I walked out of the lobby and headed down the block before calling Grym. He’d always been the father of us all, in a way. The brother who was there whenever I needed him.
It rang three times before he answered. “Ossy, what’s happening? I can’t help you right now.” He sounded out of breath.
“What are you doing?” I didn’t know why I asked. I didn’t have time for small talk, and my nerves were on edge. Everything in me screamed to find Phin, fast. Yet part of me welcomed the reprieve from the situation.
“I don’t think you really want to know what I’m doing.”
“I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t want to know.” I had my suspicions, and Grym was right. I didn’t want to know. I was happy for them. Really, I was, but I didn’t need to hear about their sexcapades. “Never mind.”
“What’s up, Os?”
“I don’t know if I can trust Ezul, but I need someone who can walk between realms, like a beloved.”
“Or the son of a god,” Grym muttered, as if to himself. “Cael will be there in a few minutes.”
We hung up, leaving me wondering how Cael could help. He seemed just as useless as I was without being able to teleport. But there were things about him that felt off. Mysterious. I knew I didn’t know everything. And given what I told Grym I needed, it was clear he thought Cael could walk between realms. Did that make him a god? Or the son of one, as Grym had said?
As I turned to go back inside, I nearly ran into Hale. We were still far enough from the building that I noticed something about him I hadn’t noticed before. He was a beloved.
“You need to come with me.” Teleporting might be against the rules and stupid, but Hale needed to be on the farm, where he was safe.
Hale nodded as if he’d known all along which side he wanted to be on. He didn’t even question me.
I wrapped my arms around him. We were on the farm in minutes, but I left him in the kitchen with Tan and Joel. I didn’t have time to ask about the hellhound leaning against the counter. It seemed we were picking up strays left and right. The more, the merrier, I guess.
As soon as I reentered the Bureau, I could feel Donn’s eyes on me. If he hadn’t been aware of my presence in the building before, he was now.
Chapter Twelve
Phin
Now that Donn had scared me to death—pun intended—I could, maybe, possibly get on with my workday. It was already late morning by the time I remembered I needed a highlighter for the job description book. It was much larger than most other descriptions.
My hands shook, and my heart felt ready to explode out of my chest and run for the nearest exit, which, in the realm of a god, could be anywhere, since gods moved things like exits with nothing more than a thought.
When I stood from my chair and stepped out of my cubicle, I felt as though a thousand eyes were on me, even though I couldn’t see anyone else. It almost felt like the apocalypse, or the quiet before a big storm blew in. No sneezes, no coughs. No one spoke, and the tapping of keys had stopped. But someone watched me. Maybe Donn. Maybe the shadows that were always lurking about the room.
I didn’t know if they were judging or wondering when Donn would send me to Tech Duinn.
This whole day felt like one big certifiable moment waiting to happen. I shook my head, telling myself it was ridiculous. The fear was ridiculous. I did nothing wrong. I showed up for work. On time, I might add, as any good Soul Management Bureau employee would. It was the others who hadn’t. And maybe they had their reasons. I mean, finding a beloved was a big deal.
I took a couple of steps out of my cubicle when I realized I had no idea where the supply closet was on this floor. I bit my lip and was just turning back to my cubicle when a woman appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. She definitely manifested right in front of me.
She was middle-aged, with shoulder-length hair styled to perfection. She gave me the sternest look I had ever seen. I once saw an old movie about a mental institution, and in it, there was a nurse. The residents of the institution called her Nurse Ratched. This woman reminded me of her.
“Where are you going?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
“The supply closet.”
She drew her eyebrows together, and her lips tightened into a thin line.
I gestured toward my desk. “I just want to highlight some points in the job description so I don’t forget them. Maybe take notes. So I need a highlighter, a pen, and some paper.”
Her arms uncrossed, and she turned on her heels as though she were a soldier in the army. “I will show you where the supply closet is.”
I followed behind her, watching the straight line of her spine as she moved. It was so rigid that it made me wonder what kind of being she was. I wondered if she was even human. Demons usually weren’t so prim and proper. They had an edge to them, as if they were always on the cusp of going rogue. However, I’dnever known one to do so. If she were on the cusp of destruction, it would be her spine that snapped.
“I am a vampire,” she blurted. “A very old one, past my prime. I don’t tolerate nonsense, so don’t start any.”
