Be he a spy, a philanderer, or just the biggest tease in the northern hemisphere, I have this guys’ number, and I’m not letting anything slip by.
“Addendum 4.1a. It says I can terminate you at any time?” I ask.
“Yup,” Tanner says casually. But even though his body is relaxed, I always feel like he’s watching me when I’m not looking.
And I’m constantly, intensely aware of it.
I look away from the paperwork, mirroring him as I cross my own arms. “What’s your play, Shadeson?”
He smirks. “Please, just Tanner. And to answer your question, there is none.”
“How could there be no play, no bamboozle here? Nobody in their right mind adds in something that makes it easier for them to get fired.”
He shrugs, making his suit bunch around his shoulders. “You were the one who said you wished you could have fired the last CEO sooner, right?”
I just stare at him, speechless, because it’s oddly thoughtful for him to remember such a small detail from the night we met.
There he is, breaking through all the walls I try to put up as easily as if they were made of tissue paper.
“Well, that’s true,” I say softly.
“This is me giving you the power to do exactly that.” Tanner stands up, arms still folded, and I feel incredibly small whenever he’s at his full height. “That is if you’re not satisfied with my… performance.”
I feel that rush of attraction again. The same one I felt last night.
Is it hot in here? It’s definitely hot in here. Maybe I should email maintenance after we’re done.
I don’t know if we’re staring at each other for two seconds or two minutes when Morgan Richards, chief financial officer and lackey to Bill, interrupts us.
“A free termination clause right there in the paperwork? Our newest hire sure is a funny one, isn’t he?” Morgan grins widely behind large glasses, and pats Tanner on the shoulder.
Tanner makes an odd face at Morgan, as if he is unfamiliar with the way he’s being touched.
“I believe my presence here should be approved. If I’m not welcome, then I think Eva has a right to say so, seeing as she’s in charge of personnel,” he exclaims.
“Knowing Eva, it’ll be your funeral, Tanner!” some random VP announces loudly to the room, eliciting uproarious laughs.
“It’s been nice knowing ya!” More laughs.
Har-har-har, very funny, guys. Sorry for actually caring about what happens to the company.
Tanner’s the only one not laughing, though. In fact, he looks so utterly confused by the comments being thrown around that it’s almost adorable.
No, Eva. We hate Tanner. He is evil and a spy and never asked for your number last night.
“If it’s what Eva decides, then what’s wrong with that?” Tanner’s expression is slightly tighter, almost on edge.
Morgan just adjusts his glasses. “I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Eva’s one of our best.” He looks at me, a slight apology in his eyes. “Once you’ve signed that, I’ll have my secretary finish processing the rest.”
“Thank you, Morgan,” I say, looking back at the contract.
If this is how the board of directors really feels about my hiring practices, then I’m going to finalize this before anyone can change their decision.
Especially me.
I scribble my signature at the bottom line where my name is printed.
As if having just accomplished some great feat, I dust my hands off and stand up straight. Tanner, still waiting patiently next to me as if he doesn’t have other people to schmooze right now, smiles.
Your fate is in my hands now, Tanner.
Maybe not really.
“Welcome to Qualtechnics, Mr. Shadeson,” I say in my most formal voice, extending my hand. When he takes it—or rather engulfs my hand with his— sparks of something exciting, and a little frightening, shoot up my arm.
“I think we’ll enjoy working together a lot. And please, just call me Tanner.”
“And just know that whatever game you’re playing, it’s not going to work on me,” I say, glaring at him.
He gives me an amused look of confusion, then turns to Bill, who’s now addressing the room.
The next few minutes pass by as Bill offers congratulations and a mini pep talk about the future of the company and “going big places.” Then the meeting disperses and most of the directors call it a day, though it’s only midafternoon.
“Want a quick tour of the company? I assume you haven’t been shown around yet,” I say to Tanner, who’s still glued to my side inexplicably.
“I would love that.”
I show him around the management floor, pointing out the different offices and the break room. Then I take him to the human resources offices four floors down.
The more time I spend with him doing work stuff, the more natural I hope things will feel.
“So after I see your domain, the other officers will introduce me to their staff as well?”
I suppress a laugh at the idea of Bill giving anyone a tour of anything but his own office. “No, that’s never the case. It’s HR’s job to get you acclimated, help you find your way around the place.”
“Interesting.”
As we carve a path from one area to the next, I’m all too aware of the increased numbers of stares that Tanner is getting, both from female and male employees. And even as we go through one door into another room, I can feel people peeking over their cubicles and muttering things to each other.
“This is our marketing team. They’re in charge of—” My tour is cut off by one of the newer marketing assistants leaping in front of us, a printout in her hand. I think her name is Raquel.
“Eva, what do you think of this for the billboard on the interstate? Too flashy?”
Though I’m not in marketing, most employees here know I’m the easiest person in upper management to ask for help or support. “Perhaps a bit. Email it to my secretary, and I’ll have my team send feedback.”
Halfway through my reply, I can see her gaze drift from mine up to Tanner, who appraises her with a raised eyebrow.
“Oh my God, are you the new interim CEO everyone’s talking about?” Raquel asks blatantly, bubbling with excitement.
Tanner nods.
“What do you think?” she asks him, her tone turning flirtatious. “Certainly, you have a knack for these things.” She grins. “You probably have a knack for everything.”
Her brownnosing is scratching at my last nerve.
Ironically, Tanner just shrugs, giving her a cursory look before turning back to me. “Eva would know much better. I’ve only been here five hours and know almost nothing about this company.”
I just stare at him, nearly choking on his unusual level of honesty.
“Oh.” The overeager marketing team member waits a second longer. “Well, it’s nice to meet you.” When Tanner doesn’t reply, she disappears, leaving just the two of us standing there again.
There’s a slight pause. And for a moment, I can’t feel the stares of the employees around us. Or their reaction to Tanner. I just see him watching me.
“What was that?” I ask.
“What was what?” He seems to have no clue what I mean.
“Do you know the last time I heard a managing director say ‘I don’t know?’”
“Recently, I hope.” His brow furrows slightly at that. “If they didn’t know.”
“Guess again,” I say calmly, making our way back to the elevator as he follows me. Maybe enough tour for one day. “By the way, the answer you’re looking for is never,” I say as the doors shut behind us.
“I think it’s absurd people would defer to the judgement of an outsider just because of their perceived power. Experience is everything in battle… and life.”
“You’d be one of the first people I’ve known to think that,” I say as we reach my floor.
He follows me out, then stops when I look up at him.<
br />
“Ah, my office isn’t here, is it?” He looks slightly dismayed by that fact. What is up with him?
The elevator tries to close, but it retreats from his wide shoulders in the passageway.
“I suppose I’ll see you later, Eva.” Beyond the hope on the tip of his tongue, there’s a determination in the way he looks at me that reminds me of the man I kissed last night.
Before everything got so complicated, when we were just a man and woman embracing in the dark.
“See you later, Tanner.” His first name rolls off my tongue before my mind can intercept the traitorous utterance.
Tanner just grins, and the sight of that smile almost makes my knees buckle. Only the annoying ding of the now-angry elevator awakens my senses enough to prevent that from happening.
At that, he backs into the evaluator, and I watch as the doors slowly block my view of the most perfect-looking man that has ever existed.
Then I shake my head, wondering how I’m ever going to focus on my work and why there was just a twinge of disappointment in me the second those elevator doors closed.
5
Tanner
“So you really got hired as a CEO, despite having no experience and having basically hit on the interviewer the night before.” Avery, Brett’s soul bond, stares at me like she can’t believe it.
I just shrug. “Having a rich dragon friend who can buy his way onto the board has benefits.”
“Like this apartment,” Ian says, stretching out on a comfy couch as he glances out the tall windows that show a view of the well-lit street and apartments across from us. “Much better than the last place. Sorry, Avery.”
Avery wrinkles her nose as if trying to decide whether to be offended and then just shakes it off and leans in closer to Brett, who runs a hand through her hair.
No one who knew him as Boreas, the prince of ice, could ever have imagined him looking so domesticated.
They’re practically disgusting together, just bonding all over everything.
But in my heart, I only envy them.
I glance at the apartment building across from us, trying not to think about the fact that Eva could be getting ready for bed now. Perhaps slipping into something a little more—
“It’s too bad we couldn’t rent something in her building,” Flynn, ever the one focused on our mission, interjects. “It would have been safer to be closer.”
I nod. “The other night, I had to fight three chaos agents. News of Avery’s awakening must have spread, making them that much more motivated to find Eva.”
Brett raises an ash-blond eyebrow at me. “You fought three? Alone?”
“Last night, when I was doing recon on Eva, just to get a feel for who she was.”
“Oh,” Brett says. “Well, I’m glad you took care of it.”
I nod, drumming my fingertips nervously against my knee, thinking about when I’ll be able to see her, touch her, again.
Even today in the elevator, all I wanted to do was pull her into my arms and hold her. Whisper sweet, naughty nothings into her ear about how we’re meant to be together.
Maybe even take off a suppressor and ask if she can feel our bond.
Unlike Brett, I’m not above letting my soul bond feel our true connection.
But not yet.
I’m not going to do this like Brett did. Rush things and scare Eva away.
Though, I admit it’s hard to hold back when you know someone is meant to spend the rest of their life with you.
Ian lets out a grunt. “Maybe I should be the first one to do recon next time. I’m still jealous you saw her first.”
Flynn looks over at him. “You wouldn’t have resonated as strongly even if you had.”
Ian just shrugs, looking bored. I know he’s happy for me, but he’s also getting a bit stir-crazy. He shoves a hand through his tousled white hair, his gray eyes unsettled.
I’m Eva’s soul bond, so it’s my responsibility above all to make sure she’s safe.
But it also gets me out of the apartment and doing something, while Flynn and Ian mostly have to stay here and keep studying the human world and awaiting news of another beacon.
“I put an obscuring veil of darkness around her apartment when I went over today, after the interview. Combined with guarding her at work, it should be enough.”
“The chaos intrusion is that bad?”
I nod. “When I’m with her, I can feel tendrils of chaos from almost every direction. Either she’s powerful or the chaos realm has just stepped up their efforts, knowing they lost out on Avery.”
“Damn right,” Brett says, looking almost human as he brushes hair out of Avery’s eyes. “Not even an army could take my soul bond from me.”
“Aww.” Avery smiles up at him, and I look away because they’re probably about to kiss.
I’d never known if I would actually find my soul bond. I’ve been so busy fighting chaos soldiers and ensuring the safety of my kingdom that it was almost a relief not to have to worry about another bond.
Even now, I’m stressed about how my kingdom is doing without me there as commander.
But when I see Eva, when I think about having this beautiful, strong woman by my side, making her smile, making her happy…
Yeah, I can put off the whole “running the kingdom” thing for a while.
Until I can take her back with me.
“Uh, so she’s medium height, right? I mean for a human woman.”
I sit up, looking over at Ian. “Yes.”
“Brown hair?”
“Yes.”
“Curves?”
“Watch it,” I growl.
Ian turns to me with a shrug. “I think she just left her apartment.” He points to the window. “You might want to go after her.”
I stand and get over to the window in an instant, just in time to see Eva, headphones in and wearing some light jacket over tight running pants, head out into the night, jogging down the sidewalk.
I run for my coat, grabbing it as I leave the apartment. “I’m just going to trail her. I’ll call you if I need help,” I say, though I would never need anyone’s help in protecting my soul bond.
I can fight off entire armies singlehanded.
Fear and fury mingle in me as I run for the stairwell, not wanting to wait for the elevator.
Fury because she should be able to live normally, without so much evil after her. And fear because, while she doesn’t trust me or know she’s in danger, something could happen to her while I’m not around.
I’m torn between the desire to let her come to the natural conclusion of our connection and the need to convince her that she isn’t safe without me by her side.
But first, I need to make sure nothing happens to her.
For now, I can do that from the shadows.
6
Eva
Peace and quiet.
Finally.
The feel of my shoes rolling rhythmically on and off the concrete sidewalk to the beat of my favorite tunes is all I hear as I zone out into my own little jogging happy place.
Puffs of air from my mouth filter around me like thin fog. It’s evening, not quite yet dark, as the sun lingers in sky a little bit longer until it will set in a half hour or so.
I’ve always loved running, even since I was little. And somehow, beyond explanation, I’ve always been good at it.
Like… weirdly good, with stamina that goes on and on.
But there are a couple ways I’ve always been a bit different, and since a million Google searches haven’t helped me figure out why, I don’t think about it that much.
No one else has to know, and I can go on enjoying my existence.
I turn another corner, watching as my shadow bobs on the brick wall next to me, up and down.
Suddenly, it bobs again, out of sync with my body.
I stop.
But when I look again, it’s just my shape projected onto the wall.
Curvy hips that look even more dr
amatic. Average height. A little chubby everywhere, though I like that about myself and it hasn’t seemed to hamper my attractiveness to the other sex.
I wish it had, because men have always watched me and I have never wanted their attention.
Suddenly, the memory of Tanner in that devastating suit hits me, so palpable it’s like he’s right there in front of me.
Okay, so maybe I want one man’s attention.
Run it off, Eva.
I shake my head, making my way down the street again, not really sure where I am, but not really caring.
I zone out a lot while running, and with my endless stamina, I sometimes end up lost, needing to either map my way home or take a cab if it’s too late.
And today, there’s only been one thing to zone out about, despite all the other problems on my mind.
It starts with “T” and ends with “sex, please.”
I’m so caught up trying to not think about the sultry eyes of the new interim CEO that when I finally zone back in, I suddenly realize I’m in a totally different part of town.
Oops.
And to makes thing even more ominous, the last bits of sunlight are disappearing behind the buildings and skyscrapers around me, as if retreating just to make a point of my tardiness.
I pull out my phone and realize I’m not too horribly far from home, so I map it and flip a U-turn, heading back.
But just as I do, I nearly bump into three guys who are walking up right behind me.
“Well, well, what’s the rush, sweetheart?” I look up as surprise registers on their expressions for a moment, followed by something much more sinister.
They’re all in suits, though with their ties off and buttons in various amounts of undoneness, I can tell these three are probably a bit drunk. I just wish they weren’t blocking the whole sidewalk.
“Excuse me,” I exclaim, trying to make my way around them. But like cowboys herding cattle, they move to surround me, cutting me off.
Gross.
“You look thirsty. Wanna go get a drink?” the tallest, with short brown hair, asks.
“We know a place just around the corner,” the shortest, who reminds me of a male weasel, says in what I can only guess is his best attempt at being inviting.
Defended By Darkness: Wings, Wands and Soul Bonds Book 2 Page 3
