Chapter Thirteen
Ossy
Waiting for Cael in the lobby meant sitting on a couch with my head in my hands. Every second that ticked by made me antsy. The urgency to find Phin ate at me.
The surprising thing was that Donn wasn’t making a move toward me. He knew I was there and why. Maybe sitting in the lobby was confusing him.
Cael appeared suddenly, teleporting three feet in front of me. It was stupid because now Donn would know Cael was there, too. Cael was more fearless than the rest of us.
I breathed a sigh of relief. “How the fuck can you help more than Grym can?”
“It’s nice to see you, too, Ossy.” I hadn’t seen him since we all gathered in Hollowbrook.
“I’ve got seven million problems and no solutions. First problem: I know where Phin is, but it’s impossible to reach him.”
Cael forced a smile. “Nothing is impossible.”
I rolled my eyes. “He’s on Donn’s floor, man.”
Cael lost his smirk. “That is a problem. It seems Donn is keeping Phin close. Smart boy.” He muttered the last part to himself. I didn’t miss the term he’d used to describe Donn, but my focus was on getting to Phin. I made a mental note to ask Cael about it later.
“What should we do?”
Cael shrugged. “Take the elevator to the top floor. I’ll distract Donn while you get Phin.”
It sounded like a solid plan, except that Donn was the god of death and could send us to Tech Duinn at any moment. That he hadn’t done so yet was a blessing in disguise. And a little suspect, all at once.
So that was exactly what we did. The elevator ride was the longest of my life. Also, I’d been inside the thing more in the last hour than I had on any single day while I worked for the Bureau.
As soon as we stepped onto the top floor, the light flickered and then went out entirely. I grabbed my phone and turned on the flashlight. The heat in the room rose.
Donn was angry.
Cael led the way, his long strides eating up the distance from one end of the hallway to the other. His jaw muscles twitched, and he mumbled something under his breath. It sounded like he said, “Impossible little god.”
The shadows grew closer, closing in on us. It wouldn’t be long before Donn appeared. When he did, what would Cael call him then? Little god or boy?
Perhaps I wasn’t the only one involved in an office romance.
I switched off the flashlight on my phone, letting my eyes adjust to the dark. It didn’t take long before I noticed a door to my left.
I reached for the handle and turned it. Before stepping inside, I touched Cael’s shoulder to get his attention. “This way.”
“Donnie and his fucking need to control everything,” Cael muttered under his breath. He seemed to do that a lot whenever he talked about Donn.
We slipped into the room, and I gently closed the door behind us.
“Who’s there?” I recognized Phin’s voice at once.
Of all the places to find him, it was the supply closet. I’d find it funny if I weren’t so relieved. I had to hold back the tears that threatened to spill. Thank the gods, he was okay. “It’s me, baby.”
I took a step toward him, then remembered I was still holding my phone, so I turned the flashlight back on.
Phin’s eyes were wide, and he looked pale. I’d never seen him scared before, and I didn’t like it. “Ossy? Oh my God. You really are here.”
“I really am, baby.” I wrapped my arms around him. It felt like it had been forever since I’d been able to hold him. I never wanted to let him go ever again. “I’m glad you’re safe.”
He sagged against me, his arms wrapping around my neck, holding me almost as tightly as I held him. He rested his head on my chest, and we stayed that way for several long seconds.
It wasn’t until the door opened and then closed again that the moment broke. Cael had left the room.
“Who’s in here with us?” Phin asked.
“That was Cael. He came to help me find you.”
“They moved me into an executive assistant position.” Under normal circumstances, that would be a cause for celebration. It was technically a promotion, but all it brought was fear.
“Donn told me about beloveds.” Phin averted his gaze just before he stepped out of my arms. “I’m glad you found yours.”
I smiled even though Phin’s body language seemed off. “I am, too.”
I cupped his cheek, but he pulled away. Tension hung between us. I wasn’t sure of its cause.
I was about to ask him about it when Cael started yelling in the hall. The closed door muffled the sound, but it was still audible. “You were the first beloved! And you turned your back on me!”
I sucked in a breath. I hadn’t realized Cael and Donn shared a connection. There was a story there, one of rejection. That had to be heartbreaking for Cael. Poor guy. And for him to come help me save Phin, knowing he might have to face Donn. It made me see Cael differently.
I understood why Donn would find beloveds problematic. Already, the system that held together life and death was crumbling under the weight of the beloveds. It was changing the living realm. I could only guess what it was doing to the afterlife.
No one really knew what was happening on the other side, except maybe Donn and the souls there.
In the living realm, souls were gathering.
News stories about ghost sightings outnumbered those about the president.
Everything was changing, and I wasn’t sure what it meant for our future.
All I knew was that I had Phin close to me for the first time in what felt like forever, and I wasn’t about to let him out of my sight again.
The lights flickered, then came on. I turned off my phone’s flashlight.
Then the shelves shook.
Phin squeaked, stepping closer to me.
I wrapped my arms around him again and held him tight. “I’ve got you, baby.”
More yelling echoed down the hall, and then the lights went out again. Everything fell silent.
Phin pulled out of my arms. He scanned the room, including the ceiling, as if he expected it to crumble around us.
We needed to get out of there.
“Peek into the hall,” I whispered into his ear.
I held him around the waist as he made his way to the door, easing it open without making a sound. He opened it a centimeter at a time. He peeked through the crack, then moved his head away so I could lean over him and see what was happening, too.
I pressed against him. He’d always felt right in my arms. I should have known he was my beloved.
What I didn’t understand was how Donn had kept it from me, even when we weren’t in the building.
It seemed Elliot truly was the catalyst that changed everything, including the recognition that came with beloveds.
Donn stood with his back to us.
Cael wrapped his arms around him. He made a face when he spotted us, then gestured for us to leave.
Phin eased the door open a little more, slowly and quietly, to avoid alerting Donn.
Donn buried his face in Cael’s chest. “Beloveds are immortal, Cael. They can walk between realms. Don’t you see? This is going to collapse the system. I don’t know how to hold the pieces together. Beloveds are the problem.”
“You’re a beloved, love.” There were no straightforward answers, and Cael knew it. Hell, we all did. But no one wanted to give up their beloved, either, Cael included. He just didn’t have any other choice.
Their voices faded as we slipped into the hallway, moving as quickly as we could without attracting attention.
We turned the corner toward the elevator and ran straight into a demon.
She looked hurried and slightly annoyed, carrying a bag labeled Mail.
With the lights flickering on and off, the building shaking, and the darkness cutting in and out, it probably wasn’t making her job any easier.
Of all the jobs in the building, hers was the most time-sensitive.
It seemed she knew what her job was, and it wasn’t catching reapers.
All she did was nod in acknowledgment and move down the hall at a hurried pace.
I grabbed Phin’s hand and pulled Phin toward the door marked Stairs. The stairwell was concrete. The corridors were bare except for the exit signs above each floor’s door. I could see all the way down to the bottom. Good thing I wasn’t afraid of heights.
Shadows were moving below us. We didn’t go all the way down, but we made it three floors before I pulled Phin onto another floor. We ended up in another closet.