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“I need,” Tanya gritted out, her face red with anger as she leaned across the desk to stand the glass bottle back up, “you guys to leave.”
Another door in the room—this one by the elevators—opened, and Tanner walked out.
“What is he doing?” Tanya blurted. “What were you doing?” She glared at Tanner as she snatched up the stress ball, squeezing it tight.
Tanner shut the door. “Using the washroom.”
“That’s the maintenance room!”
Tanner glanced at the door he’d just shut. “It is?” Darien bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing.
Tanya, tiny but fierce, rounded the desk, stilettos tapping. “What were you doing in there?”
“I got lost.”
She crossed her arms, the coil of keys on the left jingling. “Tanner Atlas, one of the smartest people in Terra, can’t read a sign that very clearly says Maintenance Room?”
Silence.
Jack wheezed a laugh.
Tanya exploded. “That’s it! I’ve had it. You guys need to leave. Now!” She thrust an arm out, pointing at the elevators.
"Tanya,” Roman tried as he got off the phone.
“Don’t ‘Tanya’ me!” she shrieked. “This is where I draw the line. You all need to go, or you’re going to get me fired.”
“Tanya, just a sec—” Roman tried again.
“Out!” She waved her hands in a ‘shoo’ motion. “Now! Unless you want me to ban you—for life, Roman. Get out!”
Darien picked up on the faint whistling of sirens. Quickly, he crossed the room, bypassing a glaring Tanya, and looked out the wall of windows at the street far below.
Fire trucks and ambulances were speeding by. And in the distance, there was smoke, plumes as black as soot ballooning out toward the heavens.
Darien made for the elevators, boots pounding loudly on the polished floors. “Let’s go—now.”
The others hurried after him, asking questions he didn’t answer.
Tanya breathed a sigh of relief and muttered, “Finally.”
The elevator ride felt like it took a million years.
As soon as the doors opened, Darien sprinted through them, where he met Max, Malakai, Aspen, and Lace out front.
“We need to head to that fire,” Darien said.
“Which one?” Max asked. “And why?”
Shit. There was so much to fill each other in on, Darien had completely forgotten about his theory that Maya had something to do with these attacks.
Wait—Max had asked which one.
He scanned the area. The smoke was coming from two separate sides of the city—two different fires.
They would need to split up.
“The imperator’s men are turning up dead,” Darien said, the words rushing together. “And I think Elementals are behind it.”
