Here in New York, however...
Zari being a vampire's pet was bad enough. Most thought this no different from being a glorified slave, but that the girl's Master also happened to be one of the world's most notorious half-demons...
Something's gonna give, Middlemarch thought as he watched Zari walk away. It was just a matter of time, with the whole fucking thing like a ticking time bomb. Sooner or later, there'd be a day of reckoning, and once that happened...
Either Zari Baltimore had the smallest brain in the planet...or the biggest set of balls, for thinking she could single-handedly take on all of the city's demon-hating bigots.
UNAWARE OF BEING THE subject of Middlemarch's worries, Zari was busy warding off the onslaught of another headache as she headed for the French doors that opened directly to the stairwell. Here, the cathedral windows were tall, narrow and plain, its transparent panes allowing sunlight to filter through. But even with golden rays cascading down medieval tapestries and carpeted steps, its warmth just wasn't enough to dispel the cloud of melancholy that had chilled shivers running down her spine.
A mausoleum, Zari found herself thinking again. Once a mausoleum, always a mausoleum, and no amount of makeovers would change this.
It was a long and rather tedious climb all the way to the top, and Zari felt particularly proud to find herself still breathing normally by the time she finally made it to the seventh floor.
See, Master?
Eighty-four steps total, and she wasn't even panting.
Back when she was still studying in LSL, which was basically a training school for aspiring pets, her stamina had been a complete joke. Ten minutes into her weekly dancing class already had Zari wheezing, and what made it even more pathetic was how they had only been doing warm-ups at that time.
Now, however...
I've changed for the better, Zari couldn't help emphasizing in another attempt to tap into the blood bond she shared with her Master. I can even kick other people's butts without breaking a sweat. I'm stronger in every way there is, so please...
She closed her eyes.
Please come back.
And despite everything, Zari still found herself hoping and waiting for Alexandru to answer.
Found herself whispering one last time—-
Please.
She waited and waited, but only silence rose in response, and she eventually had to force herself to return to reality. She was already raising her hand even before opening her eyes, intending to knock on her boss' door—-
"Shit!"
Zari jumped back in shock and managed to pull her fist back in time. One second more, and she would have ended up knocking on his face, with its exceptionally handsome features and exceptionally irritating smirk.
"Sorry, Z," her boss drawled. "Didn't mean to surprise you."
"Yeah, right," Zari muttered. Micah might have angel's blood running through his veins, but his demeanor had always been more devilish than beatific. Looked it, too, with his blond locks tied back in a half-up pony, tattoos all over, and his penchant for leather jackets and ripped jeans.
The only thing marginally angelic about him was the blueness of his eyes, but considering how he was staring at her now...
She lifted her chin, not wanting her boss to think he had her under his spell for even a second. "You said you wanted to talk to me?"
"I do want that, along with many other things—-" Zari glowered, and her boss chuckled. "Alright—-" He held his hands up in mock surrender. "No more teasing, little Z."
"Stop calling me that."
The half angel didn't seem to hear this, however, and said instead, "I wasn't expecting to see you this early." He stepped back to pull the door wide open, adding, "Not that I'm complaining, of course."
It was Zari's turn to play hard of hearing as she marched past her boss. She could feel his mocking gaze following her as she crossed the room but ignored this as well. Micah only enjoyed flirting with her because she wasn't like the others. He knew she'd never take him seriously, and this unfortunately had him openly favoring her company, much to Zari's annoyance and everyone's else.
A serious amount of teeth gnashing always followed every time Micah - in full view of the others - would oh so casually remark on how lovely she looked or how cute her smile was. He did all of these and more, just slyly adding fuel to the fire again and again, and as the half angel had shamelessly admitted on more than one occasion - he only did so because he enjoyed seeing her suffer.
The memory had Zari do her own gnashing of teeth as she threw herself on one of the chairs.
Whatever.
At the end of the day, what mattered was that Micah had been the only one willing to hire her, and since this job was what she was destined to do...
I owe him, Zari determinedly reminded herself even as she felt Micah's wicked gaze slowly run over her form, almost taunting her to react to his blatantly sexual interest in her. She knew she only had to say a word, and he'd stop doing it, but if she did that, she had a feeling he'd only interpret it as evidence that she wasn't indifferent to him.
Men and their egos, Zari thought grumpily as she watched her boss take his place behind the marbled monstrosity that he called a desk. To be fair, she could see why so many women fawned over him, but the thing was...
It didn't matter if he were the longest-reigning title holder of New York's Sexiest Man Alive.
Girls like her were strictly the fall-in-love-once-and-forever type, and for Zari—-
"How do you feel about taking on another paid case?"
Pointless musings on male egos and true love disappeared all at once, with Zari unable to shake her head fast and hard enough. "Thank you," she barely managed to say politely, "but no." She had her reasons for only taking on pro bono hauntings, but these were reasons she had to keep to herself...for now.
"Why not?"
Zari's brows furrowed. "Didn't you read my report?"
"I did."
"Then you know there's a thirteenth boy still missing—-"
"You can work on that later," Micah dismissed.
"But—-"
Blue eyes glinted at her in warning, and she shut up. Micah had never pulled rank on her before this, but she supposed she should have expected it to happen. He had always been known to ruthlessly do away with anyone he considered either a weak link...or in opposition to his goals.
"Does it really have to be now?" she couldn't help asking. "Can't I solve this case first—-" She stopped speaking when she saw the half angel's lips tighten. It wasn't like Micah to act on edge over something this small...
Or maybe it wasn't small at all, Zari realized uneasily, and there was something she had been missing from the start.
Her boss might be a powerful angel in his own right, but as part of AGNEX, he, too, had someone to answer to, and the only one that outranked Micah...
Zari took a deep breath. "It's the Board...isn't it?"
A clipped nod, and her blood turned cold.
"The Board thinks the only reason you haven't signed up for any of the paid cases is because you have a soft spot for demons...and they want you fired for it."
The Demon in The Forest