sexcapades. “Never mind.”
“What’s up, Os?”
“I don’t know if I can trust Ezul, but I need someone who can walk between realms, like a beloved.”
“Or the son of a god,” Grym muttered, as if to himself. “Cael will be there in a few minutes.”
We hung up, leaving me wondering how Cael could help.
He seemed just as useless as I was without being able to teleport.
But there were things about him that felt off.
Mysterious. I knew I didn’t know everything.
And given what I told Grym I needed, it was clear he thought Cael could walk between realms. Did that make him a god? Or the son of one, as Grym had said?
As I turned to go back inside, I nearly ran into Hale. We were still far enough from the building that I noticed something about him I hadn’t noticed before. He was a beloved.
“You need to come with me.” Teleporting might be against the rules and stupid, but Hale needed to be on the farm, where he was safe.
Hale nodded as if he’d known all along which side he wanted to be on. He didn’t even question me.
I wrapped my arms around him. We were on the farm in minutes, but I left him in the kitchen with Tan and Joel. I didn’t have time to ask about the hellhound leaning against the counter. It seemed we were picking up strays left and right. The more, the merrier, I guess.
As soon as I reentered the Bureau, I could feel Donn’s eyes on me. If he hadn’t been aware of my presence in the building before, he was now.