Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 40972 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 205(@200wpm)___ 164(@250wpm)___ 137(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 40972 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 205(@200wpm)___ 164(@250wpm)___ 137(@300wpm)
“Give me their names, and I can look into them. Are any of them preternaturals?”
Julien nodded. “There are three on the board. One I’m pretty sure is a wizard and two elves. But those aren’t the ones who find issue with me, so I doubt they’re behind this. I do have my suspicions right now as to who could be doing this, and unfortunately, I considered the man sort of a friend.”
“The one you met for lunch?”
“Yes. He’s my chief financial officer, and there are problems in financials. If he’s skimming, he knows I’ll find it, no matter how hard he tries to cover it up. But this could also be related to some data I found and turned over to your employer. Were you aware that powerful preternaturals were gathering here in the city?”
“I was not, though I did know more preternaturals have been coming here because of the growing magic in the ley lines. If powerful beings are gathering, that probably means something truly bad.” He paused. “Are they aware that you turned this information over to Xavier?”
“No. It goes against our policies, but I was concerned enough to seek supernatural help. And who knows? Maybe they did figure it out. But why not send something to just kill me instead of a creature that draws things out like this? That doesn’t make sense.”
Emory considered all the information for a moment. “I honestly think the two things aren’t related. Whoever sent the penumbra wanted this drawn out. It’s possible it wasn’t sent to kill you at all, just fuck up your life. Maybe distract you from the information you found. Who would you think would want that?”
“The same man I mentioned before.” The kettle whistled, and Julien poured the hot water over the tea bags in the mugs. He poured some honey into his own mug before handing the bottle to Emory.
But surprisingly, he didn’t move out of the way when Emory stepped forward to doctor his own tea. Their bodies brushed against each other, and when Emory looked back into Julien’s face, it was to find those hooded eyes zeroed in on his lips.
Emory went perfectly still, lust humming low in his gut.
Julien’s gaze lifted and their eyes locked.
They stayed frozen like that until Julien cleared his throat and stepped away, breaking whatever the hell that was. He took his tea to the table and sat on the built-in cushioned bench along the wall. “I’m going to dig harder into the financials and figure out exactly what’s going on before I question William. Come fully prepared. I think my colleague is stealing from me, and I plan to find out exactly how.”
Emory took a chair across from him and sipped the hot tea, the honey nicely sweet. He had to work hard not to look at Julien’s bare chest. The man was thick with muscle—not surprising with how much he worked out. He had a sexy T-shape of dark hair over his pecs that trailed down his stomach.
“If your CFO is stealing, then you’re right to think he may have hired the penumbra. At lunch, I sensed he’s a wizard, though his power is minimal. But as a wizard, he’d have the access for that hire. His reasoning doesn’t make a lot of sense, though. He obviously doesn’t want you dead—maybe as I said… just distracted? Long enough to doctor the books?”
“I honestly believe he’s been doctoring them all along. I’ll figure it out. Confront him. He hasn’t been his usual polished self for a while now, so something is obviously going on.” Julien looked down at the mug he held in one hand before raising it to sip the liquid. His gaze flitted back up to Emory and roamed over his chest before coming back up to his mouth. The man held an obvious fascination with Emory’s lips.
He must have realized he was staring because he cleared his throat and looked away. “Tell me about angels. You said that the human idea of angels is incorrect, that you’re from here just like I am.”
“Yes, we aren’t heavenly beings who came to earth to live. As I said, we’re a species just as demons are. They aren’t from some kind of hell dimension. As for angels… Well, a lot of them are adamantly against having children with humans and other species—they believe the species should be kept pure. I had a human mother, so I wasn’t too popular among those particular angels. But what sets us apart is the wings, of course, and different abilities. I can move things with my mind, and I’m strong. Though strength is a standard thing that sets all preternaturals apart.”
“It must be amazing to be able to fly.”
“It is.” Emory bit his lip to keep him from blurting out that he no longer could. It wasn’t something he liked to share, so he changed the subject. “What do you do beside work? Any hobbies?”