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Chapter2
The door to the broom closet I called an office slammed open, and I looked up to see Angela waving her laptop at me like I was supposed to know what that meant.
“Have you seen this bullshit?” She kicked the door shut behind her with enough force to shake the framed degrees hanging on the walls.
I eyed the electronics in her hand. “Um... Have I seen a Dell?”
“Not that. The department-wide email that just went out.”
“Uh... I’ve been in grading hell. The students are doing papers on the analysis between the electrical power generator and the mechanical generator and the effects on the atoms emitted.”
“I swear, I’m in the same department as you, and even I think you’re a nerd,” muttered Angela as she opened up her laptop and frantically hit a few keys. “Look at this bullshit.”
She handed me the computer, and I rolled my eyes as I looked at the congratulatory email that had been sent out.
And as my eyes took in the data in front of me, my breath caught in my throat and a ringing started in my ears. “I...” I shut the laptop and pushed it away from me, as though that would make the situation go away. “No,” I said, not caring whether I sounded like a petulant child. “This is some sort of mistake.”
“Fuck that. There’s no mistake. Grant stole your work.”
I shook my head. “No. He wouldn’t do that.” Even as I said it, I knew how wrong I was. Of course that was something Grant would do. He’d always stepped over anyone and everyone he could to get ahead in academia. I’d assumed I was different because...
Because I was a moron. When he’d asked for my advice regarding his latest research project, I’d been happy to help. I liked that he was recognizing my expertise. I liked that I was fostering relationships in the Physics Department of Kennyon University.
And now I was realizing just how idiotic I’d been.
“I don’t...” I leaned back and tried to collect my thoughts. “I mean, I thought he had his own project in the works. Why would he try to steal mine?”
“He didn’ttryshit. He outright stole it. And I’m guessing whatever he was working on didn’t go to plan.”
Obviously. And he must’ve been desperate to pull this.
There was recourse. I had documentation. Dates and records showing what I’d done. He couldn’t fight evidence like that.
But there was a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. He wouldn’t be so ballsy without a plan to back himself up.
“I have to go,” I muttered as I pushed my own computer shut. From there, I grabbed random piles of paper from the organized mess of my office. The results of some rare types of radiation on different particles had been groundbreaking. It was going to make my career. I’d held off on publishing because I was being thorough and wanted to replicate the results enough times to make my results rock-solid. Because access to the accelerator that generated the radiation was very limited, it had been a slow and arduous process.
Not that I had been in any hurry. Patience was a virtue in science. However, when it came to career ambition, apparently ruthlessness was the only virtue.
“Don’t do anything rash,” warned Angela as I pushed past her.
My breaths came in deep gulps and my heart beat out of control. I couldn’t breathe. My vision started to go blurry. I needed to get out of this claustrophobic office.
It usually felt like home away from home, but right now it just felt like a prison.
The walk through the physics department was a blur. For all I knew, the walls were literally closing in on me.
All of a sudden, I was pushing out the doors and the cool fall air of Upper New York wafted over me like a hug.
I struggled to pull off my pink cardigan while juggling my armful of papers. I allowed the chill to sink in. This was what I needed. A shock to my system to bring me back to earth.
I was still taking in deep gulps of air when I ran straight into a tree.
Well, it was so hard that I thought it was a tree. At least until the tree reached out and grabbed me before I fell flat on my ass. My papers scattered all around me as my eyes went up and up and up, until I met the deep gray eyes of the most beautiful being I’d ever seen.
At five foot seven, I’d never felt all that short before, but he towered over me. He had to be at least six and a half feet tall, and his muscles bulged against a black shirt embroidered with fine silver patterns. His long, black hair shone in the streetlights and it was only belatedly that I realized his ears were pointed.
Wait... pointed ears?I pulled back, and he studied me as I straightened my silk camisole, the chill now fully sinking in. Which was totally the reason that my nipples were hard, pressing against my top. Definitely not the oddly beautiful being in front of me.
