Right now, all I knew was that the mission was important and undercover. If the hours were going to go by faster, I was going to have to dive into work for real and forget about everything until the end of my shift.
So, that’s exactly what I did.
To my surprise,I took a lot more pleasure in doing my job—answering calls and arranging crews—than I had in a very long time. Just something about realizing that someone actually cared about this stuff made it look all the more important. I looked at my log sheet once more and smiled to myself.
Enchanted flowers in a flower shop just a few blocks down from us, probably done by a pixie. The flowers were apparently turning on one another, leaving their planters and eating each other raw. What a mess.
A lutin infestation.
A nightmare—ugly little creatures who broke into homes constantly, sat on people while they slept, and made them have nightmares so they could feed off their fears. According to our scouts, one of them had been making the rounds in a small neighborhood in the Bronx for the past four nights.
Vampires reported an incubi who had apparently gone to one of their clubs last night and had taken three human women to the toilets before leaving them inches away from death. Incubi were dangerous creatures, just like the succubi—their female counterpart. They strengthened their magic through sexual pleasure, and that was no joke. They could suck out your life energy completely, leaving you dead within minutes, right after giving you the orgasm of your life.
And another lutin fuckin’festation, the way Eva called them.
It was ten minutes to six when I made my way to the Chief’s office. I wasn’t tired—on the contrary. I was so excited I could run a marathon right now and get right back to work after.
But the closer to the office I got, the more I heard the sounds coming from inside it.
The Chief was furious if his shouts were anything to go by. And the other guy he was arguing with was even worse.
My heartbeat tripled by the time I was close enough to the door to make out the words, and I realized that the other shouting guy was none other than Dominic Dane.
Worse yet—they were talking about me.
“This is absurd. She has zero experience. Zero!” Dominic was saying.
“None of your damn business, Dane!” shot the Chief.
“Of course, it is! It’s everybody’s business. To send a pixie there is ridiculous. She’s weak. She’s tiny. She’s not going!” Dominic shouted.
My poor heart.
“It’s my decision and I’ve made it. Get the hell out, Dane. I’m exhausted already.”
“Fuck that, Chief. You’re gonna hear me out because you know I’m right. That girl is not fit for this mission. I’m pretty sure she’s never held a gun in her hands. All she does is take notes in that notebook of hers and washes everyone’s cups in the kitchen. I don’t care about your decision—change it. She’s not going.”
Shut up, shut up, shut up.
My eyes squeezed shut.
The asshole.
The bastard!
How dare he do this to me?
“Get out, Dane. Get the fuck out, now,” Chief said, no longer shouting, but he really sounded as exhausted as he said he was.
“We’ll talk about this again,” Dominic said, and I heard his footsteps coming closer to the door. I barely had a second to step back before it burst open, like he was looking to take it off the hinges completely.
When he saw me standing there, he froze. Words were at the tip of my tongue—I wanted to call him every name in the book, and the book of names people around here had was huge, as I’d learned the past two years. But for some reason I couldn’t bring myself to say them. I could only look at him as he stepped out of the office and closed the door behind him, teeth gritting so hard, I heard his jaw snap.
Could he see the tears in my eyes?
Damn them. Damn them to all hells.
“What have I ever done to you?” I asked, and my whisper broke, and I hated my own body so much right now it made me sick.