Chapter 12
Chapter
Twelve
My feet squelched, making fart noises in my fancy shoes as I power-walked back to the office. There was nothing I could do about it, though. I’d wrung out my skirt and jacket as best as I could. The fabric of my shirt still clung to me.
“Chosen,” Donovan murmured from beside me. “You do not have to go back to your place of employment.”
I swallowed roughly, a sickening fear churning in my gut. “Yes, I do, Donovan. You don’t understand. I’m so late. I’m so late.” My hands shook. I was going to get fired. “Please… just let me be.”
“As you wish.” He drifted back behind me.
God, I was tired, bone tired, exhausted, and absolutely sick to my stomach. Only five minutes ago, I popped back to reality in the bathroom at the Karaoke Cove, panting in fear and absolutely soaked from head to toe.
My phone was dead. And I had no idea how long I’d been out for.
The whole thing had obviously been the wildest hallucination—the worst one I’d ever had.
But this part—the aftermath—was like a nightmare, one of those recurring dreams where you’re late for something important, a flight, or an important client meeting, but your phone isn’t working, the calls won’t connect, you can’t find the right contact in your contact list to ask for help…
I raced down the block, arms pumping, heading for my office, and saw the digital clock outside the bank flash the time in big red numbers. Five-oh-nine.
Oh, no. No no no.
I’d been gone for almost five hours. I disappeared at lunchtime and hadn’t gone back. The workday was already over.
I was going to get fired.
No job, no money. No money, no apartment. No apartment, I was homeless, living on the streets, trying to survive in shelters…
No. I had to get back to the office and put things right. Everyone else would have gone home, but Yvette would still be there. She was putting in extra hours to smooth the transfer from her Department Manager role to Executive. I had to find her, I had to explain—
What? What the hell was I going to tell her? That I’d lost my mind in the ladies at a scummy basement karaoke bar, blacked out, and splashed around on the wet floor like a dying fish for five hours?
I had to try. I had to try something. Panting, I rushed into the lobby of the building, dodging the last of the office workers pouring out of the elevators, skidding on the smooth black marble floor.
I slapped my security pass on the reader, waving at Luis as he called out to me from the desk.
“Susan! Hey, Susan, Wait! You have to sign—”
“Sorry, Luis, I have to run!” I bolted for the elevators, hit the button for my floor, and tapped my foot impatiently as we rose upwards.
Emptiness surrounded me. Even Donovan and Cress had abandoned me. I couldn’t feel them next to me. I was alone.
The doors dinged and slid open. The floor was in almost complete darkness—there, Yvette’s light was still on in the corner fishbowl office, right on the other side of the floor. I could see her sharp salt-and-pepper bob bent over her laptop.
I hurried over, dread sinking into the pit of my stomach. How was I going to explain myself?
A tall, black-suited figure stepped out of the meeting room on my left suddenly, blocking my path, looming over me. “Well, well, well.”
I stopped. My breath left my lungs in a defeated sigh. “Richie.”
He chuckled. “You took a very long lunch, Susan Moore,” he gloated. “Spectacular timing, don’t you think?”
I clenched my jaw. “Richie—”
“Your prolonged absence was noted, you know.” He smirked and put his hand on the wall, leaning against it casually, still blocking my path.
“Yvette’s been trying to get hold of you all afternoon.
She’s pissed that you aren’t answering your phone.
She even did a couple of loops of the office, looking for you.
” He laughed again, shaking his head. “To think I went to all that trouble digging up dirt on you, and you’ve gone and sabotaged yourself, anyway.
I shouldn’t have bothered. Of course an unstable old cow like you wouldn’t be able to hold down a job for very long.
” He let out a bark of laughter. “To think I once considered you a threat to my career.”
My ears began to ring. Panic was starting to overwhelm me. Breathe, Susan. Breathe. Don’t let your anger explode…
“In any case, I’m still going to let her know everything about you. Just in case she feels sorry for you and decides to keep you around after this little disappearing act this afternoon. She needs to know what you’re capable of. You’re a liability, Susan.”
My chest felt so tight; suddenly, I couldn’t breathe. “Don’t do this,” I whispered, panting softly.
“It’s already done, sweetheart,” Richie replied, eyes glinting. “I’m on my way to talk to Yvette now.”
“Don’t…”
“You know, you should have played nice months ago,” he said, wagging his finger. “This is what you get when you go up against the big guns, baby.”
This wasn’t happening. This couldn’t be happening.
Richie put his finger on his lip, pretending to think.
“I’ll tell you what. I’m a nice guy. I can cut you a deal.
How about you do what I asked you to do on the day you started here, and I might think about keeping your little secret for you.
” He waved a hand towards the little meeting room. “In here. Nobody else has to know.”
My mouth dropped open; words refused to come out. “You— You—What?”
“You heard me.” Richie’s almost-black eyes roamed around my body lazily, lingering on my shirt, still clinging wetly to my skin. “Yvette might not fire you if I keep my mouth shut. And… If you keep playing nice, I’ll be a good boss to you when I’ve got her job.” He let out a soft chuckle. “Maybe.”
My pulse roared in my ears. Outside, a crack of thunder boomed. The thin carpet beneath my feet trembled slightly. Was that me?
“Come on, Susan. Don’t waste my time. I know you’re out of options, so you might as well give it up already.” He grinned widely. “Once you get over your pride, you’ll find it easy to get down on your knees for me.”
Breathe, Susan. Just breathe.
“Let’s get—” Richie glanced behind me, his eyes suddenly wide. “Hey. Who are you?”
A huge, dark figure stormed past me, brushing my shoulder. A low furious tone rumbled through the corridor like thunder.
“How dare you speak to her like that.” Donovan reached out and grabbed Richie by the throat with one huge hand.
Richie let out a strangled yelp. Donovan’s hand squeezed harder, and he shoved Richie backwards into the meeting room behind him.
Flailing wildly, Richie lost his balance, stumbling on his feet, but Donovan held him upright by the throat as if he weighed nothing. He threw Richie back against the meeting room wall, still holding him in the air, letting his cheap, shiny shoes dangle helplessly six inches above the ugly carpet.
“How dare you.” Donovan’s voice was filled with such fury, it shocked me out of my stupor.
“Donovan! Stop!” I raced into the meeting room, swinging the door shut behind me.
He didn’t stop. He held Richie up in the air by his throat, his dark emerald eyes almost burning into him. “You are a worthless snake,” he growled. “A revolting waste of matter. You do not deserve to even speak a word in her presence, slime.”
Richie’s face rapidly changed from white to purple. His weedy arms flailed around uselessly, smacking at Donovan’s bare muscular forearms. Good grief, the power in those arms, the insane strength…
Richie might as well be trying to fight a statue made of stone. Donovan’s grip didn’t even falter. Richie spluttered, a dribble of spit escaping his lips and dribbling down his chin.
Donovan was choking him to death. He didn’t look like he was going to stop. I licked my lips. “Donovan!”
My imaginary fae prince leaned closer, staring at Richie’s trembling face.
“Listen to me carefully, scum. From this day forth, you will never look directly at the woman you call Susan Moore. You will not make eye contact. You will never seek to sully her name by even uttering it with your diseased tongue.” He bit the words out with effort.
“Do you hear me, you worthless sewer rat?”
Richie’s eyes bulged. He choked out a gurgle.
“Please let him go,” I whispered. My whole body felt numb. Was this real? Because if this was real…
Donovan’s fingers twitched and relaxed just a fraction. Color surged back into Richie’s cheeks as he choked for air.
Slowly, Donovan turned to face me. The fury in his eyes had died down, just a fraction, but it still simmered just beneath the surface. “I will not kill him, Chosen. Not today, anyway.”
Richie let out a moan of terror. I caught an unpleasant whiff of what smelled like the subway after dark, and I realized that he’d peed his pants.
Donovan frowned, looking at the dark stain spreading on Richie’s crotch. “Allow me a moment to speak with this disgusting wretch in private, Chosen,” he said quietly. “Cress is waiting for you in your employer’s office now. Go and join her.”
My whole world was collapsing around me. No… my whole world was exploding.
“Please,” Donovan added, his voice dropping a whole octave lower, vibrating through me, shaking me to the core. “Go.”
I mouthed like a goldfish, nodded, then walked stiffly out of the room, then carefully shut the door behind me.
What the fuck? What the actual fuck?
Numb, almost robot-like, I walked down the corridor and around the corner, heading towards the light in Yvette’s office. She was there, at her desk, brow furrowed, nodding seriously at a large police officer sitting in the chair in front of her.
Without thinking, I walked straight in.
“Susan! Oh, thank goodness, Susan!” Yvette leapt to her feet and rushed around her desk towards me, her sharp silver bob swinging with her swift, bird-like movements.
Yvette was ten years older than me, thin, wiry, and very quick-witted.
“I’ve been so worried.” She stopped just in front of me, her dark brows pinched together in concern.
“When you didn’t come back from lunch, I knew something terrible had happened. ” She tilted her head. “Are you okay?”
I opened my mouth. “I— I—”
“It’s okay,” she said, taking my hand gently. “You must be very rattled. The officer here filled me in on what happened.”
I glanced at the police officer and blinked. My vision had gone funny. He was a little blurry. And… glowing. A green glow, like an aura, blazed around his body.
“Okay,” I managed.
“You're an extraordinarily brave woman, Susan,” Yvette went on, her voice soft. “I don’t know what I’d do if I walked into an active hostage situation. The police officer said you distracted the villain, saved the jewels, pulled the fire alarm, and got everyone out safely.”
She was waiting for a response.
“Uh. Yes, that’s right,” I said.
“You’re so brave. Oh, and my dear,” she sighed. “You’re still soaking wet!”
This was real. This was all real. I had to say something. Say something, Susan! I licked my lips. “I’m sorry, Yvette. My… uh… my phone. It died. I couldn’t call you.”
She reached out and squeezed my hand. “Of course it did. The officer said that the sprinkler system flooded everything.”
The officer stood up. I glanced at him again, but the strange green blaze hurt my eyes. “She was very brave, but quite foolish,” the officer barked. “She insisted on coming back to work as soon as we could clear the scene.”
Yvette glanced at the officer sharply. “Susan is not foolish, officer; she is merely dedicated to her work.” She turned back to me and smiled. “It’s an admirable trait. I would have come back to work, too.”
“Indeed,” the officer rasped. The green glow shifted, and I caught a glimpse of Cress’s slim form in the middle of a rounder cop’s body. “If only she could devote her time to a more worthy cause.”
My boss glared at the officer again. “Susan is to be commended for her bravery, and for her commitment in coming back to work.”
The officer eyeballed Yvette, his face a stony mask. “If you say so.”
Yvette turned back to me. “My dear, I’m just glad you’re okay. Go home, rest up.” She tilted her head. “Will you need a few days off work?”
I swallowed and gathered myself up. This was real. “Oh… no, Yvette. Thank you so much.” I managed a smile. “I’ll be back in the morning, bright and early. I promise.”
“Good.” She smiled. “Go home and rest.”
“I shall escort you,” the officer said, stomping to my side.
“Thank you.” I turned and walked out of the office.