Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
Hailey
Chet shook his head. “No, you were much younger. Couldn’t have been more than four or five, I think. Your parents burned down the home of a fae couple, though we could never prove it.”
“Tiael and Erynan,” I whispered. I couldn’t even remember their faces anymore, but I recalled how they made me feel loved and wanted.
For years after they’d left, I tried to convince myself they were just a dream so it didn’t hurt so badly.
Eventually, I forgot their voices, faces, and the sensation of their kindness, but I always remembered their names.
Chet gave me a sad look. “Yes.”
“Are they… okay?” So much of my childhood was blank space as my mind tried to protect itself, but I could remember the terror of the day they left, the burning of their house, and the look of evil on my father’s face.
Nodding softly, Chet smiled. “They are. They live out past Northmoor. No neighbors.”
I huffed a choked laugh. “That’s good. If you speak to them, tell them I’m doing okay and that I got out.”
Fuck, I was going to cry on my first day of work.
Chet reached out, putting a finger under my chin until I was forced to look into his ancient eyes.
“I’ll tell them you’re doing better than okay.
You’ve flourished, Hailey Swoon, despite the darkness they tried to bury you beneath.
” I let out a shuddering breath, closing my eyes slowly.
Chet dropped his hand and stretched. “Okay, I’m out.
The rest of your team is in the parking garage, and this has been a long fucking shift. See you next week.”
He left like he hadn’t just poked the scabbed wounds of my past. My hands were shaking lightly, and I tried to stuff them in my pockets, but this dress didn’t have any. “So, an incredible first day impression, right?”
Louis hugged me against his side again. “Eventful at least. Are you okay?”
The elevator opened, revealing the other two members of team one. Syke was frowning, and Ilyas sniffed the air, his eyes on my face. “What happened?”
I sniffed, and I realized I was crying. I blinked rapidly and pasted a smile on my face.
“Nothing. Just some cops asking about a guy from the diner.” I shot a quick look at Syke.
“And then your coworker reminded me of some old friends.” I chewed my lip compulsively until I tasted a hint of blood.
“I probably owe you all an explanation about my past.”
Syke crossed his arms over his chest. “You don’t owe anyone anything, Hailey.”
My head tilted as I studied the demon. There were no questions in his gaze, no intrigue at what I could be hiding. He knew! “How?”
Syke rolled his eyes. “I’m a demon, and you’re a human. Your mind is basically laid out there for my viewing pleasure. It is harder for me not to flick through your memories and thoughts than it is to accept all the thoughts you’re throwing out all the time. Being a human must be exhausting.”
I flushed, because if I was understanding him correctly… “You can hear all my thoughts? Read all my memories? Everything?”
He smirked, raising an eyebrow. “Everything. Your emotions too.” The expression on his face told me he’d read every single dirty thought I’d had about the members of his team, but more than that, he’d seen every bad memory, every negative thought, and every moment of self-doubt.
He didn’t try to appease me or soothe my embarrassment or hurt feelings, because at the end of the day, he was a demon—a super hot, brooding demon whom I’d like to see naked.
Maybe I should see just how potent his ESP abilities were. I sent him an image of him in nothing but a collar, naked and kneeling at my feet. He let out a grunt and gave me a burning look.
“Careful, little human. Wishes can come true.”
My whole body flushed, and I did my best to blank my thoughts. Otis grumbled beside me. “That’s enough. It’s time to work. I’ll show Hailey how the switchboard operates while you guys start going through the case notes.”
The workday began. Louis gave me one more squeeze and then bounded off toward his desk in the corner. I let out a shaky breath and walked toward the central desk. It had a big computer and several phones, along with a headset hooked over the computer monitor.
“So this is the main switchboard. If several calls come in at once, and you’re already on a call, it will bounce to the other phones in the office, and if they don’t answer, it will go to team two’s on-call cellphone.
” Pulling out the office chair, he held it for me.
I sat down and looked at the area that would be my domain for the foreseeable future.
I looked up at Otis. “Given what you heard, you don’t…
worry?” If he had even a modicum of doubt about my intentions or that I was somehow a sleeper agent for the preservers of humanity movement, I wouldn’t blame him for firing me before I’d even started.
He had a duty to the creatures of Central Valley.
Otis stared down at me, his big, dark eyes unwavering as they held my own.
“I don’t need to be a demon to know that you’re pure of heart, Hailey.
Your kindness shines from you like a beacon.
You are perfect for this role because of your history, not despite it.
If you ever want to talk about your past, I’m here to listen.
” He placed a large, reassuring hand on my shoulder, and I let out the breath I’d been holding so tightly it burned inside my lungs.
I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “Thanks, Otis.”
He pulled up another chair, completely dwarfing it. “So this is our reporting framework…”
My mind whirled, but by the end of the day, I felt a little more confident. “Do you happen to know the crossroads closest to the drain where you heard the noise, sir?”
“Uh, yeah. Near the strip mall off 52nd and Rhine St,” the caller responded.
“And you couldn’t see anything that could make the noise?”
“No, ma’am. It was down the drain, it just sounded like it was in pain. I thought it might have been a raccoon, but it sounded too… human, maybe?”
“You made the right decision, Mr. Calloway. We’ll send someone out to make sure there is no creature or animal down there that needs assistance.
If I could just take some details, I can let you continue with your day,” I told him softly.
I filled out the fields on the software and finally hung up, then I looked over at Otis. He lifted his chin encouragingly.
“Reports of a possible creature in distress down a storm drain outside the strip mall around the intersection of 52nd and Rhine. He said it was a low-pitched wail, and there is a local crodillo settlement in the drains around that area.” Crodillo were small, mostly sentient creatures that lived in large family units and ate sludge.
They were sweet and unproblematic, and since they’d emerged, they’d been paid by the sanitation department to keep the city’s drains in good working order.
“I’ll call the city sanitation department to see if there were any workers sent out that way today and the exact work location. ”
Otis’s eyes were filled with approval. “Well done, Hailey.” He stood and whistled.
“We got a call out. Louis, Ilyas, with me. Syke, you stay here and support Hailey. We should be back before the end of your shift, but if you have any problems or any more call outs, our numbers are right there on the board.”
I nodded, and then they rolled out. Louis winked at me, and I flushed. He was so fucking handsome, it should be illegal.
Syke cleared his throat as he leaned on the desk and tapped his temple. I flushed and waved at him. “Oh please, like you don’t know he’s fine as fuck. I’m only a human, and he’s… him.” All hard, lean muscles and golden skin, and hair that I wanted to sink my fingers into.
“Stop it before I get a very inconvenient hard-on,” Syke grumbled, but he was teasing.
Another call came through, but thankfully it was just an information request that I could handle with a little help from Syke. Still, it took nearly twenty minutes to get the woman off the phone.
“Well done, little human,” Syke teased. I could see the mirth dancing across his face. “I heard you got a visit from the cops today.”
My shoulders tensed. “Yeah.”
“I heard you held it together even though that prick Nextra tried to bait you.”
I shrugged. “Can’t bait me if there’s nothing to tell.”
He grinned at me, and it was pure demon. It made my heart race like I should run away or get naked or something. “Good girl.”
Fuck.
I was saved by the elevator doors opening and Eric stepping out.
He looked handsome in his three-piece suit with his briefcase held loosely in his hand and a potted plant in the other.
He eyed the demon and then the flush on my cheeks.
His eyes were full of questions, but he didn’t verbalize any of them.
Walking over, he kissed me softly. He tasted like strawberry gum and happiness. “A gift for your new desk.” He gave me the snake plant, and I cooed over it, placing it at the end of the desk beside the lamp. “How was your first day?” he asked, his hand still loosely wrapped around my fingers.
Grimacing a little, I shrugged. “It started a little rough, but I think I got the hang of the basics.” I packed up all my stuff and shoved it in my tote. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Syke, or do you want me to wait until the team gets back?”
“No point in us both being stuck here.” The demon nodded toward the elevator, his eyes bouncing between us. “Get home safely.”
The guys worked five days on, five days off, but during their shifts, they lived on site, sleeping in shifts. I’d come in every day at eight and leave every day at five. I was so damn lucky.
Eric took my tote and put it over his shoulder. “Come on, let’s go home.”
I waved at Syke, but I felt his eyes on my back until the elevator doors closed behind me.