Chapter 1
CHAPTER ONE
MATEO
The process of being accepted into the program was a lot faster than Mateo had expected.
He sent in the interest form that night, had a reply in his inbox by mid-morning the next day, and an offer to take one of the condo spaces by the end of the week.
Move-in day was set for the end of the following week, giving him enough time to pack and settle things with his landlord.
The packing part was easy, he didn’t own a lot since he could barely afford his housing and food.
It was the landlord that caused him issues.
The man wanted to charge him full rent for the rest of the contracted year, no exceptions.
Mateo had thought he’d need to back out of the program since he wasn’t comfortable arguing with the guy, but when he sent an email stating the troubles he was having, one of the Spellbound lawyers showed up at his desk at the end of the day and accompanied him home, having a very stern conversation with the landlord when Mateo was out of earshot.
Whatever he said, the landlord agreed to accept him breaking his lease with the caveat that he moved out that same day.
It worked for him since the move-in date was only a few days away and not having to pay rent that month meant he could afford a decent-ish hotel for a few days.
Not that the company allowed that. The lawyer, Isaac, refused to let him pay for it when the pilot program was company run.
He used a company card to pay for Mateo’s stay at a much nicer hotel than he’d planned on choosing.
In the end, Mateo was glad to finally reach move-in day if only to finally have a break from the rollercoaster this whole process had been. He figured once he settled, he’d be able to take a breath.
Packing up his stuff, he left the hotel on a Saturday morning, heading for the address sent to him in his email that would be his new home until he could finally afford a place of his own.
He wasn’t planning on staying there forever, only long enough to cover first and last month’s rent on a decent place and perhaps a little nest egg if he saved enough.
The email said there wouldn’t be any rent since it was a pilot program, and they were still working out the kinks.
That was one of the big reasons he signed the paperwork in the first place.
When he stopped outside of a fancy building in the middle of downtown, he glanced down at his phone to confirm he was at the right place.
He’d expected something mid-range, probably kind of boxy and plain since it was going to be corporate housing.
He didn’t expect a high-rise luxury condo complex with an actual doorman out front.
“Can I help you?” the doorman asked. He had a clipboard in his hand and a smart uniform that looked freshly pressed. He obviously cared about his job to put in that kind of effort. Which made Mateo question yet again if he was in the right place.
“Um… Maybe? I feel like I’m at the wrong place.”
Waving him closer, the doorman peered over Mateo’s shoulder at his phone when he tipped it in his direction. He straightened with a nod.
“Spellbound’s Residential Pilot Program, correct? You’re in the right place. Can I have your name?”
“Mateo Alvarez.”
He ran one finger down the list on his clipboard and tapped on it when he found Mateo’s name.
“Here you are.” He lifted his head and smiled kindly.
“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Alvarez. I’m Dominic, the building’s doorman.
I’ll be your main point of contact for any guest visits or deliveries.
There’s an intercom in your establishment where you can contact me directly, and you can feel free to use it at any time. ”
He gestured inside, holding the door open for Mateo to pass through, and walked him over to where the line of mailboxes were. The biggest was for the condo he’d be staying in and had a list of names already neatly printed on it for mail to be delivered.
“I’m having more boxes added if the program is a success, but for now it will all come to the same box. I hope that’s alright.”
Mateo didn’t see a problem with it. He didn’t get much in the way of physical mail anyway. If it were his email he was expected to share, he’d have more to say about it. “That’s fine.”
“Any food deliveries will need to be called in to my desk so I know they’re coming and can let them up,” Dominic continued, then cocked his head. “Do you have any questions?”
“Uh, no. Thank you.”
Dominic nodded, leading the way to the elevator and pressing the button to go up. “You’re very welcome. If you need anything at all, just let me know. And welcome to the building.”
Mateo was still shell shocked by just how fancy this place was when the elevator doors slid open to the floor he’d be living on.
He stepped out hesitantly, looking around, and noticed an open door not too far away.
Glancing at his phone again to confirm the condo number matched the numbers on the open door, he headed in that direction.
He’d just stepped into the condo when a voice spoke, bright and cheerful. “Ah! You must be one of the new tenants!”
The man, who had brown curly hair and an enigmatic smile, abandoned the conversation he’d been having with a couple movers and bounced over to him, offering him a hand to shake.
“I’m Taron. I’m the one running this pilot program.
I thought I should be here to make sure the move-in happened smoothly. ”
His introduction was way too casual for the co-founder of the company. He acted like he was just some random person in Supernatural Resources, not like his boss several times over.
“Mateo Alvarez,” he replied a little uneasily, shaking the man’s hand.
Taron’s head cocked, his eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “Mateo… You’re the cyber security guy, right? My son told me about you.”
Mateo’s brows drew together tightly. “Your… son?”
“Jonah Mills!” he replied cheerfully, then hesitated.
“Well, he’s mated now, so I guess his name is Moonfall...
I wonder if he changed his name yet. I’d kind of hoped he’d take my name after I adopted him, but I can’t begrudge him for taking his mate’s name either.
I probably would’ve done the same thing if it wouldn’t be such a pain in the ass to change all the paperwork.
No one warns you when you own your own company how locked in your name will be. ”
Mateo thought he’d heard Jonah mention being adopted by a supe, but he’d never mentioned who.
Probably so no one would assume he’d gotten his job through nepotism.
He’d seen Jonah work, he was good at what he did, but Mateo could admit that probably would’ve been his first thought if he’d shown up on his first day to find out the son of the company president was second-in-command in the cyber security team.
While Taron rambled on about name changes, and the discussion he’d been having with his mates about at least hyphenating, Mateo looked around the room.
The kitchen and living room were one grand room, with floor to ceiling windows taking up at least two walls and an amazing view of the city.
There was plenty of seating space in the living room, a massive TV on a stand in front of the windows, and plush carpeting on the floors.
It was a beautiful condo and probably cost more than Mateo would ever see in his entire life.
Which begged the question, why were they using such a nice place for this program?
“Since you’re the first to arrive, you get to pick your room,” Taron said, pulling Mateo’s focus back to the bouncy man as he led the way to the hallway lined with doors.
“We renovated the office and gym space into bedrooms as well so there was more room, and almost all of them have amazing views.” He shrugged apologetically when opening the door to the only room not against an outer wall.
“There was no way for this one to have windows without sacrificing privacy. It’s also the smallest but to make up for it, it’s got the best bathroom. ”
Startled, Mateo poked his head into the bedroom, seeing the open doorway to the bathroom off to the right. “Each room has its own bathroom? We don’t have to share?”
“Goddess, no,” Taron laughed. “That’d be complicated and probably really annoying. The three rooms already established had their own en suites so I just made sure the other two got the same thing when doing the renovations. I wanted it to be as fair as I could make it, you know?”
A huge weight lifted off Mateo’s chest, and he actually smiled at Taron in thanks. He was used to sharing a bathroom, and he hated every second of it. He was glad that he wouldn’t be expected to do that here. Maybe this place wouldn’t be so bad.
“I’ll take this one, if that’s alright.”
Taron frowned, looking over his shoulder at the other open doorways and then back at the room they were in. “Are you sure? Like I said, this one isn’t that big, and you’ve got other options–”
Before Mateo was forced to explain that he would rather take the smaller room and not have to share walls with anyone anymore, a deep, almost tentative voice called from the front door. “Hello?”
Taron spun around, calling back, “Coming! Just a second!”
He glanced back at Mateo, hesitating like he wasn’t sure if he should stay and finish the tour or go greet the newcomer. Mateo waved him away. “I’m okay here. I’ll just look around. You can go help them.”
Beaming at him, Taron nodded. “Alright, great. I’m going to be busy giving everyone tours and the like, but after everyone gets here, I’d like to do introductions, that kind of thing, so you at least know everyone’s names. For now, get comfortable and let me know if you need anything.”
He wandered away to greet the newest arrival, leaving Mateo to poke around his new room.
There was a small walk-in closet attached to the bathroom, and built-in shelves on the walls that probably housed books when the space was an office.
He didn’t have enough stuff to put on them, but he didn’t mind.
When he came back out of his room so he could start grabbing his boxes that had been delivered via a company courier, he noticed Taron giving the same spiel about the rooms to an orc who was at least a foot taller than Mateo, wearing a bowtie and a nervous smile on his face.
Taron bounced along happily, oblivious to the orc’s nerves, and disappeared into the biggest room off the living room with the orc following behind him.
“Excuse me,” an ethereal voice called, making him pause with a box in his hands. Mateo looked over his shoulder, taking in the tall, willowy figure standing just outside the door.
“Spellbound Residential Program?” Matteo asked when the newcomer hesitated to come inside.
The fae nodded.
Mateo tipped his head toward the bedroom where Taron had gone. “Our host is giving a tour right now. You can come in and wait for him. He’ll be out in a minute.”
The fae accepted the invitation, stepping into the room.
He was immediately bumped into by a guy even shorter than Mateo, who had food stains on his shirt and untied shoe laces.
He’d been looking behind him, trying to scuttle out of the way of the movers who had more boxes with a different name on the side, and bumped into the fae by accident.
“Whoops! Sorry!” he chirped, side-stepping and tripping over his own feet. The fae had to catch him and right him again, or he would’ve ended up on his face.
Mateo studied the duo in the doorway, and the orc who followed Taron out of the room they’d been looking in, and felt his stomach tighten a little.
This was… fine. It’d be fine. Just because they’d all be sharing a space didn’t mean it’d be horrible.
It couldn’t possibly be worse than the last place.
And it was only temporary. He could figure things out.