by EJ Whitmer
“It’s not my fault you’re so nosy! Jeesh!”
Blake rolled his eyes and approached my desk. “You know I don’t mean to listen in. Anyway, I was hoping we could reschedule your review. I’m going to take off for the evening."
“Absolutely. Are you alright, though? I can’t remember the last time you took any PTO.”
“I’m fine. Do you have the reports? I’ll review them tonight at home.”
I handed the reports to him and tried not to cringe as he roughly flipped through the pages, no doubt leaving several indentations in my masterpiece.
“It’s missing the most recent budget comparison report. The one I left you the note about?”
I cursed softly under my breath and spun around to examine my desk. I have no idea how I missed the bright yellow sticky note on the corner, but sure enough, there it was. “I’m sorry. I didn’t see your note. I’ll call Accounting and ask them to email me a copy real quick.”
“I already did. Emmett was going to drop off the report while you were at lunch.”
“Well, that explains the pretty blonde being in my office.”
“Honestly, Anna. Are you still doing the whole jealous girlfriend thing with Gia?”
I narrowed my eyes and resisted flipping him the bird. “No, I’m not. When I came back from lunch, it was obvious the papers on my desk had been rifled through. My pencils were upside down.”
Blake threw a hand over his heart and staggered back. “No! Anna, that’s a safety hazard! You could have impaled your hand on the razor sharp pencil lead!”
That time I did flip him off.
“My point is that someone was in here, going through my papers. I asked Mae who stopped by while I was away. She said you, a design intern and a pretty blonde. I was just putting the pieces together, IN MY OWN HEAD.”
Blake raised his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay. I get it. Would you please check to see if she dropped off the report? I need it for tomorrow.”
I grumbled a less than classy response and sifted through my piles. I located the missing budget report and handed it to Blake.
“Thanks,” he murmured as he flipped through the pages. “I’ll have my cell on me if you need anything. I’ll send you a calendar invite to reschedule your review.”
With my review cancelled, the afternoon was miraculously cleared up. I made the rounds, checking in on my designers and circling back with the writers to make sure we were successfully portraying the tones of their articles. Two hours later, I returned to my office to jot down some notes on what I learned and found an email from Lilith asking me to come see her when possible.
I shot off a few quick emails and checked in with Mae before heading down to Lilith’s office. As soon as I saw her assistant, Sherri, I knew something was up. Her normally pristine appearance was marred by smudged eye shadow and several wisps of hair hung haphazardly from the bun on top of her head.
“What’s going on? Is Lilith alright?”
Sherri nodded and motioned with her chin to go ahead into Lilith’s office. I could hear several voices coming from inside, so I knocked quietly to announce my entrance. I was greeted by a very grim looking Dom and Peter. Lilith was sitting behind her desk, staring at a single leaf lying in her outstretched palm. I took a step toward her and stopped at the soft crunching sound beneath my foot. The entire floor was covered in leaves and stems. I looked up at the numerous hanging plants and gasped. It looked like someone had taken a machete to Lilith’s beloved office jungle.
“What happened in here!?”
Lilith shrugged and shook her head morosely. “I have no idea. It was like this when I came in half an hour ago.”
“Was everything alright when you got back from lunch?”
“I didn’t come back after lunch. We had an issue with our payroll system, so as soon as I got back, I headed to a meeting with Accounting.”
I reached up to fondle a severed leaf on the potted English Ivy plant that had so kindly fed me my pad thai. “You know, when I got back from lunch, I noticed someone had been through the papers on my desk. Did Sherri say if she saw anyone come in while you were away?”
Lilith shook her head. “She said she didn’t see anyone. When she got back from lunch, she said she noticed my door was closed and figured I was back. Was your office ransacked?”
“Not ransacked. If I wasn’t so anal about my desk organization, I probably wouldn’t have even noticed. But someone definitely went through my files.”
A knock on the door announced Emmett’s and Will’s arrival. They both immediately took in the weed-wacked plants and grimaced.
“I’m guessing you didn’t get an itch to prune?” Emmett asked as he crossed to Lilith’s desk.
“Well, we probably don’t have to think too hard about who would have done this.” Dom motioned to the mess on the floor before bending to help Peter clean up.
“Do you guys keep anything here at work that would be self-incriminating?” I asked. “Is there anything worth tearing apart your office for?”
“We have a sort of library up on the 29th floor with files on other people with special powers, both friendly and not,” Peter replied. “But we don’t keep anything in our personal offices. We used to keep the floor locked to anyone without a key fob. However, after you and Carl somehow accidentally stumbled upon it, we upgraded the security to require a retina scan.”
Emmett glanced at Will. “Are you wearing underwear?”
Will laughed at my gasp before addressing Emmett. “Yes. Be right back.”
The air shimmered for a moment before Will vanished, leaving his clothes in a pile on the floor. Seconds later, the smell of his cologne preceded his return. One second I was staring at a crumpled pair of slacks on the floor. The next second Will had reappeared, wearing a tight pair of black briefs and a black sleeveless undershirt.
“I checked the security system. No one has entered the floor in the past twenty-four hours. The last person to use the elevator was Peter, yesterday at noon.” Will quickly threw his clothes back on, seemingly unembarrassed by his state of undress.
Peter nodded from his position cleaning up the floor. “That’s correct. I headed up there to do some research on recent 9-1-1 calls, just in case people were calling in mysterious, invisible assailants.”
The team seemed to visibly relax. Lilith heaved a sigh of relief and stood. “Well, I suppose the damage was minimal then. Did he only get to my and Anna’s offices?”
“How do we do know it was a he?” I asked. “If none of us have ever seen this person, it truly could be anyone.”
“If it’s a woman, it’s an extremely strong, stocky woman with hairy arms,” replied Dom. “I could tell when I wrestled with the guy on the dock. It was a man. Probably a couple inches under six foot. He felt like he weighed about two-fifty, two-seventy-five. Smelled like Old Spice and cigars.”
“If it was him who went through our offices, I’m surprised he allowed himself to be in an actual building,” commented Lilith as she caressed the mangled remains of a philodendron.
“It was certainly ballsy,” agreed Dom. He noticed the confused look on my face and turned to address me. “Up until now, he’s only been acting out in public, outdoor places where he’s got several escape routes. We also haven’t been able to use our powers to subdue him. We can’t risk any bystanders witnessing anything supernatural. I don’t know if he knows this and takes advantage of it, or if it’s just a bonus to him. The only thing we’ve been able to utilize is Blake’s mind reading power. But again, in these public places, it’s next to impossible to zero in on one person’s thoughts.”
“You know, I still don’t know what powers you and Peter have.” I narrowed my gaze at Dom. “There’s not much point in keeping them from me at this point. I’m involved.”
Emmett groaned, but had the sense to keep his tongue in check. We were never going to agree on my level of involvement with situations like this.
Dom glanced at Emmett who, af
ter a moment, nodded his head in defeat. Peter rose from the floor to join Dom and grinned down at me. Then, without warning, he hauled off and punched Dom in the face.
“Shit!” Dom groaned as he held a hand to his mouth. “You could have just given me a paper cut or something!”
I stood there, shocked, staring at Peter. “What the hell was that!?”
Peter just grinned and pointed at Dom’s face. “Just wait and watch.”
I turned to Dom and cringed at the sight of his split lower lip. Blood was seeping from an inch-long cut on the corner of his mouth. Before Peter could stop me, I bolted to Lilith’s desk, grabbed a tissue and returned to Dom. I reached up with the tissue to blot at his bloody lip and pulled back short. The cut was gone. I gently prodded at his lip with the tissue, attempting to find the source of the now caked-on blood, only to find a perfectly smooth lower lip.
“You have healing powers?” I breathed.
Dom nodded. “I do. I can heal myself from some pretty serious injuries; burns and bullets and things like that. It hurts like a bitch, but it’s nothing I can’t handle. I can also heal minor wounds on other people. I can’t stop massive internal bleeding or severed limbs or anything, but I can fix sprained ankles and simple cuts and bruises. It’s why you haven’t noticed any of us walking around the office with black eyes.”
I stared up at him in shock. I felt Emmett’s reassuring arm squeeze my side and I leaned into him, enjoying his warmth and stability. Once my heart rate slowed a bit, I turned to Peter. “Okay, so what can you do?”
Peter held his hand out in front of him and snapped his fingers. Instantly, a small flame appeared in the center of his palm, licking the tips of his curled fingers. I gasped and moved forward out of Emmett’s hold. Peter lifted his other hand and held it parallel to the other. The flame seemed to take on a life of its own, hopping from one palm to the other several times before settling back down in Peter’s right hand. Unconsciously, I reached forward to touch the flame, jerking back with a cry as the heat seared my skin, blistering the flesh instantly.
Dom chuckled beside me as he took my hand in his own. “If it looks like a flame, chances are it’s going to burn like a flame.”
A tingling sensation overtook my fingers as Dom held them in his palms. A few seconds later, he released my hand and smiled. I glanced down at my blistered fingers and did a double-take. The blisters were gone. The skin wasn’t even pink.
“Thank you,” I murmured before turning back to Peter. “So what can you do with these flames?”
“Lots,” replied Peter. “Shoot a steady stream of fire, like a flame thrower. Throw fireballs. Stuff like that.”
“Like on Super Mario Brothers?” I asked.
Peter laughed. “I suppose so. Although as of right now, we haven’t fought any evil turtles or man-eating sewer plants.”
The mood in the room had definitely lightened. Even Lilith seemed a bit brighter, standing in front of a potted fern whose slashed fronds were gently caressing her outstretched hand.
“So what now?” I asked.
“Now we check the security cameras in the front lobby to see if anyone suspicious came in around the noon hour,” answered Emmett. “Then … I don’t know. I guess we keep listening to the police scanner and checking with our local sources. Keep our ears to the ground.” He glanced at his friends. “Maybe we should all be on duty tonight.”
Lilith shushed him. “Stop that. We all need our nights off. If we find anything tonight, we’ll give you a call. Until then, enjoy your evening.”
“I’ll head over to check the security footage,” said Peter as he crossed to the door.
Dom and Will started to follow before stopping and glancing back at Lilith’s destroyed office.
“You guys go ahead,” I soothed. “We’ll get this cleaned up.”
Lilith nodded her agreement as she bent to pick up the remaining leaves. Emmett leaned in to kiss my forehead and followed the men out.
As soon as the door clicked shut, I turned to Lilith. “Are you alright? You were pretty upset.”
She shot me a warm, yet weak smile and continued to clean. “I’m fine. I just hate the idea of someone being so unnecessarily violent. I realize the plants can’t feel pain. I prune them myself. And just because I can manipulate them doesn’t mean they’re truly alive in the human sense. I just don’t understand the rage. Why chop up my plants?”
I shrugged and held out a garbage pail for her to dump the trash in. “Apparently the guy has done his research. He must have known. I’d much rather assume that’s the case than thinking about him spying or listening in on our conversations without us knowing it.”
Lilith shuddered visibly. “Me too. Thank you for helping me clean up.”
“Absolutely.” I tied the garbage bag and held out a hand to help Lilith stand. “I’ll toss this on my way back. Oh, and you may want to reassure Sherri that everything is fine. She seemed a bit shaken up when I got here.”
Lilith winced as she followed me to the door. “Yes, I may have freaked out a bit when I got back. The poor thing was scrambling around, trying to help me clean up and calm down. I’ll talk to her.”
17
Thankfully, the rest of the afternoon passed without incident. It’s rare to have an open afternoon, so I sent an email to my staff, letting them know that my door was open for any built-up questions. Within seconds, I had a line of at least half a dozen people outside my door. While it was a tid bit stressful, it certainly helped the remaining few hours fly by.
At five-thirty, I answered the last question of the day and packed up my briefcase. I hadn’t had a chance to speak with Emmett about our dinner plans, so I decided to stop by his office on my way out. I boarded the elevator at the same time as the cleaning lady I had met the other night. She looked noticeably less frazzled and offered me a warm smile.
“How’s your week going?” I asked as the elevator doors slid closed. “Getting the hang of it?”
“Oh yes,” she breathed. “I’ve been doing this for years, but something about the first week on the job always makes me feel overwhelmed. Everyone here has been so nice, though.”
“I’m so glad,” I replied. “And I totally know what you’re talking about. It could be something that you’ve done every day for years, but even the most routine tasks seem a little extra scary when working for a new company. Let me know if I can help in anyway.” The elevator dinged its arrival and I stepped forward to exit. “And welcome to Vance Publishing!” I added over my shoulder as the doors closed.
The accounting floor was nearly empty. A handful of employees were just closing up shop as I made my way to Emmett’s office. His light was on and Gia’s desk was empty, so I didn’t bother knocking before opening the door.
“So what’s the plan for tonight?” I asked as I shut the door behind me.
“Tonight?” came a very feminine voice.
I looked up to find Gia sitting behind Emmett’s desk, sorting through several stacks of papers.
“I’m sorry,” I stammered. “I didn’t look up when I walked in. I expected you to be Emmett.” I eyed the stacks of paper suspiciously as she scrambled to straighten them. “What are you doing?”
Gia giggled nervously as she began stapling several packets of paper. “I can’t seem to get the hang of the stupid printer. I’ve been having to collate all of these reports by hand. I need one of the I.T. guys to come up and give me a crash course on printing.”
“I’ll show you in the morning if you’d like,” I offered, still eyeing her supposed collating project. “It’s in the Print Settings dialogue box.”
She stapled the last report and smiled up at me. “That would be great. Thanks so much! I can’t tell you how much time I’ve wasted going through these things by hand!”
The door flew open and Emmett walked in, also without looking up, and nearly bowled me over. “Shit! Sorry, Anna. Didn’t see you there.” He shot me a grin before directing his attention to Gia. “Did
you get those reports collated? Again, sorry about the printer. It’s kind of finicky.”
“Yep, they’re all here, collated and stapled. And don’t worry about the printer. Anna said she’d help me figure out the settings in the morning. Do you need anything else before I go?”
“Nope, I think we’re good. Thanks for staying late.” Emmett opened the door for Gia as she exited. As soon as she was out of sight, he shut the door behind her and pulled me in for a hug. “You offered to help her with her printer? Have you suddenly realized that she’s not so bad?”
I hugged him back and fixed him with a mock glare. “My mother taught me to be nice, even when I don’t want to be. The jury is still out on whether I trust her or not. There’s something off about her. And I don’t like that I’ve found her rifling through your papers twice now.”
