And they were radiating from the corner.
Her eyes drew a sharp focus in the very thin light coming through the curtains. The back half of her room was bathed in shadow. But something sat there. Large and fathoms deep, it broadcast its feelings to her, the anger permeating the room. Katharine, for some unknown reason, perhaps anger of her own, took a step toward the creature.
The rage disappeared. Instantly, she was drenched in arctic cold, her quick gasp freezing in her lungs. Still, she took another step forward, some part of her brain demanding that she see what had invaded her space this time.
One hand came out toward her–emerging from the darkness that somehow seemed to continue beyond the borders of her bedroom. Silver claws the size of kitchen blades unfurled at the ends of its long fingers.
Terror, this time her own, smashed into every cell, and the dark in her room became timeless, spinning. Her eyes wilted shut as her vision was shot through with stars.
CHAPTER 3
Allistair had already seated himself and gotten comfortable at his desk when Katharine walked into their shared office..
He’d heard her heels clicking down the length of hallway as she approached, each tap on the marble radiating outward through the air and thick rock like a ripple on a pond. Each click reverberated in him, speeding his heart a little faster with anticipation, so by the time she appeared in the open doorway, he was as tightly wound as a spring.
Her hair was pulled up and away from her face, displaying cheekbones many women would be proud to call their own. She looked like she’d managed to pull herself together after getting a glimpse of him the night before. He’d seen her faint and hadn’t been able to do anything without incarnating right there in front of her. Had she come around while he was climbing through, he would have been done for.
So he’d stood over her for a short while, seen that her breathing was even and strong, and had reluctantly left. He’d been waiting to see how she fared. From the outside it was impossible to tell–as he’d known it would be. Katharine was a master at the art of giving nothing away. If he hadn’t been able to discern the slight waves of agitation and fear that peeled and curled off her, he would have thought she didn’t remember it at all. He could see it was more like she didn’t want to.
Her movements were the same as any other day–sharp, efficient, yet somehow still feminine. She was pretty enough, not truly beautiful on the outside, but like many women she was radiant when she smiled. He wanted to be attracted to the woman inside her, but he found he was attracted more to her humanity than to what was uniquely Katharine. It seemed so much of what he saw in her was merely the result of the expectations of others. Things she had transferred into herself without truly thinking about them. She did a good job of making herself into what those around her expected her to be. Only rarely did she share glimpses of the woman he thought Katharine might truly be–the person he thought she should be. And that was exactly why he and Zachary had been dispatched for her.
She was malleable, open, gullible, and swayable.
He only prayed Zachary didn’t get to her first. But it was already looking like his rival was making headway with Katharine. Her attraction to something so completely the opposite of himself should have kept his feelings at bay. But it didn’t. Though he wanted to keep tight reins on himself, and though he should have been able to, for some reason he had no control over the baser urges he felt. He could see his own want licking out at her as she passed by his desk, barely nodding good morning. In this, at least, he seemed to be like any real mortal man.
And this was the one way in which he was supposed to be un like mortals. The disguise was intended to be only flesh deep. For his brethren, it was. They walked among man, in man’s skin, without man’s needs. But Allistair had always enjoyed the feelings of humanity too much. Sharp smells and sweet sounds. Pungent tastes. Visions of earth as humans see it–solid and enduring, without the turmoil from beyond the veil. Right now his body craved texture.
He could feel the fabric of his button-down shirt as it wrinkled inside his suit sleeves. The chair pressed soft against his back; his feet were held tight by his shoes. But he longed for the sweet, cool feel of Katharine’s skin against his fingers. His eyes saw her, already bent toward her computer screen, having begun her day’s work. She didn’t feel him over here, needing to run his hands and mouth along her hair. He needed to inhale her. Devour her.
He needed to not feel any of it. But it seemed he was incapable.
Forcing his features to disguise his thoughts–for he had already given in to the knowledge that he was lacking the will required to actually not think them–he got to the work that was expected of him at Light & Geryon. Still, his thoughts wandered.
Like the others at the firm, Katharine remained absolutely focused on her work, and had just as absolute a deficit about what she really accomplished. This was another reason why she was a prime candidate–why she was the game piece in this war that was being carried out between Zachary and himself.
Allistair pulled the files and researched data for the reports Katharine had handed him. He needed information on companies that would be good for the mutual funds or even individual investors to put their money in–maybe. It was her job, and now his, to determine the risks. The report packets were already started for a gem mine in Australia that was going public, a metal works that made pins, and a paper manufacturer. While he watched her, Allistair began the required work. He looked up stock analyses and productivity. He pulled past benefits and dividends. He charted the information they would present to the board of Light & Geryon. He didn’t like what he learned.
The contrasts beneath his skin weren’t visible at the surface, and only those few humans with special gifts would be able to see the manifestations in the energy around him. It seemed none of those special people worked at Light & Geryon. No one here would see his shortcomings. His goal this time, aside from claiming Katharine, and therefore a victory over Zachary, was to finally become what he was supposed to be. To not be so human. To not want, not need. If he failed this time, as he had so many times before, the punishment would be swift and likely fatal. A harsh dealing to a creature intended to be immortal.
It was afternoon before Katharine was called away. Aside from a break for lunch, it was the only relief he had from the tight grasp his emotions held him in.
• • •
Katharine wanted to run down the hall, but so many things were holding her back, the least of which was her pencil-slim skirt. Her heels were a hindrance. Her brain was churning too fast to pay enough attention to do anything other than have her crash wildly into the things around her if she achieved any speed at all. But mostly it was her upbringing, ingrained on every motor pattern she had, that kept her pace sedate. It was possible that, even in jeans and sneakers and with a clear mind, she would not ever be able to bring herself to run in the halls of Light & Geryon.
The summons to her father’s office brought gut-churning sensations–anticipation of a new promotion perhaps and entwined through it all the fear that she was being reprimanded. Just because she had no idea what she might have done, it didn’t mean that a lecture wasn’t coming. It had happened more than once before.
With a sincere smile at Sharon–the woman had sat outside her father’s office for as long as Katharine could remember–she walked up to the door, only to be brought up short by Sharon’s sweet but firm voice. “He’s busy, dear.”
Hmmm.
Katharine waited outside. His damn dutiful daughter, who had given her life to his firm as thoroughly as if it were her own. His only offspring. And he summoned her when he already had someone in there.
Katharine pulled back, startled by her own thoughts. She had never before resented her father for making her wait. It was merely the way of the universe–she came when he called, she waited when he wanted her to. Taking a deep breath and settling herself on the sofa, even though she had a myriad of better things to do, she wondered if
she was cranky because of last night.
She’d woken that morning on her floor and in pain. Her head had pounded to an evil cadence that had turned out to be the beeping of her alarm. Her legs were cramped, folded under her, and so was her arm. Her entire left side bore marks of carpeting and the ache that came with sleeping on a hard, flat surface. If that could be called sleeping.
She remembered the creature in the corner. The straight razor talons that were extensions of each finger. She knew she’d seen its eyes, but didn’t remember them. And she couldn’t be sure if she really couldn’t remember them or if her brain simply refused. A voice at the back of her head told her to be grateful. She would have been doubtful of the whole thing, she wanted to write it off as a nightmare, but waking twisted on her floor in the exact place where she remembered falling was more than she could push her brain to just disregard.
Light had streamed in as she’d peeled herself up from the floor, even though her bedroom window didn’t face the sun. The corner of her bedroom had been brightly illuminated. When she looked, she could see every fiber of carpeting, the line where two pieces of baseboard molding had been cut on the bias and seamed together, the lack of soot and ash on the carpet. There was nothing hovering at the edges of her room or reality this morning. She trusted that the place was clear more because of her feelings than her eyesight.
Katharine accepted the beast that had been in her room. She accepted the creatures that wandered through her space and disappeared from the world. She accepted that Zachary had simply landed in her lap–a man perfect for her needs who also drew her out and lit sparks in the best of her. She told herself she only had a hard time dealing with all of it at once.
Luckily, the door to her father’s office swung open just then, snapping her back from her thoughts. Toran Light emerged, gray hair as impeccably groomed as the smile he pushed to his face when he spotted Katharine on the leather couch. “Miss Katharine.”
She smiled back at him, her grin genuine even though his was tight. He had called her Miss Katharine since she was two. Something subtle in his demeanor gave a cue that he was bothered. “Uncle Toran.”
His hug was firm and solid, and he spoke as he always had–directly into her ear. “You help your Daddy out now. We need you on this.”
“Absolutely.” The personal communication and trust he extended to her were more than her own parents had given her. Always had been. Maybe he knew it and maybe he didn’t, but encouragement from him worked like a charm. Every time.
She went into her father’s office, previous anger dissolved and gone, ready to face whatever challenge he set before her. Seating herself into a firm leather wing chair, she faced the man with the same hazel eyes she had inherited. His hair had been a thick, deep brown and was now liberally shot through with wire the color of steel. It aged him, but only added to his authority. He leaned back in his chair, not bothering to stand. His greeting was as impersonal as the rest. “Katharine.” And the simmering anger came right back. Two could play at that game. Even as she wondered where the meanness came from, she spoke, as coolly as he had. “Daddy.”
He didn’t notice the icy endearment, and pushed a short stack of papers across the desk to her. “We have a problem. We are missing funds.”
She almost blurted that she was in research, but then again, maybe she wasn’t anymore. There was a very fine male sitting in her office right now already up to speed on how to do most of her work. She didn’t know whether it bothered her more that he was so attractive–though she couldn’t say why–or that he was so fast in taking over her spot. She pushed her thoughts and her impatience aside. And waited.
“Toran and I have worked on it as much as we can. We’ve chased paper and followed leads for a few weeks now. This is what we have.” He pointed at the papers. “We suspect the payroll department is responsible for the disappearances–they have the greatest access and we have satisfactorily ruled out all other departments. If the culprit isn’t in payroll, then they’re working through that division.”
Picking up the papers and leafing through them, Katharine nodded.
Her father continued dispensing information, and she listened while she looked at what he’d handed her. “You worked with all but a few of the newer payroll people. You hired a handful of the employees when you were in HR before that. And everyone here knows that you move around the company frequently. Being my daughter may be a hindrance, but the rest is a great advantage. They likely won’t tell you all their secrets, but no one will be suspicious if you start checking records or pulling files. We have a prime suspect as well.”
That made her head pop up, and for a brief second she met her father’s eyes.
“Mary Wayne. She seems to be living above her means and is the only one in the department doing so.”
Katharine started and her brain turned over her father’s suspicion. She had hired Mary. Had liked the woman. Mary’s background and references had been impeccable. That this must be a mistake was Katharine’s immediate gut reaction. Then again, people changed.
“Get to work on this. We need it shut down as fast as possible. Use your assistant–he hasn’t been with the company long enough to be the culprit.”
With a final nod to her father, Katharine organized the papers and, tucking them under her arm, left the office. She had said only one word during the whole exchange. Sharon waved to her as she left but didn’t say anything, and for the first time it occurred to Katharine that Sharon usually expected her to leave her father’s office tense and preoccupied.
For thirty-two years, her life had progressed as expected. In a matter of weeks, great cracks and questions had appeared at the foundation of all she knew. But she had limited experience handling real questions, so Katharine did what she was good at and pushed it all aside. She had a thief to catch.
• • •
Zachary saw Katharine emerge from her father’s office, but she didn’t see him. He sat behind the veil, watching. Waiting. Making sure things didn’t go horribly awry for her.
There was so much she did. So much she accomplished. He needed to show her the path to her own soul. She was so devoid of knowledge of herself, but he could set her free. She could join and do the work she was meant for. See all the things he could give her.
She walked down the hallway away from him, but he could detect no change in her from a week ago. Nothing that said she belonged to someone, even though he knew she had feelings for him. That was something that couldn’t be helped. When one of his kind incorporated, while people could see and accept the brethren as human, there was usually still some tiny tip, some clue, that was picked up on. People flocked to Zachary’s kind like moths to flame, wanting to be near something they barely sensed. There was little he could do about it. Her attraction to him was as natural as the doormen going out of their way, the clerks at the grocery being nice for the first time all day, the hostess in the restaurant having feelings for him.
He didn’t return the emotions. He couldn’t–he was a higher being. He could enjoy the interaction, empathize and placate the ones with feelings, but he couldn’t be attracted to them the same way they were to him. Katharine included. Having sex with her had been a necessary evil. Zachary needed her bound to him. He needed her to listen and hear what he told her. Allistair would destroy everything if he got to her first, if he tied Katharine more tightly to him, if he swayed her away from what she was capable of becoming. So Zachary had been forced to move first, to protect what she could become.
His thoughts had wandered, his attention lapsed, and as he turned to follow Katharine he mistakenly ran into an employee. Mary Wayne. She was delivering the paystubs for the division chairs as well as for the payroll department. It was poor form for payroll to hand themselves their own checks, so it fell to Sharon to hand the payroll clerks the checks they had approved for themselves.
Zachary had taken one step when Mary had passed through him. That was an error.
He’d had contact
with Mary off and on for several weeks, yet she was becoming a problem. Zachary decided something needed to be done. But as she passed through him, she stopped and shuddered as though she felt a chill.
Mary was developing a sense of the other side. Not that she knew it, but she was having minor reactions to things that were happening across the veil. Even though she clearly sensed something, she didn’t see him, or even sense what he was.
He stood and stretched, his wings unfurling to their full length. This body needed to be used when he was in his own form. This was the skin that fit him best, and he’d spent so much time in human form lately that he was in need of his own shape sometimes. His back worked and he felt the motion as his arms, legs and wings pulled in and pushed wide several times. Large as his kind was in comparison to humans, several steps brought him into Katharine’s office.
The wall was no hindrance; it existed solely on her side of the veil, a mortal device that worked only on mortals. Katharine gave no indication of recognizing his presence on any level. Even the time she’d spent with him, some of it humanly intimate, hadn’t made her more aware.
But Allistair paid attention; he looked around as though checking out the office. He sensed Zachary’s presence. Though Allistair’s mortal form limited his perception, it did not entirely block it. Likely it was merely a tickle at the back of the reduced brain he now possessed. But Allistair had waged this battle. He was the one who had come along after Zachary and his lord had chosen Katharine. Had taken what was meant to be a simple offer and turned it into warfare. Allistair was smart to be alert, and he knew that a tickle was likely all the warning he would get that Zachary was nearby.
Not feeling the slightest bit threatened, Zachary laughed, a festive sound that again tipped Allistair’s head. Poor Allistair, he was clearly enamored of Katharine, his human feelings much stronger than they should be. Katharine seemed unaware of all of it. She remained oblivious to the radiation her assistant was giving off. From this side of the veil, it was plain as day what Allistair felt for her. Need and want curled tendrils around him, pulled tight into himself by his own sub-par discipline. Every so often, several escaped his imperfect grasp and reached out for Katharine.
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