Total pages in book: 22
Estimated words: 20635 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 103(@200wpm)___ 83(@250wpm)___ 69(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 20635 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 103(@200wpm)___ 83(@250wpm)___ 69(@300wpm)
Michalis shifted back into human form as soon as he reached his office, and he wasted no time in reviewing footage from the cameras that had the tower's entrance under surveillance.
His chest clenched as Catalina showed up in his monitor. Something she had seen in the corner of her eye seemed to have spooked her, and his mood took on a violent edge when he realized what she had seen...was apparently another man.
Who the fuck was this asshole?
The guy was clearly determined to hide his identity. He knew exactly where not to look to avoid having the cameras' facial recognition kick in, but just as it had been with Catalina...
Data from the city's thermal scanners were what gave him away, with the stranger's heat levels zigzagging between normal human temp and the kind of numbers that only a preter could register.
Some people might enjoy having more than one mystery to solve, but Michalis had always preferred having everything rigidly outlined and laid out in the open.
This asshole was an anomaly just like Catalina was, and Michalis was not the type to believe in fucking coincidences.
He would give her a chance.
One chance to come clean and tell him what the hell was going on.
But if she still refused to tell him the truth...
BUILDING MAINTENANCE is busy setting up additional cubicles at the back of the room when I reach our department, and I do my best to clear my mind of anything that's stupid and unnecessary.
These first two weeks following All Hallows' Eve are always crucial when preters make up your client base, and it's never been my style to let anything personal get in the way of my job.
Farah catches sight of me when she steps out of her office. "Oh good, you're surprisingly and weirdly early today."
"How is it weird when you're always weirdly early?"
"I don't count," the older woman says simply. "I'm too hot to be weird."
That...somehow makes sense, and so I just ask, "Can I help you with something?"
Farah nods approvingly. "As a matter of fact, yes. There's this old woman who's been calling nonstop for the past ten minutes, and I just can't with her. She doesn't speak our language—-"
Oh.
Shit.
Maybe this is the time I should come clean about what I wrote in my resumé?
"Um, the thing about my Japanese proficiency—-"
"—-and I do mean she's not fluent at all. She doesn't even know what a WiFi network is!"
Oh, so it was tech language that she was talking about, phew.
"If you still want feedback on your beta interface, I can switch her call to your line."
"Yes, please." I'm already taking my seat and putting my headset on, and I chirp out the standard greeting as soon as I hear the telltale beep. "Hi. This is Cat - I mean Catalina—-" I really need to remember nicknames are a no-no when taking calls. "—-of Nox Customer Support. How may I help you?"
The woman on the other end of the line snorts, and I bite back a smile while I pull out her records based on the account number she's given Farah.
"I like Cat better."
"Me, too—-" I glance at my monitor just to make sure I have her name right. "—-Lupita."
"Then why won't you use it?" she demands.
"Oh, you know. The usual legalities."
"Hmph."
The grouchy tone doesn't bother me a bit, since I find it just as charming as the occasional flash of meanness from native New Yorkers.
"Does that mean you're not doing something legal when you're using Cat?"
"I can see why you'd think that, but no, I didn't mean it that way."
"Hmph."
I can feel myself relaxing as she starts telling me about the problems she's encountered while registering an account with our app, and while it does take a while, I eventually manage to make Lupita understand how to use our app's private network for wireless file transfers.
I've barely hung up when another call comes in, and my phone doesn't stop ringing after that.
"Hi. This is Catalina from Nox Customer Support. How may I help you?"
Being busy is good.
You can't think stupid things when you're busy.
So c'mon phone.
Keep ringing, will you?
MICHALIS' GAZE WAS grim as the hours went by, and not once had Catalina attempted to talk to him.
If it had been anyone else, such silence was sufficient proof to have his men dispatched, and the person in question would be made to talk, by any means necessary. That he refused to even consider such an option with Catalina made Michalis despise himself, but even so.
One last chance.
He would give her this one last chance, and this time he would call her himself.
"Hey..." Catalina's voice was soft, her joy at having heard from him evident, but so was the distress she was struggling to hide.
"Has anything happened?" he asked abruptly.
"What do you mean?"
Michalis' blood went cold as he tried reading her mind and found himself unable to. How the hell was she blocking him from reading his thoughts? Had she been able to do it all this time? Did she think he wouldn't be able to tell? Had she only been pretending she had no knowledge of his abilities?