Morgan nodded and didn’t bother to correct her mother’s assumption. Instead, she made a beeline for the GreenField exhibit booth.
They had gotten their reservation much earlier, most likely without having to eliminate someone to do so. Unfortunately for them, that meant they had a more reasonably priced placement closer to the back of the grid of aisles—nowhere near as choice a spot as Zabloom’s. That alone must have Hawk grinding his teeth, Morgan was sure.
They beat her on creativity, though. The entire booth had been designed to look like a Balinese wellness retreat, complete with miniature fountain and potted palms. An easel held a tasteful sign reminding everyone of the free yoga class they would be hosting in their booth the next morning at 7:30am and the Reiki workshop at 4:30pm. Perhaps she had been wrong about people wanting Reiki sessions, but she hoped they’d hired someone more qualified than Hayley.
Fortunately, Hawk was in the booth, having a tense but quiet conversation with another GreenField team member. She’d never seen the man in person before, but she recognized him from the endless LinkedIn posts. If they hadn’t been on rival sides, she was pretty sure Ronaldo would have idolized him. He liked to do marketing pep talks while casually leaning on his BMW.
He caught sight of her and sent his coworker off, looking slightly bewildered.
“I suppose you think you’re very clever, Blackwater-McKey,” he said coldly.
30
Hawk already had her off-balance—how did he know her name? She didn’t post marketing pep talks while leaning casually on her BMW, mostly because she didn’t have a BMW but also because she didn’t post marketing pep talks.
Some of her confusion must have communicated itself, because he rolled his eyes. “Oh, come on, I have LinkedIn Pro. I can see that you’ve checked out my profile twelve times in the last week, and you’ve got your name and company right there on your badge.”
She flushed.
“And you’re the acting Head of Marketing? What are you, twelve?” he scoffed. “I don’t know why my guys are running scared of you.”
No way was she going to take that from this asshole, even if he did have an MBA and better hair than she did. She was so tired of people condescending to her, even when she deserved it.
“Maybe because they know they’re on enemy turf,” she shot back. “Your guys ready for war?”
He paused, clearly evaluating.
She cursed the business community’s obsession with using military jargon and tried to be clearer without outright accusing him of summoning demons. If she pushed it too far, he’d declare that she was mentally unstable, and she was not looking to start that kind of scene. “Your, shall we say,consultantsdidn’t tell you that part, did they? That they’re operating in someone else’s sales territory. And that that comes with consequences.”
For a moment, he looked shaken, but he recovered quickly enough. “What, you’re telling me you’re the expert on this? I don’t buy it, kiddo. Go home to your dollies, this is too dangerous for you.”
“If it’s so dangerous, why did you give the files to Tim?” she challenged. “Didn’t care for your old roommate?”
“Give?” His eyebrows shot up. “That asshole stole files I paid good money for. I thought he was looking for a pep talk, and the sad sack fricking jumps on my laptop and sends himself my files. If I knew a court that could handle this stuff, I’d sue him for corporate espionage.”
Stolen? She hadn’t thought Tim had had it in him. She simultaneously had more and less respect for the guy. But that wasn’t the issue here. She had to get Hawk summoning. Please, please could he take the bait? “Well, now you’ve met your match. Unless you’re going to stop trying to keep up? Or did you just miss our pivot? Hope you’ve got a manufacturing facility lined up to crank out the consumer appliances.”
Hawk narrowed his eyes but didn’t seem confused. Then again, if he’d been sitting near an aisle like a sensible person, he could have easily watched his competitor’s presentation and made it back to the booth well before Morgan had gotten here. “Brad is a blowhard. We play smart. I see what you’retrying to do with your little soul-buying scheme. We’ll see how long that lasts. You want war? Bring it, honey.”
She felt a rush of relief. That sounded a lot like a man about to call his benefactors. She hoped it wasn’t too late.
Hawk stalked off toward the private conference rooms that were hidden beyond the main exhibitor hall. While the front two-thirds of the big open space held a dense grid of companies’ exhibition booths, the back had some sad folding tables and a warren of rentable temporary meeting rooms. It was a maze made of movable walls with cheap furniture in each little room. The walls were maybe eight feet high; three walls were shared with the neighboring booth and the fourth had a flimsy door to the aisle. No roof. The tops opened to the convention hall ceiling far above. She couldn’t imagine they were particularly soundproofed, but everyone tried really hard to pretend that they weren’t listening to each other’s sales pitches. She looked up which booth was rented by GreenField UnLtd. and called her mother.
“Pretty sure we’re going to have our demon-summoning in conference booth S-16 any minute now,” she reported.
“That’s great, honey, we’re on our way.” Morgan couldn’t help but notice her mother used the same endearment as Hawk had. “But pumpkin, this is important—if you see a man in a full-length gray coat, kind of shiny blond hair, I need you to stay away from him, OK? I know you can’t see the angelic resonances, so try to avoid anyone who looks like that. Even better, get out of the convention altogether. Your part is done.”
“Mother, I am literally at work right now, I can’t just—”
But she was talking to a dead line.
Should she go back to the Zabloom exhibit boothlike Kelly would expect, or try to catch the last of the programming to make sure nothing else went weird with Brad, or go get in view of the GreenField conference room so she could be sure that the Council mages were suitably occupied and not going after Lucareoth? She had to know, she realized. Even if her part was done, she’d never get the full truth from her mother unless she was there.
There was an extra wide aisle marked by cheap blue carpet at the end of the last exhibit booths, with a demilitarized zone of bare concrete before the conference room warren began. She poked at the display iPad at one of the unlucky exhibit booths stuck at the back, where she could get a good view of the conference room she thought Hawk had disappeared into. A hopeful salesperson tried to strike up a conversation with her. She tried to demur, thoroughly failed to shake him, and ended up listening to the pitch, nodding vaguely while she stared over his shoulder and trying not to fret too obviously.
Fiona was drifting slowly in the direction of the conference room Morgan had indicated, her eyes on her phone for cover. Steve was coming up the back, checking each room as he went.
The hair on the back of her neck suddenly rose and her teeth itched. It was the same sensation as when Tim had first summoned Lucareoth. There was a flash of light from the top of one of the conference rooms.
