Chapter Twelve
Phin
Now that Donn had scared me to death—pun intended—I could, maybe, possibly get on with my workday. It was already late morning by the time I remembered I needed a highlighter for the job description book. It was much larger than most other descriptions.
My hands shook, and my heart felt ready to explode out of my chest and run for the nearest exit, which, in the realm of a god, could be anywhere, since gods moved things like exits with nothing more than a thought.
When I stood from my chair and stepped out of my cubicle, I felt as though a thousand eyes were on me, even though I couldn’t see anyone else.
It almost felt like the apocalypse, or the quiet before a big storm blew in.
No sneezes, no coughs. No one spoke, and the tapping of keys had stopped.
But someone watched me. Maybe Donn. Maybe the shadows that were always lurking about the room.
I didn’t know if they were judging or wondering when Donn would send me to Tech Duinn.
This whole day felt like one big certifiable moment waiting to happen.
I shook my head, telling myself it was ridiculous.
The fear was ridiculous. I did nothing wrong.
I showed up for work. On time, I might add, as any good Soul Management Bureau employee would.
It was the others who hadn’t. And maybe they had their reasons.
I mean, finding a beloved was a big deal.
I took a couple of steps out of my cubicle when I realized I had no idea where the supply closet was on this floor. I bit my lip and was just turning back to my cubicle when a woman appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. She definitely manifested right in front of me.
She was middle-aged, with shoulder-length hair styled to perfection. She gave me the sternest look I had ever seen. I once saw an old movie about a mental institution, and in it, there was a nurse. The residents of the institution called her Nurse Ratched. This woman reminded me of her.
“Where are you going?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
“The supply closet.”
She drew her eyebrows together, and her lips tightened into a thin line.
I gestured toward my desk. “I just want to highlight some points in the job description so I don’t forget them. Maybe take notes. So I need a highlighter, a pen, and some paper.”
Her arms uncrossed, and she turned on her heels as though she were a soldier in the army. “I will show you where the supply closet is.”
I followed behind her, watching the straight line of her spine as she moved.
It was so rigid that it made me wonder what kind of being she was.
I wondered if she was even human. Demons usually weren’t so prim and proper.
They had an edge to them, as if they were always on the cusp of going rogue.
However, I’d never known one to do so. If she were on the cusp of destruction, it would be her spine that snapped.
“I am a vampire,” she blurted. “A very old one, past my prime. I don’t tolerate nonsense, so don’t start any.”
“You’ll get no nonsense from me, ma’am,” I said quickly. “I am a nonsense-free person.”
She glanced at me again, as if she were privy to my thoughts. Maybe she was. It was anyone’s guess. After all, I knew little about vampires. “I won’t suck your blood.”
“I wasn’t thinking that.” I totally was.
She met my gaze knowingly.
We left the main room and walked down a hall. At the first door on the right, she stopped. She opened it, flicked on the light, and gestured for me to go in.
When I entered, she shut the door behind me. It was a little strange for her to do so, since I would not be in there long. I expected her to wait outside the room, but I heard her heels click down the hall and then fade out of hearing.
The supply closet was just like any other in an office building.
It had a copy machine and gray metal shelves that were impossible to move by human standards.
Nothing about it would surprise anyone. Everything about the Bureau, including the closet, seemed normal.
On the up-and-up. Until you met a demon.
Or the god of death in all his perfection.
Then you understood that something was off.
The labels on the shelves seemed unnecessary. I could tell what a notebook was just by looking at it. The same went for the box of highlighters. Still, they made things easy to find, so I wasn’t complaining.
I had just opened the box of highlighters and grabbed a bright yellow one when the lights flickered. Then they went out entirely.
Top of Form
Bottom of Form